Coming to you from the Cyber-Web.....

Time has been going very quickly as of late. I honestly could not believe that a month has passed. But, apparently it´s been a month since I last wrote. Here are some of the things that have happened:

-I started school again. As in, me being a student. I had kind of forgotten what it was like to do this. I´m back in my itchy uniform, sitting in the same class with all the same kids. It´s easy to feel like it´s still August. I guess the big difference is that I understand everything now. It doesn´t really make school that much more productive, but it is satisfying to see that I´ve obviously learned some things over break. So….Yay?

-Valentine´s Day! I now am only teaching English classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (since Rotary makes me go to school. I would love to teach every day.) And thankfully this Tuesday I got to experience the excitement that is “Día de Amor y Amistad” for those primary school kids. The first thing I noticed was that they were allowed to come in whatever clothing they wanted to (in place of the usual grey uniforms). The fifth and sixth grade girls looked like princesses and the boys looked like their mothers made them wear dress shirts and forcibly combed their hair. Some things are they same everywhere….:)

The next difference was the “gift exchange”.  Where I come from “Valentines” are shiny paper notes you buy at Walgreens (scotch-taped chocolate optional). We gave them to everyone in the class and collected them in the brown paper bags we had decorated the day before. We always enjoyed it a lot. This, however, pales in comparison to the way the families prepare for Valentine´s Day here. Rather than something little for everyone, it´s normal to give some pretty nice to a couple of good friends.  The kids actually bought flowers and balloons and chocolates for each other, some gave stuffed animals. Thankfully there wasn´t anyone who didn´t get anything and it really was sweet.

They also give presents to the teachers. I got balloons, a little pillow that makes kissing noises, a lot of spicy paletas, and this really good homemade chocolate thing.

The mothers made food, from Flan (a caramel flavored pudding with the consistency of jello) to empanadas to hot dogs and had the kids carry in big plates. They put on loud music with speakers someone brought, passed out all the food and then just spent the rest of the morning dancing and eating and having fun. I had to leave to go to school about halfway through the morning, but it was a slow process as I kept getting handed more food. By the time I finally “escaped” and started walking home, I´m sure I was pretty comical looking: Toting a guitar, a bowl of flan, various types of meat, a disorganized pile of English papers, and a pillow that kept shouting “I Lobe You” as I hobbled my way down the street. I certainly felt loved.

-I´ve started French class. Parlez-vous francais? Not really, but I´ll get there.

-It´s not super common to have internet in your house here, so there are a lot of places to go use the internet and pay hourly. These places have a hilarious tendency to use English “techy-sounding” words in ways that don´t really make sense. Like “Cyber-Net-Home” “The Inter-Web here!” and my personal favorite: “Net Web”. Something I get a kick out of on my bus ride.

-I have become a public transportation connoisseur. I know all of the bus routes, can successful  get on a comvi without being scared and think that taxi´s are for the weak. I guess this is one of the blessings of my host family´s insane work schedule. The down side is that they are practically never home, and often can´t drive me places. The upside is that I´ve learned how to get where I need to go for cheap! Independence is fun.

-I have a ticketed return date: July 1^st, 2012.

-Today is my little sister Elyssa´s twelfth birthday! Happy Birthday Elyssa! I miss Elyssa, And Emma and Erica, SO much. This is actually the second birthday in two years that I´ve been absent. They are very good sports with my gallivanting.

So, this post wasn´t exactly cohesive, but I´m trying to fill you in on the times I´ve missed blogging (frequently). I will see you all in a little more than four months!