Things are beginning to settle down to a routine based around our daily English class in Pucará and what has basically become an afterschool program in English in Chijnaya. Needless to say, there is ample time for funny moments, family adventures, "peaceful" games of Rummy in Daphne's room, and preparation for what promises to be a smashing Halloween party. Oh yeah, and the professor who started the Chijnaya Foundation, Ralph Bolton, is coming TODAY for his birthday. This, I can assure you, will be no ordinary birthday. There will be lots of Peruvian line dancing (in fact, other communities are coming for a dancing competition), newly cut trees lining the road, elephant size portions of meat, a buffet-style lunch (which César and Paula were puzzled about), a CAKE (!!!) with Happy Birthday written in English, and probably copious amounts of drinking.
But before I get there (as it hasn't happened yet) I have to backtrack a couple of weeks to where I left you all off; back to a couple of fin de semanas atrás when Beto, Richard, and I went to arrear the vaca (and ovejas) lejos. This entails stocking up on yummies like hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, tuna (which, thank heaven, we didn't end up eating), fresh cheese, and gaseosa (soda). Then all this food, plus rain gear, is put on top of a bicycle, and we set off down to where the cows are being held (a temporary situation due to adobe blocks in their normal yard), set them loose, and herd them, along with the traviosa sheep, along a wide dirt road pointing to the mountains to the west. I was told that other family members from Paula's side would also be joining us, but for about half of the "trek" it was just Beto, Richard, and I. We passed the time telling stories...well I told stories. Interestingly, I was the one who ended up telling Peruvian stories about condenados (the damned), though I also treated them to a classic American scary story about a boy and his (dead) dog. Oh! and I also told them the story about Ferdinand the bull. It seemed appropriate as we were surrounded by all those cows.
About halfway up to the pasture we stopped to let the cows have water and so that a couple of cousins that we saw in the distance could catch up. A boy who is simply called Chico came riding up on his bicycle and another small one came bustle up beside him. This small one gave me a huge smile and immediately took hold of my hand and began dragging me around. At first I was baffled by this forwardness because I was under the impression that this small one was Lucmila's (Paula's youngest sister) youngest child, Chano, a boy. I was struck again by how much "he" looked like a girl (long hair and feminine features that I can't quite put my finger on), but I tried to put these thoughts behind me. "He" had not yet said one word, so when a full sentence about the vaca came busting out of this small person I instantly realized my mistake. This was Jimena! (the second to youngest traviosa chica) Not Chano at all! She had just gotten a haircut apparently. But still, how I mixed up a five year old with a two year old is still a mystery.
Well, we continued on up, Jimena still holding my hand, and with Elida/Chavi (the second oldest) and Lucmila who had caught up with us. The landscape is beautiful. Dry, grassy hills that continued to soar higher, with bare, rocky and lichened cliffs, and littered with small scrub trees. At one point I watched as an eagle or a hawk (I still don't know my Peruvian birds very well) approached from the mountains on the other side of the valley and fly right towards, then into, the rock face directly in front of where we had stopped. Then, barely a second later, it reemerged with a second eagle/hawk, of a lighter shade, and they both took off to another site of the rock facce with a songbird hot on their tails. Mamaranti (Paula's mom, who had just arrived with Magaly, Lucmila's oldest) said something about hunting, but I couldn't quite figure it out.
After sharing some gaseosa with the entire family, we kids took off to explore the rock face (from which the eagle/hawks had flown) and the rest of the hill above it. We climbed up through a beautiful passage walled by cliffs and consisting of nearly impenetrable shrubbery in places (it reminded me of the steep trail at Tumbledown). Magaly, Elida, and I straggled behind helping Jimena, while the boys raced ahead. We climbed about on boulders, slung small rocks with slingshots, took pictures of ourselves and tiny baby birds Beto found on the top in a tree, and poked around a bit. After about an hour we went down for lunch, which turned out to be quite enjoyable.
Having herded the cows and sheep down to the stream so they could drink and munch on the more substantial green grass, we set ourselves down in a spot with a good vantage point from where most of the animals could be seen. A blanket was laid out heaping with habas (a type of bean...lima??), potatoes, fried wheat munchables, eggs, and the cheese (from the local quesaría!). After lunch, the kids played/wrestled, Mamaranti shot a plastic dart revolver at her grandsons and challenged them to a boxing match, and I went running back up the mountain to chase down some roaming sheep. Beto and Chico followed me with their slingshots to persuade the sheep in the other direction. Then thunderheads began to move in.
