So I have been feeling really exhausted and just not the best lately, but I thought it was just because I was tired from an intense surgery week and running around with Ashley. Then my stomach started to hurt, so I decided to get it checked out. I've learned that it is better to be overly cautious down here than to just let something go. Anyways, the test came back (all in Spanish all the way, so I had no idea what it said until I got home and asked my nurse roommate) saying basically that it was evident that I had had a parasite, but that my body must have already fought it off (because I waited so long to get it checked out). I am still feeling pretty tired, but my stomach is getting back to normal. I know that parasites eat at your intestinal wall which makes it difficult to digest food. My roommate is actually now lactose intolerant because she had a parasite that caused permanent damage. I am hoping whatever I had didn't do any lasting damage and that I start feeling better before my family comes to visit on the 10th.
So now on to happier moments of my week. I worked from Pana both Wednesday and Thursday which was beautiful. I can't remember the last time I had a day where I just hung out around Pana. Both mornings I went to the coffee shop to finish whatever work stuff I had to do for the day. I love sitting at the counter and having the most random conversations with Mike and the other customers. There is always christian music playing in the background and almost every time I am there I know random customers that come in. I love the family who owns and lives upstairs of Crossroads. Mike and Adele are both great. Adele hosts knitting on Saturdays (no I don't knit, but I go to drink coffee and catch up with people) and is in the bible study I go to on Thursday afternoons. They have 2 teenage daughters Lungi and Kasia who I have become good friends with. I am blessed to have met this family and to have this amazing place to hang out at in Pana.
I also took time out both days to sit by the lake. I love just finding little private places to sit and be quiet for awhile. Actually one of the times I was hanging out down by the lake this week I was sitting on this boat ramp that had been destroyed. Two guys started talking from the walkway above me and didn't know I was there. One guy was from Honduras and the other was from Sweden. They had about a 20 minute conversation about how horrible people from the States were all awhile not knowing I was sitting there listening. I kept laughing at American stereotypes that they discussed. When I finally stood up and climbed back up to the road in between them they looked pretty embarrassed when they asked where I was from and found out I'm from the States... It made me laugh.
I also took advantage of being in Pana during the day to eat lunch one day at The Patio. If you have read my past blogs then you'll remember that this is the place where I sit outside and study Spanish by myself. I also order the chicken sandwich every time and without fail I end up giving at least half of my lunch away to a cat or dog. This week my lunch date was this cute little pup. He licked my plate clean (yes I am aware the people who work there probably get annoyed with me every time) and then drank the last of my aqua pura. What a lucky pup.
I got a call from Janet last night around 10:00 saying that 2 of the teachers were out sick today. The first grade teacher had found a sub, but the kindergarten teacher couldn't, so we actually left about an hour and a half earlier than normal and spent the entire day teaching Paulina's class. We started the day with reading a story about a little white bunny who kept falling into many different colored paint buckets. Then we had the students finger paint with only 3 colors, and combine them to come up with even more colors. Below is a picture of the table I worked with the most today.
Another activity we did with the students was playing with playdoh. We had them make "playdoh snakes" and then we had them measure how many cm they were. Then we tried to think of something tall for them to measure. The picture below is of a snowman I drew on the white board for them to make. None of the kids had ever seen snow before, so they really didn't understand the concept of a snowman, but it was hilarious watching them trying to make little snowmen.
Here is adorable little Saydie with her snowman. She actually made a face for her pink snowman.
And of course little Reyna. Not surprisingly when we told the whole class to make snowmen she made an elephant instead. Such a little character. She spent the entire day holding onto my legs and would cry if I walked away. The other teachers told me she's not usually like this every day, but she must have been in a mood today. Even the PE teacher, Jose, had an issue getting her to participate. But all that being said she's still a favorite... so adorable!!! Today at the school we had several kids try to escape which I had to run after. One of our kids (Daniel) also really loves to climb on top of roofs, cars, playgrounds, desks, pretty much anything taller than him. Every time he ran out of the classroom I would find him climbing on top of anything he could. Such an exhausting day!On a side note to any teachers who read this. I have no idea how you do this everyday. When I got done teaching I immediately sent my mom an email asking how she could deal with all of that everyday. I know it's probably much easier when you know you speak the same language as your students, but just in case there was ever a question in my mind if I wanted to be a teacher or not I got the answer today. Even though I absolutely love playing with the adorable little kids I am much better with older youth types.
This weekend I really don't have a lot going on which again I love. I feel like I have been so busy and tired lately that I am incredibly excited about having another couple of days just to hang out and be quiet around Pana. I am thinking about taking a chicken bus to Solola for the market on Sunday or maybe a boat/tuk tuk to another village tomorrow afternoon. We'll see where the weekend leads me.
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