There is so much I don't even know where to begin. Today I had a funny moment with my teacher when I was trying to explain SCUBA diving and snorkeling. I really didn't have the vocab to describe either. Then she seemed to get it, and to say that scuba was called cuba. And she asked if the people were friendly, and I said yeah, you have a few hours on the boat to talk. And then she said it was cheap, and I'm going "no, expensive." Finally when she brought up communism I realized she thought I was talking about Cuba. You may think I'm silly for not realize that right away, but hearing someone say "cuba" in a different accent than I am used to is not the same as reading "cuba" in a blog entry.
I am not organized in my thoughts at all so I'll just have to get some down and others later. Everyday after class ends at noon I go home for lunch and then out walking around. Yesterday I headed for a cafe/bar that shows 4 movies per day. It was very modern inside, with Justin Timberlake playing before the movie started (Click with Adam Sandler, nothing too deep!). And then they didnt have subtitles like they said they would, and for a few seconds while watching the movie I literally forgot where I was - what country I was in, that is. Because I could have been anywhere (for some reason, I thought I might be in Thailand, which is strange because I was there 2 years ago, and the bar didn't say "Thailand" anymore than it said anywhere else.) Then I was feeling a little guilty about my lack of Spanish immersion, even though I had a good time and need those moments. Then I walked home, bumping in to a guy from school who just graduated from Brown, and borrowed his Lonely Planet for the night, and then got home. I usually wait in my room for dinner but this time I went to the living room to watch a soap opera with the grandmother. It was from Mexico. And I actually understood some! Not whole conversations, but some, which I feel like is an achievement. There was a funny scene where a guy took another girl scuba diving (maybe this is why I wanted to talk about it with the teacher). And they showed all different angles of them (or 2 people) diving - in the murkiest water with nothing interesting! No fish at all. It was what I would imagine diving in the Hudson River to look like (thanks Cousin Jack). I just think it was so funny they'd pick that footage since they could have shown somewhere gorgeous like Palau and no one would have known the difference...and then they had the actors back up on the boat going "Oh my god, amazing, all those colors, that's the best thing I've ever seen!" Sillyness. And then at dinner, my host mother said that I was doing really well - I really made an effort last night, and it was actually fun! So I feel good about how my Spanish is going right now!
I've been obsessing a little bit about going to another town for the third week, but I will figure it out. It is hard not to want to see other parts of the country while I'm here...
Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
La Antigua Guatemala
So, Antigua. Often times, I read in a guide book about a charming town or city. And then I go there and I don't really agree with those sentiments. And Antigua is one of those places that the guidebooks call "lovely." and after being here for a few days, I have to say that I see what they mean and why this place appeals to Spanish language students. While it doesnt look like home, it has many of the comforts of home including loads of internet cafes. And white people speaking English. I suppose that you find that in many places that are on the tourist map (ie in the Lonely Planet) so I suppose that it is more remarkable that there are this many English speakers in a town of about 35,000.
I went to a great slide show talk last night about Antigua given by an American woman moved here by her father when she was 14. She said the city is modelled after Sevilla, Spain, which is funny since I was thinking of going there, and the King and Queen of spain are actually coming on Friday! Almost all the buildings are one story - earthquake proof! The streets are all cobblestone. But the nicest parts of Antigua arent readily visible - it is the little courtyards where there are a lot of cafes and bookstores, internet cafes, etc. They are muy tranquil and cute, and I can see why people would be happy studying their Spanish verbs or nursing a drink there.
It took me a day to figure out why it was so hard to tell what the stores were that I was walking by. It is because all the signs are flat against the walls rather than hanging perpendicular like they do everywhere else. So you have to strain your neck to see what you are passing. The upside of this is that it forces you to look into openings you might not otherwise, and therefore see some of the pretty courtyards of hotels and other places. There's a main parque central with a church on one side, banks on another, the government buildings and then some tourist places. All the banks have armed security guards at the entrance, as do some jewelry stores. Even some delivery trucks do (unloading liter after liter of Pepsi or bags of Fritos!) .
I've been strangely fascinated by the grocery store, which is pretty big. I suppose because I was recently in Africa, where the stores in the big cities were just like home, and the stores in the small towns were NOT. They hardly had things. This store has a lot, but its not as clean and shiny as our stores...I can't explain it, and for someone who hates going grocery shopping at home I have an excessive amount of enjoyment walking down the aisles in a foreign grocery store. Maybe it is because I know I won't have to prepare my food.
So Antigua...a tourist-friendly place. There are about 3 travel agencies on every block. But then there are also people going about their business who dont seem to have anything to do with tourists. I guess when I am in a place like NYC, I ignore all the tourist stuff, but it isnt that different.
I went to a great slide show talk last night about Antigua given by an American woman moved here by her father when she was 14. She said the city is modelled after Sevilla, Spain, which is funny since I was thinking of going there, and the King and Queen of spain are actually coming on Friday! Almost all the buildings are one story - earthquake proof! The streets are all cobblestone. But the nicest parts of Antigua arent readily visible - it is the little courtyards where there are a lot of cafes and bookstores, internet cafes, etc. They are muy tranquil and cute, and I can see why people would be happy studying their Spanish verbs or nursing a drink there.
It took me a day to figure out why it was so hard to tell what the stores were that I was walking by. It is because all the signs are flat against the walls rather than hanging perpendicular like they do everywhere else. So you have to strain your neck to see what you are passing. The upside of this is that it forces you to look into openings you might not otherwise, and therefore see some of the pretty courtyards of hotels and other places. There's a main parque central with a church on one side, banks on another, the government buildings and then some tourist places. All the banks have armed security guards at the entrance, as do some jewelry stores. Even some delivery trucks do (unloading liter after liter of Pepsi or bags of Fritos!) .
I've been strangely fascinated by the grocery store, which is pretty big. I suppose because I was recently in Africa, where the stores in the big cities were just like home, and the stores in the small towns were NOT. They hardly had things. This store has a lot, but its not as clean and shiny as our stores...I can't explain it, and for someone who hates going grocery shopping at home I have an excessive amount of enjoyment walking down the aisles in a foreign grocery store. Maybe it is because I know I won't have to prepare my food.