The whole party finally got a move on, but a few steps into the descent rain started to fall. Soon the rain was accompanied by hail and a strong wind. Thunder was sounding in the distance and I could see flashes of lightening over some not-so-distant peaks. Jimena took hold of my hand again, but I told her she could ride on my back so we could go faster. We had a lovely time singing under the poncho Beto insisted I wear over the both of us (Jimena and I). When we had reached the bottom of the hill and the long, flat section back to town, Jimena decided she'd had enough of piggy-back riding. I let her down and took the bicycle from Richard, who was looking tired. This, I quickly realized, was a bad idea altogether (pushing a metal bike). Thunder clapped almost directly above us after a quite startling bolt of lightening. It didn't seem like I had too many options, so I put the straggling Jimena on the bike (probably not such a great idea...) took shelter among the cows, and booked it back to Chijnaya. Quite a heart-thumping end to a quite peaceful day.
Back at Chijnaya the power was out (as apparently always happens in thunderstorms), so I stripped off my wet clothes, put on long underwear, and got into my sleeping bag. Later, after dinner, Beto, Richard and I played with a rapidly melting beeswax candle I brought and told a couple more stories before heading to bed.
...
Well, I didn't mean to go on for quite so long, but it was a nice day.
Classes have been going fine, if a little frustrating at the colegio. These high schoolers don't seem to be taking us seriously--not doing their homework, not studying for quizzes, etc. But I'm pretty sure bad quiz grades will change their minds.
On the afterschool English class front things are going quite well. Maren's been reading Where The Wild Things Are, which is quite a hit, and we've been drawing monsters in preparation for Halloween. The collective monster drawn yesterday was exceedingly scary...double chin, three eyes, ghost-like body, four gruesome hands, wings, and wacky hair. The kids loved it.
Well, I have no doubt that I'll have a lot more to write after Ralph's birthday party and Halloween, so I'll leave you here.
¡Hasta pronto!
Los Andes
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
It's funny that in my last post I mentioned my lack of appetite...It has suddenly returned with the force of a charging three-wheeled Juliaca cart (taxi/motorcycle thingys). I have taken to eating copious amounts of bread at breakfast and dinner (I think this morning I had six...). Anyway, I suppose that's good news.
The past week and a half have been quite eventful. We have successfully started classes at the colegio (high school), the local kids of Chijnaya can't seem to get enough of English class, I'm still playing a lot of cards (though not as much), and the rain is slowly showing its face among rather startling claps of thunder and lightening bolts.
The classes at the high school are going well, though all of the classes that we have are at a very very basic level of English, despite what their 'textbooks' indicate. We were told by the director of the high school that our job was to enhance the curriculum laid out in their texts, but these are about five or six levels above their actual abilities. This means that we are starting from scratch and get to be really creative when it comes to how we're going to structure the class. I think it's going to be quite fun, though challenging (I'm already thinking about possibilities for class at least five times a day).
The classes themselves have around 25 kids in them, from the ages of 15-20. There are many kids that come in from Chijnaya to the colegio, so we're getting to know a broader spectrum of the community as well as teaching English, which is great. So far the biggest challenge is getting the kids to talk, though they say that becoming better at pronunciation is one of their priorities. We've been playing games like 2 truths and a lie, and chalkboard races to get them involved. Now the question is maintaining that involvement throughout the next few weeks.
In our English classes in Chijnaya, involvement is the opposite of a problem. Yesterday, in the middle of a rain/thunder/lightening storm Maren discovered seven kids waiting outside her bedroom door for class! We had told them the day before that there would be no class because the school was not open, but this did not seem to bother them in the least. Of course we couldn't ignore such enthusiasm so we had a game day class, playing 'blind cow' (which everyone got a kick out of because they got to wear cow masks), Simon Says, and Memory (which they got Super into). So, despite some middle school 'delinquents' (mal criados) who were a bit disruptive last week, I'd say our classes have been quite the success!
There isn't too much news on the homefront besides the insane amount of work everyone is putting into building stables. Each family has been given money from the local government to build stables, so it seems like every where we look people are making adobe, stacking adobe, and resting against newly stacked adobe. I once offered to help and Paula's father said 'Sure, you can either take my big shovel or Richard's little one.' I replied that I should probably take his (to give him a rest) seeing as I'm rather tall. Then, as I bent down to take off my shoes so they wouldn't get caked with mud, Paula's mother (Margarita/mamaranti) called out 'No, you can't do that. It's man's work!' Paula's father had been joking with me! Anyway, I was a bit distressed, but Mamaranti (grandmother in Quechua..I think) came to the rescue again and told me I could help her cut the hay for the adobe. She is one wonderful woman.
