Back on Track

The contract was approved. Apparently the Minister wanted an evaluation of our program but the Ministry had done a poor job with their record keeping so a proper evaluation was not truly possible. In the end it all got cleared up and they realized their error. I visited my site on Tuesday and Wednesday, returned to San Jose Thursday and Friday to retrieve the rest of my things and now am back in La Violeta.

It's been a whirlwind week but certainly not a bad one. As I mentioned in my email I've been a bit frustrated with my lack of Spanish and inability to fully communicate and understand what is going on. But my understanding seems to fluctuate. For example its usually pretty bad in the morning when I first wake up. Trying to be patient and remember I've only been here a month. I've also gotten pretty used to "not knowing." For example I might be going somewhere (San Jose? my host mother's mother's house? a birthday party?) with someone (my host sister? her niece and nephew?) on Saturday (not sure what time). I will find out at some point on Saturday, probably while we're on the way there or when we arrive. So as opposed to being super prepared and having a plan for everything (the usual way) I've adopted the nod, wait and see method. Give some vague acknowledgement of what is being said to me, and then wait until something happens to see what they meant. Keeps things interesting for sure!

Otherwise things are going pretty great. Not very busy. Finished book two of His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. I've also be going for walks in the morning before I shower in attempt to heat myself up and make the freezing cold shower a bit more welcome. It's not so bad but I'm definitely gaining a whole new appreciation for readily available hot water. Walks here are nothing short of breathtaking. Que tranquilla! Blue skies and mountains in every direction exhibiting every shade of green imaginable. The food has been great here too. Better than my family in Orosi. My host mother used to be the school cook which (luckily) doesn't mean quite the same thing as it does in the states. She taught me how to make tortillas! Looking forward to more cooking lessons. Getting psyched for school to start too :)