Finally in La Campa!

Greetings from La Campa! I arrived on Monday and moved in with my host family on Tuesday. And now I´m in the process of adjusting and settling in and meeting people and figuring out what I´m supposed to be doing and trying to remember people´s names (hard to do when they don´t enunciate and I only catch half the name).

My host family is composed of two women plus the extended family that lives in the neighbouring houses. The abuela (grandmother) is 95 years old - the oldest person in La Campa! She is blind, but has the sweetest toothless smile. Petronia is the abuela´s daughter. In the two neighbouring houses live some of Petronia´s children and grandchildren. I am getting to know two little girls (age 3 and 5), and Marta, who is about 15. This Saturday Marta is going to take me on a tour of La Campa! We live in a small house, a bit smaller than a 2 car garage. I have a room of my own with a bed, a table and a bench. So I am still technically living out of a suitcase, but at least the suitcase is not moving anywhere!

I think my hypothalamus started adjusting to the heat in San Pedro, because I am finding it cold here! It has been rainy and windy every day, all day, and the temperature has been below 20, I think. I had been feeling nostalgic for a Canadian autumn, and I am now getting the two worst parts of it - the cold and the rain - without the crisp sunny days and changing leaves.

My role here is very unclear. Besides the language challenges, my other challenge will be figuring out what I´m doing. Your prayers as I navigate these challenges are much appreciated. It is also very challenging to be outgoing all the time - a problem I have in English, let alone Spanish!

There is internet at the office, but it is a little thing from the phone company that you plug into a computer, so only one person can use the internet at a time. So I will keep trying to check emails, but I don´t know how often I´ll be able to respond. But know that I appreciate each email that you send (and if you can send a tidbit of Canadian/international news now and then, that would be awesome!)

Alison