I leave in approximately twelve hours. I will never again sleep in my tiny bed where my feet touch the end and my head touches the top, but that’s not what almost made me cry. Yesterday was my last day of work. I brought a kinder egg and a colouring book for each kid, to be given after lunch at the end of my shift. The morning was pretty typical; lots of hugs, lots of crying, lots of throwing of chairs (a favourite reaction amongst the children when I yell at them for making another kid cry), and lots of running and screaming. After lunch however, once all the kids had eaten (demolished) their kinder eggs and were looking through their colouring books, Marisol (one of the workers) told them all that today was my last day and that was why I had brought presents. The result was that I got swarmed and kissed and hugged by each and every kid. Eugenia asked me who was going to be her mom now and Estrella looked a little teary. When I went to say goodbye to the little ones (who were moved to a separate room – I’ve been working half and half for the last week) Lucia (although she definitely didn’t understand it was my last day) was clinging on to me for dear life and screaming every time I put her down. All of this made me so sad. Until now I’ve kind of been on the fence about leaving. I mean I’m excited to go to Chile, excited to come home and see my family and friends, but at the same time I really love the way my summer has been. I love the rhythm I’ve settled into, the craziness of my wonderful home (such a good home) and I’ve loved most of my time with the kids. But yesterday, when I had to say goodbye to the kids, had a lovely dinner with the whole family, went for a late night walk and ice cream run with Laura and then watched a movie with Laura, Ari, and Hubert I didn’t want to leave. Not even one little bit, I just wanted to stay.
The “Canadian meal” in case you were wondering went very, very well. They were all huge fans of the tomato sauce and the apple crumble was absolutely wonderful. We all then proceeded to spend the rest of my last Saturday night staying up too late and drinking beer and just generally chatting, which was really nice.
Currently its almost 11am in Cordoba and I have loads of things to do today. I have to buy the last two presents (food presents – naturally I’ve saved them to the last possible moment), I’m visiting the Jesuit Crypt with Laura (and hopefully if I have time the Museum of Torture too – although the guidebook warns it’s “not a happy place”), and then of course I have to finish my laundry and pack. Then I’m heading down to the Projects Abroad office in Villa Allende to get my volunteer certificate, cab money for the bus station, and to say goodbye.
Tonight I’ll get to enjoy a last dinner with the entire family (Franca, Jere, Ari, Franzi, Hubert, Lisa, Pierrick, Laura, and myself) and then I will be given my send off to the bus, which I’m not super thrilled about, but I’m sure I’ll warm up to the idea a little later.
My bus goes from Cordoba to Mendoza (ten hours – midnight to ten am) and then I have a 4 hour “layover” in the Mendoza airport (I couldn’t figure out a better bus) before checking in to my flight (which departs around 4:40pm). I will be in Santiago and with Esteban by 4:45pm (in case you are confused it’s an hour flight and I am going back an hour – back to Canadian time!).
It’s going to be a … fun (?) sixteenish hours.
Chau,
Jane
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Saturday, August 1, 2009
5 days, no im not counting...
Well, my lack of blogging has actually had a reason (besides the "I'm too busy having a phenomenal time to blog" excuse). I have spent a good chunk of this week on bed rest (I would like to think that you can visit a foreign place without seeing the inside of their hospitals but so far that hasn't proved to be true).
The doctor declared that I had a persistent fever, a throat infection, and ear infection, and just generally was lacking in sleep. At that point I concurred. When he handed me five thousand very large pills to swallow I wanted to protest, but as I've gotten quite competent at swallowing large white pills in the last few days (mmm...medicine) I didn't.
The gist of being sick is that I basically didn't work Tuesday through Friday and although one or two days was a nice rest from the crazy energy of the little children I sort of actually really (SLASH A LOT) miss then now and I'm excited to head back to work on Monday (if only for 2, maybe 3 days).
Friday however I was declared better by my host family and I went to see the movie Public Enemy with Laura. Although it was over-hyped and the boys in the row behind us kept practicing their poor, poor, oh so poor, English on us it was just the sort of pick me up I needed after lying in bed all week and exhausting all sorts of good tv shows (and even some not-so-good ones).
