adjusting to the heat

interesting meats that i have tried so far:
1. fried chicken intestine
2. fried cow lungs

note to self: don't try those ones again.

new snacks i love:
arepas con queso (don't worry soraya, i'm not eating them all the time)
almojabanas
and other little bread things (i'm not good with remembering the names)

number of times i've taken the wrong bus: 2

so it's been almost 3 weeks. i can hardly believe it. most of the time i feel like i just got here. in my tefl training course so far i've learned about methodologies for teaching languages and i've been able to refresh my english grammar. we've started working on lesson planning (which is where i need to do a lot of work). i have class with the two loveliest ladies, Italia and Milu. they both work at a school here in cali teaching english.

when i was packing up my things to come to south america, i had to make some decisions about what to bring and what not to bring. i saw my stack of Baha'i ruhi books (which are in english) and i also saw how little space i had left in my bags. i made a decision: i would leave them at home and get books in spanish when i get there. that's what i've done so far. i'm taking book 7 in spanish and somehow or other i'm tutoring book 4, also in spanish. it's helping me improve my spanish but then again, i end up being the quietest one there.

carlos came into town last weekend. that meant i had to venture to the airport. i got directions from my friends and i felt confident leaving 1.5 hours before his arrival. i was supposed to take a bus to the north of the city and then another to the airport. i got to the north. i waited a while for a bus to the airport but didn't see one. a bus came by and asked me where i was going. i said, "aeropuerto." he said yes and that i should get in. super, i thought. as we approached the exit for the airport the bus stopped and they told me i had to cross the highway and catch another bus the rest of the way. ok. i crossed the busy highway. and started walking, hoping that a bus or taxi would be coming by. a man on a motorcycle stopped and asked where i was going. i told him, "aeropuerto." he said he'd take me. so i got a ride the rest of the way (about 5 more minutes). so i made it to the airport in time and we found a much simpler way back to my house.

the next day we went to italia's house. she lives in the south of the city on a farm. it's absolutely gorgeous. it's on a hill and has a view of the whole city. i felt like i left the speed and noises of the city to escape to a calm farm. we decided to make this coconut dessert from scratch. italia's husband, diego, fixed lunch. we drank fresh squeezed mandarina juice. we took a siesta after lunch in the hammocks. what more can you ask for? without asking for it, we left with two canvas bags full of mandarinas, a dozen lemons and one coconut.

the following day we really ventured out to a city 3 hours away called armenia. in that region they grow loads of coffee and plantains. when we arrived there we figured out there was a festival in a town nearby called calarca. wonderful. we went and walked from street vendor to street vendor. trying some good food and sugar cane juice. yum. the next morning we went to another town, montenegro, to go to the parque nacional del cafe (national park of coffee). it's partly a park to educate about coffee and another part amusement park. it's interesting mix and a nice place to go. i felt a little bit like they didn't talk much about difficulties that coffee farmers might be having (i didn't get to see the whole park though). and that evening we returned to cali.

we explored a little bit more of cali. it soon came time for carlos to leave. this time we took the right way to the airport (no motorcycles).

the past few days i've been going to classes, going to study circles and i ventured out to the pool the other morning.

more stories to come. hopefully none involving strange meats and motorcycle rides.