Trying to Settle

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Well bonjour all!
Right now I'm in an internet cafe/bar having a "croque monsieur" and a glass of white wine because it's cheaper than a diet coke. I'm just doing some work before I have my appointment to get my long stay visa card. So I had my second official day at the school. Yesterday I just observed a class and they asked me questions and then had a meeting with the two principals to go over expectations and necessaties. I was only there for about 2 hours, then I head back to town to have lunch with the teacher I'm staying with (it's nice, they don't have to work everyday like teachers in the U.S. do), and then went downtown to try and get things set for our appartment. Well we arrive at the place and we explain to the lady our situation and she tells us they need to electric box serial number and level number from our apartment! So, we went all the way over there, got the numbers, and went back. Waited for someone to come get us in the waiting area and signed up for electricity, never once asking about the stupid box numbers.... waste of time! And then she tells us we can't have electricity until next wednesday!!!!! AH! So frustrating, I'm ready to live on my own! So I could manage living there without electricity, but the shower hasn't been installed yet and the landlord made it sound like it was going to happend straight away in the morning... nope. I tell ya, this has been the most stressful part, people here are so nonchalent and laid back and things aren't accessible and ready like they are in the U.S., I will say I miss that. I'm gonna try to get the landlord to move the lease date to later, until the shower is in...Anyhoo, yesterday was just awesome like that and today I went to the school to go to 2 English classes, where the students had to ask me questions in English so they can write a paper about me later. It was really cute. One thing about the high schools here that I'm shocked about is the fact that students can go outside and smoke right outside the building between class periods, tons of them! I remember my schools always being smoke free, I suppose it's also because there's not really any laws here about the age one has to have to buy cigarettes. I just couldn't believe how many teenagers stand right outside and smoke! Tomorrow I have a big orientation meeting with the other high school teachers from the U.S., that'll be nice to maybe figure out some more of what's going on here! Hopefully next time I write I"ll be writing from my apartment, eating crunchy corn bran! xoxo
Miss you!
Cara

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Comments

[anonymous]

They're all gonna die young from smoking. That is all. Hope you're safe and well. =) -helen