So Antigua...a tourist-friendly place. There are about 3 travel agencies on every block. But then there are also people going about their business who dont seem to have anything to do with tourists. I guess when I am in a place like NYC, I ignore all the tourist stuff, but it isnt that different.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
First day
On this computer, and maybe all the ones in Central America, you get the @ sign by pressing alt and then the numbers 64. Who knew? I cant figure out the apostrophe right now. I also have had trouble getting the @ sign in other countries.
One thing I forgot to mention about the day I arrived. I didn{t really see nay of the procession that was causing mucho traffic, but I did see people who must have been part of the procession - they were wearing bright purple, Williams-colored robes, sort of what friars wear (or friars as they are represented on Sex and the City - remember Friar F-ck?). Anyway, I{m sure Ill see more of them on coming Sundays.
So on the first day of classes, I woke up early because I{d gone to bed early, and there was also noise around the house. Maybe one day I{ll break out the earplugs I brought since some of the U Mich girls seem to swear by them. I got a ride to the school because my family owns a travel agency a few doors away. It is actually quite cool here in the mornings and evenings - cool compared to how warm it can be in the middle of the day, I should say. So I was wearing new Columbia capri pants (this will be important later). I waited in the travel agency for a few minutes because it was early and school wasnt yet open, but when I got up to go to the school, luckily I brushed off my butt in case there was any dirt on it - because my hand hit something else. Id done the same thing I did the last time I wore new columbia pants - they{re good for travelling, if you arent familiar. Columbia pants are always sold with about a 10 inch by 1 inch transparent sticker that has the size on it. And it is put on the back of the leg. And I always forget to take it off. I walked around Bangkok for a whole day with that sticker on another pair of pants - I wonder how many people noticed - but luckily I found my mistake early on yesterday.
So the school. There are two stories and every student has their own teacher. Mine is named Marina and we sit on the roof terrace under a big umbrella. It is a little quieter up there because there are only 3 or 4 students on the roof, compared with the main level where there are about 10 in a not-so-big space. But I will write more about the school another day when I don{t have much else to say.
After school I stopped by the travel agency to find out that lunch isnt until 12:30 or 1 pm, so I had some time. I wandered down to the parque central, the main part of town. It is quite picturesque, but I will also save a more complete description of Antigua for another day. So it was time for lunch and I was hungry because a) I am me and b) I had eaten breakfast before 7 am. I wasnt sure I was going to find home, to be honest, because I hadnt paid as much attention as I usually do when I came from home to school, and I didnt have the street name on a map. But I didnt know the street name anyway, so I suppose that was not an issue. Happily, I did find home but unhappily, my key wasnt working to open the side door. Im often bad at keys and was willing to attribute the problem to user error, or perhaps actually being at the wrong house, but the key did go in and I felt it turn the lock, so either everyone in Antigua has the same lock or I was at the right house. After giving up on the key I paced a little bit on the street wondering what to do before doing the natural thing and knocking on the door of the house - which is like a big metal garage door with a little window about 6 inches by 12 inches that swings open. Anyway, one of the ladies came to let me in and I dont think she cared that I was using the door, because when I tried to say later that the key wasnt working, she indicated that coming in the front was fine. Lunch was with the grandmother and a lady that I thought was like an aunt but now am wondering if she is a housekeeper, because she serves breakfast and lunch and seems to clean the dishes at dinner, plus she does laundry. But maybe she just does that stuff because she doesnt work.
After lunch I lay down a little and then went back to school for the excursion - there are about 3 afternoon activities a week. I didnt know where we were going but I also didnt care. Only 4 people went, which surprised me, and we followed the guide about a 15 minute walk to wait for a bus. The bus took a while to arrive - many passed, but they had different routes than the one we wanted. The buses are all old American school buses painted bright colors, named, and given new diesel engines. And either they put in new seats that are longer than the ones we usually have on a bus, or I was much much smaller last time I was on a school bus (not likely) and never realized how tiny the aisles are. 2 of the people who went are Americans who have been traveling for 22 months. Now I like to travel, I think more than most, but that does not sound fun to me. AT ALL. Anyway, until we got off the bus (following the guide) I had thought we were going to a church, because someone at the school had thought that was what it was, but it turns out we went to a macademia farm. We did the tour in Spanish because the others knew more than me, and the truth was I wasnt fascinated enough to learn all about macadamia nut production. After taking the bus back I wandered around town, to get some quetzals (local money) and explore a little, before going back to the house around 5:45 for some studying before (and then after) dinner. So it was somewhat eventful as I did an activity and explored town, but nothing monumental.
Today is an afternoon excursion to the cemetary. Ill report in more detail on various things later. And for now all I can say is that 4 hours of Spanish classes gets kind of exhausting!
One thing I forgot to mention about the day I arrived. I didn{t really see nay of the procession that was causing mucho traffic, but I did see people who must have been part of the procession - they were wearing bright purple, Williams-colored robes, sort of what friars wear (or friars as they are represented on Sex and the City - remember Friar F-ck?). Anyway, I{m sure Ill see more of them on coming Sundays.
So on the first day of classes, I woke up early because I{d gone to bed early, and there was also noise around the house. Maybe one day I{ll break out the earplugs I brought since some of the U Mich girls seem to swear by them. I got a ride to the school because my family owns a travel agency a few doors away. It is actually quite cool here in the mornings and evenings - cool compared to how warm it can be in the middle of the day, I should say. So I was wearing new Columbia capri pants (this will be important later). I waited in the travel agency for a few minutes because it was early and school wasnt yet open, but when I got up to go to the school, luckily I brushed off my butt in case there was any dirt on it - because my hand hit something else. Id done the same thing I did the last time I wore new columbia pants - they{re good for travelling, if you arent familiar. Columbia pants are always sold with about a 10 inch by 1 inch transparent sticker that has the size on it. And it is put on the back of the leg. And I always forget to take it off. I walked around Bangkok for a whole day with that sticker on another pair of pants - I wonder how many people noticed - but luckily I found my mistake early on yesterday.
So the school. There are two stories and every student has their own teacher. Mine is named Marina and we sit on the roof terrace under a big umbrella. It is a little quieter up there because there are only 3 or 4 students on the roof, compared with the main level where there are about 10 in a not-so-big space. But I will write more about the school another day when I don{t have much else to say.
