Ok. So the title may be a little much. But I can get a few points for trying, right? This is the story of 2 girls experiencing life on Tenglo.
The day started off by Jean, Clay, Jeff, and I going to Tenglo to finish cutting grass at Gaby’s house. We had been there the previous day and got a lot done, even though it didn’t look like it due to our tools and the amount of grass on the property. Basically, we were using scythes and pick-like thingies to cut this really tall grass/prickly bush thingies. Hard work and it was VERY hot. So anyway. We went back to finish up some more of that. The purpose of us doing this was to try to prevent a massive fire. So we got to work once again. But this time we had a new twist: the area close to the house was being cut with a knife. Yes, the old “grab a chunk of grass and chisel away at the bottom til it breaks” technique. So many “firsts” experiences for me here. That was fun.
After lunch, the boys left, but Jean and I were going to be spending the night at this house. As lunch wrapped up, Gaby popped in a movie. The interesting thing was, her favorite type of movies are horror. SCARY! We watched part of Legion until she realized that neither of us were enjoying the movie at all. Really, it was something I never want to see again. Bleh. But we survived and decided to head to the beach for a bit. Although it was very hot outside, we are very far south so the water was pretty chilly. But we all got in and had a good time talking (or trying to talk :]) with Gaby. Language is difficult, but we are improving. After grabbing a $.20 popsicle, we returned to the house for showers. This is where the story gets even more interesting.
So we go inside and Gaby changes her sons’ clothes (they are 3 and 5) and grabs her towel, a pitcher, and some shampoo and says, “Vamos!” so we got our stuff and followed her outside. We leave their property and walk down this trail until we get to another path which is some dirt steps leading to a little “well” full of clear, cold rain water. There are trees and pretty flowers all around. It looks like the jungle. It is just this cute little perch overlooking the bay. There is not much room because it drops off a good 40 ft down to the beach. The opening between the trees allows us to see 2 sea lions soaking in the sun. Gorgeous! Then Gaby begins to demonstrate how to take a shower. Just your average bucket shower, except we were using a pitcher and doing it out in the open, fully clothed. Probably the craziest shower I have ever taken, and afterwards I didn’t feel that much cleaner, since I was standing in mud and all. But it was a very memorable experience. :]
After that, we watched Ice Age in Spanish with the kids while Gaby was preparing supper. I decided that that is one of my all time favorite animated movies. One of them. Then we ate supper around 8. Sopaipillas are pretty much super delicious. Little fried bread thingies that are especially scrumptious with a little jelly on top. Mmmmm. And of course we had coffee and tea. I really love tea now. So good.
Javier got home while we were eating and brought home the last Harry Potter movie. Now, I have never seen the other Harry Potter movies and neither has Jean. I used to be a hater, but recently I had decided that I shouldn’t hate without even knowing what they are about. But Jean was a full-fledged hater. But after dinner he popped that in, and we really had no choice but to watch it. It was in Spanish, but he put the English subtitles on for us. And wouldn’t you know, we both want to see the other ones now. I am very intrigued. But it is interesting that we watched the very last one first. Oh well. I’ll probably enjoy it more in English anyway.
ANYWHO. Now for my favorite part of the story. . After the movie, we were both very tired and ready for bed. Let me give you a little rundown of the setting first. The house is pretty small. There are 4 “rooms” to the house, but none of them have doors. So as you can imagine, the bathroom is definitely one for the brave :] You can pretty much see the whole inside from anywhere in the house, except part of the bedroom and bathroom. There is a love seat and 2 comfy chairs that we offered 2 times to sleep on, but to no avail. Instead, we got to sleep on the bunk beds. But there was a twist. The little boys were sleeping on the top bunk, and Jeano and I were sharing the bottom bunk. Yes, it was quite cozy. But to make it even cozier, Gaby and Javier’s bed was within an arm’s reach from our bed. All of us were squeezed into a little room together. I’m pretty sure Jeano and I laughed for 6 minutes straight. It was just the icing on the cake to our very fun, cultural, funny, and interesting day.
But don’t have my story telling make you think that this trip was only good for laughs. Although we did do that a lot, I am very thankful for the opportunity to experience life as they do on the island. It really helped us further our relationship with the family and also helped us a lot with our Spanish. I have a feeling that it will be one of my most memorable experiences here. :]
I know this is a shorter post. Just a story this week. Next week, I will inform you more of what I have been learning and thinking about lately. Until then, thanks for reading! Praying for you guys. God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment