at 8:30 this morning i was explaining the word 'dreary' to a student. my definition was 'today. today is dreary'.
the winter is here. i hate it, but i know it's not as bad as it gets at home, so i feel sort of guilty complaining. when i left my apartment this morning it was cold, dark and raining. luckily i only walk around the corner to catch the bus.
this past week my boss fell back into her normal self. i knew it was too good to be true. here i had faith that people could change. nope, i'll keep hoping. last week i sent her 2 emails asking for the remainder of my may salary (tomorrow is july). she paid me the majority of may, but there is still money owed. then, last night at 10:30pm she called in a tizzy. she promised a new student that i would meet with him but forgot to tell me about it. i had time open in my schedule so i agreed to meet with the new student. i was surprised that when she thanked me, she actually sounded like she meant it.
so, this morning i taught 3 students at one office, than got on the subte to the other office. it was about a 6 block walk to the subte stop and then a 5 block walk once i got off the subte. it took only 35 min, but then i found out my new student canceled. this is typical. i think i have about 5 cancellations a week. i welcome cancellations. if the student cancels less than 24 hours before the class i still get paid.
so, i headed back to the subte (just 1 block this time). when i went down the first set of stairs i make a turn and then go down another flight of stairs. there is always the same man standing on these stairs. he is always holding the same 5-6 year old child and the child is always sleeping on his shoulder. i would say that 1 out of 3 times (various times of the day) he is always in the same place with the sleeping child. is the child sick? is the child part of his begging act and told to stay still? is the child napping? does the man's arm get tired from holding such a large child for a long period of time?
when i arrived home i dove into bed only having 1/2 hour before my spanish teacher arrived. this past weekend, both friday and saturday night i didn't get into bed until 4am. so, by last night i couldn't fall asleep for the life of me.
my spanish lesson went well. i still make silly mistakes that i should not be making at this point. lazy / forgetful or a little bit of both.
after my spanish lesson i headed out for a private english lesson and then after teaching i stopped at 5 veggie stands looking for small red potatoes. after not finding them i settled on large white potatoes.
for dinner we had lemon chicken with basil and potatoes.
money spent
----------------
1.20 pesos for the bus to work
1.10 pesos subte
1.10 pesos subte
30 pesos spanish lesson
1.62 pesos 10 potatoes
4.67 pesos chocolate bar
4.30 pesos 1 mango
2 comments:
still livin' it up like a gourmand, i see. should i brag that it's clear and sunny and hot here, after you talked about BA weather all winter? nah. but you'll be happy when you get home. it's heating up nicely.
do you know what carlos said to me in OH (there for his internship)? i was hungry, and he said, "Why don't you put yourself some cereals in a bowl?" Haha! You know, b/c "poner" always has the indirect object/person, and would be the verb of choice for that sentence in spanish. This guy is getting his MBA at one of the nation's top schools, and he's making these little English mistakes, having been here 5 years. Based on that, I'd say you're still allowed to flub up the castellano.
i'm glad to hear there is nice weather at home waiting for me. i think i'm on day 13 of my countdown to sunshine family and friends!
the 'flub days' where i say stuff like 'la libro or el libre instead of el libro'. beginner stuff that i should have down by now. i want so badly for spanish to roll off my tongue.
in some ways i think i should be more patient, it's only been 7 months and at other times i think i should be way way better after 7 months.
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