The past few days have not exactly been full of stellar moments for the Coopers.
Let's start with Sunday shall we?
At breakfast we are informed that we will be having lunch with the rest of the fam down the street. (we live with an older couple... who's son, daughter in law, grandson and his wife a and their child, live down the street next to a small bar and resturant they own and run.) Fine. No problem... we like the family, and the two year old great grandaughter is really the only person we can carry on a continual conversation with. (a humiliating but true statement...)
So, noon rolls around and we head on over with Ines and have lunch... everything is fine, no big deal. When we have finished eating... we note that for some reason the courtyard area where we are has emptied of the entire fam. Ok. So, we start wondering if Ines and Carlos just left us there and didn't tell us because they thought we were enjoying ourselves so they left us alone. We weren't sure... there was also the possibility that they had all inexplicably gone to the house next door and not told us what was going one... there were also random tons of people going in and out of the house next door...
We sat pondering our next move... do we leave? do we stay? do we venture into the house next door? and why would we want to go nextdoor, we still can't really communicate... why would we stay if ines had left, and the rest of her family was wondering why the two mute pieces of white bread were just loitering...
So, we decide to get up and go... our ultimate was realized when we walked past the house next door and, sure enough, the whole fam was there, including carlos sitting on the porch (all he ever does.) He stands up to yell something to us... the Lord only knows what it was, he is the worst mumbler i've ever heard in my life... Im pretty sure even when we speak spanish well, we will not understand what's coming out of his mouth. We spur of the moment decide to pretend like we are just taking a little walk, and we'll be back... we weren't bombing out on the gathering... we just needed a short walk. We get back to the house... and awkardly walk in and sit in the living room,(as suggested to us by carlos...) and in the other sitting room, there's like 20 teenagers all looking at us like, who are these white chicks? and who invited them? I tried to talk to one of the girls, but she would have none of it... so we sat. Mute. As usual. Confused. As usual.
Then Ines comes putzing out of the kitchen looking surprised to see us inside. (don't ask me where we should have been located at this point...) and said something incomprehensible and left the house... not wanting to be left there anymore... we followed her like a couple of stray dogs back to the house, where she also looked suprised to see us. We quickly gathered our stuff and went to a cafe... to regroup and figure out what happened to us.
Later that night Ines went back over to the house, and left us a key to the house so we could do what we wanted and not go with... so we are unsure if our confusion at the family's house came of as an offense... or like we didn't want to be there.
We still have no idea what happened to us.
Then we slept through our alarm on monday and had 5 minutes to get ready to leave for class. AKA, no shower... which is the equivalent here of not showering for a week in the states. BAH! disgusting.
Today, we had a slight misunderstanding of the teachers that there would be no afternoon event at 2:30 if it was raining hard... so, shawna and i napped it up... and at 2:30 it was raining... so we continued napping.
In reality what was said was that the intended excursion would be cancelled, but we would do something else... so at 3 the house recieved a phone call that we were wanted at the school... Carlos (our papa) akwardly had to barge into our rooom while we were napping to hand me the phone, when i was informed by carlos (who works at the school, and i tutor for english) that the school was waiting, did we intend to join for the excursion today? My explanation was lost in translation (the english he speaks is equivalent to the spanish i speak..., but what was heard loud and clear a la carlos (papa) was that we were napping. Napping it up right through our excursion.
Let's just say we are ready for the idiotic minutes to diminish.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
A Slice of Life in Granada
-Life as a pedestrian:
The roads here are crazy! Most of them are only about a lane and a half wide, this space is used for all of the following:
The parking of cars an any and all sides of the road, cars traveling both directions at any given time, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians. (there are some sidewalks, but they aren’t in good condition at all, and there’s always random giant piles of garbage on them you have to go around.) Oddly enough, the most dangerous wheeled scenario to us so far has been the bicycle. Somehow, they think they are even more above the law than anybody else, and we nearly get run down every day. (an added bonus is the fact that young guys will purposely ride close to us to either: a. fake us out and turn at the last minute… they think this is hysterical, or b. get close enough to spout of some random love poem.)