After school I stopped by the travel agency to find out that lunch isnt until 12:30 or 1 pm, so I had some time. I wandered down to the parque central, the main part of town. It is quite picturesque, but I will also save a more complete description of Antigua for another day. So it was time for lunch and I was hungry because a) I am me and b) I had eaten breakfast before 7 am. I wasnt sure I was going to find home, to be honest, because I hadnt paid as much attention as I usually do when I came from home to school, and I didnt have the street name on a map. But I didnt know the street name anyway, so I suppose that was not an issue. Happily, I did find home but unhappily, my key wasnt working to open the side door. Im often bad at keys and was willing to attribute the problem to user error, or perhaps actually being at the wrong house, but the key did go in and I felt it turn the lock, so either everyone in Antigua has the same lock or I was at the right house. After giving up on the key I paced a little bit on the street wondering what to do before doing the natural thing and knocking on the door of the house - which is like a big metal garage door with a little window about 6 inches by 12 inches that swings open. Anyway, one of the ladies came to let me in and I dont think she cared that I was using the door, because when I tried to say later that the key wasnt working, she indicated that coming in the front was fine. Lunch was with the grandmother and a lady that I thought was like an aunt but now am wondering if she is a housekeeper, because she serves breakfast and lunch and seems to clean the dishes at dinner, plus she does laundry. But maybe she just does that stuff because she doesnt work.
After lunch I lay down a little and then went back to school for the excursion - there are about 3 afternoon activities a week. I didnt know where we were going but I also didnt care. Only 4 people went, which surprised me, and we followed the guide about a 15 minute walk to wait for a bus. The bus took a while to arrive - many passed, but they had different routes than the one we wanted. The buses are all old American school buses painted bright colors, named, and given new diesel engines. And either they put in new seats that are longer than the ones we usually have on a bus, or I was much much smaller last time I was on a school bus (not likely) and never realized how tiny the aisles are. 2 of the people who went are Americans who have been traveling for 22 months. Now I like to travel, I think more than most, but that does not sound fun to me. AT ALL. Anyway, until we got off the bus (following the guide) I had thought we were going to a church, because someone at the school had thought that was what it was, but it turns out we went to a macademia farm. We did the tour in Spanish because the others knew more than me, and the truth was I wasnt fascinated enough to learn all about macadamia nut production. After taking the bus back I wandered around town, to get some quetzals (local money) and explore a little, before going back to the house around 5:45 for some studying before (and then after) dinner. So it was somewhat eventful as I did an activity and explored town, but nothing monumental.
Today is an afternoon excursion to the cemetary. Ill report in more detail on various things later. And for now all I can say is that 4 hours of Spanish classes gets kind of exhausting!
Monday, March 26, 2007
No sleep 'till Guatemala!
There's so much to say that it is almost overwhelming to start this entry, but maybe I'll have to save some for next time under the assumption that I have more to say today than I will tomorrow, because they always say that half the fun is in the journey, not the destination. My journey wasn't particularly fun but it was a journey none the less. This keyboard is a bit annoying so excuse any typos.
I didn't sleep at all the night before I left. Even if I had fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would have gotten less than 4 hours of sleep anyway, so I don't think there was a big loss.
I got to the airport at 6 am, 3 hours before the flight, because I was concerned about overbooking. It turned out that an hour before my flight, which went to San Salvador for a connection to Guatemala City, there was a direct flight to Guatemala. My dad suggested trying to get on that flight because it was "better to wait there than wait here" but I wasn't so sure that was true - JFK was a known quantity while the Guate airport was not. I am not superstitious, but I wondered a little whether there might be any potenial fallout from a deviation from the original plans...whether that might be tempting fate. Anything from an accident, which I wasnt really concerned about, to having baggage lost (which I admit is more likely on a connecting flight). I did ask at one point about switching, but the guy sort of gave me a "hold on" signal and then I decided not to press, mostly because I was supposed to be picked up at the airport from the original flight and I wanted to be walking out of the exit at the time expected, in case there were tons of people and it was hard to find my ride. There were some people at the counter as I was in the next line who were trying to check in and very upset about something. There was a lot of gesticulating and even some pounding on the counter with a fist. The lady behind me wasn't sure what was happening, but I'm one of those nosy people who likes to know what is going on with others, and so I thought that maybe a goal for my trip is to be able to understand such a conversation in Spanish on the way back. We can hope (I think they'd checked in to late for the Guatemala flight, or it was already full).
Anyway, after checking in, I realized I was in the same terminal as my flight to Israel in May. The security people were none too friendly, but I guess that is to be expected since a) we were in NY and b) it was 7 am on a Sunday morning and they were working. There was actually someone who had gone all the way to security with all kind of bottles, not in a little plastic baggie - who gets that far anymore? Once in the gate area, there were actually 2 huge El Al planes at the gates across from my plane, and so when I saw one guy in a black suit, white shirt and kippah, and another with a big black hat and tallis hanging out of his suit, I wasn't surprised. But I WAS surprised on the gangway to my actual plane (after you've given them your ticket etc) when I turned around -as there was the inevitable wait to get on the plane even when there's no line at the door - to see that those two guys were also boarding my plane. Not that religious Jews can't go to Central America, it just made more sense for them to be going to Israel.
The flights were unremarkable, except that I was grateful to the person who sat in first class and left Star, Us Weekly and some other crap magazine on her seat for me to grab and read in the San Salvador airport. My second flight was about 20 minutes and I was the only one in my 3 person seat (this detail is only interesting to my parents). Arriving at the airport, I saw a guy with my name on a sign (I've always wanted that to happen by the way) and we left when I got in the van. there were 2 other girls in the van but they got dropped at a hotel.
The driver turned out to be my host father, and he spoke some English. there was a procession in Antigua, even though it was still 2 weeks to Antigua, and a lot of traffic once we got to the town, and it was quite hot in the van. Finally we got to the house where I met the mother, grandmother and one son. I thought she said there were 3 other kids but since then I've only met one more. I had some tea and ate a fruit I've never seen. I cant even begin to describe it, except that you spoon out the inside and its sort of the same consistency as a kiwi, a pale peach color and maybe tastes a little like papaya. OK that was a better job at describing than I thought I'd do. I tried to nap but couldn't, so finally fired up these Spanish lessons I downloaded to my iPod - they're podcasts. "Coffee Break Spanish." I was waiting for dinner, which was supposed to be at 7, and was sitting in the living room as 7 came and went...until I remembered you don't get meals on Sunday. I wasn't that hungry anyway and had a piece of cake from the plane left over. So I spent a few hours watching TV - it was Lost in English, with Spanish subtitles, and I did actually learn a few words. I went to bed at 9 hoping to be able to fall asleep - finally. And I did. And lying in bed I wasn't freaking out quite as much as I would have expected I would. And I'm sure that each day will only get better, as I'll learn some Spanish and make friends. So I think the first day went pretty well.
