Diary/Diario

   April:

  Week 4 

Monday – 4-25 

     Hey all, today was a terrible day because our new dog ivan ran away!  We don't know how he got out but we couldn't find him anywhere.  After searching the house everyone went outside to look for him.  After about 2 hours, everyone gave up because it was late.  Before that it was a regular day of class, eating, and studying.  I've discovered i'm gonna have to start reading about 30 pages a day, because i now have a lot of different books to read.  The weather here stays in the 50's for most of the day, but once in awhile we get a few days in the 60's.  I'm not too cold, but everyone else wears gloves, hats, scarves, and winter coats.  I keep telling them to go to michigan if they want to know cold.   I wish I could watch more nba, but they don't show all the games, because all they care about are those damn soccer games....I'm gonna agree with jill...soccer sucks.   only because it's taking away from my playoffs viewing.  I mean really, do we have to watch soccer all day?  There do exist other sports in the country.   

Tuesday – 4-26 

     So anyways, after losing ivan I was determined that we would find him.  after my class i went all around the neighborhood looking for the little terrier.  I didn't see any stray dogs running around...which was weird because they're always around.  Returning home I found out that my new mother angela went and made flyers.  The problem here is that dogs are worth something here, if they arent those street dogs, that is.  I believe ivan was a full bred dog and therefore was worth money.  If somebody found him, the wrong person, they would keep him regardless if he had a collar or not.  Ivan did not have a collar.  So I remained in my room and read, when all of the sudden my brother jose miguel came in the house.  There was quite a clamor and i knew what had happened already before i saw anything.  He found the dog and everyone was now happier than ever.  It turns out he spent the night in the neighborhood but was hiding.  That reminded me when colby cheese spent the night outside.  But the thing is that ivan only knew the house.....and the yard...not the outside.  Since he didnt know the surroundings, he wouldn't be able to find his way home anyway. Now that we have him again, we're gonna teach him by walking him around the block.  

Wednesday – 4-27 

     We had some assembly and that meant no class in the afternoon!  I came home to read my history books.  After awhile the dogs came in the room and started fight-playing.  I remember when chips and odie used to do that.  The only difference was that nani and ivan didn't stop.  They must have played for over half an hour.  All because some dog outside barked and it made them restless.  I'm very happy to say that I may be receiving a wireless card this week sometime.....or maybe next week.  I just hope the thing works.  Then I can go to library and use their, hopefully not crappy, wireless network.  Guess what I watched last night!  Alexander the Great biography on the history channel.  I saw it before, but that was in english.  I really couldn't watch it all because it was 3 hours long and I have better things to do then watch tv all day.  Although it is a good tool for listening when no one is around.  And more good news, my sister rocio said I talk well, now I just need to work on my accent.  That i knew....i just get scared to talk sometimes, but I overcome that after awhile.  I just want to not be scared to say anything at first.  As long as I keep working on it, i will be fine.  And it seems to me that i pause a lot when i'm trying to explain something dificult to explain...like the other day i had to explain the premise of the matrix to angela.  the problem was she had seen the second one and didnt understand anything.  I told her as much as I could, and then said go watch the first one!  it explains everything.  

Thursday – 4-28 

     Well guess what, the students took the school.  They kicked out all the guards and slept there the night before.  So nobody had classes today, and the only people they allowed in were those working on their thesis.  Rocio said its posible that we won't have class on monday either.  That's a five day weekend!  Well I've taken advantage of this time and read a boatload of spanish.  In fact it has been so much to me that I felt like I'm behind in my work, but i'm not.  I've been reading about 20 pages of a novel a day and 10 more from a history book.  

Friday – 4-29 

     The students still have the university in their possession.  I don't have class anyway on fridays, so it didn't matter to me.  I stuck to my reading again, and read a record 40-50 pages.  I'm proud of that.  Hopefully I'll return to the states and think that reading 50 pages of spanish a day is nothing.  That's one of my goals.  I also want to write really well, and i'm already learning.  Everytime I read I learn new constructions and vocab to use.  Also everytime I write, my aunt ligia looks at my papers and helps me structure them better.  It can be frustrating sometimes because she will change something and it  changes what I wanted to say completely.  Then because of the language barrier, and the differences in english and spanish grammar(ie comma usage), we misunderstand each other.  And sometimes it's almost like a heated debate until I get my point across.  But for the most part when I don't mess up a sentence completely she says that I write very well.  So I think i will reach that goal.  The other goal is to be able to talk without running into any speedbumps.  For the most part I can hold up a normal conversation, but when it's some deep concept, such as the matrix, i begin to have problems and i feel how i felt in my first couple of weeks here.  But my aunt says, yes i can converse now.  When i first got here we couldn't have conversations.  So my speaking is getting better.  Basically what's holding me back is my lack of being able to pay attention.  I don't know where this came from.....maybe it was the fact that I've had to many years of the same old type of class.  Or maybe i have ADHD...hahha i dunno but I have figured out that i can pay a lot more attention at night then in the morning or day.  Also if I exercise then I can pay attetion almost instantly...so basically I need to find a way to exercise without hurting my shins. 

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