There are no crosswalks here, there are no stop signs or stop lights, (well, there’s a couple stop signs but nobody uses them… or blinkers…) and the streets are ALWAYS crowded. So, basically, you make a break for it whenever you *think it’s clear, (it’s never clear) and force people to stop. I’m pretty sure that the thought “I have the right of way” is what’s rolling around in every one’s head… so you just go when you see fit. Shawna and I are going to be nightmare pedestrians when we get back.
-Things that repulse us/ creep/gross us out:
Friday night we were sitting at the internet café we always go to, when a cricket the size of a mouse came walking in. (that is not an exaggeration of the size.) The waiter had to come take care of it for us because it was loitering around shawna’s bag and freaking us right out. He thought we were pretty ridiculous, and proceeded to PICK IT UP WITH HIS BARE HAND! and put it back outside.
The spider pictured in a previous post, we find out, doesn’t just visit our shower… he lives in it. There’s a whole in the wall behind the pipe, and that’s his dark little corner… he comes out every night to hunt on the shower floor. We are not ok with this… but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do. He’s too big to flush down the drain, and squishing is not an option. So, we share the shower with a spider the size of your mother.
The ants bite. There are these little tiny ants all over, and as soon as you sit down somewhere, or stand still somewhere outside, the crawl all over your feet and bite, and it leaves some sort of nasty rash scenario.
Bug repellent doesn’t do much here… the mosquitos seem to love DEET.
The park:
There’s a central park in Granada, we live about a 5-10 minute walk from it, and it’s the center of all social activity in the city. There’s always vendors there selling random stuff and people just sit around on benches there all day. At night they have huge community events and everyone shows up and hangs out. Last night they were broadcasting some boxing match in the park… there was karaoke one night. It’s pretty cool. Shawna and I go sit in the park in the afternoons a lot, and usually get a chance to practice some Spanish, because inevitably, some guy will come up and try to charm us into going out with him and his friends somewhere.
Yesterday was our most intrusive yet… the fellow kissed our cheeks and hands (which we find out is a normal greeting for a stranger…) and plopped down in the middle of the bench between us and was just in our personal bubble until we decided we had had enough and left. Definitely the funniest encounter yet.
The streets:
There is no such thing as a noise ordinance here. People blare their radios and tv’s and anything else that makes noise all day and all night. (they also are randomly into u.s. hip-hop and rap. We’ve definitely heard some snoop blaring from the neighbors house.) At night everyone hangs out in the porch with the music blasting from inside the houses, while the kids play in the streets until late. (side note: if you are walking down the street, and there is a futbol or baseball game going on, don’t expect it to stop because you’re walking. It won’t. Just walk fast and keep an eye on the ball.)
It’s pretty fun that everyone is just up late hanging out.
I like it here a lot.
The roads here are crazy! Most of them are only about a lane and a half wide, this space is used for all of the following:
The parking of cars an any and all sides of the road, cars traveling both directions at any given time, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians. (there are some sidewalks, but they aren’t in good condition at all, and there’s always random giant piles of garbage on them you have to go around.) Oddly enough, the most dangerous wheeled scenario to us so far has been the bicycle. Somehow, they think they are even more above the law than anybody else, and we nearly get run down every day. (an added bonus is the fact that young guys will purposely ride close to us to either: a. fake us out and turn at the last minute… they think this is hysterical, or b. get close enough to spout of some random love poem.)
There are no crosswalks here, there are no stop signs or stop lights, (well, there’s a couple stop signs but nobody uses them… or blinkers…) and the streets are ALWAYS crowded. So, basically, you make a break for it whenever you *think it’s clear, (it’s never clear) and force people to stop. I’m pretty sure that the thought “I have the right of way” is what’s rolling around in every one’s head… so you just go when you see fit. Shawna and I are going to be nightmare pedestrians when we get back.
