Today is Friday! Since we retired and came to El Salvador, we have been less aware of the importance of this day. However, now that we're back in school, we remember how great it is when Friday comes! Classes for the week finish up at 3:00 today and then it's the weekend!
Stephen went to the gym at the Institute last night for their regular basketball pick-up game. He's been missing his daily trip to shoot baskets on the court in our neighborhood back home. He also ran for the first time yesterday (trying to get his exercise for the week in one day) in the park that's just down the street.
We've been going for a walk to explore the neighborhood every day either before or after class. We have found numerous parks within walking distance including Parque Okayama, a Japanese-themed park, that is beautiful. Unfortunately, we forgot to take our camera with us so I will have to post pictures another time. On Wednesday, we stopped at Otero's pizza and shared a small pizza--we had heard that their pizza was the favorite of several people at the church and it didn't disappoint. We are planning to take our family (at least the kids) there one of these days.
Most of the homes in El Salvador and here in Costa Rica don't have hot water. Fortunately for us, our home in San Salvador does have hot water in the kitchen and bathrooms. Here in San Jose, however, it's only cold water. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to "turn on" the hot water (there's a non-functioning knob) in the kitchen sink and bathroom sink. All of the showers have "hot" water which comes in the form of a small electric heater built into the shower head. The first step to take a shower is to flip the breaker (located in the kitchen) which controls the electric heater, return to the bathroom to turn on the water and then wait several minutes for the water to get hot. With this system the water is either all cold or all warm/hot. For us, it's the perfect quick shower and a very good way to conserve water.
So, what are we eating you ask? Well, breakfast is at 6:45 and usually consists of tortillas with cheese and some type of fruit (bananas, mango, papaya, pineapple.) We've also had guyo pinto (beans and rice) with scrambled eggs and fried eggs with fruit. There's always bread, but it's not regular sliced loaf like we're accustomed to. Stephen says the coffee is awesome. I brought some herbal tea bags from home. Flor (Mom) usually makes breakfast and we eat with her, Jose (dad), Ruth (grandma) and Esther (teacher at the school.) Flor, Jose and Esther leave for work at 7:00. The kids don't get up that early since they are still on their summer vacation. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day--we eat at 11:45 before we go to class at 12:30. Ruth is at home all day so she prepares lunch. We like everything she prepares. For example, Tuesday we had pan-fried tilapia, rice (of course), vegetables and a green salad. Yesterday--spaghetti. Stephen, Ruth and I eat together. Dinner is a light meal, i.e. hot dogs, sandwiches, tamale or macaroni and cheese. As you can tell, the menu is very carb driven--it's a good thing we aren't on a low carb diet! We're hoping NOT to gain weight while we're here. Stephen will probably be fine, but I'm not sure about me.
We spend time talking to the family in Spanish, but it continues to be difficult for us. Keep praying for us! Well, it's almost 8:00 a.m. and I need to get to work on today's assignment.
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