I had some more fun last night with Paula's extended family who were celebrating the purchase of her brother-in-law's motorcycle. This basically entailed everyone sitting in a circle around the motorcycle taking beer shots and watching a DVD of this year's town anniversary celebration while a 2 year old bounced up and down like a maniac on a plastic yellow horse-thing in the middle of the circle. It was a pretty great time.
That's all for now,
¡Tupananchiskama! (until later)
The past week and a half have been quite eventful. We have successfully started classes at the colegio (high school), the local kids of Chijnaya can't seem to get enough of English class, I'm still playing a lot of cards (though not as much), and the rain is slowly showing its face among rather startling claps of thunder and lightening bolts.
The classes at the high school are going well, though all of the classes that we have are at a very very basic level of English, despite what their 'textbooks' indicate. We were told by the director of the high school that our job was to enhance the curriculum laid out in their texts, but these are about five or six levels above their actual abilities. This means that we are starting from scratch and get to be really creative when it comes to how we're going to structure the class. I think it's going to be quite fun, though challenging (I'm already thinking about possibilities for class at least five times a day).
The classes themselves have around 25 kids in them, from the ages of 15-20. There are many kids that come in from Chijnaya to the colegio, so we're getting to know a broader spectrum of the community as well as teaching English, which is great. So far the biggest challenge is getting the kids to talk, though they say that becoming better at pronunciation is one of their priorities. We've been playing games like 2 truths and a lie, and chalkboard races to get them involved. Now the question is maintaining that involvement throughout the next few weeks.
In our English classes in Chijnaya, involvement is the opposite of a problem. Yesterday, in the middle of a rain/thunder/lightening storm Maren discovered seven kids waiting outside her bedroom door for class! We had told them the day before that there would be no class because the school was not open, but this did not seem to bother them in the least. Of course we couldn't ignore such enthusiasm so we had a game day class, playing 'blind cow' (which everyone got a kick out of because they got to wear cow masks), Simon Says, and Memory (which they got Super into). So, despite some middle school 'delinquents' (mal criados) who were a bit disruptive last week, I'd say our classes have been quite the success!
There isn't too much news on the homefront besides the insane amount of work everyone is putting into building stables. Each family has been given money from the local government to build stables, so it seems like every where we look people are making adobe, stacking adobe, and resting against newly stacked adobe. I once offered to help and Paula's father said 'Sure, you can either take my big shovel or Richard's little one.' I replied that I should probably take his (to give him a rest) seeing as I'm rather tall. Then, as I bent down to take off my shoes so they wouldn't get caked with mud, Paula's mother (Margarita/mamaranti) called out 'No, you can't do that. It's man's work!' Paula's father had been joking with me! Anyway, I was a bit distressed, but Mamaranti (grandmother in Quechua..I think) came to the rescue again and told me I could help her cut the hay for the adobe. She is one wonderful woman.
I had some more fun last night with Paula's extended family who were celebrating the purchase of her brother-in-law's motorcycle. This basically entailed everyone sitting in a circle around the motorcycle taking beer shots and watching a DVD of this year's town anniversary celebration while a 2 year old bounced up and down like a maniac on a plastic yellow horse-thing in the middle of the circle. It was a pretty great time.
That's all for now,
¡Tupananchiskama! (until later)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
¿Te aumento?
It's funny, one of the first things people (regardless of nationality) ask me about being in Peru is whether or not I'm liking the food. I guess it's a reasonable question seeing as food is rather central in daily life and it is also the most likely way to cause illness while in a different country. The food itself, though, hasn't been so much of an issue as has my relatively small appetite. The altitude, it seems, has shrunk my stomach, so what I would normally consider to be half of what I would eat is just about perfect. This seems to worry host families to no end, and they constantly ask ¿Te aumento? (shall i give you more?) and then look at me with a face that says they're worried I'll get sick. But really I feel great and my body seems to have adapted (knock on wood) to the food quite well. I may even gain weight! They load me up with yummy chicken broth based soups that contain sliced vegetables, a small chunk of meet, and potatoes, then give me a plate of more potatoes, rice, and something else like fried egg or fish. Actually my favorite thing is oatmeal and bread in the morning, it's warm and seems like just the right way to start off the day.
Speaking of days, ours have been filling up more and more the past week and will become almost hectic next week! We have been doing small tasks like painting the bathroom/shower of the Posto de Salud (health clinic thingy), and have been getting going with larger projects, like teaching english (and frisbee!) to local kids (adults have expressed interest, but are generally incredibly busy). Yesterday we actually had to "break in" to the Posto in order to finish our painting job...which involved me climbing on adobe bricks through a very open window and passing the paint, brushes, and a ladder out the window to Maren and Daphne. I actually quite like painting; it is methodical/meditative and I feel quite useful while doing it. Kids also think painting is pretty cool, so the first day we had a couple of watchers and one girl who helped me paint the bottome of one of the walls. This girl, Jemina, is the daughter of Paula's (the mother of my family) sister and can only be described with one word--traviosa. She is not shy in the least, is very independent, is always competing with the boys, loves calling my name, and is 5 so has the cute factor going for her. She is also perpetually dirty--a sign of how vigorously she lives life.
Along with Jemina, the other children of Chijnaya have been one of the best parts of being here. Yesterday and the day before Maren, Daphne, and I had our first English classes, which turned out to be quite successful. The first day we only had two kids for a while, but they were both super into the "Lotto" game we played with them, so when other kids showed up the excitement just escalated to excellent proportions. Yesterday we started off the English lesson with a bit of frisbee, teaching a couple of boys how to throw the disc, then when more showed up we played "five-hundred" in English, only we used the numbers 1-10. Later on we played Lotto again (which they absolutely love) and the kids started getting rambunctious and energetic, with one boy commenting on everything in Quechua, which just made all the others collapse in fits of giggles. It was pretty great.
Besides English and painting I've helped bring the cows and sheep (who much more rascally than the cows) out to pasture, which is rather challenging when they bolt for the alfafa (which isn't so great for their stomachs) and generally requires two people. Maren, Daphne, and I also attended a knitting workshop...at first we weren't exactly sure what it was, so when we got there and it turned out the women had a teacher, we felt pretty silly, especially since we didn't have anything to do. Maren and Daphne ended up leaving (but with the urge to buy some knitting goods) and I fetched my weaving and brought it down for a little demonstration. The women told me to come back the next day to do some more proper teaching, but when I arrived it turned out they still had a lot to go over in the workshop, so I ended up taking photos for the teacher instead. I really enjoyed being in the company of the women, as they are easy company--always laughing, curious, lightly gossiping, and ready to tell me anything I might want to know about Peru and their community. I had a similar experience with Paula's mother, a vigorous, good-humored, and confident woman who speaks with me very plainly and openly, telling me all about how to embroider, the site near Lake Titicaca from which the community moved in the 60s (she wants to take me there), and asks me lots of questions about the food, landscape, and climate of the United States.
The immediate family that I'm living with continues to be generously hospitable and a whole lot of fun. I continue to play cards with Richard and Beto pretty much everyday, as well as playing with Davis (chico), the toddler. I've had some great conversations with Richard and Cèsar about everything ranging from traveling by airplane to traditional Andean stories (of which Cèsar knew approximate 1.5). Yesterday I taught Paula a little weaving, but she kept dozing off! She works incredibly hard, running after Davis all day, taking care of the cows, and serving cervezas to mine workers until late at night from their store (among the many things she does). Cèsar continues to be extremely helpful, talking with us to the Director of the high school to get teaching schedules figured out, telling me about local issues, and asking tons of questions about the U.S.
This family has some truly wonderful moments. Yesterday and today, for example, Davis has been wearing a sweater vest that is basically like a knit tunic on him and an awesome knit hat that looks like a mushroom and makes his head look twice as big as it is. Last night we all were frantically running around my room trying to trap a mouse (which Cèsar tried to stomp on!), but to now avail. Basically, everyday there is a lot of smiling, laughing, and skirmishes between siblings.
Well, until next week!
Speaking of days, ours have been filling up more and more the past week and will become almost hectic next week! We have been doing small tasks like painting the bathroom/shower of the Posto de Salud (health clinic thingy), and have been getting going with larger projects, like teaching english (and frisbee!) to local kids (adults have expressed interest, but are generally incredibly busy). Yesterday we actually had to "break in" to the Posto in order to finish our painting job...which involved me climbing on adobe bricks through a very open window and passing the paint, brushes, and a ladder out the window to Maren and Daphne. I actually quite like painting; it is methodical/meditative and I feel quite useful while doing it. Kids also think painting is pretty cool, so the first day we had a couple of watchers and one girl who helped me paint the bottome of one of the walls. This girl, Jemina, is the daughter of Paula's (the mother of my family) sister and can only be described with one word--traviosa. She is not shy in the least, is very independent, is always competing with the boys, loves calling my name, and is 5 so has the cute factor going for her. She is also perpetually dirty--a sign of how vigorously she lives life.
