Monday

Today we met at base (Casa de Avila) so the owner, Armando, could give us some cultural lessons and important tips for getting along with our host families. A few:

• Keep your area neat, your host family will have a bad opinion of you if you're messy.
• If you're tanking, you will be VERY dirty/dusty and going to areas that probably have a lot of germs. Make sure you don't hang around those dirty clothes at home because you don't want to pass any germs onto your host family (and also, you just don't want to leave dust around the house!)
• Take them off, put them into a bag and tie it up until you're ready to wash them.
• Try not to waste food. People here will be insulted.

We had another tour of the city with casa staff, then went back to base for our Spanish lessons. People are teaching children will have Spanish lessons throughout this trip, but because we're going to be tanking, we have ten hours. I actually wish I had more, I want to improve my skills!

I have two teachers, this is Betty. I heard she's tough (which she is), but I quite like her, she's a good teacher.

Teacher saying it’s so funny that English speakers mix up the h and j sounds and I’m thinking no we don't, you guys do! I've always noticed this difference in pronunciation, but it never occurred to me that Spanish speakers think we're the ones who are mixed up! It was a good lesson, and reminds me of a story I heard on this trip about perspective, though I can't remember who told it!

Anyway, the person said someone had gone somewhere and was riding in a cab when he noticed that many people used ponies for transportation. They were everywhere and the guy said "wow, where did you guys get all those ponies?" The driver replied "those aren't ponies, they're horses!" All they had were ponies, so to them, those were regular horses. It's a good reminder to keep an open mind, because we all see the world from a viewpoint that's based on our own experiences, right?