Friday August 17, 2012

Friday August 17/12 update

To bed at 2am, awake at 5, and up by 6 as the mind is just whirling with ideas.

I managed to finish a small name sign for the new Amigos English School and proceeded to check out more children’s songs.  I did not download any more as I emailed Chris about the many free ones apparently available on iTunes, of which I know nothing.  He at least has an iPod.

As a hedge, I did save my kids tunes to a memory stick and fired up our old laptop.  Unfortunately the sound on my laptop is really awful, even full blast, so I hooked it up to my computer speakers for a drastic improvement.   Then I had to slip out to Coral to pick up another set of these small speakers for $6.62.

One really good thing this morning was that I finally got a response to our GringoTree ad from a visiting US couple who are willing to come out today to see the kids.   Welcome Chris (#2) and Pamela!    I filled up my laptop backpack and headed out to meet them a few blocks from the school.  They are really a nice couple.

We had a full complement of people today, including Miguel.   Linda had made lovely nametags for everyone and then she started the afternoon off with an alphabet race game.  The original idea was to suck on a straw to pick up a piece of paper with a letter on it, then transfer that to a table across the room to spell a person’s name.   The straws were too long so Miguel came up with a participation scheme where they had to hold the paper letter between their foreheads and bring it across the room.   We pitted the boys against the girls and the girls came from behind to win 14-12.  They were really enjoying this!

Then it was my turn to find a working power outlet to power the new speakers hooked up to the old laptop.  We ended up using Chris’ speakers as they seemed to put out more sound.   We played the ABC song, Row Row Row your boat, Day-O, Michael Row your boat ashore, Mary had a little lamb, etc.  On the rowing songs I was making the rowing motions, but we don’t think the kids knew that.   We are pretty sure they just thought I was a nerd dancing and they were just howling.   Then when we got the Chicken Dance running they joined in enthusiastically.   I was leading that one and ugh, I just hate that song.

The good thing is that we did not scare off the new couple, as the new Chris has been teaching in California.and he is willing to help us plan our way forward.    Onward and upward….

Feria Libre was quite busy again today.   While waiting for the bus a couple of policemen started giving heck to two buses that didn’t pull into the bus drop-off lane.  It’s about time they start helping out with the bad traffic manners in this town.

When I finally got home by bus I was amazed at the number of people on the walkways and soon discovered the reason.   It appears the police and military took down 3 miscreants across the road and the crooks were huddled in the box of a pickup, trying to hide their identities.   We watched as a policeman crawled under 2 vehicles in the alley to check their undercarriages.  The drama is still ongoing 4 hours later..

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Tuesday-Wednesday August 14-15, 2012

Tuesday August 14/12 update

I repeated my successful night tricks with locking the cats out and having the humidifier run continuously and was rewarded with another decent sleep.  This is a catch-up day for a few things so I was forced to get up much earlier than my body wanted.   I really could have slept in another couple of hours.

First I bused downtown to Parque De La Madre and ran up the escalinata to the Windhorse Café.  Today is book and movie exchange day and I had 3 movies to exchange.   I found this brand new art store that seemed to have a flamingo theme with some beautiful sculptures.  This place is right next to the Sabor Latino.

Then I caught the #3 back to Coral at Monay Mall and did my grocery shopping for the week.  I had gotten mostly meat last week so today I was trying to get veggies, juice, and peripherals for around $40 but ended up spending $50.   At least I know I won’t starve for about 3 weeks.

I ended up going out for a short walk tonight and I hope to make that a habit.   There was a volleyball game and a dancercise class going on next to Raoul’s place.  There sure was lots happening in the area for 9:30 on a Tuesday night.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com   Hugs to all.

  

Wednesday August 15/12 update

I didn’t lock the boys out last night and paid the price so I spent most of the morning trying to catch up on sleep. 

I made it over to Bettye and Chris’ apartment  and saw the beautiful job they did on their living room wall with the mirror boxes.   I am envious of all the room they have.

Then we headed over to our newly dubbed “Amigos English School” and were soon joined by Linda and Tom.  This time there was nobody from Miguel’s family in evidence all day.  Chris did a great job explaining “time” using the white board.  Then Linda kept them occupied with more alphabetical coloring pages which they really seem to enjoy.  The kids were then treated to ice cream bars by Tom as part of their weekly treat program.

Upon leaving, we discussed the possibility of posting an ad for a volunteer teacher(s) and see what happens.   We certainly could use some professional guidance as the kids are getting accustomed to us and are getting bored more easily.   I just posted it a few moments ago to GringoTree so we will see what results we can get.  

There was a police band playing at the front of the Feria Libre market and the people seemed really amused by that, I have no idea why…  maybe it was the drunk dancer…   It was really bust today so it must be fresh meat and fish day.  I bought a pailful of baby potatoes for $1 which should last me for several meals.

I tried to get a shot through a tiny window on the moving bus of the construction progress at the Parque de La Madre which has been closed off for months now.  It appears they have a sizeable hole dug for the proposed underground parking garage.  

I stopped at Coral in Monay Mall on the way home to grab a few blank CD’s and DVD’s, along with a large CD holder.  Since I have been downloading music for people, and doing photo gifts, my stock had run very low.

That meant I got home late but I still did not feel like eating out.  I have so much good food at home, and yes, I really can cook!  You can see my tasty chicken breast supper with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables (McCain’s from Canada no less) in a photo on the following blog.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Sunday-Monday August 12-13, 2012

Sunday August 12/12 update

I was up very early again, and got to work on saving the photos and movie of Gabriela’s Grad Party onto a DVD which I will deliver later, maybe Monday.     Next I tackled the photos of the night before for Joe’s which were posted on yesterday’s blogs.   I keep operating in these 2 to 4 hour increments of sleep, work, sleep, work.   I am going to miss being able to doze to the sounds of the Olympics.

