In other news, it is still super pretty here and things are going pretty well with getting my work in shape. Still some important documents are MIA, but I have emailed people that I know I emailed at least a former version of them to, and I should be able to get a good amount back.
I've been working out almost every day here, which is good because I've also been eating dessert almost every day. hahaha. The food here has been great- especially for "buffet-style" food. Sometimes I wish I had a snack or something, but that's when you go down to the bar in the lobby and get a coffee. Coffee in Bogotà spoiled me unfortunately- the stuff here is a lot weaker and not as flavorful. Still, I've been drinking a lot more coffee than I normally do, which is fun for me, in a weird way.
The Spanish speaking part is still not great. I try to speak it as much as I can, but a lot of people are bi (or tri) -lingual and don't bother speaking to me in Spanish. I'm also usually with Stella, who is basically our interpreter on top of it all, and so if it is something complicated she just talks instead of me. The hotel staff only speaks Spanish, so a few times I've had to communicate with them on my own and it has worked out, and a few times I have taken the initiative to speak first when Stella is there too and they understood me for the most part, and (I think) appreciated my efforts.
Oh, funny story: The Colombian Orchestra FJC made us all name tags and it has all of our first and middle names on them. Ana, our photographer from Panama let me know that "Willa" (my middle name) is slang in panama for crazy- like "she's a crazy chic." Hahahhaa.
Have I already said how nice the musicians are? They are super sweet. I don't know the names of nearly enough of them, but they are all very friendly and eager to learn. You all should check out the blog I have instigated at YOA, where we have 6 musicians and 1 faculty member posting in their languages (English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese). http://yoatour.wordpress.com/
The internet in this resort sucks unfortunately and cuts in and out, so I haven't been able to Tweet for YOA nearly as much as I would like to. Most of it has had to be from my computer too, as my phone isn't picking up anything.
It is really nice to have my own room- I am very lucky to be one of the few people who get that. I like being able to hang up clothing I've washed in the shower, spread everything out, and not worry about staying up too late or going to bed too early. The ladder would be more likely in any case; this kids have so much more energy than me. I say "kids" ironically, as they range in age from 18 to 30 and a most of them are older than me. They do like partying though. They had an impromptu Salsa party on Friday night, and last night we had an official mixer with both our orchestra and the Colombian orchestra. We had the hotel provide alcohol and everything, which seemed very strange to me. We had screwdrivers, vodka on the rocks, and whiskey on the rocks (gross). I had a screwdriver then pretended to drink the whiskey, but I ended up just setting it down somewhere. Nasty. They are AWESOME salsa dancers too. Holy wow. The hotel staff danced at one point too, which was very cute- now THEY were good dancers!
Now tonight, in honor of the 4th of July the brass section is getting together to play the national anthem, then they're playing beer pong. USA! USA! USA! One of the kids wore an American flag shirt today- it was pretty funny.
----
Just got back from playing beer pong and flip cup with the musicians. They are very nice and fun. Very responsible- even when fairly drunk! Hahah. They were very conscientious about cleaning up spilled beer and throwing away cans. They still make me feel like an old lady though- they have gone on to an after party, but I am ready for bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment