Saturday, November 17, 2012

Time on my side



November 17, 2012


Marlon swaggered in with his short cropped hair, athletic shape and a warm smile that rarely lets him down. He was uncharacteristically early for English class yet I didn’t want to squelch his eagerness so I relented and charged in on his limited vocabulary. He thoroughly expects to be able to remember words from one class to the next. Damn near impossible so I recommended, once again, that he prepare flash cards. Perhaps I can get the students to purchase and generate them as a group project. I will assign gangly pre-model doe-eyed Camila the task of buying the index cards for the keen teens.

Luciana’s staggeringly skinny daughter peeked shyly around the verandah to observe our meeting. I encouraged her to participate. I have yet to encounter a child who doesn’t earnestly want to learn my native language. So glad for this opportunity to give these young people the chance to hear the language from a North American. Both the school books and daily homework assignments are riddled with errors. If nothing else, they will remember how to pronounce “th.” I show them where my tongue lies with each letter and unique sound. We don’t have much time together (I pray!) so I am covering as much material as I can in one hour on the days they actually show up for afternoon class. It is a delightful respite from my preoccupation with my current circumstances. 

Making fettuccini for lunch today with sautéed eggplant. We’ll see just how that turns out, eh? Salt is the only seasoning in the house so I will just have to make do.

I finally received the box from my good friend, Marlys. Turns out there was an issue with the PO box key that had to be resolved…I get more insight every day..What a perfect gift of shirts (although I don’t think anyone else cares that I sport the same tops over and over, IDO!) and chocolate. We made a cake in the bread machine and added some of the said powder to make it extra scrumptious! The enclosed letter was icing on the …cake. The card is beautiful Marly and I look forward to leaving it as a thank you note for Ana and Dario. I am also gifting them the plastic box which they could well use in the office area. You will be happy to know that I recycled the duct tape to reform my crutch pit pads and I reinforced the rubber bits at the bottom…nothing goes to waste..surrounding brown paper is stuffed in the wood stove for starter, masking tape is securing the plastic protector on the wall for the painter. Aren’t we just so resourceful!

Also obtained the card my dear Aunt Judy sent way back on the 5th of the month. Such a cheery card on a gloomy chilly day. I scooted back to my room to read it and begin a letter in response. Since I hope to, plan on, consider “done,” pray and count on being gone from here lickety split I discourage any more mail or packages. I will let everyone know of my plans as soon as I am alerted to the viable options.

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