One month.

Shawna and I just concluded our fourth week of class... on Monday we will have officially been in Granada for a month.
I definitely don't feel like I've been here that long!

On Monday, we start our volunteer work through the school, I'm pretty excited about this and way nervous at the same time. We pretty much haven't had to experience life without the safety net of the school, and the teachers talking slow and comprehending our crappy Spanish. When we volunteer, it's just us and the organization, and it's up to us to comprehend and communicate fully on our own. I think the first week will be full of completely humiliating moments. I'm braced for it.
I think I'm either going to volunteer at a house for women, (which is basically a place to educate battered women, provide them with skills, and raise their self-esteem.) or at Carita Feliz, which is an orginization that provides education, activities, and food to kids in the barrio we were living in who don't have enough money for school, and who's parents can't afford to feed them. I haven't decided yet.

We found out that part of the family we live with goes to an Assemblies of God church in Masaya (about 20 minutes away...), and the church has a bus service that can take us there and back. So, this Sunday we will have our first experience at a church here... also a scary thought. This next couple of weeks we just have to start acting like we speak Spanish... (and I guess in reality, we pretty much do...) which is intimidating outside the boundaries of school, which has pretty much become a comfort zone. But I'm excited to be able to really start living here.

Our evening of babysitting went well, and the boys officially love us, (yes marianne, they are putty in my hands...) and the family is great. Last night we all sat around and Shawna and I listened to Rodolfo (the first) tell jokes (he's quite the jokester...), while the whole fam laughed. We didn't catch much of what actually went on, haha... but it was fun to be part of the family and laugh with them.

I'm not sure if I ever explained, but here's a rundown of who lives here.
Rodolfo and Rosario- they are the grandparents... not very old though... somewhere in their 60's.
Felix and Claudia- Claudia is Ridolfo and Rosario's daughter, and felix is her husband. They have two boys, Felix (age 12) and Alesandro (age 6). Also living here is Rodolfo (age 12), Felix and Claudia's nephew, child of Roldofo, Rosario and Ridolfo's son who lives in Guatemala. I'm not really clear on why his son lives here.
Anyways... we really like the fam, and are starting to get used to the tradition of naming your first born son after you. (In our other house... the extended family was soley comprised of Carlos's.) We are no longer confused by the three Rodolfo's or the multiple Felix's.