-Things that repulse us/ creep/gross us out:
Friday night we were sitting at the internet café we always go to, when a cricket the size of a mouse came walking in. (that is not an exaggeration of the size.) The waiter had to come take care of it for us because it was loitering around shawna’s bag and freaking us right out. He thought we were pretty ridiculous, and proceeded to PICK IT UP WITH HIS BARE HAND! and put it back outside.
The spider pictured in a previous post, we find out, doesn’t just visit our shower… he lives in it. There’s a whole in the wall behind the pipe, and that’s his dark little corner… he comes out every night to hunt on the shower floor. We are not ok with this… but there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do. He’s too big to flush down the drain, and squishing is not an option. So, we share the shower with a spider the size of your mother.
The ants bite. There are these little tiny ants all over, and as soon as you sit down somewhere, or stand still somewhere outside, the crawl all over your feet and bite, and it leaves some sort of nasty rash scenario.
Bug repellent doesn’t do much here… the mosquitos seem to love DEET.
The park:
There’s a central park in Granada, we live about a 5-10 minute walk from it, and it’s the center of all social activity in the city. There’s always vendors there selling random stuff and people just sit around on benches there all day. At night they have huge community events and everyone shows up and hangs out. Last night they were broadcasting some boxing match in the park… there was karaoke one night. It’s pretty cool. Shawna and I go sit in the park in the afternoons a lot, and usually get a chance to practice some Spanish, because inevitably, some guy will come up and try to charm us into going out with him and his friends somewhere.
Yesterday was our most intrusive yet… the fellow kissed our cheeks and hands (which we find out is a normal greeting for a stranger…) and plopped down in the middle of the bench between us and was just in our personal bubble until we decided we had had enough and left. Definitely the funniest encounter yet.
The streets:
There is no such thing as a noise ordinance here. People blare their radios and tv’s and anything else that makes noise all day and all night. (they also are randomly into u.s. hip-hop and rap. We’ve definitely heard some snoop blaring from the neighbors house.) At night everyone hangs out in the porch with the music blasting from inside the houses, while the kids play in the streets until late. (side note: if you are walking down the street, and there is a futbol or baseball game going on, don’t expect it to stop because you’re walking. It won’t. Just walk fast and keep an eye on the ball.)
It’s pretty fun that everyone is just up late hanging out.
I like it here a lot.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Arachnaphobia.
ok... so here's a little image of one of the gigantor spiders that has the nerve to make bi-weekly appearances in our shower.
This little beezy was easily three and a half inches across, including wingspan. (that is the only way to refer the size of something so huge. seriously... i dont know how we didn't hear him make his entrance, hulking around with all that mass.)
the creepiest part of this guy to me was that he sort of crawled sideways like a crab... and the fact that his eyes are clearly visible. I dont appreciate a spider big enough to make eye contact with.
this is one of the lizards that hangs out in our room... se nombre maria. (she is the one that gets a tad too close to my bed for comfort sometimes...)
Yesterday we found out that they have problems with scorpions showing up in the bathrooms... i pray to god that im never greeted by one bright and early in the morning...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
a few photos
i thought id post a few photos that shawna has taken of the place...
this is more or less the kitchen sink. (note: it it floods with the nightly torrential downpour...)
this is one of the places we went to that makes pottery in san juan del oriente.
me and 'el campo de granada' (the country...)
this is more or less the kitchen sink. (note: it it floods with the nightly torrential downpour...)
this is one of the places we went to that makes pottery in san juan del oriente.
me and 'el campo de granada' (the country...)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
do to the high demand...
Ok, somehow people want to hear about a humiliating church experience??
Well, i'm sorry to inform that we havent had the nerve to attend anywhere yet... however, yesterday we did have a sort of akward situation arise. (no surprise there...)
Shawna and i were just strolling around town (because we havent come up with anything better to do on the weekends yet...) and we stumbled into the giant yellow cathedral in the middle of central park. (the churches are always open here for people to come in and pray...)