Today I had 4 hours of class, and went on an excursion with the school to a macadamia nut farm. The most exciting part was that we took a "chicken bus" to get there. Its the local bus system, old American school buses repainted in bright colors. More on today tomorrow. Sorry if this entry wasn't as interesting as it could have been, this keyboard is frustrating.
I didn't sleep at all the night before I left. Even if I had fallen asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would have gotten less than 4 hours of sleep anyway, so I don't think there was a big loss.
I got to the airport at 6 am, 3 hours before the flight, because I was concerned about overbooking. It turned out that an hour before my flight, which went to San Salvador for a connection to Guatemala City, there was a direct flight to Guatemala. My dad suggested trying to get on that flight because it was "better to wait there than wait here" but I wasn't so sure that was true - JFK was a known quantity while the Guate airport was not. I am not superstitious, but I wondered a little whether there might be any potenial fallout from a deviation from the original plans...whether that might be tempting fate. Anything from an accident, which I wasnt really concerned about, to having baggage lost (which I admit is more likely on a connecting flight). I did ask at one point about switching, but the guy sort of gave me a "hold on" signal and then I decided not to press, mostly because I was supposed to be picked up at the airport from the original flight and I wanted to be walking out of the exit at the time expected, in case there were tons of people and it was hard to find my ride. There were some people at the counter as I was in the next line who were trying to check in and very upset about something. There was a lot of gesticulating and even some pounding on the counter with a fist. The lady behind me wasn't sure what was happening, but I'm one of those nosy people who likes to know what is going on with others, and so I thought that maybe a goal for my trip is to be able to understand such a conversation in Spanish on the way back. We can hope (I think they'd checked in to late for the Guatemala flight, or it was already full).
Anyway, after checking in, I realized I was in the same terminal as my flight to Israel in May. The security people were none too friendly, but I guess that is to be expected since a) we were in NY and b) it was 7 am on a Sunday morning and they were working. There was actually someone who had gone all the way to security with all kind of bottles, not in a little plastic baggie - who gets that far anymore? Once in the gate area, there were actually 2 huge El Al planes at the gates across from my plane, and so when I saw one guy in a black suit, white shirt and kippah, and another with a big black hat and tallis hanging out of his suit, I wasn't surprised. But I WAS surprised on the gangway to my actual plane (after you've given them your ticket etc) when I turned around -as there was the inevitable wait to get on the plane even when there's no line at the door - to see that those two guys were also boarding my plane. Not that religious Jews can't go to Central America, it just made more sense for them to be going to Israel.
The flights were unremarkable, except that I was grateful to the person who sat in first class and left Star, Us Weekly and some other crap magazine on her seat for me to grab and read in the San Salvador airport. My second flight was about 20 minutes and I was the only one in my 3 person seat (this detail is only interesting to my parents). Arriving at the airport, I saw a guy with my name on a sign (I've always wanted that to happen by the way) and we left when I got in the van. there were 2 other girls in the van but they got dropped at a hotel.
The driver turned out to be my host father, and he spoke some English. there was a procession in Antigua, even though it was still 2 weeks to Antigua, and a lot of traffic once we got to the town, and it was quite hot in the van. Finally we got to the house where I met the mother, grandmother and one son. I thought she said there were 3 other kids but since then I've only met one more. I had some tea and ate a fruit I've never seen. I cant even begin to describe it, except that you spoon out the inside and its sort of the same consistency as a kiwi, a pale peach color and maybe tastes a little like papaya. OK that was a better job at describing than I thought I'd do. I tried to nap but couldn't, so finally fired up these Spanish lessons I downloaded to my iPod - they're podcasts. "Coffee Break Spanish." I was waiting for dinner, which was supposed to be at 7, and was sitting in the living room as 7 came and went...until I remembered you don't get meals on Sunday. I wasn't that hungry anyway and had a piece of cake from the plane left over. So I spent a few hours watching TV - it was Lost in English, with Spanish subtitles, and I did actually learn a few words. I went to bed at 9 hoping to be able to fall asleep - finally. And I did. And lying in bed I wasn't freaking out quite as much as I would have expected I would. And I'm sure that each day will only get better, as I'll learn some Spanish and make friends. So I think the first day went pretty well.
Today I had 4 hours of class, and went on an excursion with the school to a macadamia nut farm. The most exciting part was that we took a "chicken bus" to get there. Its the local bus system, old American school buses repainted in bright colors. More on today tomorrow. Sorry if this entry wasn't as interesting as it could have been, this keyboard is frustrating.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
More tales of children
Since I haven't left yet but I'm bored, I'll have to keep telling tales of things not having to do with learning Spanish, or being in Ecuador or Guatemala.
My friends know I'm not a huge fan of little kids. But, I'll give them this: they can be amusing. And they make for great photo subjects. The advent of the digital camera has made them very anxious to be photographed, and there's nothing like the instant gratification of seeing the picture seconds after it has been taken (to be fair to the children and people of villages worldwide, I suspect that when cameras were still using film, promises to send copies of photographs were often broken). It can be a little awkward to take photos of adults (if you've traveled in a third world country, you know what I mean. If you haven't, think about what it would be like for people to take pictures of you almost entirely because you either are dressed weirdly - in their eyes - or are doing something that seems weird to them, but to you is totally normal (like going to work in a suit). But usually kids want to have pictures taken.
