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