The weekend

It's the weekend.  I've come down with a throat infection.  I can't figure out if it's viral or bacterial yet - i'll soon find out I guess.   Stayed in bed for a little longer than normal - i.e till 9.  Getting up at 6:30 everyday means i can't have a lie in anymore.  Who would've ever thought that i would get up way earlier on my "sabbatical/time off" than i ever did when i was working:-)

Went into town for a coffee and this American guy starts talking to me.  He's an ER/A&E doc, lives in NY right now and was here in Xela for some medical stuff.  An incredibly small world as he lived in Cincinnati for 18 years and was just there 2 weeks ago visiting family!  He was leaving Xela in the afternoon and needed to find an electronic store so i took him round a few places but we never found what he needed. 

The reason i mention this is because I have a little confession to make here: this little encounter gave me soooooo much pleasure as i realised that i'm actually able to speak in spanish without too many "uuuuuums" and "aaaaaaaaaams"!!!   I mean i was actually able to sort of help him AND i could translate too - almost like i was a real spanish speaker!!! Increible!!!!!!!!!!  When did this happen??:-)   He was a nice guy but it was a very short encounter as i was working in the afternoon with my chicas and had to leave.

Continued...Mis chicas and I had a small little english class and then another bachata class.  I also asked permission to take them to the movies and dinner sometime.  [Can you tell that i found a movie theater here??:-)]  They were soooooooo excited!!!  We had to co-ordinate the time of it all as some of the girls goto see their parents (i didn't know they have parents?!) but it's gonna be in 2 Mondays time.  There's 9 of them so it should be fun!  It's one of the girls bday on Thursday so i wanna think of something to get her.  She turns 18 and is actually leaving the shelter in 2 weeks so it's a big deal.  I'll find out more in the next few weeks i'm sure.

I've bonded with 3 girls over there:  Candy, Marceleste and Lydia.  I don't know why one bonds with certain people...It's definitely a spiritual thing because I have not really had that much interaction with them to know them enough to like or dislike them.

Candy is petite and a little chubby in a "baby fat" kind of way - she's beautiful and almost seems like the ring leader despite the fact that there are older people in the shelter!  She has a big personality and has got one of those cheeky faces.  Her smile is beautiful!  She loves the dance classes and actually has a lot of rhythm.  She's 16 and has been in the school for 2 years already.

Marceleste is teeny in both length and width, long dark hair always in a pony tail, very timid and shy.  She's also 16 and has been there for 2 years too.  She's like a little mouse, she's that quiet that u would almost overlook her - but such a cutie.  She has a calmness about her which i like. 

Lydia... she's 15 and has been there for 3 years.  She's a little taller and has a mayan look to her. Very quiet too.  I have an attachment to her even though i've only met her once and have never talked to her.  There's something about her - not sure what...It's kind of like the whole Christian thing where i just can't explain it.   She is one of those people that is trying to smile but u can see the sadness all over her face...She intrigues me.

On a totally separate note, i finally managed to get pics of the family i'm staying with: Dona Blanca and Don Federico.  Check them out - and please note the salsa flair in some of them!:-)