Aye aye...let that title sink in a bit. Last entry referred to SKIM ICE which I cleverly forgot to explain. Skim Ice are those frozen icicle treats that are in plastic tube / wrapping, you snip the top and enjoy a frozen treat. Well, it can get a bit tricky at the end when you have a long slender plastic tube and a little liquid that you just wanna finish so badly bc it is so insanely hot, so you push it up only to have it explode all over your white shirt...le sigh.
Entonces, Friday afternoon I was supposed to begin my community diagnostic with Antonia, a teacher at my school. She told ^muy muy temprano^ because its so hot...so I get to the school promptly at 8am and who`s not here? Yep, true to form. So I waited until she arrived and then she told me she had to go home for something...um, didn`t you just leave your house? Obvioulsy I did not ask this obvious question, but rather Bien, I`ll continue to wait. In the meantime, I helped the secretary make an end of the year document, that since I am in fact a trained computer expert should have taken me 20 minutes instead of the 1.5hrs it really did. But, before taking forever on said doc, Antonia returned in a completely different outfit only to tell me 15 minutes later that after discussion with another teacher, they felt it was better for me to attend the PTA meeting and go in the afternoons as it is so hot and many people are at work in the morning and we don`t want to disturb them. OK, I get, I really do, its ungodly hot, BUT there is ALWAYS someone home here, usually the woman, or at least one of the many possible women who live in said casa. Also, I have never been to a house here where people are not welcoming to a pop-in visit, especially by someone they know ie Antonia. So, I sighed and said ^Bueno^. Monday it is then. After of course my presentation to the PTA. Well, the PTA mtg was that afternoon and the entire gym was filled to the brim as I made my way to the front to give the classic:
Buenos Dias, Mi nombre es Arianna, soy de Florida, soy una Voluntaria con Cuerpo de Paz, blahblah...I also cracked a joke, something to the effect of `don`t be scared if you see with papers and surveys..`not so sure how it went over, but I did get a fuerte aplauso. After the meeting conclued a few people approached me, said hello and the like, but nothing prepared for me Nelli. Nelli was a whirlwind of a lady and scooped me up bc she had heard that I was looking for a casa and or room and she had just the thing! Well, within a 10 minute walk we arrived at her two story casa and I met her husband and they kids and their tienda in the casa and almost all of her paintings as well. Then upstairs to the roof deck while we waited for the room in question to be unlocked. During this time, she asked me 20 preguntas about my current living situation, essentially bad-mouthing the Dona I currently live with, only to say that she (my current Dona) is a `muy buena persona.` Well, the room in fact turned out to be a room and a bathroom and that is just not going to happen...thats what I got now...mama needs a little more space and a casa sin ninos!!!! After the real estate adventure, the heavy questioning began: do you have a boyfriend, do you have a husband, do you have kids, what do you like in men...oh well then I have the perfect chico for you; PABLO, my brother in law! This was my inner monologue: NOOOOOOO! But, my friendly PCV face said, ok to dinner the following night where a meeting with the infamous Pablo was more than assured. The following night Nelli and her esposo picked me up and took me back to their casa where I immediatley met Pablo. Nelli took me into the kitchen and held up various food items, asking me
N: Tu sabe? te gusta? (she was holding eggs.)
Me: Si., Si yo se. Huevos.
N: Y esto, que es? Te gusta? (she handed me a can of pumpkin puree from 1975.)
Me: Ay, esto es puree de pumpkin, es bueno en biscocho. ( Its good in pie)
And on it went, until her husband thought it would be better to go upstairs to the deck, of course with Pablo. Not 3 minutes after we sat did the hubby ditch me to converse with his bro. So Pablo and I began with the status quo preguntas about Peace Corps and the like. Then, 15 minutes in
Pablo: Nelli me hablo sobre ti. (Nelli talked to me about you)
Me: Ah, uh huh.
Pablo: Si, tiene un novio?
Me: No (I don`t wanna get caught in a lie if another Juan, Pablo, Carlos,etc catches my fancy)
Pablo: En serio, como una linda mujer como tu no tiene un novio? (Seriously,how can a pretty girl like you not have a boyfriend?)
Me: Ha. Uh, ahora yo estoy enfocando en mi trabajo. (Tehe, right now I am focusing on my work)
Pablo: Bueno, cuando nosotros vamos a estar novios? ( Ok, when are we gonna be boyfriend/girlfriend?)
Me: Um, nosotros solemente conocimos este momento. Esperate. (Um we just met. Chill out)
Pablo: Tu crees en amor en el primer vista? (Do you believe in love at first sight?)
Me: NOPE.
Pablo: Pero, tu crees in quimica? Tu piensas nosotros tenemos quimica? (But you believe in chemistry, do you think we have it?)
Me: Uh, yo tengo hambre.
Yes, this is casi (almost) word for word. It did not stop until I went home and not without Pablo wanting to meet Aaron, because he was to be his future cuñado (brother in law). So, finally after I couldn`t take it anymore, I said I was tired and needed to go home. Pablo, being the gentlemen that he is, took me home and I swear I sat so close to the door that I was ready to do a duck and roll at a moments notice. Gracias a dios, my casa is not far and I flew out of the car and bid Pablo adios!
A rational human being might get the picture. No, yesterday afternoon while sitting, sweating on my porch, who rolls by? Pablo. Pablo inquired if I was going over to Nelli`s house...nope, Yo voy a quedar aqui. (No, I`m staying here.)
In other news: last week I played dominos and made good with the family of my project partner and essentially have an open invitation to their casa anytime I want (without fear of Pablo types).
Today I am once again going to attempt my community diagnostic with Antonia. As well as trying to press the Se of Ed to change out my broken computers and maybe get a committee going for the newspaper project I wanna start. Also, going into the Capital this weekend for some R&R, English and a dip in the Embassy pool for a friend`s bday!
That`s the latest cuenta!
hasta luego
A
Monday, June 16, 2008
Skim Ice
Que lo que? I feel the need to open each email with some kind of greeting in Espanol...we can all learn Espanol together! So where did we leave off? Hmm, not sure either, but right now I am spending the day in La Vega with another PCV so we can eat something other than rice, boiled bananas and beans. I am also in desperate need of a toilet bowl cleaner as apparently I am the only one in my town who feels they are neccesary...Ah, now I recall, as of last email I was getting ready to attend my first Catholic service with my vecina (neighbor) Milday. However, previous to that I was SUPPOSED to go on an excursion with my project partner and the pres of the Eco Society. Well, at about 9:45am Saturday morning (knowing full well that I was going to be waiting around for awhile) I got a call. PP; Hola AriannaMe; Hola, que pasa?PP; Ah si, un problemita, Vinicio se fue por La Vega con el sacerdote para una vaina. (V went with the Priest to La Vega for a thing)Me; Ah, ok, entonces a que hora nosotros vamos a ir? (Ok, well, when are we going to go?)PP; Ah, no se, pero voy a buscarte a horita. (I dont know, but I`ll come find you in a lil while.)Me; Bueno, ok.By now you can see where this was going and so I went back to my bed and continued to read my trashy Marian Keyes chick lit novel. That afternoon, I was over Marian and decided to go exploring by myself. So i went walking and ended up near the Catholic Churhc where I found Vinicio. Who knows what la vaina was that he needed to take care of, but he pulled me into the courtyard and introduced me to who I intially thought were the jovenes from the Eco Society, only to find out AFTER I gave a lil speech about how much I just love the envrionment blahblahblah, that they were in fact Girl Scouts! But no harm no foul and this Saturday they are taking (we`ll see) on a tour of the other barrios in Fantino. Also, my friend who I am with today, is a huge Girl Scout proponant and when I told the Guia Scouts leader that I had una amiga that wanted to start her own group in Cutupu she almost swallowed her whistle with excitement! Entonces, we are gonna go help my friend start at Guia Scouts. After, that meeting I went over to the other side of the courtyard and in face met the jovenes of the Eco Society which was also pretty cool. However I had to leave pretty quickly and go home and get ready for Church.