On our township tour in Cape Town, we were stopped at a place called Crossroads:
We'd been told by our guides that we could not take pictures while traveling in the van, but that it was ok to take scenery shots. Soon after our van had parked, about 6 boys came running over. They weren't as interested in us as they were in the reflective surface of the van. A few of them shadow boxed while admiring themselves on the side of the van. When they started actually fighting each other, it wasn't as sweet or cute. But I didn't take any pictures of the kids, and except for one or two as we were pulling away, no one else did, either. At our last stop of the day, however, we got back to the van after meeting with a woman who was in charge of a cooperative sort of township. There was a bunch of children sitting in our van along with our driver and guide. The children spontaneously burst into song "If you're happy and you know it..." And we all sang, too. It was a nice moment to share with them (and since we had to get going, it didn't last too long). The kids didn't seem to know another verse besides putting in your hand, but they were happy, and so were we. And I did take some pictures of those kids:
Later in my trip, in Namibia, I went for a guided walk around a village near the Chobe River (across from Angola). Our guides told us not to get sweets for the children, but that it would be nice to buy notepads and pencils for the school we were going to visit, and cookies because the ladies at the church have tea and like to have biscuits (in places other than the U.S., biscuits are sweet) with their tea. So we didn't have sweets to give to the kids. But apparently, other tourists do give them out, because on the walk back to the campground from the village, as we passed here and there by houses (and by houses I mean huts in little compounds), some little kids caught sight of us. "SWEETS!!!!" they bellowed as loud as they could, running towards us at full speed. "SWEETS!!!!" Our guide called to them "No sweets" but it didn't stop their running. When they reached us, breathless, they weren't too upset that we in fact did not have sweets, and werewalk around a village. We'd been told not to buy happy to have their picture taken. Kids in Africa and Southeast Asia aren't so different.
The church we went to was an open air variety, and the churchgoers sang us a song. We were asked to sing one in response (as we'd been asked at the school). There were about 6 different nationalities in that group alone (not all the people on my trip had elected to go on the village walk that morning) so finding a song we all knew wasn't going to be so easy. Since we were in a church, I the good little Jewish girl, suggested that we sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." No picture of that, but here are some of the little kids at church with their mom, while the church group sang for us.
Some pictures from the school we visited. The little girl on the end of the row in the last picture was particularly amusing. It was a class of first graders, and the principal had them singing in rounds for a song with the same melody as "Frere Jacques." One side of the room was not doing their round properly (they kept singing what the other group was singing), so the principal moved the girl from her side to the weaker side, explaining "they don't have enough girls to do it right." And the girl, as small as she was, was really belting it out. You had to be there, but suffice it to say she was really giving it her all, without any self-consciousness about the 15 strangers in the room with cameras.
My friends know I'm not a huge fan of little kids. But, I'll give them this: they can be amusing. And they make for great photo subjects. The advent of the digital camera has made them very anxious to be photographed, and there's nothing like the instant gratification of seeing the picture seconds after it has been taken (to be fair to the children and people of villages worldwide, I suspect that when cameras were still using film, promises to send copies of photographs were often broken). It can be a little awkward to take photos of adults (if you've traveled in a third world country, you know what I mean. If you haven't, think about what it would be like for people to take pictures of you almost entirely because you either are dressed weirdly - in their eyes - or are doing something that seems weird to them, but to you is totally normal (like going to work in a suit). But usually kids want to have pictures taken.
On our township tour in Cape Town, we were stopped at a place called Crossroads:
We'd been told by our guides that we could not take pictures while traveling in the van, but that it was ok to take scenery shots. Soon after our van had parked, about 6 boys came running over. They weren't as interested in us as they were in the reflective surface of the van. A few of them shadow boxed while admiring themselves on the side of the van. When they started actually fighting each other, it wasn't as sweet or cute. But I didn't take any pictures of the kids, and except for one or two as we were pulling away, no one else did, either. At our last stop of the day, however, we got back to the van after meeting with a woman who was in charge of a cooperative sort of township. There was a bunch of children sitting in our van along with our driver and guide. The children spontaneously burst into song "If you're happy and you know it..." And we all sang, too. It was a nice moment to share with them (and since we had to get going, it didn't last too long). The kids didn't seem to know another verse besides putting in your hand, but they were happy, and so were we. And I did take some pictures of those kids:
Later in my trip, in Namibia, I went for a guided walk around a village near the Chobe River (across from Angola). Our guides told us not to get sweets for the children, but that it would be nice to buy notepads and pencils for the school we were going to visit, and cookies because the ladies at the church have tea and like to have biscuits (in places other than the U.S., biscuits are sweet) with their tea. So we didn't have sweets to give to the kids. But apparently, other tourists do give them out, because on the walk back to the campground from the village, as we passed here and there by houses (and by houses I mean huts in little compounds), some little kids caught sight of us. "SWEETS!!!!" they bellowed as loud as they could, running towards us at full speed. "SWEETS!!!!" Our guide called to them "No sweets" but it didn't stop their running. When they reached us, breathless, they weren't too upset that we in fact did not have sweets, and werewalk around a village. We'd been told not to buy happy to have their picture taken. Kids in Africa and Southeast Asia aren't so different.
The church we went to was an open air variety, and the churchgoers sang us a song. We were asked to sing one in response (as we'd been asked at the school). There were about 6 different nationalities in that group alone (not all the people on my trip had elected to go on the village walk that morning) so finding a song we all knew wasn't going to be so easy. Since we were in a church, I the good little Jewish girl, suggested that we sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." No picture of that, but here are some of the little kids at church with their mom, while the church group sang for us.
Some pictures from the school we visited. The little girl on the end of the row in the last picture was particularly amusing. It was a class of first graders, and the principal had them singing in rounds for a song with the same melody as "Frere Jacques." One side of the room was not doing their round properly (they kept singing what the other group was singing), so the principal moved the girl from her side to the weaker side, explaining "they don't have enough girls to do it right." And the girl, as small as she was, was really belting it out. You had to be there, but suffice it to say she was really giving it her all, without any self-consciousness about the 15 strangers in the room with cameras.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
T-minus one week
This post is mostly for me to look at in a week, when it's Saturday night and I'm wondering why in the world I'd decided to spend 4 months in Spanish-speaking developing countries when I don't actually know any Spanish. It happens every time I go away - right beforehand, I get very nervous and wish I was just staying wherever I am (usually home). NOT because home is so exciting (because it is decidedly not) but because the known is less intimidating than the unknown.
But for today, with the cushion of a week before I actually dive in, I'm incredibly excited. There's nothing I'd rather be doing for the next four months. I'm even very happy with my choice of where to go. Spain would have been great in terms of traveling (for anyone interested in going in the future, it really seems like Sevilla would be an ideal location to be based), but not as much the different cultural experience for which I'm looking. I've never found Europe to be that different from the U.S. Sure they take naps in the afternoon and eat dinner later, but that doesn't speak cultural difference to me the way other places do. Guatemala for more than a few weeks, when I don't know enough Spanish to do some interesting volunteering, would also not have been ideal. My only dilemna right now, really, is how much to pack. At the risk of putting in minute, boring details of my life (as I think some other bloggers might do) I won't go through the positives and negatives of bringing a lot versus a little, etc. Let's just say that while I hope to stay in Cuenca for a long time, I won't know until I get there if I'm actually going to do that or not, and that does impact the amount and size of the bags I take.
