School is winding down to the end of the year. We went to a local church's feeding center on Monday for a field trip, and my kiddos ate it up! It isn't open yet, but we collected and donated some canned goods to help them out for when they do. Tuesday we started half-days. Thank goodness! They are ready for break and SO AM I! We are able to leave work at 3 for the rest of the week. Our work day is usually 7:30-4PM. I left school today at 3 and the power was out. I figured I would work out while it was out b/c I couldn't do much anyway. I wasn't really thinking that I would be flipping hot without a fan as the video kicked my butt. I just kept picturing the freezing cold shower I would take as soon as this bullcrap workout was over. :) Ahhhhh. So, I pop in the shower dripping in sweat...and..the water trinkles out the spout. Que!!! Are you kiddddding me?! Nooooooo. I didn't get out. I still tried to shower. Hey, God, pick it up a notch and give me some water, por favor. NOPE. ;) I laugh at this bullcrap because it reminds me of getting stuck in Honduras fully soaped up with the water cut off mid-shower. Ek, it's fun times, I tell ya. Oh, my 5 gal of water was out in my shower, but I had some delivered the other day. I totally should have moved one of them to the shower last night, but I didnt b/c I am a moron...so, I didnt have spare water to use.
So, I took a nap after that because I was still so hot and i could sleep with my wet head to cool down and forget the heat. I woke up at 530 and started dinner. I was done with working out, napping, showering, and dinner by 630PM...WHO AM I? ;)
So, I went to the vegetable market on Monday and loaded up for the week. I always forget that I have to carry groceries alllll the way home. Alyssa flew back to California last week, so I am back to living alone. I miss her sweet face! But, I am enjoying Phyllis Time again :)
I got 1 pineapple, 2 libras of string beans, 2 yellow onions, 2 red onions, 2 red bell, 3 limes, 6 large plum toms, and a bunch of cilantro. This cost about 265 in pesos, so about 6.77 in dollars. I have made a spray bottle of some local corn oil and water for cooking spray to save some money and it seems to work very well. All the imported US products are very expensive. I can survive without these imported items, it will just take some time. Things, like cleaning items, are expensive, yet I want to purchase them because of their quality. The cheapest quality cleaning spray is about 5 dollars. I don't want to skate by on things like that, of course. But, really, I could make a spray bottle with bleach and water and use that to clean only. I have purchased Dawn soap because it is good quality, but I think soon I will go back to the DR hard soap in a container. Sooner or later I will just have to use the no name brands of everything. Slowly, I'm sure this will be fine. I am starting to soak my vegetables in bleach water now. A few weeks ago I was nauseous again and I decided that I wouldn't just wash them in bleach water but let them soak a bit in it for a few minutes. I even wash the veg/fruits that dont have edible skins, like pineapple. I just want to be cautious. This is a bit time consuming for cooking and it aggravates me sometimes. HAHA. I just want to grab an apple and eat it or chop up an onion!! I try to be good and soak everything when I get it, so I can just get it out of the fridge when I need it.
Randoms:
I cant remember if I wrote these out yet!? I have a list. That is a complete lie. I have hundreds of lists! :) So, I will add some of the things below that are on random lists/books/notepads.
-People use their lips to point to things or places with a head nod to point to the location of the place.
-They squint their noses to say "what?" instead of how we kinda squint our eyes and cock our heads to say "I dont understand."
-two hands up palms out means, I dont know. Kinda how we shrug our shoulders.
-When the National Anthem is being played ANYWHERE, you stop immediately to listen and sing. We do this every morning at flag time. I see people through the windows stop to be at attention for the music. I was told if it is playing and you hear it on the streets, you stop.
-My students dont know common nursery rhymes and it cracks me up when I start one and they look at me like what??? I was trying to use Jack and Jill as an example for our story elements worm and they HAD no idea what I was talking about. I laugh to myself a lot. My aid, Lydia, and I just look at each other and crack up. I tried to do the Itsy Bitsy Spider on teh field trip mini-bus, fail.
-We dont have paper towels in teh bathroom, so when we have a spill we use papers from the trash can. Gracie had a few phonics papers, so she cleaned up her water with the old ones.
-My parents encourage their kids to "hug and kiss Ms Brady" goodbye, I think this is too sweet! In the States, nevah. I kiss my kids on the forehead all the time and I never have to email their parents letting them know I accidentally kissed their kid (which i always did in the States to be safe. Parents never cared in the States, but of course, we dont do that).
-I love that I dont have to iron a thing here. Line-dried wrinkly clothes are normal :)
-A lot of parents spoon feed their kids up through middle-school. They enjoy their kids relying on them for everything.
-Someone said I can renew my passport here, so I need to find that out by summer. Mine exp June 2013 and you have to hand it in to renew it in the States. I wouldn't be able to fly out to come back if I did it the week I am home after Honduras.
-Mannequins in the stores (for displaying clothing) have VERY different proportions to the US ones. I can't help but crack up when I see one of these very volumptious mannequins. Women's bodies are real here. Wait, not their butts. You can purchase a booty at La Sirena and I swear everyone has a pair of these undies. People arent fit here, but they seriously love their bodies, that is for sure. Women show off everything they have, to put it a nice way. Even young girls <---bothers me, big time.
-Parents wear things to school that we wouldn't allow in the States, but it is culturally acceptable here.
-Min days to rent a car is 3. Why? I have no idea.
-Grilled chicken at restaurants and shops are nonexistent, I swear. Fried, fried, fried. Everything fried.
-The comedor sells my students coca-cola, candy, chocolate, donuts, and fried foods at snack time. I want to scream. I take that back, I did scream today when I asked a kid what was in her cup and she said soda in Spanish. I tell them not to buy that stuff, but I am also told that I can't dictate what kids purchase.
Okay, I think I am going to go practice more Spanish. I am determined to study more often!! Listening to Spanish Christian music, reading my Spanish/English Bible, and studying how sentence structure works w Spa seems to be doing the trick.
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