Then there's the neighbor/Steve issue. I left for 45 minutes. I sat outside the door for 5-10 minutes and listened to him bark until he quit. I returned to a note that he'd been barking all afternoon and to "do something about my dog." So apparently the neighbor is a bit of a drama queen.
But that 45 minute trip was completely worth it. I think I"ve mentioned Caoba Farms in a previous post. It's a restaurant, a farm, vendors set up shop and a little tienda (store), where I picked up some great stuff today...homemade pastas, cheeses and yogurts. Even picked up a chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. It's not the cheapest, but it's by my house and I don't have to navigate Antigua traffic.
Speaking of traffic, I bought a scooter. It's an Italika, which sounds Italian but nope it's Chinese. 125 hp of Chinese engineering between my legs. Completely absurd, but it was cheap and given my luck with vehicles will surely not last long. Anyway,, the walk to town from my apartment was getting tedious so something had to be done. It was no easy task. Well, buying it was. But this week, I have to go get a NIT (kinda like a SSN or tax id) and some other thing from the police station before they can issue me a tag. Then they'll send the tag in a month or so. Guatemala, man. Luckily, my shuttle driver Raul navigated me through the process, so I should be okay.
Residency is applied for. Not as difficult as I imagined. A girl in my Spanish class tried to do it herself. She got there at 10 am, waited all day and was then told they were closing before they got to her. The $700 or so I'm paying Bety Lopez, a tramitador (sort of a lawyer but not really) is worth every penny. Went to migracion, waited 30 minutes, gave the clerk my docs and we were out the door. Now this is supposed to keep me from having to do the 90 day visa run until it is approved, but we'll see about that.
Spanish school. After only 3 days, 3 hours per, I'm able to understand alot more. My teacher, Lesvia, said in 6 weeks I should be getting around just fine. One thing they don't tell you when you get out of school full-time is that you forget how to learn. You just don't use your brain in that way anymore, and it's definitely a "use it or lose it" thing. After the first day, I was overwhelmed and frustrated because I wasn't retaining anything. But I'm back into a rhythm, re-writing everything down (it's how I learn), and it seems to be coming back to me.
I'd be lying if I said I was totally happy here. There are parts of home that I miss. But I still talk to my good friends almost as often, and that makes all the difference. The holidays aren't my best times either, so I'm sure that has something to do with it as well. But, it's only been 24 days, and I'm already happier here than I was in Orange Beach. The people are nicer, the weather is better and I really think this could be the place for me for awhile.
Hasta luego, I have to conjugate verbs.
you still write in English as well as ever
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