I know there's always markets where I can pick things up, but after markets in Egypt, Southeast Asia and Africa, I know one thing for sure: I really don't like shopping in markets. At least, not in tourist-oriented markets. I do remember a market in Chiang Mai that had lots of fruits and other strange foods, and that was interesting. And then there was the market we stopped at outside of Chiang Mai, to pick up things for the children we were going to see on our hilltribe trek. There we were, 12 people wandering around trying to find presents for children that a) weren't candy b) weren't gum c) weren't going to choke them. It was actually a surprisingly difficult task. Before leaving for our trek, we'd been given a piece of paper with some rules and tips. They included not giving the children sweets (there aren't a lot of dentists in rural Thailand), and not drinking soda or beer in front of the tribespeople (they look up to us and will want to emulate us). And then our guide sat us down to talk to us about the three day trek. "You'll want to have candy for the kids because they'll expect it...you can buy soda and beers from the tribespeople and it helps them to get a little money." "But it says here on the sheet that we shouldn't!" we all protested. It seems there's a little disconnect between the way one ought to do a hilltribe trek and the way we're expected to. In the end, we wandered around the market for a good while trying not to buy sweets (which as a group we'd decided we wanted to avoid), but there weren't a lot of options. At the villages, the kids did ask for treats, but they also were incredibly excited about the stickers one girl had brought from Canada (as were the adults, who wanted the stickers too). Here are some pictures of the kids with their spoils:
But for today, with the cushion of a week before I actually dive in, I'm incredibly excited. There's nothing I'd rather be doing for the next four months. I'm even very happy with my choice of where to go. Spain would have been great in terms of traveling (for anyone interested in going in the future, it really seems like Sevilla would be an ideal location to be based), but not as much the different cultural experience for which I'm looking. I've never found Europe to be that different from the U.S. Sure they take naps in the afternoon and eat dinner later, but that doesn't speak cultural difference to me the way other places do. Guatemala for more than a few weeks, when I don't know enough Spanish to do some interesting volunteering, would also not have been ideal. My only dilemna right now, really, is how much to pack. At the risk of putting in minute, boring details of my life (as I think some other bloggers might do) I won't go through the positives and negatives of bringing a lot versus a little, etc. Let's just say that while I hope to stay in Cuenca for a long time, I won't know until I get there if I'm actually going to do that or not, and that does impact the amount and size of the bags I take.
I know there's always markets where I can pick things up, but after markets in Egypt, Southeast Asia and Africa, I know one thing for sure: I really don't like shopping in markets. At least, not in tourist-oriented markets. I do remember a market in Chiang Mai that had lots of fruits and other strange foods, and that was interesting. And then there was the market we stopped at outside of Chiang Mai, to pick up things for the children we were going to see on our hilltribe trek. There we were, 12 people wandering around trying to find presents for children that a) weren't candy b) weren't gum c) weren't going to choke them. It was actually a surprisingly difficult task. Before leaving for our trek, we'd been given a piece of paper with some rules and tips. They included not giving the children sweets (there aren't a lot of dentists in rural Thailand), and not drinking soda or beer in front of the tribespeople (they look up to us and will want to emulate us). And then our guide sat us down to talk to us about the three day trek. "You'll want to have candy for the kids because they'll expect it...you can buy soda and beers from the tribespeople and it helps them to get a little money." "But it says here on the sheet that we shouldn't!" we all protested. It seems there's a little disconnect between the way one ought to do a hilltribe trek and the way we're expected to. In the end, we wandered around the market for a good while trying not to buy sweets (which as a group we'd decided we wanted to avoid), but there weren't a lot of options. At the villages, the kids did ask for treats, but they also were incredibly excited about the stickers one girl had brought from Canada (as were the adults, who wanted the stickers too). Here are some pictures of the kids with their spoils:
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Decisions, decisions
This isn't a post about changing my mind again - it's about having made it up (with a slight modification from my previous idea)! I can't believe all of a sudden I'm all set, but I am. Using a travel agency listed on the Ecuador Spanish school's website, I found a great airfare that allows me to stop in Guatemala on the way down to Ecuador. I'd tossed around that idea in my head earlier, but it had seemed prohibitively expensive. It's on the way in the sense that Guatemala is south of New York and north of Ecuador, but my plane wouldn't otherwise be stopping there. So the fare I got is really reasonable, plus it's a student fare with a rock-bottom change fee, in case I fall in love with Guatemala (or in Guatemala) and want to stay longer. Or need to change my final flight home.
The town in Guatemala I'll head to first is Antigua, known for its Spanish language schools, which means I'll be there for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Antigua, a "charming" (I'll make my own judgment when I get there) Colonial city 45 minutes from Guatemala City (which I will not be going to at all), is known for its Semana Santa festival. In fact, Sevilla is too, and the only big regret I had yesterday about deciding to just go to Ecuador is that I'd miss out on the big Easter celebrations. I'm sure there would have been something in Cuenca, as Ecuador is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but in all my Google-searching I couldn't find any evidence it was particularly special there (unlike Christmas celebrations in Cuenca, which are supposed to be fabulous). So I'm really excited that I will still be able to see a well-known celebration. It may not be Carnivale, but I'm not sure that's exactly my scene anyway. I was in Catania, Sicily for Easter and walked the streets a little bit (not that way, you know what I mean), but this time I'll be more aware of what is going on (hopefully. And not alone - also hopefully).
So I've booked my ticket for three weeks in Guatemala, and hopefully that won't be a week too many. If I'm done with Antigua after 2 weeks, I can move to another city, Quetzaltenango (known as Xela), which also has a lot of schools but sounds like an easier place to immerse yourself in Spanish and avoid English speakers. After only 2 weeks of studying, though, I won't be disappointed in myself if I'm not willing to let go of that social safety net.