Along with Jemina, the other children of Chijnaya have been one of the best parts of being here. Yesterday and the day before Maren, Daphne, and I had our first English classes, which turned out to be quite successful. The first day we only had two kids for a while, but they were both super into the "Lotto" game we played with them, so when other kids showed up the excitement just escalated to excellent proportions. Yesterday we started off the English lesson with a bit of frisbee, teaching a couple of boys how to throw the disc, then when more showed up we played "five-hundred" in English, only we used the numbers 1-10. Later on we played Lotto again (which they absolutely love) and the kids started getting rambunctious and energetic, with one boy commenting on everything in Quechua, which just made all the others collapse in fits of giggles. It was pretty great.
Besides English and painting I've helped bring the cows and sheep (who much more rascally than the cows) out to pasture, which is rather challenging when they bolt for the alfafa (which isn't so great for their stomachs) and generally requires two people. Maren, Daphne, and I also attended a knitting workshop...at first we weren't exactly sure what it was, so when we got there and it turned out the women had a teacher, we felt pretty silly, especially since we didn't have anything to do. Maren and Daphne ended up leaving (but with the urge to buy some knitting goods) and I fetched my weaving and brought it down for a little demonstration. The women told me to come back the next day to do some more proper teaching, but when I arrived it turned out they still had a lot to go over in the workshop, so I ended up taking photos for the teacher instead. I really enjoyed being in the company of the women, as they are easy company--always laughing, curious, lightly gossiping, and ready to tell me anything I might want to know about Peru and their community. I had a similar experience with Paula's mother, a vigorous, good-humored, and confident woman who speaks with me very plainly and openly, telling me all about how to embroider, the site near Lake Titicaca from which the community moved in the 60s (she wants to take me there), and asks me lots of questions about the food, landscape, and climate of the United States.
The immediate family that I'm living with continues to be generously hospitable and a whole lot of fun. I continue to play cards with Richard and Beto pretty much everyday, as well as playing with Davis (chico), the toddler. I've had some great conversations with Richard and Cèsar about everything ranging from traveling by airplane to traditional Andean stories (of which Cèsar knew approximate 1.5). Yesterday I taught Paula a little weaving, but she kept dozing off! She works incredibly hard, running after Davis all day, taking care of the cows, and serving cervezas to mine workers until late at night from their store (among the many things she does). Cèsar continues to be extremely helpful, talking with us to the Director of the high school to get teaching schedules figured out, telling me about local issues, and asking tons of questions about the U.S.
This family has some truly wonderful moments. Yesterday and today, for example, Davis has been wearing a sweater vest that is basically like a knit tunic on him and an awesome knit hat that looks like a mushroom and makes his head look twice as big as it is. Last night we all were frantically running around my room trying to trap a mouse (which Cèsar tried to stomp on!), but to now avail. Basically, everyday there is a lot of smiling, laughing, and skirmishes between siblings.
Well, until next week!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
¡He Llegado a Chijnaya!
I have made it safely, soundly, pretty comfortably, and mostly healthy to the small town of Chijnaya. So far there hasn't been a heck of a lot to do because previous attempts at speaking with the director of the school were pretty much failures. Luckily the father of the family I am living with, Cèsar, is both very helpful and well liked, so in his presence the director was much more accomodating...so we start teaching Monday! The only stipulation is that we also have to teach computer skills, but Maren and I have resolved to make it as least boring as possible (probably incorporating wild drawings, wacky stories, skits, etc.) so hopefully it won't be too bad and the kids won't go bonkers. We're also going to be teaching english in the high school of the neighboring town at least twice a week, which will be great for getting out and about and being as useful as possible. So far our usefulness has been painting various outdoor water vessels blue, helping cover and organize medical files in the Posto de Salud, and peeling the odd potato here and there.
The town is located in the highlands (altiplano) near Lake Titicaca, and is surrounded by high, steep mountains (they call them cerros which basically means high hills) that are fairly barren of anything but grass. Actually the photo located above is pretty descriptive of the setting even though it's located in a different place. The houses are made of both adobe and cement with both tin and hay roofs. There are way more cows than people, as well as many sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and the odd goat here and there. When the wind picks up it is something to be reckoned with, though so far the horrible cold that everyone warned me about with a sharp intake of breath in Cusco has not been that bad.