We were sort of just ambling around, looking at everything, and then decided to sit for a bit because it was somehow cool inside. Just as we were deciding to get up and go, we turn around and there is a MASS of people coming through the doors, blocking the exit, so we walk around the front of the church behind the altar to come around to the other side of the church, wondering what the heck is going on.
I was sort of just staring at the floor as we walked because i was feeling so irreverent to have interrupted this church service... when i hear shawna gasp and say "a coffin!" i look up, and its a freaking funeral procession...
Somehow, we ended up crashing a funeral.
AKWARD!
Well, i'm sorry to inform that we havent had the nerve to attend anywhere yet... however, yesterday we did have a sort of akward situation arise. (no surprise there...)
Shawna and i were just strolling around town (because we havent come up with anything better to do on the weekends yet...) and we stumbled into the giant yellow cathedral in the middle of central park. (the churches are always open here for people to come in and pray...)
We were sort of just ambling around, looking at everything, and then decided to sit for a bit because it was somehow cool inside. Just as we were deciding to get up and go, we turn around and there is a MASS of people coming through the doors, blocking the exit, so we walk around the front of the church behind the altar to come around to the other side of the church, wondering what the heck is going on.
I was sort of just staring at the floor as we walked because i was feeling so irreverent to have interrupted this church service... when i hear shawna gasp and say "a coffin!" i look up, and its a freaking funeral procession...
Somehow, we ended up crashing a funeral.
AKWARD!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The humor of the man that is Carlos Cruz Espinoza.
Carlos, the guy in charge of public relations (I think that’s how he put it… also he is the web master? To be honest… I’m not sure what he really does around here…) is a constant source of hilarity to me.
The other day when we had what I think was our orientation with him… he informed us that he always has his cell on, and if we ever get into trouble or need something, even if it’s 3 am we can call and he’ll come.
This is the man we had such a hard time getting a hold of when our flight was cancelled to give our new information so we could get picked up at the airport. (we never successfully did… and had to call him from some random farmacia workers cell to come get us…)
This is the man who was supposed to be here at nine on Sunday to take us to orientation… and showed at 11 after we had already left due to the prompts of inez to take a walk (the only thing we could understand that she said to us all day… so we figured we better do it.)
This is the man who was supposed to take us to the bank yesterday so we could withdraw the money to pay for the school, but never showed, and then he tells me this morning with a laugh that he had to go to Managua yesterday morning, but fell asleep on the bus and woke up in some random city, and didn’t get back to Granada until the afternoon. (we did finally get to the bank today…and felt AC for the first time since arriving.)
The guy just makes me laugh… he has some sort of official role around the school, but I haven’t pinned it down. He just seems to run around with his jovial outlook on life and fall asleep on buses and whatnot. I enjoy him. Haha.
(Side note of humor… I was asking him about his learning English… and he was telling Shawna and I all about it… telling us the words he has the most trouble saying… when he called a sheet of paper a ‘shit of paper.’ I definitely had a good laugh, which he didn’t mind due to his happy-go-lucky nature…)
So far, he’s one of my fav’s.
(P.S.- he asked Shawna and I today if we wanted to do some volunteering… we said yeah, without question, and then he says that they need someone to help teach the teachers English. Somehow I found myself agreeing. NIGHTMARE! I’m a horrific teacher! But it will be a fun experience… I’m excited about it slash worried for my pupil. Poor soul, they better prepare to be completely confused by me. It should help my Spanish at least… if I’m having to attempt to explain the rules of the English language in Spanish… I’m sure a few blogs will be written about THAT experience…)
The other day when we had what I think was our orientation with him… he informed us that he always has his cell on, and if we ever get into trouble or need something, even if it’s 3 am we can call and he’ll come.
This is the man we had such a hard time getting a hold of when our flight was cancelled to give our new information so we could get picked up at the airport. (we never successfully did… and had to call him from some random farmacia workers cell to come get us…)
This is the man who was supposed to be here at nine on Sunday to take us to orientation… and showed at 11 after we had already left due to the prompts of inez to take a walk (the only thing we could understand that she said to us all day… so we figured we better do it.)
