Settling Back In
Sunday, September 14, 2008
It is good to be back home. We are settling in to our routines and getting reacquainted with the area.
Last weekend we had a great trip to the beach. We went to Patanemo; a public beach about two hours from here. It was particularly fun because our friend Alejandro brought his sea kayaks. He and I took them out for a nice little jaunt around the bay. It helped me realize that I am in the worst shape ever and I desperately need to exercise more.
I was somewhat nervous at first, actually, as the waves at that beach are rather big. This means that one has to climb in the boat, keep it steady, point it forward, and push hard through the waves so as not to capsize and take a swim. All of this has to be done with about 100 strangers watching and waiting for the action. Fortunately, I managed to get off okay. Somewhere between there and our final destination, however, the blade of my paddle broke free and made a run for it. I chased it down and shoved the whole thing back together as best as I could so that we could continue on.
We rounded the cape and landed on a small beach where we stretched, drank some water, and took a little swim. We then shoved off, tackled the waves, and headed back to the rest of our friends. Ale’s paddle broke this time which made me feel better; knowing that the paddles were poor quality and not that I did something to destroy them. The final challenge of the day was to ride the big waves into the beach without: a) wiping out and swimming and b) crashing into a swimmer and seriously injuring them. We both did great.
Overall it was a grand day. We all slept well that night. We ventured out the next day to go to the hotel pool and do some grocery shopping.
This last work week was long. We had an E.S.L. open house to attend on Thursday. Thursdays are long days for me anyway. I have my after school activity that day. That means that I spend one hour working with non-English speakers on their conversational skills. Next I go home, eat, and head off to guitar lessons. Immediately after the lesson this week I had to go back to school for the open house. This is a required event for all staff even though it is conducted primarily in Spanish. I made sure to be seen by the bosses and then I went home for a beer, an episode of Star Trek, and bed.
Friday night was the Director’s Social. This is an annual event and is pretty fun. There is free food and booze as well as music. I stood around, drinking Scotch, meeting board members, chatting with colleagues, and dancing. Afterwards, Carrie went home with the little man and I headed off for more dancing at a local club. I got home around four. That is not as easy now as it was when I was twenty!
Anyway, it was good fun even if I did sleep most of Saturday away. Today we took a walk on a local trail. It’s a steep climb up to a lookout over the city. We went with a few new folks who had never been. It’s always fun to show new things to new people. We stopped by the hotel pool on the way home for a refreshing little swim, and now we are getting ready for bed.
We have to start seriously thinking about next year. Where do we go? What do we do? We have already started revising our résumés (fun, fun, fun!). Next comes the cover letter and an actual decision (that’s the hard part). Wish us luck!
MJR
It is good to be back home. We are settling in to our routines and getting reacquainted with the area.
Last weekend we had a great trip to the beach. We went to Patanemo; a public beach about two hours from here. It was particularly fun because our friend Alejandro brought his sea kayaks. He and I took them out for a nice little jaunt around the bay. It helped me realize that I am in the worst shape ever and I desperately need to exercise more.
I was somewhat nervous at first, actually, as the waves at that beach are rather big. This means that one has to climb in the boat, keep it steady, point it forward, and push hard through the waves so as not to capsize and take a swim. All of this has to be done with about 100 strangers watching and waiting for the action. Fortunately, I managed to get off okay. Somewhere between there and our final destination, however, the blade of my paddle broke free and made a run for it. I chased it down and shoved the whole thing back together as best as I could so that we could continue on.
We rounded the cape and landed on a small beach where we stretched, drank some water, and took a little swim. We then shoved off, tackled the waves, and headed back to the rest of our friends. Ale’s paddle broke this time which made me feel better; knowing that the paddles were poor quality and not that I did something to destroy them. The final challenge of the day was to ride the big waves into the beach without: a) wiping out and swimming and b) crashing into a swimmer and seriously injuring them. We both did great.
Overall it was a grand day. We all slept well that night. We ventured out the next day to go to the hotel pool and do some grocery shopping.
This last work week was long. We had an E.S.L. open house to attend on Thursday. Thursdays are long days for me anyway. I have my after school activity that day. That means that I spend one hour working with non-English speakers on their conversational skills. Next I go home, eat, and head off to guitar lessons. Immediately after the lesson this week I had to go back to school for the open house. This is a required event for all staff even though it is conducted primarily in Spanish. I made sure to be seen by the bosses and then I went home for a beer, an episode of Star Trek, and bed.
Friday night was the Director’s Social. This is an annual event and is pretty fun. There is free food and booze as well as music. I stood around, drinking Scotch, meeting board members, chatting with colleagues, and dancing. Afterwards, Carrie went home with the little man and I headed off for more dancing at a local club. I got home around four. That is not as easy now as it was when I was twenty!
Anyway, it was good fun even if I did sleep most of Saturday away. Today we took a walk on a local trail. It’s a steep climb up to a lookout over the city. We went with a few new folks who had never been. It’s always fun to show new things to new people. We stopped by the hotel pool on the way home for a refreshing little swim, and now we are getting ready for bed.
We have to start seriously thinking about next year. Where do we go? What do we do? We have already started revising our résumés (fun, fun, fun!). Next comes the cover letter and an actual decision (that’s the hard part). Wish us luck!MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 4:24 PM
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