9/6/10

No electricity

Sitting around my room without much to do so I figured I'd give and update of whats going on.
Been living in Yali now for about a month and I'm still adjusting to my routine. I go to classes all week and also have some days were I'm planning with the different professors. It's not to difficult since the book is basically a step by step plan. I assist where I can and clear up any confusion they may have over the material. It sometimes can be interesting because Ill understand the material but I have a lot of difficulty trying to use the correct vocabulary. The teachers are very helpful though and they take the time to try and understand exactly what I'm talking about and are very patient. Its interesting to be on the flip side of school and get an impression of what the teachers lives are like.

The classes are a whole different story. It's usually very loud and kids are shouting and walking in and out of the class. The teacher doesn't use the blackboard very often so everything is copied directly from speech to notebooks. It's also very slowly with this method, the teacher usually needs to repeat everything a few times before they get it. I've been taking a lot of notes on this and am trying to find a good method to get the information across but not waste to much time writing every word on the board. This also means that I'm not teaching yet. I'm a bit nervous about the language problem which is still very prevalent. I'm very excited to get going and see what I can do with teaching but I want to make sure I step in with my A game so I can see what I can really do. This week I know I'll be teaching a little bit for a few minutes but its just to clear up some things with the kids.

Also haven't started any side projects yet. I got a lot of ideas flowing through my head but once again the language is a barrier. Here are my top 3 ideas for the next coming months.

1. Start teaching an English class with one of my professors. I think with her I could get more people to come out and help with any translation problems I might have.
2. I want to get a kids group together to play board games and draw and possibly go to the park some days and play some sport or fun games.
3. Get a regular video chat with a Elementary School in NH that my mom works at and the school here. I'm not sure exactly what we could discuss yet but I think it would be good to bridge the two worlds and have them experience a different culture. I still remember doing something similar as a kid in school and having a great time.

Other than that I'm spending a lot of my time reading and relaxing in my room. I have read about 5 books in the past month (I got that much free time.) I try to get out in the city but there’s not much to really do. Little by little I'm coming up with activities and getting my self out there. By this time next month I'll hopefully have a few more friends and more activities on a regular schedule. I also have a site mate named Danielle who I can hang out on weekends who's really cool and its nice to get a little break and speak English to feel normal.

Last weekend I went out to the family farm. It was a one hour horse ride which was my first real time riding. It was defiantly an adventure. We went through the mountains and across three rivers which scared me like who couldn't image.

When we got to the farm I could barely walk and was already dreading the ride home. It was one of family members sons birthday. So there was about 30 people packed into an area about the size of your room. They did some praying and some singing. When I arrived it was nice to get greeted with 60 eyes and no signs of stopping staring. I talked with some different people and shared some stories it was great. I also had some carne asada which was delicious I was the honorary guest or so it felt. In other words I was the only one that got a seat and table.
Everything hurt the way back. Any time the horse started galloping I nearly cried. Of course it rained while we were there so the rivers were twice as deep and more than once my horse and I had to be lead across. I got home and crept my way to my room. I hurt for the next 3 days.

R.I.F.T
These are mostly stories from the story above.

During the party and praying I witnesses the families and children speak it tongues which was interesting. There was also one lady who got possessed ( I don't know what to call it when you shake, cry out, flail about religiously.) I thought it was funny how I noticed everyone near her slowly inch away. One gentleman kept his eye on her and dodged some flying limbs.

After this some of the family told me they wanted to go swimming and I happened to bring my bathing suit ( I was warned) and we headed down to the river. On the way I noticed everyone else was wearing jeans I though this was interesting but Id seen weirder things while swimming here. We got to the water and apparently I was going swimming and everyone else was going to watch. One of the family members knew I had a camera and said he'll take pictures. So If the pictures work this time you'll see some awkward picture of just me in a river. They loved it though and cracked up a lot. I'll admit I put on a little bit of a show splashing around. About 5 minutes after I got out more rain came and the water turned basically to mud. They laughed and said how I would have been washed away. Yeah it was a bit funny and probably wouldn't have happened but still scared me a little bit.

I was on the bus zoning out and noticed a little girl holding some sort of toy. I stared at it thinking what part of what toy is this. It looked like 6 stalagmites all close together. They were all about the same color. My mind was scrambling for about 5 minutes thinking about it. Until I noticed it move. She was holding a chicken by the feet upside down in between her legs. I think I laughed out loud when I realized it.

On the bus again, I eat these delicious empanada things on the bus every other day about. I noticed he had some hot sauce the he offered to everyone but I never figured out how to use it since the empanda is sealed and I didn't want to get it all over myself. Then the big day came where I saw someone bite a corner off and fill it up. This particular day I was standing and thought I'm going for it. I had to let go of the railing above my head in order to properly do it. I bit the corner of the empanada, let go of the bar, grabbed the bottle in a fluid motion as the bus was slowing down. Right before I pour the sauce in the squeeze sport bottle we hit a bump and I shot the hot sauce all over the kid that was serving it to me. I apologized and proceeded to pour it all over my hands not getting any in the empanada. I'm now a bit weary of buying from that kid.

May peace be onto you