Thursday night the French disappeared for a weekend in Buenos Aires (to arrive home Monday night) and the house got decidedly quieter, something that I appreciate every once in awhile. I just find it really strange that when I next see the French I will only have 48 hours with them and then I hop on to a bus to take me to Mendoza (it's doubledecker and I have a seat on the top - I'm quite excited about that actually, no big deal) and from there a plane to take me to Santiago and from there Esteban (which I'm considerably more happy about).
Today however Laura and I went for a lengthy walk, bought my bus ticket, bought groceries (we are making dinner in a matter of minutes), and ate ice cream - funny story.
Laura and I were informed that ice cream here is not sold by scoops but rather by name - several appear to be the same size with different names, a mystery we haven't solved - and should you desire to purchase a single scoop, well you will be denied.
The funny (slash really gross) part of this story came when we were walking along the street eating our ice cream. One of the scoops on Laura's cone topples off (in it's entirety) and falls on to the disgusting, dirty ground frequently inhabited by Cordoba's so so large population of mangy, stray (and sometimes really cute) dogs. Several passerby's make noises of condolence but one man hops forward, picks up the dirty ice cream ball, pops it in to his mouth (everyone was staring) and walks off down the street eating it. Gross.
Now, I must head off to eat dinner. Laura and I are preparing a "non-Argentinean" meal which basically means spaghetti bolognese and a real salad (plus apple crumble for desert). We also decided that since neither of us like wine (the drink of choice forced on us nightly by the French) that we would take advantage of their absence and hence we purchased lots of beer (yummy Argentinean beer) to be consumed shortly.
Lastly, I regret to inform myself (and I guess you too) that my blogging is coming to an end. I leave in a very short period of time (I have mixed feelings about leaving)and while I will blog just before I go, I do not believe I will be blogging while I'm in Chile.
Hasta luego!
Chau!
The doctor declared that I had a persistent fever, a throat infection, and ear infection, and just generally was lacking in sleep. At that point I concurred. When he handed me five thousand very large pills to swallow I wanted to protest, but as I've gotten quite competent at swallowing large white pills in the last few days (mmm...medicine) I didn't.
The gist of being sick is that I basically didn't work Tuesday through Friday and although one or two days was a nice rest from the crazy energy of the little children I sort of actually really (SLASH A LOT) miss then now and I'm excited to head back to work on Monday (if only for 2, maybe 3 days).
Friday however I was declared better by my host family and I went to see the movie Public Enemy with Laura. Although it was over-hyped and the boys in the row behind us kept practicing their poor, poor, oh so poor, English on us it was just the sort of pick me up I needed after lying in bed all week and exhausting all sorts of good tv shows (and even some not-so-good ones).
Thursday night the French disappeared for a weekend in Buenos Aires (to arrive home Monday night) and the house got decidedly quieter, something that I appreciate every once in awhile. I just find it really strange that when I next see the French I will only have 48 hours with them and then I hop on to a bus to take me to Mendoza (it's doubledecker and I have a seat on the top - I'm quite excited about that actually, no big deal) and from there a plane to take me to Santiago and from there Esteban (which I'm considerably more happy about).
Today however Laura and I went for a lengthy walk, bought my bus ticket, bought groceries (we are making dinner in a matter of minutes), and ate ice cream - funny story.
Laura and I were informed that ice cream here is not sold by scoops but rather by name - several appear to be the same size with different names, a mystery we haven't solved - and should you desire to purchase a single scoop, well you will be denied.
The funny (slash really gross) part of this story came when we were walking along the street eating our ice cream. One of the scoops on Laura's cone topples off (in it's entirety) and falls on to the disgusting, dirty ground frequently inhabited by Cordoba's so so large population of mangy, stray (and sometimes really cute) dogs. Several passerby's make noises of condolence but one man hops forward, picks up the dirty ice cream ball, pops it in to his mouth (everyone was staring) and walks off down the street eating it. Gross.
Now, I must head off to eat dinner. Laura and I are preparing a "non-Argentinean" meal which basically means spaghetti bolognese and a real salad (plus apple crumble for desert). We also decided that since neither of us like wine (the drink of choice forced on us nightly by the French) that we would take advantage of their absence and hence we purchased lots of beer (yummy Argentinean beer) to be consumed shortly.
