Monday, August 29, 2005
So nearly everyone I've met down here, visitor & local has warned me about safety & shared stories about they or someone they know or heard about got robbed & no one feels safe on the streets of San José @ night. Because of all these warnings I act like a spy whenever I leave the house, always watching my back, I vary my routine, & walk hard & fast wherever I'm going. Now after 2 months of this I'm of the opinion that whatever petty crime there is here is what's one the news and in the papers & that's what people worry about & not the sordid political issues of the country. Not that I can claim to understand much of anything after 2 months, but anyway...Since I haven't dropped an update in a little bit so here goes...
- Job Update: My work search is over, @ least for the moment. After 2 days of training I had my first class, the next week I had another, & next week I'll have another one for a total of 10 hours of work. & being lazy like I am I'm happy with it as it's enough to keep me well fed & put enough change in my pocket to go out a little during the week & maybe a weekend trip now & again. Also, I'm enjoying teaching. I do need to work on my technical knowledge of English so I can better explain "why" something is right to my students.
- Buyer's Remorse: I bought an old laptop and a cheap digital camera for this trip & I'm not completely happy with either. With the camera, I got what I paid for so I'm not surprised & I may buy a new one in a little bit, but I've recently had some computer issues & I'm afraid to order parts or something new because import duties are applied erratically, like most law enforcement here (maybe I'd pay an extra $200, maybe I wouldn't, I'd rather not find out). I may just have to learn to live with it, we'll see...
- Spanish: Living in a building full of foreigners Ellie & I haven't been practicing much of our Spanish. Working as English-teachers doesn't help either. We get a fair bit of practice when we go out as we have a "No English" rule for when we leave the house (I'm hoping that also makes us look a bit less like tourists/targets). Now that I've got a full schedule too we'll be looking for Spanish conversation clubs & other activities to help us practice our Spanish. I'm hoping that between a stack of language CDs, free classes @ my job on Fridays, & practice with some friends of ours maybe we'll make some progress.
- Weather: My fond impression of the rainy season was the wrong impression. We got here @ the beginning of "winter" aka the rainy season when there were gentle afternoon showers lasting about an hour or 2 @ most. Last week we got a taste of things to come, 4 hour+ down pours that can start & stop anytime after 10am. My shoes are still damp from Friday's rain. I bought a poncho today to help me in the future, now I just need to find some galoshes or maybe a kayak...
Kepfram & Ellie, 11:41 AM
