Day Five (el 6 de enero de 2009)

A rough start turned out to be another great day in El Sauce. This morning I was grumpy because the house was very noisy for a Monday night and I only had Rice Krispes and water for breakfast... 15 minutes before work my host-mom laughed because I was locked in the house (I didn't have the key for the padlock to the front door -.-) and she insisted on me eating breakfast. I ended up at my worksite 15 minutes late but ironically Pepe and his friend didn't mind at all that I was late. There is a difference between time in USA and Nicaragua, one is strictly up-tight and the other is very laid back. At work I sifted pebbles and rocks out of fine soil which was mixed with cement and water into a mushy pile. First the soil and cement were mixed a few times over into a volcano like pile and then the pile was arranged into a caldera. The water sat in the middle and the outside cement-soil mix was slowly combined to make the cement. Laying bricks was nerve-racking at first, I was scared of making an unsturdy base at the bottom but after the first 3 layers the progress started adding up. Cement mixing and Brick laying was all I did for work today and over 8 hours we finished half of the wall!! Conversation with Pepe was great because today we talked about English and how strange some pronunciation is (like -tion instead of cion on the ends of words, and RE-FRID-GER-A-TOR). It was practice for my upcoming English lesson. The lecture passed by with ease, much easier than I anticipated. The students were of all ages and they were very nervous themselves! I enjoyed introducing myself, hearing them introduce themselves, and then helping them to pronounce and translate words in English. Of course with the planning of Yacarely :) She is a great teacher. Today I also got a chance to check out some of the street stands setting up for the upcoming fair (which apparently is huge, and I will just miss it by one day :/) Most of the stands offer novelties, food, or cheap merchandise and toys. I bought 85 cordobas of bootleg music and a DVD >:] (85cords is maybe 4 dollars and change!) And the work week goes on. (Photos: Pepe and his friend and the progress, a gallino in their backyard, and a picheta)