One of the best parts of a birthday is the mail. Otherwise boring stacks of white bills are, once a year, layered with pastels. But here we don't have a postal service or if we do I've never heard about it. We don't even have a mailbox, our doorman hands us our bills, which I assume are hand delivered to him. So, last year I just looked forward to the other good things about a birthday, like birthday cake and licence to drink as much as I feel like...But my mom surprised me and sent a packet of birthday cards from all sorts of people to the school. This was impressive, the kids couldn't believe it..."Wow, Missis, so many people love you." (I can understand how this would be shocking to them.)
This year you did it again. And it really made my day. So thanks to everyone who sent a card!! And to those who didn't I'll just assume that your card is with my doorman.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
back
We're back from the beach. It was nice, Tagana is a really small place. I was talking to one of the many men selling bracelets on the beach and he pointed and asked, "Do you see that dog over there? That's the cousin of that dog. All the dogs are cousins, just like the people." I throw my head back and laugh, "hahahaha,"
"No, really," he says, "only five families live here."
All these people from five families?
But his story was backed up by almost everyone I talked to, some people said it's only four families.
It's not unbelievable though, it's a secluded fishing village, not that easily reached and there's not much room for growth either, just a small spot between the hills.
We got more than enough sun. Brad is so red. I have a lot of little sore spots where I forgot to put sunscreen, but we feel refreshed after our short vacation. I'll post pictures tomorrow.
"No, really," he says, "only five families live here."
All these people from five families?
But his story was backed up by almost everyone I talked to, some people said it's only four families.
It's not unbelievable though, it's a secluded fishing village, not that easily reached and there's not much room for growth either, just a small spot between the hills.
We got more than enough sun. Brad is so red. I have a lot of little sore spots where I forgot to put sunscreen, but we feel refreshed after our short vacation. I'll post pictures tomorrow.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
weekend!
Brad and I are dying to get out of Barranquilla, so we're heading to the beach this weekend. Going here: Hotel Ballena Azul. But it's been raining like crazy lately. Yesterday it stormed so much that the electricity went out during school. No electricity on a sunny day isn't a problem, but the storm made it dark outside so for a while we were all huddled around the windows. We may not get a whole lot of sun this weekend, but it's still the beach, so I won't complain.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The adventure is normal
I've been feeling bored lately with the daily grind: work, gym, home, sleep, repeat...I know this is just what working adults do, but I started to feel like if that's all we were going to do we should at least do it closer to our families.
The other night I'm saying all this to Brad, "There's no adventure anymore...we never do anything exciting." Imagine me with my lower lip sticking out, head in hand, feeling very sorry for myself.
"It's still an adventure," he says. "It's just normal to us now."
My head snaps up. He's right! Barranquilla is still a wacky, wild place it just feels normal. The other day I didn't even think it was weird when the crazy lady who lives in the park chased me across the street, that's just what she does.
So, you see, life is normal here...and there just isn't much to blog about.
The other night I'm saying all this to Brad, "There's no adventure anymore...we never do anything exciting." Imagine me with my lower lip sticking out, head in hand, feeling very sorry for myself.
"It's still an adventure," he says. "It's just normal to us now."
My head snaps up. He's right! Barranquilla is still a wacky, wild place it just feels normal. The other day I didn't even think it was weird when the crazy lady who lives in the park chased me across the street, that's just what she does.
So, you see, life is normal here...and there just isn't much to blog about.
Monday, September 8, 2008
slingbox, football and hurricanes
Last year Brad discovered an amazing new technology, the Slingbox. It allows people to watch their tv from their computer. For a long time we debated whether or not it was worth the expense, but when our tv broke for a third time we finally decided it was. Setting up the Slingbox was no small task, but thanks to AJ, my mom and dad, Adam the tech guy, and the helpful people at Slingbox tech support in Costa Rica it only took a week to get it all set up. Now we can get my parent’s tv live on our computer. We can change channels, watch video on demand…everything.
So, Saturday we got to watch the Hawkeye game, which was great. It made me jealous to see people in sweatshirts. We're both excited that we'll be able to watch Iowa/Iowa State game next week. Brad, I'm sure, will be torn because he's been a Hawkeye for a week now. He's been taking classes online to get his master's in educational administration. All those Cyclones come around eventually...
We got to watch another type of football Saturday night. Colombia played Uruguay in the first round of World Cup qualifying. People here were pretty pumped about it. The restaurant around the corner from us repainted in yellow, blue and red and taped a projector to a metal bar that was holding up the thatched roof. The projector made a big picture on the wall and they put out plastic chairs that were full five minutes into the game. I thought this was a good gimmick to sell beers and chuzos but when I went to get a beer they told me that they weren't very cold and that I'd be better off going across the street to get one. Across the street people were crowded around a tiny tv, a far worse set up than the projector, but about 10 steps closer to cold beer, so there you go, people here have their priorities.
We spent yesterday pretending to be comatose, which wasn't hard after watching 4 episodes of Bridezilla in a row. Brad watches that and says, "That's you! That's how you're going to act at our wedding." Thanks Brad. I think that the slingbox will have to turn into a sometimes toy otherwise we'll be completely brain-dead.
This morning some crazy sounding thunder woke me up around 4. Not long after our windows were rattling. My theory is that we're catching the edge of a hurricane. Students and staff were still trickling into school 30 minutes after the final bell this morning. I actually thought school might be cancelled, the city nearly shuts down when it rains. No such luck though, probably for the best, I'd just spend the day watching more Bridezilla.
So, Saturday we got to watch the Hawkeye game, which was great. It made me jealous to see people in sweatshirts. We're both excited that we'll be able to watch Iowa/Iowa State game next week. Brad, I'm sure, will be torn because he's been a Hawkeye for a week now. He's been taking classes online to get his master's in educational administration. All those Cyclones come around eventually...
We got to watch another type of football Saturday night. Colombia played Uruguay in the first round of World Cup qualifying. People here were pretty pumped about it. The restaurant around the corner from us repainted in yellow, blue and red and taped a projector to a metal bar that was holding up the thatched roof. The projector made a big picture on the wall and they put out plastic chairs that were full five minutes into the game. I thought this was a good gimmick to sell beers and chuzos but when I went to get a beer they told me that they weren't very cold and that I'd be better off going across the street to get one. Across the street people were crowded around a tiny tv, a far worse set up than the projector, but about 10 steps closer to cold beer, so there you go, people here have their priorities.
We spent yesterday pretending to be comatose, which wasn't hard after watching 4 episodes of Bridezilla in a row. Brad watches that and says, "That's you! That's how you're going to act at our wedding." Thanks Brad. I think that the slingbox will have to turn into a sometimes toy otherwise we'll be completely brain-dead.
This morning some crazy sounding thunder woke me up around 4. Not long after our windows were rattling. My theory is that we're catching the edge of a hurricane. Students and staff were still trickling into school 30 minutes after the final bell this morning. I actually thought school might be cancelled, the city nearly shuts down when it rains. No such luck though, probably for the best, I'd just spend the day watching more Bridezilla.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
arroyos
Yesterday Brad had to go home after school and I was going to the gym. In these situations we usually ask the taxi driver to drop me off close to the gym to avoid having to pay two fares. Most taxi drivers here are happy to oblige, even driving as close as they can to the gym for no extra charge. That's most taxi drivers anyway. The one yesterday seemed to go out of his way to drop me off 5 blocks from the gym and right in the middle of an arroyo. But, I've grown tired of arguing with taxi drivers and I just decided to brave it. I hitched my pants up to my thigh and waded into the shin-deep water praying that I didn't have a cut on my foot.
So far everything checks out.
So far everything checks out.
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