Chapter 5

It's been a minute since I last wrote, not much has happened as I’ve been settling into life here. With only two weeks of school under my belt I’ve experienced what I feel is far too many tech classes, not something I want to continue for the rest of my time here though I have no choice. This past week, Semana Santa (holy week), I have attended masses and parades, family lunches and days spent alone at home since I’m not quite holy enough for day long mass. Nonetheless I did attend midnight mass from 11:30 pm to 6am on Saturday to Sunday. I did not fall asleep, yes I closed my eyes a few times but we’ll call that meditation, when the mass finally ended I fell asleep and got up again around 12 in the afternoon. I can now say with certainty that I will not in fact become a dairy farmer. The schedule is far too strenuous and I like the sunset enough not to sleep through it everyday.

As of today I’ve been living with my host family for 35 days which is 5 weeks. I've got around 37 left which is daunting and seems like far too many weeks to be staring blankly at a screen at least four hours a day. Yet somehow I’m already 12% of the way through. Everyday I find myself waking up thinking of the impossible 88% ahead, the 100% of spring I’m missing at home, and how to get through that 88% I’ll have to repeat 5 weeks 7 more times. On the other hand though when I come home from school or am eating dinner with my host family I think of how large 12% actually is and how 88% is nothing when you really think about it. I tend to erase the fall months and skip right to December which I know is terrible in the long run, but for now being delusional is getting me through the hardest moments.

Over break we went on another hike, up another mountain, this time however I forgot sunscreen and now have an impressive farmer's tan and bright red legs. The view was incredible however steep the mountain was, my calves should be in fine form by the end of the trip. Another wonder of nature I’ve been particularly enamored with here are the sunsets (atardecer en Español). Pretty much every evening without fail around 5:15 - 6pm the town is washed in golden sunlight and pink clouds and every other cliche of a sunset.

One of my favorite moments from the past few weeks happened yesterday as my host mom and I were both beginning to come down with a virus that has been circulating her family. We were drinking tea before bed, it was ginger and lemon two of my least favorite flavors, but I didn’t tell her that because she had bought the tea just for me. We were standing there gulping down this tea and she looked at me and said “No me gusta jengibre” which in englsh means I don’t like ginger. We just stared at each other for a moment I told her me too and we spent the next few minutes gulping down tea neither of us likes making faces and laughing in hopes to get better soon.

I’ll end my ramble there, here are some of my favorite photos from the past few weeks.

Chapter 6

Chapter 4