Rubber Time: this has been teaching us patience. There have been numerous instances between us, and Erik and Amanda, that we have experienced this. . .
--When the internet providers say they are coming "tomorrow at 4:00" it might mean tomorrow at 7:00, or even two days from then!
--We have to drink water from big jugs that sit on top of a dispensers. They're pretty cheap to get refilled, but it's the only water we can drink without getting sick. Chris and I went to the little store at the base of our apartments and payed for water a couple mornings ago that we were supposed to get when we got back from school. When we went to pick it up, they said "tomorrow". They speak limited English so we just said okay, we'll come back tomorrow. Tomorrow comes around, and again. . .they say "tomorrow". On the third day, we finally got to talk to a guy who could explain to us that the water suppliers hadn't delivered it yet. It's a continuous circle. We went without water in our apartment for 3 days, and filled our water bottles at school before we came home. Water is a precious resource when you have to have clean water to brush your teeth too!
12 hours of sun: The sun rises and sets at 6:00 every day of the year. It's nice to walk to school in the "sunlight" (in quotes because rarely can we actually see the sun through the smog).
While we are up and working for many hours in the day, it seems like we work through the night because it gets dark so early! We usually only see the sun for about an hour and a half after we get off work.
Making the Most of our Time
Time management is crucial here, but very difficult. We can easily be at work for 10 hours and then feel like we need to work for several more after we get home. If we do this every night, there is nothing to break the cycle! We're working hard to find a balance between time spent working, and time spent experiencing life outside of work.
Our principal and his wife are our "host family". They have had us over to their place twice for dinner, and boy is that nice! Our principal has also been great in encouraging us to relax. The last time we went for dinner he told us to bring our swimsuits, and purposefully didn't plan dinner until 6:00 so we would HAVE to relax at the pool until then. He understands that you have to MAKE the time or else you won't find it.
Futsal! I was finally able to play some "soccer"! Futsal is basically playing soccer on a tennis court with a size 4 soccer ball that's a bit heavier than normal. The goals are a little smaller than the size of indoor soccer goals, and you play inside the lines instead of playing the walls. One of the PE teachers at our school plays every tuesday night and invited us to play. It's from 7:30-9ish. Neither of us felt like we had the time, but went anyways and it was the break we needed! It was therapy for me, and good exercise (I'm still sore)! yikes. Chris was an amazing goalie for us, and also had a hat trick on the field (I was a pretty proud wife :)
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While this has nothing to do with the rest of the post, I finally took some pictures of my classroom! :)
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| reading corner! |
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| my desk! |
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| view from the door |
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