This is the man who was supposed to take us to the bank yesterday so we could withdraw the money to pay for the school, but never showed, and then he tells me this morning with a laugh that he had to go to Managua yesterday morning, but fell asleep on the bus and woke up in some random city, and didn’t get back to Granada until the afternoon. (we did finally get to the bank today…and felt AC for the first time since arriving.)
The guy just makes me laugh… he has some sort of official role around the school, but I haven’t pinned it down. He just seems to run around with his jovial outlook on life and fall asleep on buses and whatnot. I enjoy him. Haha.
(Side note of humor… I was asking him about his learning English… and he was telling Shawna and I all about it… telling us the words he has the most trouble saying… when he called a sheet of paper a ‘shit of paper.’ I definitely had a good laugh, which he didn’t mind due to his happy-go-lucky nature…)
So far, he’s one of my fav’s.
(P.S.- he asked Shawna and I today if we wanted to do some volunteering… we said yeah, without question, and then he says that they need someone to help teach the teachers English. Somehow I found myself agreeing. NIGHTMARE! I’m a horrific teacher! But it will be a fun experience… I’m excited about it slash worried for my pupil. Poor soul, they better prepare to be completely confused by me. It should help my Spanish at least… if I’m having to attempt to explain the rules of the English language in Spanish… I’m sure a few blogs will be written about THAT experience…)
un dia typico en granada.
Our first week of school has concluded… I can’t believe we’ve been here that long already!
Here’s a rundown of our typical day…
We usually get up pretty early and shower… Inez has a freaking mondo breakfast ready for us at 7:30, like clockwork. (Every morning there is a SERIOUS pile of beans and rice, eggs, cheese, and some form of banana. Today we got a fried banana and a fresh one… with all the other food.) Post the stuff of breakfast we walk to class (the school is about a five minute walk down the road…) to the chorus of the ever present latino males lounging around doing nothing but yelling things at us as we walk by. (Italy revisited.)
We have classes from eight in the morning until noon… with a half hour break around ten-ish.
I really enjoy my teacher… she’s pretty serious which is something to get used to, but she loves Spanish and teaching it. She graduated from the university here with a bachelors in Spanish… and decided to become a teacher, because of the influence of her professors. I’m happy that I got matched up with someone who loves the art of language as much as I do. She’s the perfect teacher for me… other than her lack of humor found in my lamo comments… which have diminished since she speaks no English and my Spanish is horrific! I seem to be understanding more Spanish… contextually. If I know the subject of whatever is being said to me, I can get most of it… but the second someone starts talking to me without my having any previous notion of what they might say… I am lost like a fool. Pretty much I just wake up everyday and brace for looking like an idiot… it’s what I do best here. Complete idioso.
After class we walk back to the house and eat lunch… and usually take a little siesta. (the heat in the afternoon is unbearable… and for some reason, our room is usually about ten degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Apholstery gets uber hot, sitting on the bed in the afternoon literally feels like sitting on a heater…) Somehow, we just can’t seem to stay awake when it’s that hot and we’ve just eaten a huge hot meal.
Post napping, we head back to the school for the afternoon excursion, which usually lasts until 5-ish and then we head back to the casa, eat dinner, and then study.
We have so much studying to do! (well… duh… that shouldn’t have surprised me…) We take a day to learn what you learn in school in a week or two… so needless to say, we have MUCHO vocab to learn. My speaking skills are still pretty much non-existent. (I think after the first two weeks, when I have most of the rudiments down, I can really start speaking, and then I think I’ll pick it up quicker.) I suppose it’s good that none of the staff at the school speaks English so we can’t default there. (well… Carlos speaks English… a bit, but today he told Shawna and I that he was cutting us off after next week and would only talk to us in Spanish from then on… horrible man.)
Anyway… that’s a typical day for us… kudos to anyone who read this entire long post!
