1 down, 9 to go

Well, I've been here a month now.  Our hot water ran out right on schedule, so I guess I have that budgeted properly.  (Our 2-burner stove and hot water are run by 2 large propane tanks.  You can see them under the sink, along with our extra drinking water bottles.  That white box in the upper left is what makes the hot water for our apartment.)

So a month in, what have I learned so far? 

Teaching is a lot of work.  This is how I left my office desk this evening, when my last class was finished at 8.  These are four pages of to-do lists and most of the "doing" needs to happen this week.   The highlighted stuff is what I have to take care of as soon as I arrive tomorrow.

 

The students make it worth it.  This is my basket of journals from the Level 0 class.  They are incredibly sweet and sincere.  Writing back to them not only gives my morale a boost, but it's a good opportunity to practice my horrific penmanship.

 There's still a lot to discover, when I can find free time.  I took this shot while Beth and I were waiting for our bus transfer down in the casino area of the island.  The city looks totally different at night and I am looking forward to a time when things are a bit more settled and I can go back to exploring.  Especially while the nights are warm.

There's an almost limitless supply of tasty food to experience.  I've been eying this place up for weeks and finally made it happen.  (Carol T., I hope you're reading this.  Check it out!)  Delicious crepes, filled with fresh whipped cream and fruit.  I got a banana one and it hit the spot.  I think Beth and I might have to make this a regular stop on our way home after our late class.

So, yeah: things are going well, I'm getting a better sense of what to do at work, I'm enjoying it even though it's long hours, I miss y'all but appreciate the emails and comments and photos and videochats and texts.  Still some culture shock going on, but that's normal.  Angie and Beth are great and as Ange pointed out today, having each other to bounce teaching ideas off of is really nice.  With any luck we'll succeed in getting our final documentation in order on Wednesday so we can go to Hong Kong this weekend and find H&M!  Really need to supplement the teacher wardrobe, and shopping in the Asian stores makes me feel enormous.  (At least certain parts of me, ahem.)

Allow me to take this opportunity to invite you all out to visit.  I've begun hunting for nice places to stay, good restaurants, and sights to see.  I think by March our winter should be over and it will start getting nice again.  October-December is also supposed to be lovely, so let me know if you think you can make it out!  I love to have guests!