Village Week Two

Well I've survived week two out in the village. It was a good week. The setup this week was a little more . . . rustic. Things weren't bad but our village was more on the outskirts of the valley so it was little more rural than last week (aka, not a fun to have to visit the toilet and no shower for the week). The village was a great location. We lived right along the southern ridge and very close to a lake and a golf course. Nobody really plays golf out here but they have a couple courses. I think it is just too much money for anyone to spend on a hobby, so only tourists go and play out there. The family I stayed with this week was great. There was an older man, who told me to call him Uncle, and his wife, Aunt, and they were both great hosts. We couldn't understand much of what each other said but they would always just smile and laugh. Our basic day would be that we would get up and cook breakfast then go for our morning walk. Most days this consisted of hiking up the ridge and collecting firewood. It was good to just get out and there were some amazing views from on top of the ridge. One morning Aunt decided to take me out to the golf course. Like everything else around here, you just talk to the guard a little bit and they let you right in. So we walked out there and then around the first five or six holes and then back again. It was a LONG walk. The course is on the side of the ridge so it was a lot of uphill walking. And it was hot this week, so we got a good workout in every day. After our walk we would cook lunch, then it was nap time, and then I'd spend most of the afternoon studying. I didn't get as much studying in this week as I would have liked because every time they saw me with my language book they would come over and want to help me out. It was actually a good review on some things but it made me go a lot slower. Our evenings usually consisted of getting dinner together and then watching TV. When you're in a culture where there is not a lot to do you spend a lot of time with meals. Over the past two weeks we probably averaged a good hour on getting breakfast and lunch ready and then dinner would usually take between one and a half and two hours. It gives you something to do though. And Aunt knows how to cook too. The food this week has been really good. Usually there would be a mix of something a little weird or that I wouldn't like with something that was amazing. So I tried to fill up on the good stuff as much as I could. Thursday night I had a few things that I'd never had before. We had some rabbit (not bad) and some horse (not good). I had forgotten what it was like to be living with a grandmother. They have no hesitations to put things in your bowl if they don't think that you are eating enough of your vegetables (or horse for that matter). So that is a little different but Aunt wasn't as bad about it as some others that I have known.

There was a little more English this week. The son who lived at the house could actually speak a little English. So it was not as hard to communicate as it was last week. By about Wednesday I was starting to have conversational issues. Basically being out in these villages has been taking on a vow of silence for the past two weeks. It was fun but it was starting to get old not having anyone to talk to and not being able to communicate anything more complicated than 'I don't want that.' One of the things about learning a new language is that you are basically forced to be an introvert until you learn how to communicate. It is very frustrating at times. But it is good motivation for learning.

I got home this weekend and enjoyed a good shower and then have basically been running errands. It makes for crazy times when you move to a new country and then spend your first two weeks there out of pocket. It makes my weekends back in town very busy with trying to get things done. I did take a break yesterday afternoon and went and hung out with a bunch of other foreigners and local teachers. We went to 'the fun place' and had a big cookout. One of the guys brought a bunch of pork tenderloins, some veggies, and we had some marinated chicken and we had an ol' fashioned bbq. It was the best meal I've had in a long time. Then we went out and played some laser tag. We played on teams with the Americans against the locals and even though we had two people less than they did, we dominated. I guess that is what happens when you play people who live in a country with strict gun control laws. It was a good relaxing day and a great way to unwind from spending a week in the village.