Here’s a rundown of our typical day…
We usually get up pretty early and shower… Inez has a freaking mondo breakfast ready for us at 7:30, like clockwork. (Every morning there is a SERIOUS pile of beans and rice, eggs, cheese, and some form of banana. Today we got a fried banana and a fresh one… with all the other food.) Post the stuff of breakfast we walk to class (the school is about a five minute walk down the road…) to the chorus of the ever present latino males lounging around doing nothing but yelling things at us as we walk by. (Italy revisited.)
We have classes from eight in the morning until noon… with a half hour break around ten-ish.
I really enjoy my teacher… she’s pretty serious which is something to get used to, but she loves Spanish and teaching it. She graduated from the university here with a bachelors in Spanish… and decided to become a teacher, because of the influence of her professors. I’m happy that I got matched up with someone who loves the art of language as much as I do. She’s the perfect teacher for me… other than her lack of humor found in my lamo comments… which have diminished since she speaks no English and my Spanish is horrific! I seem to be understanding more Spanish… contextually. If I know the subject of whatever is being said to me, I can get most of it… but the second someone starts talking to me without my having any previous notion of what they might say… I am lost like a fool. Pretty much I just wake up everyday and brace for looking like an idiot… it’s what I do best here. Complete idioso.
After class we walk back to the house and eat lunch… and usually take a little siesta. (the heat in the afternoon is unbearable… and for some reason, our room is usually about ten degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Apholstery gets uber hot, sitting on the bed in the afternoon literally feels like sitting on a heater…) Somehow, we just can’t seem to stay awake when it’s that hot and we’ve just eaten a huge hot meal.
Post napping, we head back to the school for the afternoon excursion, which usually lasts until 5-ish and then we head back to the casa, eat dinner, and then study.
We have so much studying to do! (well… duh… that shouldn’t have surprised me…) We take a day to learn what you learn in school in a week or two… so needless to say, we have MUCHO vocab to learn. My speaking skills are still pretty much non-existent. (I think after the first two weeks, when I have most of the rudiments down, I can really start speaking, and then I think I’ll pick it up quicker.) I suppose it’s good that none of the staff at the school speaks English so we can’t default there. (well… Carlos speaks English… a bit, but today he told Shawna and I that he was cutting us off after next week and would only talk to us in Spanish from then on… horrible man.)
Anyway… that’s a typical day for us… kudos to anyone who read this entire long post!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Yesterday, we went to the zoo for our excursion... interesting to note that they feed the lions actual whole skinned animals... not just slabs of meat. I saw the lion swinging around a skinned whole calf.
woof.
The noteworthy aspect of the trip was the bus ride home.
the bus pulls up and i note that its totally full... and there are seven of us that need on. So, ok... well just pile in and stand.
I somehow was the last one in line to board the bus... so when i did, the only spot left (aas gestured to me by the driver) was the hump beside his shifter... aka part of the dashboard. right in front of the flapping open door. I laughed internally the whole way home... when i wasnt clinging on for dear life.
Busses here DO NOT drive slow. they swerve in and out of traffic like a porsche... and the top speed we hit was 120 KPH. (i think thats somewhere around 80 MPH.)
Pretty much that bus ride was the most fun of my life... im not sure it can be topped. (unless maybe i had to rise on top of the bus... haha.)
woof.
The noteworthy aspect of the trip was the bus ride home.
the bus pulls up and i note that its totally full... and there are seven of us that need on. So, ok... well just pile in and stand.
I somehow was the last one in line to board the bus... so when i did, the only spot left (aas gestured to me by the driver) was the hump beside his shifter... aka part of the dashboard. right in front of the flapping open door. I laughed internally the whole way home... when i wasnt clinging on for dear life.
Busses here DO NOT drive slow. they swerve in and out of traffic like a porsche... and the top speed we hit was 120 KPH. (i think thats somewhere around 80 MPH.)
Pretty much that bus ride was the most fun of my life... im not sure it can be topped. (unless maybe i had to rise on top of the bus... haha.)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
real quick.