Lastly, I regret to inform myself (and I guess you too) that my blogging is coming to an end. I leave in a very short period of time (I have mixed feelings about leaving)and while I will blog just before I go, I do not believe I will be blogging while I'm in Chile.
Hasta luego!
Chau!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
la cumbre
LANDING! :)
Given the fact that I've spent the last month drowning (in the best possible way) in the chaos of living with nine very social people and in the demands of twenty one little children, this weekend was supposed to be (and was) a chance for me to decompress, spend some time alone, go to bed before 2am (slight exaggeration) and of course, go paragliding!
Unfortunately, there were a few hitches in this plan. For starters, the person who was supposed to take me paragliding failed to show up at the bus station at our pre-arranged time so I wound up spending about an hour waiting and finally I was so tired, so hungry, and I had to go to the bathroom so I called a cab and headed to my hotel - although it was a house, so I'm not sure what I should call it. It was however the sweetest little thing (pictures to follow soon - although with previously promised photos of my adventure in the national park).
When I was feeling better I went for a walk around town and saw a store that offered paragliding and since I had pretty much given up hope of meeting up with Pablo (who was supposed to take me) I went in to see if there was any possibility of me being able to go paragliding at all (pretty much the whole reason I went to La Cumbre in the first place).
Just as I started to talk to the woman in the store, in rushes another woman saying "Pablo lost his phone this morning and he was supposed to pick up a girl at the bus station but he forgot what time and I've been looking all over for her," and then she looked at me and goes, "are you Jane?"
And that's the story about how I wound up being driven the 15km to Cuchi Corral- the take off point for all paragliders.
It was absolutely insane, Cuchi Corral is basically a flat piece of land at the top of the mountain with a ramp that pretty much goes off the mountain into air. Tons of people just go up there everyday to take pictures and just generally watch people go paragliding. For those of you who don't know what paragliding is I have attached a picture :)
Within seconds of arriving at the top I was introduced to another guy (whose name I have forgotten) who was going to be taking me up. I was strapped in to my...contraption, which felt rather like I was wearing a turtle shell on my back. Basically for paragliding you are sitting down but for take off you have to wear your seat on your back and run and then once you are up in the air you pull two red straps at the side and slide into your seat.
I was strapped in front of my instructor and told that I needed to run off the ramp (into air) and that I couldn't stop no matter what. At this point my legs were all shaking and I was starting to doubt whether or not I had the confidence to get up in the air, but I wasn't given very much time to ponder this before the air pulled up the fabric wing (under which you are suspended) and we were pretty much forced into running. It's a really strange feeling because you are running on the ground one second and then you are running on air the next and then you are running on the ground once more before the wind finally lifts you up for good.
Once up in the air I'm pretty sure I had a permanent smile on my face. It is the most brilliant thing ever. You are so high up and you do dips up and down along the cracks in the mountain (sometimes you get so close you have to lift your feet up) and it's so beautiful.
The way it works is that there is the fabric wing and from it hangs your seat. The person in charge of moving it, has two (red) straps hanging down from either side and uses them to maneouver it. You pull down on the straps to go down and you let them go up if you want to go up. If you want to turn you pull down on the side you want to turn and release on the side you don't want to turn.
At the end of my flight, I was asked if I wanted some paragliding adrenaline, which basically included some extreme dips to both sides and a little bit of free-falling, which is absolutely amazing!
The rest of my weekend has been pretty chill but also really nice. Cuddled up in a double-bed alone at the place I stayed I got to sleep a straight twelve hours (which was so amazing) and now I feel rested and ready to deal with lots and lots of little children.
Chau.
PS - I find it a little weird that I am leaving in less than two weeks. It's really weird to think about how fast time has gone by.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
kate's freqent blogs make me feel like a blogging slacker, so here goes...
Well, nothing much of huge blogging interest has happened in the last couple of days (unfortunately my day-to-day work stories aren't exciting brain surgeries but rather what kid cried, what kid didn't, what kid required excessive diaper changing, and what kid (and not I'm not joking) has been calling me mom for the last three days).
