I meant to write in the last entry that I got paid for October! The director of the school just cut me a check; no bank account necessary. I was able to cash the check without any issues. It's nice to get paid even without having the whole NIE thing lined up yet. I just really, really hope the appointment on Tuesday goes smoothly. It'll be the first thing in this long process to go right and I could really use a burst of positivity right now, so please keep your fingers crossed!
I've been meaning to make a note of greetings here. I love the whole kissing on the cheek thing as a greeting when you encounter someone you know or someone you are meeting for the first time. I still, sometimes, have an issue of when I should do this. It's very common for people to stand up at the table when friends or acquaintances approach. I've caught myself staying seated on a couple occassions and I sincerely hope that I was not considered rude. At any introduction, however, I am on my feet and kissing cheeks with the rest of them. I still catch myself trying to shake hands... that is not common at all, haha. It screams "outsider!" I'm getting it figured out, though. Another thing in the line of greetings are the casual passings on the streets. Smiles get you no where. An "hola" or "buena" in passing will always get you a response, however. Everyone is really very friendly. The greetings are genuine and sweet. Sometimes, I just smile as I pass by and most of them either stare at me or just stare ahead in ignorance of me. However, if I say "Buena," to anyone (even if they aren't in fact paying any attention to me), they will quickly acknowledge me and say some form of a reply. :) I try to picture how that may go over in the states. Rarely do you even smile when passing people (strangers) in the street, let alone actually say something to them and have them reply. I do my best to greet everyone now and I really like it. I think it's something I'll bring home with me. Maybe not the kissing of the cheeks thing, haha, not sure how that would go over where I come from... :)
Where I come from... I come from the Greatest Place on the Planet! A very minor blip on the radars of most, but it is where I call home: THE Cook Ranch. And I miss it. I was thinking of things that I missed and came up with a few things I wanted to mention. Of course, my friends and family will stand strong at the top of that list, but I came up with some other things to mention. I miss seeing Lynnon grow up. (I know that is technically in the family category, but it deserves to be pointed out, I think) I'm faring pretty well not actually getting to hold her and play with her, but I do miss that I am not there to hear her laugh so heartily and walk all over the place in person. She's gonna be so big next year by the time that I see her! It makes me sad to not be around more for that, but thanks to Facebook, it allows me to stay up on her and the rest of the family. Still waiting on Trent and Abby to get a Skype so I can see them sometime (hint, hint, nudge, nudge). :) Since it is getting so cold... I really miss the winter weather foods! Chili. Home-made Chicken Noodle Soup. Taco Soup. MMMmmmm! I miss silly things like ranch dressing, colby-monterrey jack cheese, Subway, and going to movies regularly. I really miss having a vehicle at my disposal. That part kind of sucks, but at the same time... I'd be terrified to drive here... I'll elaborate on that later. And I miss football season terribly! Win or lose, I miss watching the Chiefs on Sundays. Overall, though, I'm doing really good. Aside from my family and friends, it's mainly the food that I miss, but that's trivial. :) I can survive anything for awhile. I still want to find a place where I can learn to cook some traditional Spanish cuisine so I can take it home with me next summer.
So, I think I may have mentioned that we "teach the teachers" on Monday afternoons. I genuinely feel like it is a waste of time. I won't complain because I get paid to sit there for 30 minutes and have a forced conversation. We are supposed to be there at 4:30 and it's supposed to be an hour long 'meeting.' We arrive at 4:30, but never get started until 4:45 or 4:50. Like I said, everything is just so relaxed here. They have decided to split us up into two groups. One group is for the people that are more familiar with the English language and the other is for the people who cannot speak it as well. I go with the group that is more familiar with English simply because I don't have the strength that Joanne does in the Spanish language, so she's able to answer questions and conversate with that group much better than I could. In time, hopefully we can switch it up. :) Anyway, my group is in the teacher's lounge. I like to take my responsibilities seriously. I was told to come up with a topic for each Monday, so I had one ready for this past Monday, like I was told. I attempted to start the conversation and the only two that showed up said they wanted to relax and just be lazy, in a sense. So, they had a conversation in Spanish, occasionally acknowledging me and speaking in English to let me know, in general, what they were talking about. I mostly just sat there and stared out the window. It was really annoying, to be honest. I listened and tried to give input when I could or when I understood, but it was really tough. It's a good way for me to practice my Spanish and I do see that as a positive, but I can't get much knowledge if I don't have someone to help me translate or fix any errors (of which there are many), ya' know? I don't even know if that makes sense. It's kind of like other situations I have encountered here, I just need to lower my expectations. I don't mean that negatively. I just mean I need to adjust (that may be a better word) my expectations. Like I said, though, it's easy money, but that's not why I came here. Maybe in time, it will get better, though. We are all still adjusting to each other, as well.
Apparently, I must just need to complain about the weather for it to change. It's been really nice the last couple of days (hopefully that doesn't jinx me in the opposite way, haha). The sun has been shining and it's been nice enough to take walks and enjoy the air. I took a walk today just to one side of the village that I hadn't been on yet. I took a few pictures of the scenery. I know it's repetitive in taking pictures of the mountains, but I simply think it's gorgeous. Waking up and seeing mountains outside my window is pretty cool. They aren't snow-capped (not yet, anyway), but they are changing colors with the season and it's really pretty. I think so, anyway.
Here are a couple other pictures I took as I was walking around that I thought I'd include. :)
This isn't anything in particular. Just a view down the streets with some mountains in the background.
This is the plaza in the center of town. I really like the changing of colors everywhere.
I know I haven't had any real stories of traveling adventures yet, but I'm not super bummed about that. My holiday adventure will be the first of my stories and from there, I hope to have many. There are so many places that I want to see and things I want to do. Come January, I hope to begin having at least a trip a month or so. You'll hear about it when I do, I promise. :)
I'm going to try to take some photos of the students and teachers and such to post in the coming weeks so you can see who I am working with. I'll work on that, but until then... I hope you all are doing well! Much love! <3
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