Trying to Stay Busy

So as I was saying last week, it is a pretty slow time of year out here. There just isn't really a lot going on. A lot of people are busy with the fall semester of school or just starting jobs (a lot of big jobs hire in waves at certain times of year). So a lot of people have been too busy to do things. I've been able to keep up with a few of my friends though.

On this past Friday night I went and ate dinner with the environmental engineer that I have met. We went to this place a couple of blocks from my house that is this coffee shop. I had seen it before, but over the past few months I had forgotten that it was there. So we went there and had some American food. It was really good and not too expensive. He insisted on paying though, which made me feel a little bad. It isn't uncommon for people to point blank ask about things that are usually a little off subject in America. So during dinner he started asking about things like how much my apartment costs and how much money I would make in America and things like that. He also told me how much he makes, which is about $150/month being an environmental engineer. So when the ticket for dinner came I tried to pay, but he wouldn't let me.

I also had a basketball game this past Saturday morning. We played at the number one middle school in our town. I'm still not 100% sure how the whole school system works because everyone there looked like they were at least in high school. I think some people call middle school high school and others call it high school. I really have no idea. Anyway, we had a big game out there and there were around two hundred students surrounding the court watching. It was a lot of fun except that the rims were about three inches too high. So it was an ugly shooting day, but it was a good chance to get to meet some new guys.

Finally, I've started meeting again with my tutor. He has been missing in action for the past couple of weeks, but we have met together twice this week. Usually we meet for about two hours. We end up talking for about the first forty-five minutes, then always get off subject on something, and then end up playing basketball or watching an episode of Man Vs. Wild. No joke, during one of the episodes he saw something Bear Grylls was eating and said "oohh, that looks pretty good." We've had a few opportunities to talk about other things while we've studied too. He is a guy who has gotten a little off track over the past year or so, but within the past month he is starting to have a renewed interest in things. So even though there are some frustrations, it has been a good time.

Pretty Much a Normal Week

So life out here can be kind of funny sometimes. There are some days where I am out traveling or out heading to some remote village, but for the most part, life out here seems pretty normal. Well, normal to me I guess. It is amazing how quickly we can adapt to different things and our day to day life, no matter how strange it seems to others, can end up being pretty normal. With that being said, the last couple of weeks out here have been . . . pretty normal.

This past week has been pretty slow, which has actually been a blessing. Because I haven't had a lot going on I've been able to get back to normal things like playing basketball, getting to see my friends, and going out to eat with them. I've had a lot of opportunities to catch up with some of the basketball guys this past week. We had a surprise game on Friday afternoon and we played some gov't team. The team was actually really good. They had a guy who was bigger than I am (and who actually knew how to play a little post) and another guy who was at least my size and knew how to get to the basket. I honestly have no idea how we beat them. Well, I kind of do. We basically stuck a big older guy on their big guy and he just fouled him every time he touched the ball. It is kind of cheap and really not the way you are supposed to play basketball, but at the same time they do it to me everyday, so I didn't complain. After the game I went out with five of the guys and we went to some random restaurant that they had heard about. I have no idea how they heard about this place because it was a shack and the food wasn't even all that great. I made the mistake again of letting them order, so we had some pretty random stuff. There were some potatoes cooked under pig fat, some kind of gelatinous intestine thing (which wasn't all that bad), and then, my personal favorite, stinky tofu. I didn't eat it this time though. I figured I ate it last time they ordered it and, since I've tried it once before, I could take a pass on it this time. It was a great time of getting to catch up with the guys and hopefully we are going to get together again this weekend.

I've also been able to run into my environmental engineer friend. I talked to him at the gym last night and we are planning on going out to eat sometime this week. He speaks really good English and he also has some of the best local language out of anyone under thirty that I know. We were talking last night and he was explaining to me about how most people under the age of thirty or forty can't really speak the local language all that well. He is actually the third or fourth person that I've heard that from. With that being said, his language is really good and he is willing to get together and he can give me some tutoring.

Other than that, not a lot is going on out here. I'm planning a few things for next month but other than that I'm just going to class and doing things in town. It is also getting a little colder here. It still gets up to about seventy degrees during the day, but it gets a little chilly at night. All things considered it is really nice for mid-November. I think it just seems colder because there is no carpet, heating, and I have to ride my bike everywhere. Hopefully it'll stay warm for another month until we get out out of class for winter break.