1..2... 1..2... 1..2..3!

Uff Da!

This morning was a mind game with myself. I went to bed last night with flannal pj pants, a t-shirt, a fleece, socks, and a winter hat. Oh yeah, and my hot water bottle. I didn´t sleep too well because it was cold and it seemed that no matter how hard I tried to wrap myself self up in my covers, the cold air still found its way in. Uff da...cold! I finally slept under the covers with just that little hole for air, for your nose and lips.

When I woke up this morning, I was nice and toasty, amazingly. So, nice and toasty that I couldn´t get myself to get out of bed. I kept hitting the snooze on my cell phone alarm. Then, I would practice counting...1..2...nope...1...2...nope....1...2...ok, nope...1...2...3...nope....1...2...3....GETUP! I finally got myself up and moving. I changed my clothes very quickly.

I have been wearing the same clothes for the past 3 days, so they are smelling very ¨ripe¨. But, I really don´t care. They are warm and I am trying to stretch out my laundry, seeing how we don´t have a clothes drier...which means it takes an extra long time to dry my clothes, unless I put them in the kitchen where the wood stove is...then they dry out faster. I had to laugh one day because all my underwear, socks, and other clothes, were draped all over the chairs in the kitchen and all kind of family/friends came over and just ate lunch like my clothes weren´t all over. Just a funny moment.

I walk to school in the morning, mostly to warm up my body, get the juices flowing, so I can tolerate the cold throughout the day. Luckily, we have a special lab for English class, so I have a gas heater to warm us up. I try not to use it, only because it makes the outdoors colder, but...hey, I am liking the heat, so I think I will use it more often.

We are really moving into winter now. We had some good sucker days earlier this winter, the kind that the agronomists tell me are not good for the crops, seeing how the crops are starting to think that it might be time to grow again. But, I was enjoying those warm fall like days. Now, winter...the reality has hit that, yes, once again, I am in a winter season. Today, I was reminded of the cold that will linger on for the next month or two. I am back to drinking coffee just to stay warm and eating lots of bread. This combination most certainly will back up my system, so I need to work in more fruit and vegetables.

Tania, the woman I live with, has been feeding me. She cooks for herself and then tells me to take some. If I don´t take any..then she fixes me a tupperware container and puts it in a plastic sack and says...here, this is for lunch. I have to laugh a bit because she told me she wasn´t providing me with a pension...but, it appears I have a pension plan. (pension being a sleeping room with meals). I try to pick up groceries and contribute where I can...even if that contribution is a bottle of wine at the end of the week. ha ha...sometimes we just need a drink.

All is good where I am living. I really like where I am. I feel very comfortable in the house I live in. My bed is very comfortable. The location is safe and convenient to school and to the center of town. I walk everywhere, unless it is raining.

Recently, I started Ken Po classes. Ken Po is a martial art. It is by luck that I have this class. I go Monday´s, Wednesday´s, and Friday´s. It is one and one. The guy that teaches the class is a sixth degree blackbelt in Ken Po. He speaks english, so he has the opportunity to practice his english. He has traveled alot for Ken po, competitions around the world, so he has the need to use English. I don´t mind that he talks to me in English...it is like my refuge, going to this dojo...I get instruction in English, I get lessons on confidence (and anger management...ha ha..), and I get to punch and kick to relieve my frustrations...it is nice. Plus, the guy is very personable and funny, so we get along. AND, just to get the question out of your head....yes, he has a girlfriend. She is the daughter of the woman I live with...so, if you are thinking I am going to hook up with my ¨master¨....the answer is no. ha ha..

Well, the bell is going to ring...meaning my break is almost over. I will try to write more later and more often...

Abrazos,

jami

San Fernando!

Well, here I am in San Fernando. As you may remember, my job is in San Fernando, a town located about an hour bus ride from Santa Cruz. I finally decided I didn´t want to spend two hours a day on a bus, so I started looking around for a place to live, with the help of a friend.

I found one place, a pension, valued at $100 (US dollars) for a room with breakfast. I wasn´t super excited about the place, but it was something. Luckily, as I was talking to a work collegue, she invited me to stay at her house, so that is what I am doing.

She is a very nice lady. She has two kids in college in Santiago. She is divorced and living solo, minus the weekends when her kids come home, so she is enjoying the company. We have had many conversations about a little bit of everything, cooking, politics, school, education, relationships, movies, life..everything. Somedays we talk and somedays we don´t. She is very independent, has traveled alot and has siblings that live abroad, so she is very understanding of the world and my situation as a foreigner. She lends a listening ear when I am frustrated and she reminds me to maintain my animo during the day.....Fuerza Jami! (strength jami!). So, needless to say she has been a blessing. The other day I came home late from the institute and I was cold....she had put hot water in the water bottle (I don´t know what they are in english...a guatero, or something like that in spanish). so my bed was nice and toasty. No we do not have heat beyond the stove in the house....so it is chilly. It is especially chilly in the morning when I need to shower. But, I live. It is kind of like camping...at least that is what I keep telling mysef. The house is an old house....thick adobe walls, tiled floors....I like it...it has character....

Ok..I have to go....lunch is over! Uffda!

jami