Primera Semana

June 15^th, 2011

Well today is Wednesday and though it has only been 7 days since I left Nebraska it feels like it has been a year. I can’t believe that I have only been here for a week, I think that is because we have done so much stuff in that little amount of time that I can’t believe it has all fit in 7 days. Lets start with Monday. We started our Monday off with a 6:37 wake up call aka my phone, I changed in my room and then opened to the door to breakfast being place on the table by my host mother. Her host daughters were both in their uniforms for school and sitting down to eat. It was interesting to see what they eat for breakfast, which happens to be more carbs! I had pan y queso (bread and cheese) tea (because she thinks I am sick) and yogurt that you drink. It was all very good, and at 7:30 Sabrina my next door neighbor I mentioned in my previous post, came to my door so we could walk to school together. We ventured out and up the hill and after walking about two minutes a car came up slowly to us and stopped, I yelled “No!” to Sabrina until I realize it was Keren and her host mom and dad! So we jumped in and received a ride to school. Classes all day aka 8-5pm, were mostly comprised of what I like to call “Syllabus Day,” or at least that is what they are called in school. Essentially you learn all the rules, what is expected of you and the overlay of your time, and that is definitely what happened :) After school a huge group of us walked back towards our houses together, but Chris, Sabrina, and myself decided to head out on the town to find a bodega for me to buy a water at, and for Sabrina to get some chocolate. We ended up going on a wild goose chase for the chocolate but were finally able to find some, and when we did, we all said our goodbyes and retreated into our homes. (Besides Chris who had a 30 minute walk back to his house!) I tried my best to speak Spanish with my host family again, I would say I already was getting better than the day before, but still far from where I need to be. We had soup for dinner, which was right up my alley and I was so happy to not have any more rice! I also experienced my first shower in my new home, which was probably colder than jumping into a lake in Alaska in January. I don’t know how people shave here, I envy those with the bucket bath (and I can’t believe I just said that). I later retreated to my room and bed time was shortly after.

I woke up on Tuesday morning a little disoriented because I had to take a Nyquil to stop my coughing in the middle of the night. However I managed to pull myself together and prepare for school. For breakfast I had pan con juevos (a spinach and egg patty on bread) with an oatmeal drink. It is a sticky oatmeal, coffee, and water based “liquid” that you drink, the taste is good, the texture is something one will have to adapt to. I also again had tea because I must sound sick ha…Again Sabrina and myself walked to school, meeting up with many others like Katy, Brittany, Amanda, Zack…a lot of people actually…Tuesday was comprised more of splitting into our language classes and splitting into our specific youth development groups. It is interesting to see how close we have all gotten already, it will be sad to leave each other after these ten weeks. We walked home yesterday again in a big group and then Sabrina and I kind of wandered from our neighborhood up to Buenos Aires neighborhood, it was pretty cool. We then went back to our houses, where I sat down and talked with my host family for like 2 hours, there was a point where I stopped thinking in English which was a major accomplishment. In school earlier that day we had received a cookbook made by current/past volunteers, so I started translating that into Spanish so my host mom could read the recipes…I did only the ones I liked J I told my host sisters I would braid their hair whenever they wanted and that if they ever wanted to play volleyball I would be very happy to join!

Today is Wednesday and I feel like this week will never be over, it is weird to think that I won’t be able to sleep in for like 2 years ha,  but such is life. Today we started off the day with four hours of a language class and for my group we got to be outside J Afterwards we again ate lunch and traveled down the road to the bodega we typically visit at lunch time. Afterwards back for more classes and group work, and then a big group of us walked home, but stopped at a bodega to sit and talk seeing as it is hard to really do so at school because it is so jammed packed. Now I am at my house and writing this because I am planning on going to an internet café or asking to use my families internet so I am able to post some updates for everyone, hopefully I can do this otherwise there may be more to come!
Here are some pictures of my new home :)