I've decided then that I'm going to use the lull (things will be looking up this weekend - more on that later) to tell you about all the daily Cordoban things that it never really occurred to me to blog about, but could be entertaining and therefore possibly blog-worthy.
The first thing is that my "family" things I'm hilarious. Actually. I routinely get lost, exaggerate, make mistakes that make for interesting stories, and...wait for it...sleep walk. Yes, my sleepwalking has become almost a daily occurance. I will go to bed (usually earlier than everyone else on weekdays) and within an hour or two of falling asleep I will visit everyone still up and chatting - something they enjoy telling me about immensely.
The other thing is buses. While subways and streetcars here are non-existent and I have been warned away from the disgustingness of trains (by many MANY people), the buses are my main source of transportation. Cheap (an hour and half ride to Rio Ceballos is about $1 Canadian), comfortable (think much nicer greyhound), and frequent (like 2 minutes apart sometimes, 10 at most) they have become my best friend. However, they are not like Canadian buses.
1) the driver routinely drives with the door open (even if a mother and her child are balanced precariously on the steps
2) stops aren't really stops, you just kind of stand at designated points at the road and flag the bus down. Even if you are at a designated point the bus will not stop unless you flag it down and sometimes, depending on the bus drivers mood, he might not stop at all
3) getting off the bus involves the bus driver slowing down (never stopping) and opening the doors. I have since mastered the hopping off while it's still moving and so far so good.
4) general fact: cars have the right of way. always. even on a green light.
Anyway, that is all the random fun facts that have been floating around in my brain for the past month that I always conveniently forget right before I blog, now I shall tell you a little bit about my week.
Well, Søren is cracking under the pressure of taking care of the kids (they were particularly heinous though this week) and routinely leaves early (citing various reasons) and takes long breaks alone in the bedrooms (off-limits to the kids during the day). I don't think it will help him that tomorrow is Mikkel's last day before he heads off for two weeks of travelling around Argentina before heading back to Denmark (two weeks before Søren).
As for me, I have found my niche at Eva Peron. I have established my routine and good relationships with my kids and after one incident (where they didn't listen to me) my authority has been established. Yay.
Basically when I arrive I help set up for their breakfast and then after they eat I wash all the dishes and sometimes help with the prep for lunch (say...scraping ten thousand potatoes). Afterwords I play with the kids (today that involved drawing - I made the mistake of making one nice "name tag" for one of the kids and then I was asked by a bunch and that pretty much consumed my morning). Later I set up for lunch, oversee the eating of lunch, then do the dishes, wipe down the table, stack the chairs, sweep the messy floor, put the kids to bed, and leave.
So far it's all been really good (except for the occasional days when the kids are just crazy from being contained all day and go nuts crying).
Tomorrow is Friday and because this week has been a bit brutal (always at least a few kids crying at any given minute and with Søren cracking up) I am thankful. After work I'm going to go vegetable shopping, walk around for a bit, sleep a bit, and then in the evening I have another Spanish lesson (which are going pretty well - two hours a day).
This weekend in particular though I am looking forward to. While I really enjoy the bustle of my house and the general atmosphere and all the people I am more of a homebody and a bit of a loner and this weekend will give me a good chance to exercise that.
I'm leaving Saturday morning (and coming back Sunday night) to La Cumbre and Capilla del Monte. Capilla del Monte boasts the highest point in Las Sierras Chicas (big mountains) and La Cumbre boasts a gorgeous market (somewhere my mother is really happy) and is going to provide me with my first taste of paragliding. I've already organized everything (it finally came together about 20 minutes ago which is making me really excited) and I'm staying in a little 1938-English townhouse in La Cumbre which has only 8 bedrooms for guests but is as cheap as a hostel (pretty much the greatest thing ever!). Just the prospect of 40 hours without internet, by myself, and pretty much uninterrupted is sounding so appealing (which I guess makes sense when you live with 9 really social people and work 25 hours a week with 20 children under the age of 8).
Long story short I will not be blogging this weekend given my internet free state, so I will do my best to blog sometime on Monday after work.
