Lizbeth asked me if I wanted to go "por arriba" (towards the mountains) to her house. She mopped first, I helped with dishes, and then we went. We stopped at her friends house, then had to cross a river to get to her house. We talked about how it gets dangerous when it rains too much and she can't leave her house to go "por abajo" (towards the thruway) where everything in town is. Crazy. Anyways, we got there and the majority of the time was super awkward for me. Her grandmother (my Doña's mother) and her aunt were cooking and I just sat and watched. They didn't interact with me so I was lost a lot and the old people (there were two old men there too) have ridiculously difficult accents. My Doña came over eventually and talked to me a little but dammit, she talks so fast. We ate lunch there and chatted after.
Then the guandules. Oh baby those are fun. I don't know what you call it so I'm just gonna say that the act of taking the beans out of their pod is "shucking." We shucked for a good two hours lol. My Doña left at one point but I decided to force myself to stay. No, I didn't talk but I was there helping... I hope that meant something still. At one point, my "grandmother" (we'll call her) asked me questions about where I'm from, my family, and why I'm here. That felt good since at least she knows now that I can in fact talk...
I finally said I was gonna head out but she made me wait for Lizbeth so she could walk me back. I tried to tell her I could go on my own, but it didn't work lol. I drank my third cup of coffee of the day (and loved it) and left with the girls. Immediately upon leaving it started down pouring. And I had my glasses on so I literally couldn't see a thing haha. We were drenched by the time we made it to my house and the lightning and thunder was fierce. There was one thunder clap that was the loudest boom I have ever heard in my entire life. All of us jumped and laughed. Oh, and I shucked more guandules with my Doña while the girls made more things for my room (my wall is almost completely covered and it makes me so happy!). I already need to buy more paper and supplies but right now, I don't mind. Maybe when I see the prices I will, but when I asked if they were able to do these types of things in school at all, they said no. They love it, they're so good at it and they're creative. It kills me. Even my host mom made something lol. After talking with the pastor yesterday and seeing how much these girls (and the two boys that have done some) love it, I may want to have an art camp this summer. Not sure if I could realistically afford enough supplies but it would be wonderful. And I could easily tie in literacy with it... It could be less structured than a lesson (perfect for my Spanish level right now) and a great way to allow the kids to be creative (and take a break from copying from the board). We'll see...
The luz returned just as it was getting super dark which was wonderful. They eventually cleaned up and headed out as the rain slowed a bit (but it still hasn't stopped yet). My doña went to watch TV so I went to my room to study and read some more. She brought me two mangoes and made me dinner (tostones and fried chicken. Ugh, so delicious but so terrible). The luz went out again and when my Don came back from playing Dominoes, we ate together around their lantern.
I showered (with running water finally! There hasn't been any for quite a few days now, apparently) by headlamp light with some weird gross looking mini-cockroach things and went to bed. It's only 8:30pm now but when the luz goes and it's pitch black out... What else is there to do? Lol Not a super exciting day but I need to count the little things:
1. I found things I want to share with the pastor.
2. I got breakfast.
3. My Doña went to Villa and bought a bunch of nice things for herself which made her supper happy (I just gave her my rent money last night lol).
4. Two new girls (more names memorized everyday!) came over to color and play cards.
5. I ventured out of my room and met new people and hung out with my host mom's mom (and learned about that new area of town since I hadn't been down that road before).
6. I shucked guandules for 3 hours total today.
7. I didn't get sick from eating raw lettuce (yet...oops).
8. Listened and watched an insane thunderstorm.
9. Conversed with my host mom more.
10. Let the girls' imaginations go crazy with artsy stuff (despite it probably costing me a fortune in the near future to replenish).
11. Ate mangoes, tostones and fried chicken.
12. Made it to page 2 of my novel in Spanish (definitely ignoring that whole 5 finger rule for picking a book with an appropriate reading-level).
13. Appreciated the luz but didn't get upset when it went back out!
14. Got to shower with running water.
:)
Buenas noches.
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