I've fallen a little behind so this entry will cover Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Luckily for my readers, my days were pretty typical so this should not be too long.
Papaya and kiwi, or banana and pineapple began each morning just right. That is with coffee, yogurt, granola, and a fruit smoothie of course :)
On one of the days my walk to the bus was joined by the same nice man from last week. He is so cheery, sweet, and not at all creepy. He adds a wonderful delightfulness to my morning walk. It is great to meet men here like that, sometimes or often rather, that is not the case (i.e. the nice cop who escorted me to the ATM machine but then asked for my number and if we could go out dancing.... to which I said no thank you).
On Wednesday night, I had a little reunion at Diana's restaurant with her, Carlee, Quinn, Grant and Emma (the last three are study abroad students at a University here). Diana, 8 months pregnant, just returned from Costa Rica and wanted to hear all about our first few weeks. She is an amazing human being; so caring, thoughtful, strong and truly dedicated to her job. We were the first to try a new addition to the menu, PIZZA! This was different than one might imagine though. Think crust like pastry thin, flaky, and sweet. It was scrumptious. We were also given dessert options for which Carlee and I split a slice of banana and quinoa cake, and a slice of some chocolatey nutty goodness cake.
At work I had been asked to help translate and e-mail draft to a Cultural Department in Miama, requesting an invitation for SINAMUNE to take part in an arts festival there. So exciting! I am happy to be of more help to this amazing foundation. Using SpanishDict.com I managed to create a draft, but it didn't quite sound right. After dinner on Wednesday, Diana and Carlee helped me figure out just what they were trying to say and how to change words and phrases to ones more common in the United States. For some of these, such as "nos despedimos" or "we say goodbye" I had to just remove for we have no relevant saying in English that would suffice. This process was fun and very helpful for my Spanish language education. Wahoo Spanish!
Today, around 11:30, while I was teaching a dance class to about 20 students, all of them spread out and took seats in the chairs. Martina and I were both very confused. This cofusion grew as more and more students came upstairs to join them in the seats. Confusion about what is happening is quite a common occurrence for me, but this was even more confusing than normal. Next thing we knew, all of the teachers, students and some guests in vests with boxes of candy joined us. Bags of mixed candy were handed out to each student, faculty and volunteer!
Apparently, this was supposed to be for Christmas, but either SINAMUNE or the people who brought the candy bags (not sure because #languagebarrier) had been too busy until today. Also, one of the guests in vests was actually one students' father. The kids were all so happy. To thank them, Pamela, who is blind mind you, hopped on the piano to play and sing, another student on the drums, and two more on microphones to sing. Everyone joined in to sing three songs. Almost every student was participating. I had never seen so many of them smiling, laughing, dancing, and singing all together. It was a wonderful experience. I was very thankful Christmas came so late :)
Before Spanish class, since I had my homework done, I spent my break wandering through the market. I found some coffee to go, which is quite rare here, and enjoyed it as I pondered what else I may want to purchase while I am here.
Spanish classes were great once again this week. I have started re-learning past tense! This is handy, since I have been speaking in only present tense these past few weeks...
Crowded buses: This morning I spend half my ride in the doorway, being smooshed by the door each time it opened, and stepped on by a large man trying to exit the bus. On my way home from Spanish classes, the bus is often so packed I don't have room to take off my sweater and free my sweat. These are a few of the things I will not be missing.
On the contrary, I will be missing my family here dearly. Tuesday and Thursday night I spent talking with Martha throughout dinner and well after. Also on Tuesday I met her dad and spoke with him for a while. He is very sweet, just like Martha. The family has invited me to their family reunion this Saturday and I am very excited and honored to be joining them!
This adorable lil' guy is Colón. He belongs to Pancho, Adriana's (my host sister) boyfriend. He is a pitbull puppy and so very playful.
Hope this is sufficient for a three-day catch up.
Cheers to the Weekend,
Abrazos,
Zoe
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