I returned to the laundromat after class today (the school and laundromat share a courtyard [and 1 cat] but I didn’t want to bring all of my dirty clothes to class, so I made two trips). It turns out they were definitely open when I stopped by yesterday, I simply failed to find the doorbell. The women who work there are named Rosa and Margarita and I’m going to do my best to remember their names because I see them pretty-much every day. They told me my clothes won’t be ready until tomorrow evening, which means I’ll probably have to wear a long-sleeve shirt tomorrow. I was already super hot today because my only clean pants are jeans. The sweating never stops here; some days it feels like it’s all I do. I’ve been trying to work out the precise volume produced (apologies in advance). I drink four liters of water a day (this is very consistent; I have to buy a new jug daily), plus a coffee or two, and maybe a jamaica* from a restaurant (*not pronounced like the country, but rather “huh-mike-a”, it’s a strong hibiscus tea served cold that tastes like a less-tart cranberry juice), each around 16 ounces. There are 33 fluid ounces to a liter, which means about five liters total daily fluids. There are only two ways those fluids can go from here, so determining how much I sweat is a simple matter of subtraction; all that’s left now is to find a bucket to piss in.
Upon returning from class, my host dad asked me to help set up the family’s new landline, which I did my best at. After a while, we came to the conclusion that it might be a bit broken. I’ve been talking to my host family a bit more lately, which has been nice. I do think my Spanish is improving, even if not as quickly as I would like.
After a brief nap, I spent the rest of the day planning lessons, taking occasional breaks to listen to music, eat a snack, or do pushups. I got through three days worth of beginner-level plans, which was one fewer than I was hoping for, but one more than yesterday. Tomorrow I’ll start with the plans for the advanced-level class, and at the rate we’re going, I’ll just improvise the conversation-level classes live. Today felt really long, and I suspect the days will continue to get longer once I have to actually teach the classes in addition to planning them. Not that this is a bad thing; I do think teaching will be fun and I expect that the planning process should get easier once I start getting active feedback from students. But at the same time, I might end up spending the whole weekend planning, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
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