Off to Church with Milady and I was looking pretty cute (if I don´t say so myself, also meaning not profusley sweating). Way more people in the Catholic Church than the Evangelico one and also an interesting discovery. My discovery was that the prick (pardon my espanol) who is a member of my comittee inexplicably, answered for me when the Subdirector of my school asked me if I knew what ^gringo^ meant. Prick; No, ella no sabe, ella no entiende. (She doesn`t know, she doesn`t understand)Me; Bueno, Yo entiendo and tambien, yo se la significa y la cuenta sobre gringo. (I do understand and I do know the meaning AND storty behind gringo)After my explanation, he put his eyes back in his head and picked his jaw up off the floor. But I was still ticked bc he hasn`t been the warmest to me, so I left without saying goodbye. However, this special gent is not the Priest, but another (clearly) important member of the Church, as he was on stage the whole time and took part in the Host / Wine process. Woops. Nah, I my exit was not that dramatic but I did feel a bit idiotic after I saw him in Church. FYI, I still think he is a prick because he has given more evidence to support this as during another meeting with my boss from Peace Corps, he felt it was appropriate to play on his lab top and not participate at all! Ah, cosas de la vida, verdad?Moving along, Sunday am, back to Evangelico Church where I met more peeps and shook some more hands and swayed with the songs of Jesus. After, went home and napped until my other Project partner and her family picked me up for an unknown destination. It was a long afternoon and this email is already long enough, so I will say this; ALL her family was soo nice and my Espanol was flowing like the salmon of Capistrano (sorry I couldn`t resist the reference). We visited 3 campos and at the second to last one, we went to a birthday party where I met on of her many many many tios (uncles) who also had a PCV and they are still bueno amigos and he LOVES PC! SO, we had nice convo and I also had a nice glass of Presidente. While chatting with PPs bro, he said, Oh I know you like Bohemia (another brew). We`ll get some on the way back. So we bid the party adios and off we went, back through the gorgeous rolling lomas and rio vista. But not without stopping for some Bohemia. He bought a whole large one for myself...well I thought when in Rome, and down the hatch in the car ride on our way to another campo and another primo....
So beyond that my week has both been very busy and very boring, which I am learning is probably going to be commonplace here. Last night I watched Inconvient Truth with the Brigada Verde...very very interesting. Go see it if you haven`t yet. And today I have another meeting with my comite to discuss the community diagnostic. That`s my cuenta!
paz afuera A
Off to Church with Milady and I was looking pretty cute (if I don´t say so myself, also meaning not profusley sweating). Way more people in the Catholic Church than the Evangelico one and also an interesting discovery. My discovery was that the prick (pardon my espanol) who is a member of my comittee inexplicably, answered for me when the Subdirector of my school asked me if I knew what ^gringo^ meant. Prick; No, ella no sabe, ella no entiende. (She doesn`t know, she doesn`t understand)Me; Bueno, Yo entiendo and tambien, yo se la significa y la cuenta sobre gringo. (I do understand and I do know the meaning AND storty behind gringo)After my explanation, he put his eyes back in his head and picked his jaw up off the floor. But I was still ticked bc he hasn`t been the warmest to me, so I left without saying goodbye. However, this special gent is not the Priest, but another (clearly) important member of the Church, as he was on stage the whole time and took part in the Host / Wine process. Woops. Nah, I my exit was not that dramatic but I did feel a bit idiotic after I saw him in Church. FYI, I still think he is a prick because he has given more evidence to support this as during another meeting with my boss from Peace Corps, he felt it was appropriate to play on his lab top and not participate at all! Ah, cosas de la vida, verdad?Moving along, Sunday am, back to Evangelico Church where I met more peeps and shook some more hands and swayed with the songs of Jesus. After, went home and napped until my other Project partner and her family picked me up for an unknown destination. It was a long afternoon and this email is already long enough, so I will say this; ALL her family was soo nice and my Espanol was flowing like the salmon of Capistrano (sorry I couldn`t resist the reference). We visited 3 campos and at the second to last one, we went to a birthday party where I met on of her many many many tios (uncles) who also had a PCV and they are still bueno amigos and he LOVES PC! SO, we had nice convo and I also had a nice glass of Presidente. While chatting with PPs bro, he said, Oh I know you like Bohemia (another brew). We`ll get some on the way back. So we bid the party adios and off we went, back through the gorgeous rolling lomas and rio vista. But not without stopping for some Bohemia. He bought a whole large one for myself...well I thought when in Rome, and down the hatch in the car ride on our way to another campo and another primo....
So beyond that my week has both been very busy and very boring, which I am learning is probably going to be commonplace here. Last night I watched Inconvient Truth with the Brigada Verde...very very interesting. Go see it if you haven`t yet. And today I have another meeting with my comite to discuss the community diagnostic. That`s my cuenta!
paz afuera A
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