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On top of San Fernando Hill
With Clerene in the middle, and Monica, a neighbor, on the right. So really no two days have been the same yet, and all of them have been pretty random. So a bit of a catch up of the past couple of days...
I really like where I'm living. Clerene, the woman I'm staying with, is retired and I have pretty much become her job. So the reverse of the first house, I am the constant focus of all her attention. Which is good and bad, but more good I suppose since she spends her time looking for weddings, calling people for me to meet with, making me homemade lemonade and taking me from place to place.
I'm slowly trying to manage the transportation system. System is a bit of a sophisticated word, since really there are just lots of vans and taxis that you pile in. The challenge is figuring out which one is going where and where you have to go to get to certain areas. It is all kind of a secret. So each time so far I have been sure I was lost, clutching my pepper spray that I'm sure I would only end up spraying myself with, and the suddenly my house or the street I
need appears and I am successful. I think I'm venturing to the capital sometime this week, so hopefully that will work as well as the others have been.
I have 3 more weddings lined up, and am hoping to get about 2 more. I'm really excited about an Ethiopian Orthodox wedding this Saturday. I met with the priest to talk about weddings earlier this week and it terrible. I didn't get a word in for over an hour, and he just talked and talked about anything but weddings. He said there would be no weddings because their church is in a fasting period...but last night we found a note he'd dropped by the house telling of a wedding this week end. I have to cover my head to go to the wedding and the archbishop from Ethiopia will be there, so it should interesting! I suppose the listening to him ramble paid off after all.
We went to the 7:45 am mass...something that I have never done before, and hope that I don't have to do again. It was all fine and well until I was walking down the aisle to communion and suddenly couldn't see a thing
The very top of the hill
The rest used to be that tall, but was slowly mined away for the granite. Apparantly which is used for the walkway in front of Buckingham Palace. and was super dizzy. I was sure I was not only going to faint but be sick in the middle of the church. I'm sure I was quite a sight...because all I remember is clutching every pew we passed as if my life depended on it. Luckily I didn't faint, was brought outside and felt better after a while. I'm guessing it was some combination of the hot church, long mass, and all that standing and sitting without eating breakfast.
After my recovery though, we headed on to brunch at a convent in another city nearby. I believe it was some kind of fundraiser, and while 5 some hours of church activities is a bit tiresome...the food was excellent, and if I could have 5 mango trees in my yard, I would be a nun too. So I left with a bag full of the best type of mango, and have more fruit than I can possibly eat.
Last night with some neighbors we journeyed up San Fernando Hill...a large granite hill about 600 feet tall, in the middle of the city where you get a great view panoramic view of the city and the sea. They wouldn't
Clerene and the neighbors.
This is just so you can take a guess at how old the woman on the left is. Even though I already gave it away ealier. let us drive up, which was fine by me, since it's not too long of a walk, but apparently not everyone is in the remarkable good shape that I am in. Ha. So we started walking, the whole time both of the ladies saying we won't be going to the top since it is too far...but before we knew it we had made it, much to everyone's surprise. We took in the views and loudly gossiped about the wedding at the top- the cause for us not being able to drive up, then started the trek back down. We stopped for ice cream on the way home, and I was forbidden to order the chocolate that I really wanted. Instead they made me have Guiness ice cream- described to me as tasting like guiness mixed with milk. Just the thought of it made me feel a little sick...but turns out it wasn't bad at all. Who would have thought.
So there you have it...I'm sure this month will fly by and I'll be home before I know it. Since I can't be home today...I'm heading home to attempt to make a grilled cheese sandwich in honor of my grandma. I know what you may be thinking...but really my love for grilled cheese sandwiches made the way "grandma makes them in the pan" all started with her while we watched the price is right and played solitare. And I do really want a grilled cheese.
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Ryan
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Grilled cheese for Grandma sounds like an excellent idea. You would have liked the service - the priest quoted an Irish nun from 600 AD who declared that heaven is a sea full of beer. Hooray!