Eating, Being Patient, and Starting to Take Over

Three topics in one post... well, it'll have to do since I don't feel like posting three times.

Eating here is different than I'm used to. To eat out, you need to be patient. The waiters usually bring the menus pretty quickly, but once you order, you had better have something to talk about because the food won't be coming for a while. With my family, there's no waiting since I don't usually know the food is coming 'til it's ready, but it's still different than at home. At home, we usually have two or three things to eat (meat, vegetables/salad, rice/bread), and milk or water. Here, there's meat, salad, rice, beans, bread, cheese, and occasionally vegetables, and we always drink fresh-squeezed fruit juice. Ronnie usually has tortillas with his meal. It's also always delicious (so's the food at home, of course).

I am learning to be patient. I thought I was patient before I got here, but I realize now, in this land of pura vida, that I wasn't. Not enough for this culture, at least. I'm very punctual in general, so when someone says they'll "be right back," I expect them to return within a few minutes. Not here. Unless there is a strict appointment, people will take their time, chat with some friends, get distracted, and finally meander their way back to me. We have bells to indicate the periods in the elementary school here; I think it's kind of weird, compared to the other elementary schools I've been in which only had bells for the beginning and end of the day and recess, but it's okay. The bell is a little tune. But the teachers don't seem too concerned about following it. I'm getting used to this, and am checking the clock less often than when I first arrived and saw the schedule (I thought it was strict). When I need to talk to Sairy about something, and she keeps getting distracted, or she is talking to someone for a long time (she loves to talk), I am starting to calm down, let it get pushed to later in the day, and only checking the clock to reassure myself that yes, we have plenty of time to talk. It is an adjustment, but I'm getting better.

This week, I am taking grammar and spelling in addition to the read aloud and writing I already am teaching. Spelling is easy. Grammar.. less so, mostly because I haven't studied English grammar myself in a while. I taught subjects and predicates today, which was fine while I was teaching it, but once I set them to work identifying subjects and predicates in their own writing, I was in trouble. Their complex sentences were little like the simple ones we had practiced with, and I wasn't always sure how to answer the students' questions. Fortunately, Sairy majored in English and took a LOT of grammar, so she was able to answer my questions. I did feel pretty dumb, though. I think we'll be going over subjects and predicates in complex sentences (like theirs) on Friday. I'm taking science next week... hopefully I don't do anything dumb like that again!