The End.
Oh wait, I was going to actually update you. So here goes. A day in the life. Times are approximate, as we run on Tico Time here. Which is to say, everyone is always late for everything, and I may own the only working watch or clock in Cartago (not a single one at school is on time, half of them don't even move).
5:30 AM: Wake up to the sound of the doorbell. That would be Kattia, the morning cook, being let in by Don Santi, the night guard.
6:25: Alarm clock goes off. Hit snooze.
6:30: It goes off again. Hit snooze again.
6:40: It goes off again. Get up, brush teeth, attempt to fix hair, get mostly dressed.
6:50: Head down the hall for breakfast (usually rice and beans, or pancakes, or eggs, I always have yogurt mixed with cereal, also toast) and coffee. Talk awkwardly with Kattia, who doesn't understand English, but likes to sit at the table reading the paper and talking to herself.
7:00: Laura comes down for breakfast. Someone to talk to!
7:05: Doorbell rings, it's Allan, the oddly attractive driver.
7:10: Doorbell rings, it's Juvel, the volunteer coordinator.
7:15: Hayley wanders down, looking disheveled and confused. She was probably up until 1 or 2 skyping with her boyfriend.
7:20: Finish coffee, get up and wash dishes, wander back to room to finish getting ready.
7:30: Laura and Hayley leave, they get rides to their placements. I savor the alone time. Usually by tooling around on facebook.
8:00: Head to school. I walk down through town, get honked at by approximately 5 cars, 2 motorcycles, and 7 trucks. Crossing the streets is perilous, but I've survived so far.
8:15: Ring the doorbell at school to get let in.
8:20: Get let in. One of the janitors likes to practice his "Good morning!"
8:20-8:35: Wander in search of Marcela, or "Teacher" as all the kids and other teachers call her. Sometimes I give up and go hang out with some other teachers, trying to understand their conversations, sometimes having very broken conversations in my bad Spanish, sometimes I find one of the two English-speaking teachers and talk to them for a bit. The kids are at recess, so sometimes I just hang out with them a little, say hi and good morning.
8:35: Find Marcela, head to whatever class is first.
8:35-11:40 ish: Teach. These kids are the cutest, but some of them are completely out of control. I go over vocabulary with them so they can hear a native speaker, quiz them, play games with them, etc.
11:40 ish: Walk home. Do not die. Think about stopping in every shop I pass by that sells cake. For some reason, really crave cake.
12:00: Make it home, sans cake. Ring the doorbell to be let in, have awkward conversation with Juvel about how my day went, get some water because it's hot out and that walk was uphill the entire way, go lie in bed.
12:30: Think "Man, it isn't lunch time yet? MAN"
12:35: Hayley and Laura return, Hayley comes into the room and is awkward.
1:00: Luuunch (rice and beans and some other stuff). Sit between Hayley and Laura. The staff sits at the other end of the table, conversing in Spanish, occasionally with Laura or Hayley included, sit there looking dumb. Then get up and wash dishes, talking with Laura and others about what's on the proverbial plate for the afternoon.
1:30: Nap? Unless an activity (field trip/dance class/etc) is planned, in which case, activate.
1:30-6:00: Whatever. Activityfy, or nap, or shop for souvenirs and/or shoes (there is approximately 1 shoe store per .5 people in Cartago), or tool around home base. Allan, Kattia, Juvel, and Lucy (the general office type manager) leave at some point.
6:00: Dinner. Just Laura, Hayley, and Silvia, the cool cook who is funny and talks to me and is patient with my constant "Como?"s and "Que?"s and "No entendi"s.
6:30: Doorbell rings, it's Don Santi. Get up and wash dishes, repeating the exercise from lunch.
6:35: Prep for Spanish class, if there's Spanish class, have Spanish class if there's Spanish class, or hang out with Laura watching Friends, or do crosswords or read or catch up with peoples on the intertubes.
9:00: Shower. Cold shower. Occasionally, lukewarm shower. Very occasionally, warmer than the ambient temperature shower. I feel like every shower I take is the worst ever, standing there shivering, sometimes turning the water off because it's actually warmer to soap up and stuff without the water running.
9:10: Give up on bathing, put clothes on as quickly as possible, maybe get some hot chocolate before bed.
10:00: Bed.
As you can see, it's so very exciting that I have not had a spare second to update. Also, the thing with the monkey.
So yeah, that's that. I think what's kept me from updating is that there's so much going on. Like, I'm going to be asking for your help soon with a thing, but to do that I have to take more pictures. And also I'm learning a lot, and I'd like to share that, and also I'm freaking out about the fact that I'm halfway done, which means it's almost time for me to come home, which means I have to figure my life out like, now.
And I haven't even found a black market monkey smuggling complacent vet yet to make sure none of the monkeys I'm going to smuggle have any communicable diseases.