The family that I am living with is pretty awesome. There are three boys, ages 12, 9, and 1.2, and they are all very high-spirited, happy, and playful. Berto, the oldest, is definitely the quiet, thoughtful, responsible one, but when he gets going (like when we were playing numerous versions of tennis last night over the clothesline and on a little table) he can laugh and be silly with the best of them, namely Richard, the middle child. Richard likes to come into my room every morning, afternoon, evening, and after dinner, to play cards. He is an unstoppable jugador de casinos. He is also an unstoppable trickster, deportista, and constantly has a grin on his face. The youngest, Davis, who everyone calls Chico, is constantly babbling about something or other (he can't quite talk), usually has something in his mouth, has constantly wet sleeves from playing in some puddle or other, generally spits out his food as soon as it goes in (though this morning he was quite enjoying his very own mug of Quaker--milk, quaker oats, sugar(?)), and was very suspicious of me to begin with, but now has opted for smiling from cheek to cheek. There parents, Cèsar and Paula, are incredible generous, hospitable, and hard working. Cèsar likes to ask me questions about the U.S. at every meal, so we generally have great conversations about our different cultures and various techniques for things like killing flies. Paula loves talking about her kids and making sure that I have enough màte de coca, yerba buena, maza morada, etc. I love how much of a kick she gets out of her kids. She's always laughing and smiling along with them, but I worry that she doesn't get enough sleep at night because I often see her nodding off as she's sitting at the table, outside, and in the cocina.
Daphne and Maren are also doing well, though having been here for the past two weeks without much to do has been rather trying, though they're getting quite good at poker. They were in the town for its annual anniversary celebration which was apparently a sight to behold (lots of beer, lots of dancing, lots of costumes, lots of drunk people--from the young to the very old).
That's all for now, though I expect after we start teaching there will be lots of stories to share!
Take care and let me know how you're doing!
The town is located in the highlands (altiplano) near Lake Titicaca, and is surrounded by high, steep mountains (they call them cerros which basically means high hills) that are fairly barren of anything but grass. Actually the photo located above is pretty descriptive of the setting even though it's located in a different place. The houses are made of both adobe and cement with both tin and hay roofs. There are way more cows than people, as well as many sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and the odd goat here and there. When the wind picks up it is something to be reckoned with, though so far the horrible cold that everyone warned me about with a sharp intake of breath in Cusco has not been that bad.
The family that I am living with is pretty awesome. There are three boys, ages 12, 9, and 1.2, and they are all very high-spirited, happy, and playful. Berto, the oldest, is definitely the quiet, thoughtful, responsible one, but when he gets going (like when we were playing numerous versions of tennis last night over the clothesline and on a little table) he can laugh and be silly with the best of them, namely Richard, the middle child. Richard likes to come into my room every morning, afternoon, evening, and after dinner, to play cards. He is an unstoppable jugador de casinos. He is also an unstoppable trickster, deportista, and constantly has a grin on his face. The youngest, Davis, who everyone calls Chico, is constantly babbling about something or other (he can't quite talk), usually has something in his mouth, has constantly wet sleeves from playing in some puddle or other, generally spits out his food as soon as it goes in (though this morning he was quite enjoying his very own mug of Quaker--milk, quaker oats, sugar(?)), and was very suspicious of me to begin with, but now has opted for smiling from cheek to cheek. There parents, Cèsar and Paula, are incredible generous, hospitable, and hard working. Cèsar likes to ask me questions about the U.S. at every meal, so we generally have great conversations about our different cultures and various techniques for things like killing flies. Paula loves talking about her kids and making sure that I have enough màte de coca, yerba buena, maza morada, etc. I love how much of a kick she gets out of her kids. She's always laughing and smiling along with them, but I worry that she doesn't get enough sleep at night because I often see her nodding off as she's sitting at the table, outside, and in the cocina.
Daphne and Maren are also doing well, though having been here for the past two weeks without much to do has been rather trying, though they're getting quite good at poker. They were in the town for its annual anniversary celebration which was apparently a sight to behold (lots of beer, lots of dancing, lots of costumes, lots of drunk people--from the young to the very old).
That's all for now, though I expect after we start teaching there will be lots of stories to share!
Take care and let me know how you're doing!
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