Woo Hoo! Internet has come to town...
Hi all!
So the big news of the day is that I now have internet in my town! I am very very excited, if you can't tell. It was so odd, no one had any idea that a place was going to open up here, no rumors or anything. Yesterday: "Hey, there's internet here now"....(long pause)...."Here, what do you mean?"..."Here in Dulce Nombre"...."WHAT??!".....so yeah, that's the basic gist of it though. So now I will be able to check email more frequently and post on here more...there is even an internet phone here, but I don't know how well it works yet. The place is right next to my counterpart's house, across from the health center, so about a 5-10 min walk from the house I will be living in in a month. I really am happy about how things are shaping up though :)
This week was good though. Pri has been in Teguc and won't return until Saturday, even though originally she was going to come back on Wednesday in time to give the aerobics class. So since she was gone and I hadn't scheduled anything on Monday or Tuesday because I was going to be at that workshop out of town, I had a lot of time to work with. Monday, I decided to tackle the wilderness that is Pri's backyard. Angela came into Dulce Nombre in the morning and I borrowed 2 machetes, a hoe, a shovel, and a rake from the post office lady. We got to work and immediately realized what a big job it was. We spent about 4 or more hours just hacking the grass and weeds away from a small area. I had my straw hat on and a tank top, and we were sweating a river. Carmen, the lady I am living with, gifted me with several small plants of flowers as well as strawberries, spinach, and cherry tomatoes to put in in addition to the seeds my mom sent me - cilantro, basil, onion, chives, and oregano. It was kinda fun though...really hot, blue skies, music blaring as we worked. We finally got all the plants in and the seed beds made and covered, and were pretty much ready to drop. The day left me with a bad sunburn on my back (oops) which is still bothering me today, Thursday, messed up hands since we didn't have gloves, and some dirty clothes. But it was fun to see the difference we had made.
Tuesday I didn't do much...rested, read, visited my counterpart, cleaned up Pri's house a little. Wednesday was more busy however. Pri had called me Tuesday night to tell me she wouldn't be coming in the next day after all, and could I please give the aerobics class Wednesday night? (Groan). So Wednesday I went to the kindergarten and gave a little English class. Then at the last minute I was told that the English teacher at the high school wanted me to come in and help with her class. So I went and helped them with some little skits/conversations they had prepared in small groups - the English class format is not the best here and they don't get much practice actually hearing or speaking English, it is mostly grammar. So I enjoyed that...I had some time to give them a sample conversation that was more natural. Then I spent the afternoon going over the stupid aerobics routine...ok it's not stupid but my heart wasn't in it. I had to go through each song, read Pri's notes, write my own so they made sense, fill in gaps where I couldn't remember what we were supposed to do. It is an hour long routine and pretty thorough. So by the time I finished that I barely had time to walk home and eat dinner before actually going to my counterpart's house, where the class is held. Only about 6 ladies showed up but it went pretty well for my first ever aerobics class. Afterwards, I was ready to crash...I must have gone through that routine about 3 times in total in one day. Walking home, I looked up and saw that the stars were extra bright that night, and right above me was the big dipper. It was kind of comforting to see something so familiar that I could look up and see at home in the states.
Today I didn't have anything planned so I did some more gardening, cleaning another piece full of tall grass and putting in a palm tree, some other fruit tree that I don't remember the name of, and two different kinds of flowers. I stopped midday because the sun was so strong and my legs are sore from yesterday. I think that the rainy season is starting because the last week we have had regular thunder storms in the evening or late afternoon. I like them because they cool things down. The mornings and early afternoons are always sunny and bright though.
Tomorrow I am going into Santa Rosa to do some shopping with Angela and Sarah. For any of my friends that are reading this, shirts, tank tops (M) , socks, knee length skirts, jeans (Size 8 or 10) -- all of these would be welcome gifts at any point in time. I managed to ruin several of my shirts and a pair of jeans because apparently black clothes here run when you wash them in cold water, so yeah, there goes half my wardrobe. The other half I am just sick of. So I am going to see what I can find tomorrow. Then Saturday is my birthday! Angela and Sarah are coming into Dulce Nombre and my counterpart is throwing me a dual party for me and her husband, since we share the same weekend. It should be fun.
Well lots of hugs and kisses to you, and I hope that I will be able to keep in better touch with you now that I will have regular access to internet. Take care!
