Spanish school and Exporing

 I had my first Spanish lesson yesterday morning. I went from 8 to 12 with one 15 minute break at 10. My tutor was a lady named Gladys and she was great. She had a great sense of humor, so we were able to laugh mainly at how bad at Spanish I was. At the school the students sit a tables with their teacher in this beautiful court yard. I really think that if Katy/Stratford had taught me one on one in a beautiful court yard with fruit trees, flowers, and parrots I would have been a straight A student. :) This morning I had another 4 hour lesson. I am impressed with how much is coming back from high school, but it is still difficult. I have never been good at learning languages, so I know this is going to be a challenge.

Anyways, after Spanish school yesterday Janet and I walked to the market. Think of our farmer's market in Houston then imagine if it was 10 times bigger. Every time I thought we were towards the end of the market Janet would lead me into another massive room filled with different vendors. I bought a lot of fruits and vegetables that I then had to take home and disinfect. I bought some organic cleaner and soaked everything in water for about 15 minutes. Hopefully it did the trip. I haven't been sick yet, so at least I'm having a good start.

 In the market there were about 20 of these meat stands all along the walls. This is just one of the reasons why I don't like a lot of meat... gross.

 Yesterday afternoon I went with a couple of other Spanish students (one who refused to speak English and one who was from Germany and didn't know English, so I pretty much just spoke broken Spanish to the tuk tuk driver) went to a couple of other towns on the lake near Pana. On the drive we pulled over a few times to take pictures. The view is breathtaking. There are 3 volcanoes around the lake which is probably one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.

 This is the town of Santa Catarina Palopo which is the town closest to Pana. We stopped here and went into one of the churches.

 The next town we came to was San Antoinio Palopo (yes I pronounce it wrong because I always say it like our San Antonio in Texas). This town is known for it's pottery and weaving. We went to the local pottery factory where every thing is handmade. I bought a pretty cross and would have bought more, but I figured I've only been here for 3 days and would probably find lots of stuff I would want to buy. That and I was running out of money because the atm hasn't worked since I got here.

We visited a couple of churches while in San Antoinio Palopo and they both had a big Christmas tree and nativity scene in front. In all of the nativities the baby Jesus were actually size baby dolls while everything else was miniature in comparison. Found it interesting.

 Lastly on our trip we stopped at some stores where they sell their weaving that they are known for. I know this is a bad picture, but you can still see how they make these weavings. When you walk down the streets there are dozens of children and women trying to sell you things. I bought one when I was at the market in Chichi this Summer. They are beautiful, but it gets old when you are trying to just walk around and you are constantly harassed to buy something.

Today was a great days also. After Spanish school this morning I went with Janet and Wayne to Salud y Paz to make a list of everything we want to construction mission team that gets here Monday to do to get the school ready to open in 2 weeks. I can't wait for the school year to start and to be working with the kids everyday. Tonight I had dinner with Janet, Wayne, and another married couple who work in the clinic. I am realizing quickly how blessed I am to be working with these amazing people.

Ok... I'm exhausted and have a lot of Spanish homework to do before I can go to bed. If you've been wondering why this blog may not be up to its charming self it's because I'm about to fall asleep while typing. Night blog peeps.