Dear blog fans,
I can only imagine how many of you wait with bated breath every week to read my next post… And here’s another one. Last week I didn’t think far enough ahead to really type up a proper blog post, but pictures are more fun anyway.
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve settled into our rancho routine. Early last week I finalized the housing arrangements. The final set-up puts me and Matt staying with Martin and Martina (husband and wife…I’m on the look-out for an Emilio) in Santa Rosa. Angela and Brandon are staying in two different homes in Comederito, which is about a mile and a half away from Santa Rosa.
This week we all started teaching our respective students. Matt and I are teaching together; most of our students are in Santa Rosa, with one or two in nearby la Estancia. Although several students ended up being busy (not too surprising), the classes we did teach were really successful. I think we’re teaching three different women who run stores. At least two of them are taking classes to help them out in the store, and they’re pretty quick with their schoolwork. Another student, Olga, wants to get her secundaria certificate so she can go to nursing school part-time. She doesn’t even need us to teach her, really; we just check her homework.
Speaking of Olga, it was her birthday on the 13th. Matt and I were giving her and her friend Ignacia class on the 12th, when she suddenly remembered that her birthday was the next day. They decided that they would have us over for enchiladas and a little dancing to celebrate. So the next night after we’d finished teaching, we showed up at Nacha’s house (Ignacia goes by Nacha). They brought out some beautiful enchiladas which we all enjoyed, along with some wandering children. After dinner, they set up a stereo and put on some classic rancho music. It was pretty much Matt and me, with our two adult students (whose husbands are sort of out of the picture), and a little horde of children dancing on Nacha’s patio. The kids were really hilarious; they would imitate any crazy dance move we came up with, and a couple of the little boys even asked me to dance. In the style of one of my favorite speakers, food was imparted, dancing was enjoyed, and good times were shared by all (Mom and Dad, I’m counting on you to appreciate that allusion).
I can only imagine how many of you wait with bated breath every week to read my next post… And here’s another one. Last week I didn’t think far enough ahead to really type up a proper blog post, but pictures are more fun anyway.
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve settled into our rancho routine. Early last week I finalized the housing arrangements. The final set-up puts me and Matt staying with Martin and Martina (husband and wife…I’m on the look-out for an Emilio) in Santa Rosa. Angela and Brandon are staying in two different homes in Comederito, which is about a mile and a half away from Santa Rosa.
This week we all started teaching our respective students. Matt and I are teaching together; most of our students are in Santa Rosa, with one or two in nearby la Estancia. Although several students ended up being busy (not too surprising), the classes we did teach were really successful. I think we’re teaching three different women who run stores. At least two of them are taking classes to help them out in the store, and they’re pretty quick with their schoolwork. Another student, Olga, wants to get her secundaria certificate so she can go to nursing school part-time. She doesn’t even need us to teach her, really; we just check her homework.
Speaking of Olga, it was her birthday on the 13th. Matt and I were giving her and her friend Ignacia class on the 12th, when she suddenly remembered that her birthday was the next day. They decided that they would have us over for enchiladas and a little dancing to celebrate. So the next night after we’d finished teaching, we showed up at Nacha’s house (Ignacia goes by Nacha). They brought out some beautiful enchiladas which we all enjoyed, along with some wandering children. After dinner, they set up a stereo and put on some classic rancho music. It was pretty much Matt and me, with our two adult students (whose husbands are sort of out of the picture), and a little horde of children dancing on Nacha’s patio. The kids were really hilarious; they would imitate any crazy dance move we came up with, and a couple of the little boys even asked me to dance. In the style of one of my favorite speakers, food was imparted, dancing was enjoyed, and good times were shared by all (Mom and Dad, I’m counting on you to appreciate that allusion).
This is my room. The room takes up the whole building, and the families have their rooms in another couple of buildings across a patio and down some steps.
These are the enchiladas that Olga and Nacha made for us. Mmmmmm...
This is Santa Rosa, the village where I´m living. Actually, this is only about a third of it, maybe. It´s all spread out on these hills, so there are housing behind me (the photographer), and more in the periphery that you can´t see.
I unfortunately didn´t get any pictures of myself this week, but I´ll take some soon.
1 comment:
Emily,
It's so fun to hear the details of Ranch Life. Takes me back to my little village in Ecuador! I think the pic of your room/shack is charming. There will come a day--when you are living in a big American house--that you will long for that kind of simplicity again...if only temporarily! Sigues adelante! (Hope I got that right.)
Aunt Lisa
Post a Comment