The funny story I will leave you with is this:
There is a dollar store of sorts near our house and on Tuesday night I went with Laura to buy a bunch of colouring books (goodbye presents for my kids) and I'm pretty sure the lady thought I was nuts. Then on Wednesday Laura (who's luggage still hadn't shown up - although it thankfully has now) went in to buy a ton of cheap socks - same saleslady. Finally, yesterday I went in with Laura again to buy a bunch of kinder eggs (after realizing it's the kids favourite candy I decided I would get them each one) and we wound up buying a whole tray of them, got the same saleslady, and now have come to the conclusion that the entire city of cordoba (or at least everyone on Rivera Indarte) thinks that I am insane.
All though that's not too far off, so I guess I'll take it :)
I've decided then that I'm going to use the lull (things will be looking up this weekend - more on that later) to tell you about all the daily Cordoban things that it never really occurred to me to blog about, but could be entertaining and therefore possibly blog-worthy.
The first thing is that my "family" things I'm hilarious. Actually. I routinely get lost, exaggerate, make mistakes that make for interesting stories, and...wait for it...sleep walk. Yes, my sleepwalking has become almost a daily occurance. I will go to bed (usually earlier than everyone else on weekdays) and within an hour or two of falling asleep I will visit everyone still up and chatting - something they enjoy telling me about immensely.
The other thing is buses. While subways and streetcars here are non-existent and I have been warned away from the disgustingness of trains (by many MANY people), the buses are my main source of transportation. Cheap (an hour and half ride to Rio Ceballos is about $1 Canadian), comfortable (think much nicer greyhound), and frequent (like 2 minutes apart sometimes, 10 at most) they have become my best friend. However, they are not like Canadian buses.
1) the driver routinely drives with the door open (even if a mother and her child are balanced precariously on the steps
2) stops aren't really stops, you just kind of stand at designated points at the road and flag the bus down. Even if you are at a designated point the bus will not stop unless you flag it down and sometimes, depending on the bus drivers mood, he might not stop at all
3) getting off the bus involves the bus driver slowing down (never stopping) and opening the doors. I have since mastered the hopping off while it's still moving and so far so good.
4) general fact: cars have the right of way. always. even on a green light.
Anyway, that is all the random fun facts that have been floating around in my brain for the past month that I always conveniently forget right before I blog, now I shall tell you a little bit about my week.
Well, Søren is cracking under the pressure of taking care of the kids (they were particularly heinous though this week) and routinely leaves early (citing various reasons) and takes long breaks alone in the bedrooms (off-limits to the kids during the day). I don't think it will help him that tomorrow is Mikkel's last day before he heads off for two weeks of travelling around Argentina before heading back to Denmark (two weeks before Søren).
As for me, I have found my niche at Eva Peron. I have established my routine and good relationships with my kids and after one incident (where they didn't listen to me) my authority has been established. Yay.
Basically when I arrive I help set up for their breakfast and then after they eat I wash all the dishes and sometimes help with the prep for lunch (say...scraping ten thousand potatoes). Afterwords I play with the kids (today that involved drawing - I made the mistake of making one nice "name tag" for one of the kids and then I was asked by a bunch and that pretty much consumed my morning). Later I set up for lunch, oversee the eating of lunch, then do the dishes, wipe down the table, stack the chairs, sweep the messy floor, put the kids to bed, and leave.
So far it's all been really good (except for the occasional days when the kids are just crazy from being contained all day and go nuts crying).
Tomorrow is Friday and because this week has been a bit brutal (always at least a few kids crying at any given minute and with Søren cracking up) I am thankful. After work I'm going to go vegetable shopping, walk around for a bit, sleep a bit, and then in the evening I have another Spanish lesson (which are going pretty well - two hours a day).
This weekend in particular though I am looking forward to. While I really enjoy the bustle of my house and the general atmosphere and all the people I am more of a homebody and a bit of a loner and this weekend will give me a good chance to exercise that.
