Typical Day

We are approaching the half-way mark of our stay, so I thought I would describe yesterday which was a typical day.

I awoke in the morning to the sound of roosters crowing. Whether they are crowing in Castellon or Guarini, I cannot discern, so I roll over again and sleep for one more short segment. I arise, shave, shower, dress, and then grab a computer to go down for breakfast.

Leo has set the table and put on a pot of coffee. I pour myself a cup of coffee while the computer gets connected to the Internet and work on the cup of coffee and e-mail left from the previous day at the same time. Once that is done, I have breakfast of toast, jam, and juice--OH THE JUICE--and sort out thoughts regarding the day's blog entry.

After breakfast, I write my blog entry. By this time Jean is down, and we discuss our itenerary for the morning. We decide to walk to a Farmacia where I can get some ibuprophin for my back. After Lydia awakes and breaks her fast, we do this.

We decide to walk past the law school, Faculdad De Derecho, which is less than a block from El Rinconcito. We do this because Celeste has shown me where Jose and Cincita's house is being built, and this is across from the law school. It is on Congreso de Colombia. We walk up Colombia to Avenida Santisima Trinidad. Turning leftt would take us to Superseis, the big grocery store, but grocery stores don't carry medicines as near as we've been able to discern. We turn left instead. It takes us past a park where Lydia plays on teeter-totters with her mother. We then make our way to the Farmacia which is not too far from the intersection with Artigas.

In the Farmacia, everything is behind the counter. This is the point where it becomes important that I've never taken Spanish and that Jean took hers 30 years ago and hasn't really used it. I know a lot more Russian than Spanish, but a fat lot of good that has done me here. However, on my trip to Russian, I did learn something. One important thing to remember is that nouns, in the proper context, can do the work of sentences.

"Actron," I say. This is the brand name of an ibuprophen based analgesic here.

The Farmacist takes my name, making me write it down for her, and then gives me the Actron. The then asks me my nationality.

"Soy Americano," I say and she smiles at this sweetly.

We return to El Rinconcito and Cintia is making lunch for us. It is potatoes and eggs and is delicious.

German, our driver, arrives and drives us to Universidad Catolica. This is a little different, because it is the first time my family has gone downtown. German gives them a tour while I teach.

When I am done teaching, German, with my family in tow, picks me up and takes us to El Rinconcito.

I grade quizzes, record them in Angel on the computer, go through the e-mail that has accumulated over the day, and then Cintia serves supper. It is beefsteak smothered in onions with rice on the side. After supper Celeste informs me this is often served with a fried egg over the top of the steak. It is a meal meant for cowboys after a hard days work.

It is cool in the evening, so Celeste builds a fire for us in the fireplace and we watch "The Bridge to Terebithia" with Spanish subtitles. I am picking up a bit of Spanish this way.

Then it is up to bed.

For the sake of faculty who come to teach in the program, I will expand a bit on what goes on at Catolica in a subsequent entry.