I dont have much time... but i thought id just post a quick update.
I saw my first gigantic spider. Literally three inches across... hulking across the floor of our shower. I screamed bloody murder and im not afraid to say it. then i turned around and got the crap scared out of me by a stupid lizard.
It rains so hard here... last night shawna and i had to yell at each other in order to hear what we were saying becuase it was so loud... there was 3 inches of standing water on the patio. its crazy! but really cool.
we had our first bus and taxi ride yesterday. the taxi ride was histerical... basically careening through the overcrowded market in a total rattle trap with no seatbelts. i could not stop laughing. people haul around ANYTHING on the tops o these busses. some guy grabbed a bed off yesterday. haha.
my teacher is really nice... but she is not kidding around! haha... i suppose thats good for me... no slacking or cracking of jokes.
I saw my first gigantic spider. Literally three inches across... hulking across the floor of our shower. I screamed bloody murder and im not afraid to say it. then i turned around and got the crap scared out of me by a stupid lizard.
It rains so hard here... last night shawna and i had to yell at each other in order to hear what we were saying becuase it was so loud... there was 3 inches of standing water on the patio. its crazy! but really cool.
we had our first bus and taxi ride yesterday. the taxi ride was histerical... basically careening through the overcrowded market in a total rattle trap with no seatbelts. i could not stop laughing. people haul around ANYTHING on the tops o these busses. some guy grabbed a bed off yesterday. haha.
my teacher is really nice... but she is not kidding around! haha... i suppose thats good for me... no slacking or cracking of jokes.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
one big laugh.
So, life here is one giant akward moment after one giant awkward moment.
A few examples:
sunday, inez was babbling off about something shawna and i couldnt decifer (whats new?), we were on our way to the park, and she just started rambling off like she wanted us to do something, but we had no idea what... so we went off to the park with a sorry look on our face.
yesterday, she rambled off the same thing, and we finally got that she wanted to take us to meet her family.
so basically we refused to go meet her fam to go to the park.
nice.
we cannot possibly eat all she feeds us. we toss the rest. we are not sure if she knows... is offended... etc. haha. we cannot communicate.
the only person that we can carry some semblance of a convo with is sofia, her two year old great grandaughter.
i have adjusted to the fact that i shower with at least 5 spiders everyday, since the shower is mostly outside. (side note... when a strong gust picks up, tons leaves and outdoor crap blow into our room and on my bed.)
there are lizards everwhere in the house. we have named our two favorites josef and maria. (josef was atttempting to visit me in my bed last night. no bueno.)
anyways, thats the update for now... im attempting to adjust. haha!
A few examples:
sunday, inez was babbling off about something shawna and i couldnt decifer (whats new?), we were on our way to the park, and she just started rambling off like she wanted us to do something, but we had no idea what... so we went off to the park with a sorry look on our face.
yesterday, she rambled off the same thing, and we finally got that she wanted to take us to meet her family.
so basically we refused to go meet her fam to go to the park.
nice.
we cannot possibly eat all she feeds us. we toss the rest. we are not sure if she knows... is offended... etc. haha. we cannot communicate.
the only person that we can carry some semblance of a convo with is sofia, her two year old great grandaughter.
i have adjusted to the fact that i shower with at least 5 spiders everyday, since the shower is mostly outside. (side note... when a strong gust picks up, tons leaves and outdoor crap blow into our room and on my bed.)
there are lizards everwhere in the house. we have named our two favorites josef and maria. (josef was atttempting to visit me in my bed last night. no bueno.)
anyways, thats the update for now... im attempting to adjust. haha!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
No Comprende.
we are all settled in to our host home, without incident.
The houses here are... interesting.
You can pretty much see daylight through cracks betweem where the roof and walls meet up. Our shower is is a concrete stall with a glorified sort of spigot scenario. No hot water. (not that anyone in their right mind would take a hot shower... it was 100 degrees today, with, I don´t know, about ONE THOUSAND percent humidity. I went to bed sweating and haven´t stopped since!