I'm leaving Saturday morning (and coming back Sunday night) to La Cumbre and Capilla del Monte. Capilla del Monte boasts the highest point in Las Sierras Chicas (big mountains) and La Cumbre boasts a gorgeous market (somewhere my mother is really happy) and is going to provide me with my first taste of paragliding. I've already organized everything (it finally came together about 20 minutes ago which is making me really excited) and I'm staying in a little 1938-English townhouse in La Cumbre which has only 8 bedrooms for guests but is as cheap as a hostel (pretty much the greatest thing ever!). Just the prospect of 40 hours without internet, by myself, and pretty much uninterrupted is sounding so appealing (which I guess makes sense when you live with 9 really social people and work 25 hours a week with 20 children under the age of 8).
Long story short I will not be blogging this weekend given my internet free state, so I will do my best to blog sometime on Monday after work.
The funny story I will leave you with is this:
There is a dollar store of sorts near our house and on Tuesday night I went with Laura to buy a bunch of colouring books (goodbye presents for my kids) and I'm pretty sure the lady thought I was nuts. Then on Wednesday Laura (who's luggage still hadn't shown up - although it thankfully has now) went in to buy a ton of cheap socks - same saleslady. Finally, yesterday I went in with Laura again to buy a bunch of kinder eggs (after realizing it's the kids favourite candy I decided I would get them each one) and we wound up buying a whole tray of them, got the same saleslady, and now have come to the conclusion that the entire city of cordoba (or at least everyone on Rivera Indarte) thinks that I am insane.
All though that's not too far off, so I guess I'll take it :)
Monday, July 20, 2009
my internet connection is conspiring against me in an attempt to prevent my blogging
Well, it's been quite a busy last couple of days and I've been meaning to blog about all the excitement but every time I seem to have a minute to blog my internet connection craps out and, well, I can't. So sad. Please allow me to catch up...
Saturday I woke up too early to go for my visit to the Quebrada National Park of Condors (supposedly the largest land bird but really they just look like black birds with white-tipped wings). I was supposed to meet at the Latitud Sur office (my tour company) and meet the rest of the "tourists". Now, these tourists are in brackets because I was led (misled) to believe that my trip was a touristy one - a little walking, a little historical park information, lots of tourists, you know the type. Wrong.
I was squished into a tiny car with five other people (all much older Argentineans) and taken on a 10-hour hike through the mountains. Yes, ten hours. It was absolutely insane. It was the most amazing, beautiful thing I've ever done (pictures soon to follow), but it was crazy. We basically walked up and down mountains - although I use the term walking loosely since what I did was in fact closer to rock-climbing and rock-hopping. I fell into a river twice, I died of frostbite, I climbed up a rock-cliff and almost fell down on to the rocks below because I grabbed onto a loose rock accidently (whoops!) and then to end the "tour" I had to walk along the visitor's road for two and half hours in the pitch dark with no lights. I died, but it was the most fun and the most adventure that I've had in awhile so it was really nice. It was one of those activities that consumes you so entirely that you don't think of anything else and to be honest while I've had a lot of fun in Cordoba and enjoyed most of the things I've done this was the first activity where I didn't think about home at all.
Sunday I spent recovering. Which was much needed because I was really sore and tired and my legs were like jelly (mountain-climbing 19 kilometres will do that to a person). I did my laundry, made my twister board game (and I am impressed with the results - picture soon to follow as well), organized all my stuff and slept. Lots and lots of sleeping.
Today I went to work in the morning and died. Even though I really enjoy my work today seemed to be the day that everyone was crying, kicking, screaming, biting (Damian!), and hitting. My authority was questioned (many times) by the kids today (eventually I won though) and the usual girls played with my hair, although today the braids were more like knots in my hair that took about 2 hours to get out (never again...).
Afterwords I went to Unquillo to help set up (and then hold) the birthday party for all the kids with birthdays in July. It was a lot of fun (twister was a hit!) and it lasted for quite a while.
I got home around 6ish and then Laura (my new roommate from Manchester) arrived. She is really nice, has pretty good Spanish, and unfortunately has no luggage since the airline appears to have lost it. Sucky. So far we get along pretty great though (she accompanied me on my walk to the dollar store to buy markers and colouring books for the kids at my orphanage - I've decided I need to add more crafts to the morning - and in return I took her to the tourist office to get her a map of Cordoba (so helpful) and showed her where all the banks and money exchange places are).
