I think I may have found a house here. It is really big with a huge yard where I can totally envision my hammock. I talked with the owner who comes in every weekend from Costa Rica last night and we are going to talk again on Sunday when his son comes in. The only problems are that there are no bars on the doors or windows and also that he would be coming to stay in the house on the weekends but in a separate part with its own entrance. Also I fear I may be charged a gringo price, which I cannot afford. But at least it is something. If it doesn't work out there are still two other less appealing options available that I know will be affordable but not nearly as nice. Who knows. I am just excited at the prospect. Last week I learned that bad days exist here, too. Particularly when I have to teach first year at my main school. There are 53 students and 0 discipline. It is so loud that sometimes I just cover my ears. I am seriously considering asking if I can not teach this class as I am over my hours already and I feel like it would really help my sanity and mood if I just avoided this class all together. I feel like it is a total waste of time and that all that I accomplish here is giving myslef a headache and a shitty disposition. Sometimes I just want to walk out. I don't know, it is a challenge. There are only three more months of the school year here, and supposedly the next group of first year is much smaller, so that is a plus. I am going to try to stick it out with this class but if my presence doesn't seem to be making any difference after exams I am going to ask to opt out.
Yesterday I went to Managua to pick up my mail and got there and found out that it was a holiday there so there was nobody in the office to get my mail from. I did pick up some books though so the trip was well worth it. I finished The History of Love the first week I was in my site and have been scavenging through old issues of Newsweek and The Oprah magazine I bought at the airport in DC for unread material. By yesterday I was down to advertisements for hormone replacement therapies and start your own online business, so I was extremely pleased to pick up some books from the PC library along with some new issues of Newsweek and the PC magazine Worldview. I am already 100 pages into Divine Secrets of The Ya'Ya Sisterhood, which is really making me miss all the wonderful women in my life back home. I would kill for a latte at Stumptown or even at Starbucks with my ladies. It doesn't help knowing that my whole family is at the beach right now for the annual family trip, and as much as my mom thinks I hate going, I really wish I could be teleported just for the day. Oh well, Christmas is only a few months away!!!