First order of business: Don't tell me how the football games turn out. I've got two people (momma and Ray) that are taping them for me and I want them to be a surprise. Thanks :-)
Second: I didn't realize that you had to be a member to post comments so I went into my setting and changed them so you can post "anonymously" if you aren't a member but, ya know, you can still sign your name so we know who you are.
Third: Just FYI, if you click on the pictures they will enlarge so you can see more detail.
Now that that is taking care of...
At the close of the first week of language school the task of learning Spanish seems very arduous and unattainable but I do notice that my comprehension skills are improving when I interact with my host family. The most frustrating part is not having the vocabulary. After four years of learning only vocab in German I was ready for the conversational German in college. In language school we have jumped right into the conversational. The teachers are very patient and have a good sense of humor which makes things a little easier. All I can worry about is tomorrow.
Yesterday was Betty's Aunt's birthday. I came home from the institute sponsored Cochabamba tour and there were about five extra people in the house. I'm not sure how they are related but one of the families was talking to me and it turns out that they lived in Virginia for about ten years. Not just in Virginia but they lived off of Glebe road! We had a very nice visit, comparing Alexandria to Cochabamba. The wife is currently a lawyer doing property law but in the US she was working as a babysitter and housekeeper. It makes me wonder what other highly educated/skilled immigrants are working jobs below their skill level. Chicha is a homemade fermented corn beer, and the chicha was flowing last night. I was offered some but I respectfully declined because it smelled awful. It smelled like...fermented corn. The birthday girl and the three men were drinking it like it was water though. It was interesting because they drank it out of hollowed out and dried gourds and they would throw the last few sips onto the ground. I'm not sure if it is ritual or if there is gross sediment at the bottom. They were also speaking Quechuan (the main indigenous language of Cochabamba) but the Aunt is the only one that dresses in traditional clothing.
As I was leaving the house and walking to school the other day I noticed a little dog following me and when I looked closely I realized it was one of the dogs that belongs to my house. I still have no idea how it got outside. He was having a grand time peeing all over the place, marking this new and exciting territory. I wondered how I could get him back in the house but all I had to do was walk back and he followed me. He got a little distracted playing with some other dogs so I told him to hurry up and he started running toward me and went right into the house. Who knew I had a bi-lingual dog living with me.
The tour of the city was great but I didn't bring my camera because I figure that I have three years to take pictures and didn't want to carry around the excess baggage. It is a bigger city than I thought but the Bolivians I talked to last night said that it is much much smaller than Alexandria or Arlington. I guess it's just a matter of getting acquainted and situated. Now I need to get away from the computer so I am not tempted to check the football scores.
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1 comment:
when you do find out how the games went, can you post here so then we can talk about it?
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