Now I am exhausted and have a pile of Spanish homework to finish before my class tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it tonight or tomorrow in the two hours between work and leaving for class. So far I'm leaning towards tomorrow because I am thoroughly exhausted (such a long day) and have no desire to do anything what so ever.
I think Laura will make for a good roommate. Currently we are sitting across from each other on our computers and she has decided to strike up a gmail chat conversation. That makes me think she has a sense of humour...
Saturday I woke up too early to go for my visit to the Quebrada National Park of Condors (supposedly the largest land bird but really they just look like black birds with white-tipped wings). I was supposed to meet at the Latitud Sur office (my tour company) and meet the rest of the "tourists". Now, these tourists are in brackets because I was led (misled) to believe that my trip was a touristy one - a little walking, a little historical park information, lots of tourists, you know the type. Wrong.
I was squished into a tiny car with five other people (all much older Argentineans) and taken on a 10-hour hike through the mountains. Yes, ten hours. It was absolutely insane. It was the most amazing, beautiful thing I've ever done (pictures soon to follow), but it was crazy. We basically walked up and down mountains - although I use the term walking loosely since what I did was in fact closer to rock-climbing and rock-hopping. I fell into a river twice, I died of frostbite, I climbed up a rock-cliff and almost fell down on to the rocks below because I grabbed onto a loose rock accidently (whoops!) and then to end the "tour" I had to walk along the visitor's road for two and half hours in the pitch dark with no lights. I died, but it was the most fun and the most adventure that I've had in awhile so it was really nice. It was one of those activities that consumes you so entirely that you don't think of anything else and to be honest while I've had a lot of fun in Cordoba and enjoyed most of the things I've done this was the first activity where I didn't think about home at all.
Sunday I spent recovering. Which was much needed because I was really sore and tired and my legs were like jelly (mountain-climbing 19 kilometres will do that to a person). I did my laundry, made my twister board game (and I am impressed with the results - picture soon to follow as well), organized all my stuff and slept. Lots and lots of sleeping.
Today I went to work in the morning and died. Even though I really enjoy my work today seemed to be the day that everyone was crying, kicking, screaming, biting (Damian!), and hitting. My authority was questioned (many times) by the kids today (eventually I won though) and the usual girls played with my hair, although today the braids were more like knots in my hair that took about 2 hours to get out (never again...).
Afterwords I went to Unquillo to help set up (and then hold) the birthday party for all the kids with birthdays in July. It was a lot of fun (twister was a hit!) and it lasted for quite a while.
I got home around 6ish and then Laura (my new roommate from Manchester) arrived. She is really nice, has pretty good Spanish, and unfortunately has no luggage since the airline appears to have lost it. Sucky. So far we get along pretty great though (she accompanied me on my walk to the dollar store to buy markers and colouring books for the kids at my orphanage - I've decided I need to add more crafts to the morning - and in return I took her to the tourist office to get her a map of Cordoba (so helpful) and showed her where all the banks and money exchange places are).
Now I am exhausted and have a pile of Spanish homework to finish before my class tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it tonight or tomorrow in the two hours between work and leaving for class. So far I'm leaning towards tomorrow because I am thoroughly exhausted (such a long day) and have no desire to do anything what so ever.
I think Laura will make for a good roommate. Currently we are sitting across from each other on our computers and she has decided to strike up a gmail chat conversation. That makes me think she has a sense of humour...
Friday, July 17, 2009
i can't think of a title...
Well the German invasion ends tomorrow morning. Apparently Franca finds her really annoying and doesn't like the idea of her being in the house alone, so she asked me if it was okay if we both lied and said that my roommate (who comes Monday) is actually coming Saturday. I said yes, is that mean?
Ah well, Thursday I woke up still feeling kind of sick and having not slept at all (my roommate stays up late talking on skype with all the lights on) but I managed to drag myself down to Villa Allende. There was not work but all the volunteers in Care were at the Office to wrap presents and organize games for the huge birthday party for all the children born in July on Monday in Unquillo. The volunteers were divided into groups of two, each group in charge of two games. I was partnered with Søren and we are in charge of a potato sack race and twister. Somehow Søren got to be in charge of buying the potato sacks and I got put in charge of making (yes making) a twister board.
