So I decided to move in with the family in Las Mangas. This way I am closer to Sandra, I do not live on my own and I live with a family I can speak Spanish with. Although I am closer to Sandra, it is still sometimes hard not to be able to live together!
Kaska is here at the moment, I picked her up from the airport in San Pedro Sula. It’s a bigger town over 3 hours away by car and fortunately the family I live with had to pick up their sister and her family from the airport 15mins before Kaska arrived. So I went with them by car and on the way Kaska and I sat on the back of the pick-up truck for more than three hours, our behinds were quite sore when we arrived, it had rained on us a little and it had gotten dark, but it was a great experience : )
Unfortunately I have no pictures to add because my computer has a virus and I cannot use it at the moment, and last week my bag got stolen with my point-and-shoot camera, phone and notebook inside. In the notebook I had recorded names, telephone numbers and contacts for NGOs in the area, as well as other useful information people had about where I could work etc… and the bag was a very special gift from my mum, I was very upset. Next week I will add some more pictures I will steal from the others here, or maybe from Kaska!
Here are some questions I want to answer from the e-mails about the blog:
Do I like the expat community?
Yes very much. I feel like I have met most of them already, but that´s probably not true. I have met a lot of young people (mid twenties) who work for different NGOs here. When I was still living with the host family I went to our favorite café `Kibok` and bumped into Heather from the States who works for an NGO in El Pital (the next village up the road from Las Mangas). Her friend Jen from Canada was there who works for an environmental organisation here and she told me I could move in with her because I needed a room. It’s always so interesting to me how social capital works, because I know Heather and I am also an expat she felt fine with having me move in with her right away…
How is my Spanish?
Well, I understand a lot more now and I can make myself understood. It´s still very hard for me to conjugate verbs, especially the irregular ones. I also feel like I raced through the different tenses without having enough time to practice. But hopefully I will be in a situation soon in which I have to use more Spanish on a daily basis (e.g. work) to improve more.
How do you like the food?
The food is really good. So far I have mostly had the very traditional daily food here, not the gourmet version, I am not even sure if a gourmet version exists. Mostly people here eat tortillas with red bean paste cheese or egg (they are called baleadas), or rice and beans with fried meat, avocado and planten bananas, people tend to fry everything. Other food I like are the soups here, I have had great fish soup, river crab soup and the more simple pasta soup.
Love to all of you, I am happy to receive your news and comments also! Chiaraxxxx