Then I tackled downloading many Motown songs for a friend and ended up with 145 of them. 

I seem to be making any excuse to stay housebound and I must break out of the doldrums.   A good sunny day would help.   I do have a few things to attend to tomorrow so I am hoping for a good night’s sleep.  

The humidifier we bought doesn’t seem to be much help at all.  It reaches the maximum humidity very quickly and shuts off the fan, and I seem just as stuffed up as before….

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.

Monday August 13/12 update

I think I have figured out the humidifier…  If I only touch the fan button, and not the humidity setting, then it seems to keep running…   So I actually got 4 ½ hours of straight sleep after I locked the cats out of the room.  Then I was up at 5am and got some more work done.  I laid down again with the boys from 9:30 to 11:30 before I headed out.

First stop was to get my phone recharged and also my bus pass, the two essentials to operating in this city.  Raoul was having lunch in his truck outside so we chatted briefly.

Next I stopped at Coopera Credit Union to do the week’s banking before heading over to Jorge Beltran’s.  Only the maid was home so I left my gift of the DVD with the photos and the movie of Gabriela’s Grad celebration.

From there I caught the #16 to the west end and stopped in at Joe’s Secret Garden.  Joseph was apparently in the shower so I left the memory stick with Saturday’s photos with Joe.

Next I stopped in at Chris and Bettye’s lovely apartment.  Last week they installed this lovely metal+wood iguana on their kitchen wall and it is really impressive.  Today Bettye was having some workers install some lovely wooden boxes with inlaid mirrors in the living room.  Once the measurements were agreed upon they were very good at lining them up.  I was very surprised they were only using concrete nails to support these 19” boxes instead of screws and anchors but the first two rows of 3 were put up very quickly.   As I watched the one fellow put in one of the top row nails I mentioned to Chris that he didn’t seem to pound it in very far.  Unfortunately my perception was accurate as the upper box bent the nail down upon installation, crashing down on the lower two, knocking them off as well.  I just wish I hadn’t been right but luckily nothing was broken and they continued to reset everything as Chris and I left.

Upon arrival at our English School today we noted Miguel was not around and Linda wasn’t there either but she came in later.  It was nice to see tables and chairs for the kids provided by the neighborhood folks.  The kids started coming in and grabbing their name tags and settling in.  Chris is becoming a good schoolteacher and is very proficient at drawing things on the whiteboard.   We had the kids learn some of the items in a home then Linda had arranged some alphabetized coloring materials for the kids which help keep their concentration.   It is really very effective.

Linda says she has heard from some of her affluent friends, former teachers, who are offering to send money and supplies.  So far we are doing not too bad though with everyone’s help.

During our first class a week ago I was helping the kids with the pronunciation of the letter H, which is silent in the Spanish language.  I was really overemphasizing the H in the word “Hello” so they would catch on.   Well they have caught on too well because it is now a running joke whenever I am around with the kids saying it strongly so I will respond.  You can hear them doing this in the middle of the video:

http://youtu.be/LFi2cSXlzyM

The kids are really well behaved and their personalities are starting to emerge, especially the shy girls.  We are really amazed how well they pronounce things.  Kids are such sponges for knowledge.  Also heartwarming is to watch the older siblings freely helping their younger brothers and sisters.  Who can refuse those little dark eyes?   Gotta love the Cuancanos.

I headed over to Feria Libre to catch the bus but stopped in this clothing store on a whim.  I really love the two pairs of track pants that I have, mainly because they don’t attract the cat hair, so I was looking to get a few more.  This lady had 3 nice pairs which I negotiated for $20 total.  They are as good as anything I would get at home, even if they are knockoffs.

The street life is always interesting, like the lady asleep in front a shop, to the group of guys playing cards.

It was too early to go to Big Kabuda’s for a great burger so I opted for 2 cheap neighborhood burgers, fries and a Sprite for $2.50.   There is a dance studio upstairs that Bella and I will have to check out some day.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Saturday August 11, 2012

Saturday August 11/12 update

I was up very early again, and got to work on the videos and photos of the night before which were posted on yesterday’s blogs.   It seems I living in 2 to 4 hour increments of sleep, work, sleep, work.   There is certainly no point in tossing and turning when there are productive things to be done.

I also printed a couple of photographs from our Yunguilla trip last weekend that Chris wanted,

A decent and filling lunch was required today because we know supper is always late at Joe’s Secret Garden where I am photographing the patrons again tonight.

I don’t know where the day went as I kept dozing off trying to rid myself of a nagging headache. 

In the late afternoon I got cleaned up and then slipped up to Chris & Bettye’s apartment to deliver the pictures I had printed and also to drop off the “Spanish Now” manual for Chris.   I wanted him to see if there is anything productive in there that we could use for the children’s school English classes because I am skeptical.

Brad and Cindy came by and we all made our way over to Joe’s for their wonderful Southern Fried Chicken dinner, followed by a delicious apple-peach cobbler.

It is so nice that everyone cooperates so well for the photographs.  I got buttonholed by a couple of people over the “domestic help” benefits and tax issues.  I passed out a few cards so they would have the cuencaresidency.blogspot.com address where all the details are in writing.

Joe and Joseph had lots of new workers today and it was impressive that they were lined up to greet all the patrons as they arrived.  Then they were very efficient with the service, correcting a lot of past mistakes by making sure that all the dinner items arrived at the same time.   All in all, it was again a very good night with great food and interesting company.  Joe played a few tunes on the baby grand and a couple entertained us with their dancing.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.