Well, now I know how I will be spending my weekend...
Thursday afternoon I had a two hour Spanish lesson (and now I have a crapload of grammar homework for Tuesday) and then I came home and collapsed in bed at 10 (really really early by Argentinean standards). The French disappeared Thursday night for a weekend in Salta (the house is awfully quiet now) and with the German leaving tomorrow morning, there's going to be very little people in the house for the next little while.
This morning I went to work (it was dance and music day) and it was good but absolutely exhausting and this afternoon I visited the most famous church in Cordoba and the old university (Which is gorgeous). Now I'm exhausted (still sporting a nice sore throat) and looking forward to getting some sleep - since it's her last night I'm going to have no qualms about telling her to use her computer in the kitchen or turn in the (pardon my French) fuck off.
Tomorrow I leave bright and early for a full day excursion to Quebrada National Park which is famous for it's Condors, which are apparently the largest land bird and slowly becoming extinct. Everyone who knows of my plans says it is the prettiest, nicest park ever - time will tell.
Sunday I believe my day will be consumed by sleep, laundry, more sleep, the making of two twister games (one for Eva Peron and one for the party), more sleep, and more sleep.
The only new thing on the itinerary is that I am now leaving Cordoba on the 6th of August instead of the 14th of August. Instead of just a weekend in Chile I am now spending a little over a week there, with my time split between Santiago and Vina del Mar.
Well, I'll do my best to let Sunday include the posting of pictures and blogging from the National Park, and have a good weekend! :)
PS - weirdly enough today is the halfway point. I have been in Cordoba for three weeks (it feels like a day) and I leave in three weeks (given how fast the first three went by I am kind of scared at how fast the last three will go by).
Ah well, Thursday I woke up still feeling kind of sick and having not slept at all (my roommate stays up late talking on skype with all the lights on) but I managed to drag myself down to Villa Allende. There was not work but all the volunteers in Care were at the Office to wrap presents and organize games for the huge birthday party for all the children born in July on Monday in Unquillo. The volunteers were divided into groups of two, each group in charge of two games. I was partnered with Søren and we are in charge of a potato sack race and twister. Somehow Søren got to be in charge of buying the potato sacks and I got put in charge of making (yes making) a twister board.
Well, now I know how I will be spending my weekend...
Thursday afternoon I had a two hour Spanish lesson (and now I have a crapload of grammar homework for Tuesday) and then I came home and collapsed in bed at 10 (really really early by Argentinean standards). The French disappeared Thursday night for a weekend in Salta (the house is awfully quiet now) and with the German leaving tomorrow morning, there's going to be very little people in the house for the next little while.
This morning I went to work (it was dance and music day) and it was good but absolutely exhausting and this afternoon I visited the most famous church in Cordoba and the old university (Which is gorgeous). Now I'm exhausted (still sporting a nice sore throat) and looking forward to getting some sleep - since it's her last night I'm going to have no qualms about telling her to use her computer in the kitchen or turn in the (pardon my French) fuck off.
Tomorrow I leave bright and early for a full day excursion to Quebrada National Park which is famous for it's Condors, which are apparently the largest land bird and slowly becoming extinct. Everyone who knows of my plans says it is the prettiest, nicest park ever - time will tell.
Sunday I believe my day will be consumed by sleep, laundry, more sleep, the making of two twister games (one for Eva Peron and one for the party), more sleep, and more sleep.
The only new thing on the itinerary is that I am now leaving Cordoba on the 6th of August instead of the 14th of August. Instead of just a weekend in Chile I am now spending a little over a week there, with my time split between Santiago and Vina del Mar.
Well, I'll do my best to let Sunday include the posting of pictures and blogging from the National Park, and have a good weekend! :)
PS - weirdly enough today is the halfway point. I have been in Cordoba for three weeks (it feels like a day) and I leave in three weeks (given how fast the first three went by I am kind of scared at how fast the last three will go by).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)