Booking the flights, however, was a bit of a touch-and-go "Did I do it in time?" experience. I submitted the payment about 3 minutes after the reservation was supposed to expire (the guy I made it with on the phone was pretty incredulous that I wasn't willing to book on the spot, the fare was so good. He also gave me a tiny Spanish lesson - he said my 3-plane, 4-stop flight home was known as something, but of course I can't remember the word he used in Spanish for the life of me. In English, it might have had something to do with a bell, but I'm not sure). I was hesitant about booking because I didn't have confirmation from the school in Antigua that they still had space for me. About 15 minutes after booking the ticket (or not), the director of the Guatemala school emailed me (either tersely, or he's not an email kind of guy, or there was something lost in translation) that they did have space. Really, I can look at my email and see that his email came about 17 minutes later than I would have wanted. And about 55 minutes after booking (or not), I said to my mom "I'm not sure if I booked the tickets in time to get that fare. I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out." And then maybe 30 seconds later I had a new email informing me that my e-ticket had been booked! Set! And an hour later, an email from the school in Ecuador that they did have space for me in a week - the week I'd just decided to be in Guatemala instead. Anyway, I quickly skype'd the person who emailed me from Ecuador to ask for my arrival to be delayed 3 weeks. She was so nice and it sounds so easy (the U.S. dollar is the official currency in Ecuador) that I do feel slightly regretful that I won't be going to Ecuador right away, because even though I'm nervous, I am very excited and the sooner I get there, the sooner I'll get settled in an know whether it was the right decision to go to Cuenca. I really want to like Cuenca and stay there for a while, rather than bopping around from place to place. I'd also emailed the Ecuador school's volunteer branch yesterday to inquire about volunteering at the jail, and they wrote back this morning to say they were just starting up that association and the director is looking forward to having volunteers. That email made me feel even better about heading to Cuenca.
So I'm really excited, and actually going. I leave March 25! I'm glad that what I said in the last post about probably not leaving by next weekend didn't turn out to be true. I come back August 3, which is a really long time to be gone, but I think this experience will be fabulous and the best use of my time until law school.
The town in Guatemala I'll head to first is Antigua, known for its Spanish language schools, which means I'll be there for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Antigua, a "charming" (I'll make my own judgment when I get there) Colonial city 45 minutes from Guatemala City (which I will not be going to at all), is known for its Semana Santa festival. In fact, Sevilla is too, and the only big regret I had yesterday about deciding to just go to Ecuador is that I'd miss out on the big Easter celebrations. I'm sure there would have been something in Cuenca, as Ecuador is an overwhelmingly Catholic country, but in all my Google-searching I couldn't find any evidence it was particularly special there (unlike Christmas celebrations in Cuenca, which are supposed to be fabulous). So I'm really excited that I will still be able to see a well-known celebration. It may not be Carnivale, but I'm not sure that's exactly my scene anyway. I was in Catania, Sicily for Easter and walked the streets a little bit (not that way, you know what I mean), but this time I'll be more aware of what is going on (hopefully. And not alone - also hopefully).
So I've booked my ticket for three weeks in Guatemala, and hopefully that won't be a week too many. If I'm done with Antigua after 2 weeks, I can move to another city, Quetzaltenango (known as Xela), which also has a lot of schools but sounds like an easier place to immerse yourself in Spanish and avoid English speakers. After only 2 weeks of studying, though, I won't be disappointed in myself if I'm not willing to let go of that social safety net.
Booking the flights, however, was a bit of a touch-and-go "Did I do it in time?" experience. I submitted the payment about 3 minutes after the reservation was supposed to expire (the guy I made it with on the phone was pretty incredulous that I wasn't willing to book on the spot, the fare was so good. He also gave me a tiny Spanish lesson - he said my 3-plane, 4-stop flight home was known as something, but of course I can't remember the word he used in Spanish for the life of me. In English, it might have had something to do with a bell, but I'm not sure). I was hesitant about booking because I didn't have confirmation from the school in Antigua that they still had space for me. About 15 minutes after booking the ticket (or not), the director of the Guatemala school emailed me (either tersely, or he's not an email kind of guy, or there was something lost in translation) that they did have space. Really, I can look at my email and see that his email came about 17 minutes later than I would have wanted. And about 55 minutes after booking (or not), I said to my mom "I'm not sure if I booked the tickets in time to get that fare. I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out." And then maybe 30 seconds later I had a new email informing me that my e-ticket had been booked! Set! And an hour later, an email from the school in Ecuador that they did have space for me in a week - the week I'd just decided to be in Guatemala instead. Anyway, I quickly skype'd the person who emailed me from Ecuador to ask for my arrival to be delayed 3 weeks. She was so nice and it sounds so easy (the U.S. dollar is the official currency in Ecuador) that I do feel slightly regretful that I won't be going to Ecuador right away, because even though I'm nervous, I am very excited and the sooner I get there, the sooner I'll get settled in an know whether it was the right decision to go to Cuenca. I really want to like Cuenca and stay there for a while, rather than bopping around from place to place. I'd also emailed the Ecuador school's volunteer branch yesterday to inquire about volunteering at the jail, and they wrote back this morning to say they were just starting up that association and the director is looking forward to having volunteers. That email made me feel even better about heading to Cuenca.
So I'm really excited, and actually going. I leave March 25! I'm glad that what I said in the last post about probably not leaving by next weekend didn't turn out to be true. I come back August 3, which is a really long time to be gone, but I think this experience will be fabulous and the best use of my time until law school.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
According to Shakespeare, women are fickle
And when it comes to decisions like this, I definitely am. In the past 20 hours I've gone from wanting to go to Spain, to Guatemala, to Cusco, Peru, and now I'm back to Ecuador. It very well might change again, but I'm looking at this as a "go with your first instinct" kind of thing. Back in December, I wanted to go to Cuenca, Ecuador, but after coming back from South Africa the idea was intimidating. But sitting on your butt for two weeks can also give you perspective! I couldn't sleep last night either, but my late hours were spent reading a novel rather than trying to figure out my life. Or at least the next 4 months of it.
In the end, I really do want to learn Spanish more than I want to travel, and I think that will be best done by a combination of being in a place that isn't overrun with other Spanish students, and where I can hopefully do some volunteering. I am also beginning to think I'm not even going to learn as much Spanish as I was pessimistically thinking before, which might mean it doesn't matter as much how much of an immersive (spell check doesn't think that is a world, but I think it gets my meaning across), or it might mean I need to totally be immersed if I want to learn anything. In terms of volunteering, most programs have you working with kids. I don't really like kids, so that doesn't sound fun to me. At all. But I found an organization in Cuenca where you work with women who are in jail, and that sounds much more interesting to me. I don't know whether I'd be able to do anything based on my lack of Spanish abilities, but it is promising to me that there's even a possibility of something slightly policy/criminal justice related.
