Laundry and Whiny Kids

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Jeff taught his 1st undergraduate level course today. In Spanish. So glad they told Jeff when they arranged the exchange that he would be teaching in English! Everything went well - the students enjoyed the course. He was then invited to sit at the head table during the opening ceremony for fall semester. Which was televised nationally. Luckily Jeff didn’t have to say anything in Spanish this time!

The boys and I cleaned up some and did laundry while Jeff was off keeping his public happy. Being the spoiled US citizen that I am, I had never done wash without a clothes dryer before. (Of course given the humidity level in Atlanta, it might be a couple of days before your clothes dried.) It took me about 30 minutes to hang a load of wash out. I am beginning to understand why polyester was so popular in the past. I’m sure that I’m going to have to iron every item of clothing except for our underwear (though they only reason they don’t need ironing is that no one can see them.) Hanging the wash out was oddly satisfying, but I can’t say that I’m going to give up my dryer. Or my icemaker, air conditioning, dishwasher (no one has one here!), or walk in shower. Oddly, if I had to choose one thing I miss the most, I’d probably pick ice. Since I’m not having to cook or clean (Go Velma!) I don’t mind washing the dishes by hand at all.

We picked Jeff up from UNSA and drove around taking pictures and checking out the locals. The pictures look good (I’ve attached some of them), but they just don’t do justice to what we saw. I just can’t get over how amazing it is here!

For lunch we had a chicken vegetable soup and Atomatada, which was potatoes and steak in a tomato sauce. The kids really liked it, as did Jeff and I.

Elizabeth and I went to Saga FalaBella this afternoon to shop for a gift for her mother for Mother’s Day. We had a great time - just us girls. It was nice to go somewhere and NOT hear “mama mama mamamamamamama mama,” which seems to be Pierce’s favorite things to say lately. He is also saying “What is that?” and expects an answer in both English and Spanish. He constantly points to the mountains and is not satisfied until you say, It is a mountain, es una montaña. Elizabeth is trying to teach him the Spanish equivalent “Que es eso?” but he doesn’t seem too interested.

We had dinner at La Italiano tonight. Great restaurant! I had the Timbal de Mariscos (fettucine seafood), Jack and Jeff split a pizza (one the best pizza’s I’ve ever eaten) and some french fries and Pierce whined the ENTIRE time. That’ll teach us to eat in a nice restaurant.

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Photos

k4
Braulio

k6
Two neighborhood girls who love to play with Pierce.

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Universidad Nacional San Agustin

Comments

[Vernard Martin]

Looks like a great time is behind had by all
Hiya Laurie! Glad to see that you folks are having a great time. And its nice that Jeff is mostly fluent in Spanish. I look forward to visint you folks when you get back for some great stories to go with the great pictures.

[Idris]

Cultural bumps?
Someone called that sensation that you were in a foreign country, a "bump" - kind of like a jolt. In Shanghai, for example, the thought ran through my head, standing on the longest shopping street in the world while looking at the thousands of Chinese pedestrians, "Hey, maybe we all do look alike." Anything like that - besides the lack of appliances? These are great reading, btw!

[Raleigh]

You Americans
Ah, you Americans. Living the good life and not realizing it. See, you even have to take pictures of your laundry drying in the open air. The people back home wouldn't believe it unless you have pictures. How spoiled can people get? Brings back memories of the 50s. The 1850s. Seriously, looks like all of you are having a great time. Be careful. Take care.

[Jon A Preston]

Nice laundry
Is that a Demotivators T-shirt I see there? :) Glad you're having a great time. Look forward to seeing you when you get back to the USA in 2 weeks.

[Bobby Marcus]

Nice Pictures
Everything look very interesting there. I can tell you are having a great adventrue. The pictures and comments are wonderful. See you at CSU in few week.