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Published: June 22nd 2008
It has been cold and rainy here the last couple of days and our room is very drafty, but I'm sure we will get some more sunny days and things will warm up a bit. I'm glad I brought my silky long johns, otherwise I would be muy frio mucho del tiempo. The native folks that I encountered today all claim that it is an unusually cold day.
We have Spanish classes here at the house five days a week, and have times of Spanish only conversations with cheating allowed. Though I am struggling with the language, I feel that I am making some progress every day. When I have no one bilingual to rely on, I am sometimes more courageous in my attempts to converse with native speakers. We also have opportunities for language focused socialize twice a week in order to get in additional practice.
I went to a very interesting class today called yoga for the voice. We did a lot of chanting. It was quite different than anything else I've experienced. Some of it was pretty fun and funny. We were instructed to exaggerate all of the movements of our mouths and then speak in gibberish to one another. When things really warmed up we added some jumping to the gibberish. Once we completed those somewhat unusual exercises, the chanting we did was beautiful and very relaxing. Some of the women there spoke English and were very nice. One of them told me about a meditation group that meets on Saturday afternoons near our house. I think I will go to both next Saturday. I hope I can find the place where we meet for the voice yoga by bus next time. Today we took a cab, and the driver didn't know where it was. He stopped to ask directions. I still haven't gotten by bearings in the city and feel lost much of the time. Nothing new there!!
Speaking of getting around the city, walking, as well as riding in cabs and buses are adventures in and of themselves. I was often annoyed in Boise because people would make left turns after the light changed to red. Here, cars are well into the intersection before lights turn green. The same is true for pedestrians. However, vehicles do not yield to pedestrians except in cases where attractive and possibly inebriated young women prance out in front of cars with raised hands and swaying hips. To date this is the only time I've seen a pedestrian gain the right of way. It also seems that if you leave more than four inches between your vehicle and any other, front, back or side to side that you are wasting space and wasting time. In addition, it is necessary to honk frequently. This seems to indicate that either you are about to take the right of way from someone or that you think they may be attempting, or possibly simply thinking about, taking it from you. Sometimes, it may just be a mini musical performance to go along with the car alarms that are set off on average of every 90 seconds.
If I were driving here, I'd definitely miss U.S. traffic laws, and I sure miss mi familia en Boise tambien. I especially miss the little ones. Yesterday we went to an orphanage called Casa Cuna, which translates to the house of the cradle. There were nine toddlers in one section. We spent most of our time there just holding them and playing with them. There is another adjoining section with kids up to age 13. We aren't allowed to take any pictures there or I would have. Anyway, it made me miss my grandchildren, but also made me more fully appreciate just how blessed my family and I are. The place was actually pretty clean and well organized, but by our standards, somewhat rundown. Still, I was very impressed with the staff there and pleased when one of them told me that recently 25 children have gone to private homes and most of them will eventually be adopted. Also, it seems that the ratio of adults to children is good, and all the employees we saw were very kind to the children. We will probably go there once a week to play with the kids. I think we will plan some activities with the older children, and possibly purchase some art supplies if we are allowed to and if there is a need. Unlike Brazos Abiertos, Casa Cuna is part of a government program. Before we can go back, we must complete some paperwork in order to get passes that allow us in as 'official' volunteers.
Returning from the orphanage by bus was also another adventure. We got on the wrong bus and ended up taking it to the end of the line, which is in a very poor and reportedly dangerous part of the area, call Las Herras. We had to get off the bus, but quickly caught another one back to the center of the city. It was a long, cold, but interesting ride because we got to see a lot of the area through the dirty bus windows. I also enjoyed people watching. Most people seem to be very courteous on the buses and quickly give up their seats to the elderly, the handicapped and to pregnant women and women with babies.
As a final note I want to comment regarding observations about the local routine and the mail system. People here eat dinner at about nine p.m. and don't go to bed until midnight or one a.m. If they go out after dinner, it is late when they return. The young people often stay out all night dancing on weekends, but most of them don't drink in excess. I was told that the mail system here is very slow and unreliable. I believe it for sure after seeing mail just thrown on the ground in front of the houses. I also heard that sometimes it has been thrown onto second floor balconies. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't believe I've seen a mailbox or receptacle of any kind here. That is today’s report from Mendoza. Chao.
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Vashti
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Getting Around
Sounds like car and pedestrian travel are very similar to what we encountered in Guadalajara. Careful! Glad you have found interesting things to participate in. The voice yoga sounds very interesting. The grandkids miss you too!