Inez and Carlo, our host, are really nice people though. We like them a lot. We think. They speak ZILCH ENGLISH which isn´t a big deal, in theory, but when you are living in a strangers home, and you can´t communicate a thing, it´s pretty interesting.
We a arrived just in time for the national celebration of independence, that´s tomorrow, and possibly tuesday? I couldn´t get a clear translation on inez´s comments on the whole shenanigan. haha.
oh boy.
this is an adventure.
The houses here are... interesting.
You can pretty much see daylight through cracks betweem where the roof and walls meet up. Our shower is is a concrete stall with a glorified sort of spigot scenario. No hot water. (not that anyone in their right mind would take a hot shower... it was 100 degrees today, with, I don´t know, about ONE THOUSAND percent humidity. I went to bed sweating and haven´t stopped since!
Inez and Carlo, our host, are really nice people though. We like them a lot. We think. They speak ZILCH ENGLISH which isn´t a big deal, in theory, but when you are living in a strangers home, and you can´t communicate a thing, it´s pretty interesting.
We a arrived just in time for the national celebration of independence, that´s tomorrow, and possibly tuesday? I couldn´t get a clear translation on inez´s comments on the whole shenanigan. haha.
oh boy.
this is an adventure.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Bienvenidos!
Well, we made it! we are currently camped out in the airport waiting for our ride... small miscommunication about the fact that we actually got another flight. haha. We had a nice taxi driver take us under his wing while we are waiting... he keeps any unnessessary (hopelessly misspelled...) male attention away. bless him!
Anyway, it's been a long day, on basically no sleep... needless to say I'm looking forward to getting to the house and crashing.
Anyway, it's been a long day, on basically no sleep... needless to say I'm looking forward to getting to the house and crashing.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
quick update.
Due to the evacuation of Houston, (thanks to hurricane ike. that sucker is going to wreak some havoc when it finally hits...) I received notice that I needed to get my flight re-routed. ( i had a layover in houston tomorrow, and they are closing the airport tomorrow... an obvious problem for my plans of arriving there.)
Post a slight flip-out (...ok... maybe more than slight...) and three hours of attempting to get ahold of the airline... (because everyone and their mother also needed to be rerouted...) I finally got a live person, and the problem has thankfully been solved.
New airline, new layover airport, new day, I now leave on Saturday.
So random. When I first got wind of that storm (no pun intended... really. ike isn't laughing matter...) I had a feeling it was going to be a problem for me! (slash the millions of people who are most likely going to lose their homes. Texas really needs our prayers.)
Hopefully the next update will be from Granada!
Post a slight flip-out (...ok... maybe more than slight...) and three hours of attempting to get ahold of the airline... (because everyone and their mother also needed to be rerouted...) I finally got a live person, and the problem has thankfully been solved.
New airline, new layover airport, new day, I now leave on Saturday.
So random. When I first got wind of that storm (no pun intended... really. ike isn't laughing matter...) I had a feeling it was going to be a problem for me! (slash the millions of people who are most likely going to lose their homes. Texas really needs our prayers.)
Hopefully the next update will be from Granada!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
dance a tango with chance
Apparently I have decided to head out during the height of hurricane season. (This would happen to be. bah!)
I wouldn't mind a few prayers that none of these level three and above (of which there have been three swirling in that area in the last week.) storms hit Nicaragua in the next week or so. (well, really, the rest of the season would be fine with me too...)
I don't want my flight cancelled though... and I have a layover in Texas, so please just focus your prayers on the Gulf and Caribbean waters.
I leave in SIX days. wow.
:)
I wouldn't mind a few prayers that none of these level three and above (of which there have been three swirling in that area in the last week.) storms hit Nicaragua in the next week or so. (well, really, the rest of the season would be fine with me too...)
I don't want my flight cancelled though... and I have a layover in Texas, so please just focus your prayers on the Gulf and Caribbean waters.
I leave in SIX days. wow.
:)
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