Hello everyone. Sorry it took me so long to log back on, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to make the @ symbol. I just conquered that cultural battle after about 4 minutes of randomly hitting buttons.
So as long as I'm keeping a cliche' travel blog, I thought I might as well go ahead and make an on-going list of stupid ways I've messed up for our entertainment.
1.) For two days I used sunscreen as shampoo because I couldn't read the print on the bottle. In my defense, it was in German, in my offense, it said SPF 30 on it. I couldn't figure out how the heat was making my hair that greasy.
2.) When the nice cook at La Finca was serving me food, I asked Como' se llama? in reference to her name, as she served me bananas. She thought I was asking what bananas were called, and she answered, Banano. For three days after that, I called her Banano.
3.) I called the beach a derogatory work for gay person by switching my a and o.
...Surprisingly, I believe that's the extent of my faus pas espanolas.
Let's see, right now I'm living with my super duper nice AFS liason, Lorena, and her husband, Victor, because the Reyes family had to take Francini to Guanacaste for a four month internship, and they didn't have room in the car for me. That's just as well because I didn't really feel like sitting in a packed car for 11 hours. This house is way nicer than my own in the US, which is a little strange to get used to. The same argument could be made for the Reyes' home with three huge TVs, a state of the art kitchen, etc. Obviously, it's nothing to complain about, but the life-style certainly doesn't seem standard for a third world country.
I'm enjoying all the contact with my friends and family. I received a letter from Lilia yesterday and it brightened up my whole morning. Today, I spent most of the day making about 300 flashcards of words I learned in class at La Finca. I think it's the only way I'll be able to quickly learn what I need to, even though the plastic bag filled with words I don't know is a little intimidating. Today, I also helped Lorena cook a yummy lunch. We talked more about the political repercussions of the TLC program and about my new job. Yesterday, I found out my job has been switched from teaching English at the public school, to being the horticultural specialist (I'm pretty sure aka, groundskeeper) at the private, Catholic school. That's fine. I don't really care what I do as long as I'm doing something, and learning Spanish while I'm doing it. Also, when I'm not at work, I'll be able to have fun with my family and their friends. Two nights ago, we went bar and club hopping until 4 AM, which was pretty crazy. I can't believe people stay out so late on a Thursday in such a small town.
Going to Panama' is a normal activity, as I've been three times now. Everyone agrees La Fronterra is really ugly, but it's true that the prices are hella cheap, which we all enjoy. I bought two pairs of nice roll-up H&M shorts for 10 bucks, USD! I'm sure there are more attractive parts of Panama, but the skinny dogs, drug addicts and lurking prostitutes put a bad taste in my mouth... NOT literally regarding any of the aforementioned facets of life on the boarder.
At 6 this evening I'll be headed to church with Lorena so that tomorrow we can get up early and go see a waterfall!
Everything remains fresh and fun here in Ciudad Neily.
Pura Vida,
Elaine
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