I don't think my plan of leaving by next week is going to happen. But I also need to just pull the trigger, so maybe it will. In the meantime, I ought to be using the Spanish CD I got from the library rather than searching obsessively on the internet for my Spanish-learning Nirvana. But gosh, surfing the internet can be so fun....
A funny Google experience: I googled, in Spanish, the name of the organization working with the jails (or maybe it was the name of the jail?). I got some articles in Spanish and had Google translate them for me. And the article didn't talk about Cuenca at all, but it did keep talking about a river basin. So I thought the article was of no use to me. Hmm, my theory has just been shot to hell because I had decided that cuenca means "river basin", but an online Spanish dictionary doesn't know what cuenca means. Oh well. Ah, here's a (clearly) better online dictionary confirming that cuenca means basin!
In the end, I really do want to learn Spanish more than I want to travel, and I think that will be best done by a combination of being in a place that isn't overrun with other Spanish students, and where I can hopefully do some volunteering. I am also beginning to think I'm not even going to learn as much Spanish as I was pessimistically thinking before, which might mean it doesn't matter as much how much of an immersive (spell check doesn't think that is a world, but I think it gets my meaning across), or it might mean I need to totally be immersed if I want to learn anything. In terms of volunteering, most programs have you working with kids. I don't really like kids, so that doesn't sound fun to me. At all. But I found an organization in Cuenca where you work with women who are in jail, and that sounds much more interesting to me. I don't know whether I'd be able to do anything based on my lack of Spanish abilities, but it is promising to me that there's even a possibility of something slightly policy/criminal justice related.
I don't think my plan of leaving by next week is going to happen. But I also need to just pull the trigger, so maybe it will. In the meantime, I ought to be using the Spanish CD I got from the library rather than searching obsessively on the internet for my Spanish-learning Nirvana. But gosh, surfing the internet can be so fun....
A funny Google experience: I googled, in Spanish, the name of the organization working with the jails (or maybe it was the name of the jail?). I got some articles in Spanish and had Google translate them for me. And the article didn't talk about Cuenca at all, but it did keep talking about a river basin. So I thought the article was of no use to me. Hmm, my theory has just been shot to hell because I had decided that cuenca means "river basin", but an online Spanish dictionary doesn't know what cuenca means. Oh well. Ah, here's a (clearly) better online dictionary confirming that cuenca means basin!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Places to go and people to meet
Before leaving for South Africa, I was gung-ho about coming back and then going to Ecuador or another developing country to learn Spanish. But after Africa, I wasn't so eager. It wasn't that Africa was a bad experience or even particularly hard, considering that I was on an organized tour for much of the trip. It was mostly lonely (in spite of being on an overland truck with 26 other people) and all of a sudden, moving to a very different place with a no language skills didn't sound as appealing. It sounded quite overwhelming. So after hemming and hawing about where to go, and thinking a few times about giving up the whole idea and finding an internship (even though I've determined that internships are never very good, and I have two more summers of them coming up), and cycling between going to Ecuador or Spain or Bolivia or Guatemala or Ecuador or Spain or Middlebury (for the most comfort-zone providing language learning experience possible) and even Monteray, California...I've settled on...Spain. For now. With every intention of going to Bolivia right afterwards, because I'm still interested in an experience of a very different sort. Hopefully I'll learn enough in Spain to feel comfortable going to a small city in Bolivia and going for that whole immersion thing.
So after being almost ready to book tickets to Guatemala City, keeping my fingers crossed that no major problem would break out before I was scheduled to leave (so my parents wouldn't physically prevent me from boarding the plane), I spoke to someone about Seville, and finally got excited about that idea. Really excited. I couldn't fall asleep at 2 am and had to go back to the computer to figure out how my brilliant new plan would work (N.B. - it involved flying from Madrid to La Paz, and basically it wouldn't). But I also managed to talk to someone at the school in Seville - or Sevilla as I should get used to saying - about the possibility of there being space in two weeks. And then I had to see what cities are nearby to Sevilla, because even as I said that the trip was about learning Spanish, not traveling...all these great places are so close, and the trains in Spain are a welcome relief from incredibly expensive last minute train fares in England, or having to book flights way ahead of time. It sounds like there's many places for weekend visits (unlike Guatemala, which would be more of a laid-back cultural experience I'm not sure I'm ready for). So I tried to go to sleep around 6 am and didn't fall asleep until after 7, and work up at 12:30. Fortunately, still excited.
Many, many thanks to Edin, Eric, Megan, and friends of friends who talked to me about where to go. In the end I'm just going to do exactly what Edin did and hopefully will have half as good an experience as she did, but I needed to find out as much as possible before I made a decision. Like how I visited about 50 apartments in London before choosing one.
So after being almost ready to book tickets to Guatemala City, keeping my fingers crossed that no major problem would break out before I was scheduled to leave (so my parents wouldn't physically prevent me from boarding the plane), I spoke to someone about Seville, and finally got excited about that idea. Really excited. I couldn't fall asleep at 2 am and had to go back to the computer to figure out how my brilliant new plan would work (N.B. - it involved flying from Madrid to La Paz, and basically it wouldn't). But I also managed to talk to someone at the school in Seville - or Sevilla as I should get used to saying - about the possibility of there being space in two weeks. And then I had to see what cities are nearby to Sevilla, because even as I said that the trip was about learning Spanish, not traveling...all these great places are so close, and the trains in Spain are a welcome relief from incredibly expensive last minute train fares in England, or having to book flights way ahead of time. It sounds like there's many places for weekend visits (unlike Guatemala, which would be more of a laid-back cultural experience I'm not sure I'm ready for). So I tried to go to sleep around 6 am and didn't fall asleep until after 7, and work up at 12:30. Fortunately, still excited.
Many, many thanks to Edin, Eric, Megan, and friends of friends who talked to me about where to go. In the end I'm just going to do exactly what Edin did and hopefully will have half as good an experience as she did, but I needed to find out as much as possible before I made a decision. Like how I visited about 50 apartments in London before choosing one.
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