Since I´m not good at updating on a day to day basis I thought I´d organize this update by the days...
Day 2: So it´s only the second day, things are going well, but I´m not sure mi
padre understands that I want to learn his business and partake in
whatever activites I can with him. Yesterday he left me at the house
with mi madre, which was fine got to talk to her, then she started to
work and I tried to ask questions and learn about her work, and that
wasn´t very successful. Today I came to work after numerous
conversations explaining that, that was what I wanted. This morning I
got to complete a course about coffee, which I enjoyed and gladly did.
It´s now over and mi padre gave me the option of going home or playing
on his computer. I´m not complaining in the sense of not enjoying
myself, but I´m just not sure how to get across that I genuinely want to
see as much of the micro-credit portion as possible. I´ve tried
talking to him, but we definitely suffer from miscommunication. It is
obvi the second day and I´m open to learning whatever from whomever and
so will walk and seek out others. I just didn´t know if I should push
the matter or you can tell me how to word what I´m trying to say, haha.
I just was looking for feed back. But regardless I really like my
family, and currently am very very happy to be here.
Day 5: Things are going pretty well (I think...). I´m
getting used to the slower pace and breaks every 2 hours, trying to hold
my own with the coffee drinkers =). I´ve been able to do some work on
Excel, making graphs and such, hoping that I understand what I´m being
asked to do. Yesterday precious Vlady explained Micro-credit to me that
was a fun time in the conference room with dry erase markers that
didn´t work. I really enjoy my co-workers, and feel pretty good around
everyone. I´m trying to just go with the flow and do what I can when
I´m asked or stumble upon a task.
The First Weekend: Well the weekend has probably been the most difficult part so far. We came home fairly early on Friday and more usual than not I didn't know where I git in. IT is a goal of mine to never run to electronics when I feel uncomfortable, and only to choose technology when I feel it is appropriate and I'm not missing out on relationship building. Now that's my GOAL, it is not ALWAYS accomplished. Anyways Friday night with the exception of dinner, and all of Saturday morning I just didn't know what to do with myself. The family did business as usual, which included errands, chores, and going to practices. I asked to help with chores, but didn't get very far as it was a one woman job. But mid-afternoon rolled around and mi madre said, "Vamos, a casa de mi hermano!" So without any further details I went. It was a short walk, but a long stay. What she didn't tell me is that I was paricipating in a family tradition. As we gathered in the living room, with at least 25 relatives, her brother greeted us and added a special bienviendos to me. He then lead the family in a prayer and the family responded when appropriate; obviously leaving me clueless. We then had a few appetizers including "ponche crema" main ingredients typically include milk, eggs, sugar, and rum. First I would like to note that I didn't realize this contained alcohol as it was given to the 3 year old neice, and the preteens, it also tasted like milk flavored cough medicine. I will be perfectly content to never enjoy this, "rico" drink again.
After the meal I sat down with mi hermano and mi padre, who is trying to learn English. Mi hermano, Kevin, has studied English, but doesn't speak much, which leads me to believe he is not very confident nor fluent. So mi padre loves trying to speak in English, so he was even more excited than usual and starts saying "I am HAP-O-NESE!" I thought he was attempting to say happiness, but the he was actually trying to say Japanese... I can not explain to you how entertaining this was as he repeated the phrase multiple times with great excitement, I was in tears of laughter. It still brings a smile to my face along with a small chuckle. Afte providing such grand entertainment, mi padre went to converse with other members of the family, leaving only Kevin and I at the table. We enjoyed a relatively long conversation, which further turned the weekend into a wonderful time. I am an extrovert and therefore get my energy from others, so being cooped up relatively alone all weekend was not doing me well. As I struggled with my Spanish to get certain concepts across Kevin gave me much grace, demonstrated much patience, and we both laughed a great deal. This has been one of the highlights of my time here.
Well this is old news, but I wanted to share. A newer update will come shortly ;)
Bendiciones para ti,
Hannah
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