So the big news of the day is that I now have internet in my town! I am very very excited, if you can't tell. It was so odd, no one had any idea that a place was going to open up here, no rumors or anything. Yesterday: "Hey, there's internet here now"....(long pause)...."Here, what do you mean?"..."Here in Dulce Nombre"...."WHAT??!".....so yeah, that's the basic gist of it though. So now I will be able to check email more frequently and post on here more...there is even an internet phone here, but I don't know how well it works yet. The place is right next to my counterpart's house, across from the health center, so about a 5-10 min walk from the house I will be living in in a month. I really am happy about how things are shaping up though :)
This week was good though. Pri has been in Teguc and won't return until Saturday, even though originally she was going to come back on Wednesday in time to give the aerobics class. So since she was gone and I hadn't scheduled anything on Monday or Tuesday because I was going to be at that workshop out of town, I had a lot of time to work with. Monday, I decided to tackle the wilderness that is Pri's backyard. Angela came into Dulce Nombre in the morning and I borrowed 2 machetes, a hoe, a shovel, and a rake from the post office lady. We got to work and immediately realized what a big job it was. We spent about 4 or more hours just hacking the grass and weeds away from a small area. I had my straw hat on and a tank top, and we were sweating a river. Carmen, the lady I am living with, gifted me with several small plants of flowers as well as strawberries, spinach, and cherry tomatoes to put in in addition to the seeds my mom sent me - cilantro, basil, onion, chives, and oregano. It was kinda fun though...really hot, blue skies, music blaring as we worked. We finally got all the plants in and the seed beds made and covered, and were pretty much ready to drop. The day left me with a bad sunburn on my back (oops) which is still bothering me today, Thursday, messed up hands since we didn't have gloves, and some dirty clothes. But it was fun to see the difference we had made.
Tuesday I didn't do much...rested, read, visited my counterpart, cleaned up Pri's house a little. Wednesday was more busy however. Pri had called me Tuesday night to tell me she wouldn't be coming in the next day after all, and could I please give the aerobics class Wednesday night? (Groan). So Wednesday I went to the kindergarten and gave a little English class. Then at the last minute I was told that the English teacher at the high school wanted me to come in and help with her class. So I went and helped them with some little skits/conversations they had prepared in small groups - the English class format is not the best here and they don't get much practice actually hearing or speaking English, it is mostly grammar. So I enjoyed that...I had some time to give them a sample conversation that was more natural. Then I spent the afternoon going over the stupid aerobics routine...ok it's not stupid but my heart wasn't in it. I had to go through each song, read Pri's notes, write my own so they made sense, fill in gaps where I couldn't remember what we were supposed to do. It is an hour long routine and pretty thorough. So by the time I finished that I barely had time to walk home and eat dinner before actually going to my counterpart's house, where the class is held. Only about 6 ladies showed up but it went pretty well for my first ever aerobics class. Afterwards, I was ready to crash...I must have gone through that routine about 3 times in total in one day. Walking home, I looked up and saw that the stars were extra bright that night, and right above me was the big dipper. It was kind of comforting to see something so familiar that I could look up and see at home in the states.
Today I didn't have anything planned so I did some more gardening, cleaning another piece full of tall grass and putting in a palm tree, some other fruit tree that I don't remember the name of, and two different kinds of flowers. I stopped midday because the sun was so strong and my legs are sore from yesterday. I think that the rainy season is starting because the last week we have had regular thunder storms in the evening or late afternoon. I like them because they cool things down. The mornings and early afternoons are always sunny and bright though.
Tomorrow I am going into Santa Rosa to do some shopping with Angela and Sarah. For any of my friends that are reading this, shirts, tank tops (M) , socks, knee length skirts, jeans (Size 8 or 10) -- all of these would be welcome gifts at any point in time. I managed to ruin several of my shirts and a pair of jeans because apparently black clothes here run when you wash them in cold water, so yeah, there goes half my wardrobe. The other half I am just sick of. So I am going to see what I can find tomorrow. Then Saturday is my birthday! Angela and Sarah are coming into Dulce Nombre and my counterpart is throwing me a dual party for me and her husband, since we share the same weekend. It should be fun.
Well lots of hugs and kisses to you, and I hope that I will be able to keep in better touch with you now that I will have regular access to internet. Take care!
posted by Lauren @ 15:19
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