My First Week

It's hard to belive a week has passed already! Here are just a few highlights.

Sunday
My VERY large suitcases and I arrived in El Salvador at 8pm. After spending 6 hours on an airplane and 8 hours roaming the airport in Houston, I was definitely ready for my day of travel to be over. I lugged/dragged/heaved/pushed/rode my suitcases out of the airport. Instantly, I was greeted with the pleasant 98 degree heat (with PLENTY of humidity) and pouring rain. It was quite the adventure for Hugo and I to maneuver my suitcases into our tiny, two-door, hatch-back car. We were both drenched by the time we left the airport.

When we arrived at our house, I was pleasantly surprised. The tenant before us had done some construction. Although the construction is far from finished, the house definitely has potential. For example, there IS a roof over the bathroom (some of you may have heard about my "bathroom is outside" dilemma). However, the bathroom door doesn't close all the way. And the wall doesn't go all the way to the ceiling- if I stand on my tiptoes while I'm in the shower, I can look out into our kitchen.

Monday
When I went through customs at the airport, the officer politely reminded me that my tourist visa is only good for 90 days. So, Hugo and I spent the day making the necessary preparations for my permanent resident application. One of the stops we had to make was at the police station to get a background check. Considering I have only been in the country for about 14 hours, I'm not real sure what they are going to find! When we arrived at the police station, we had to get in line...behind about 200 other people. I was real bummed. I was quite certain I would pass out of heat stroke, thirst, or hunger long before I made it to the front of that line. After standing in line for only a few minutes, the police officer in charge whistled and beckoned to me. Everyone turned to look at me. I'm pretty sure I turned about 18 shades of red! I slowly made my way to the front. He took me into a little room, filled out my form, took my picture and sent me back out. I was done! I have no idea why I was moved to the front of the line, but I'm real glad it happened! We had a few other stops to make and I just about have all the necessary items for my application. The only thing I have left to do is my physical with a doctor. I'm pretty sure that will be interesting!

After running errands,w e went to the mall to buy furniture for the house. Currently, we have a bed. That's it. Oh, and my massive suitcases taking up the entire living room. Anyway, we walked into the store and started rattling off our shopping list to the first sales person we found. His eyes just started to bug out of his head. I'm pretty sure that our purchases alone doubled the store's sales for the entire day! We bought a bed, refrigerator, stove, toaster ove, dining table (and chairs), fan and an iron (kind of random...I know!). Then, we went into the next store and bought a broom, mop, laundry soap, dish soap and hangers. content with our purchases, we hurried home to unpack and start making the house look pretty! :)

Tuesday
Did you notice that the list of purchased items from the day before didn't include food? Yeah...we didn't notice that until we got home. Hugo had to go back to work on Tuesday morning, so he was able to eat lunch at his mom's house (who lives just down the road from his job). I was left to fend for myself. Before he left for work, Hugo went to the little store in the neighborhood and bought milk and cereal. So, I had Frosted Flakes for breakfast and lunch. Real healthy, I know.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning. I was determined to have the cleanest house in the neighborhood, and thus...the only house in the neighborhood that didn't have cockroaches! When Hugo came home from work, we went to the store to stock up on (much needed) groceries. When we got back to the house and turned on the lights, there were cockroaches everywhere! I stood on a chair while Hugo killed them all. Hugo said that since our house has had an addition built by (more or less) amatures, there are probably places where the wall/ceiling joint isn't sealed properly. He promises to look into it.

Wednesday
I had planned to spend the day cleaning again. There were a few projects that I didn't get done yesterday. But, after the cockroach incident from the night before, I wasn't too excited. I felt like it was pointless. However, I sucked it up and finished the cleaning. And, I must say...this house is spotless! :)

Tonight was my first night cooking dinner for Hugo and I. Boy, was it an adventure! When I came to visit in December, I brought a bunch of stuff for the house. Becasue Hugo's mom doesn't have much storage space, we left my bags at Hugo's grandma's house (up in the mountains). Unfortunately, we haven't been able to go to her house to retrieve my bags yet. And even more unfortunately, those bags contain most of my kitchen stuff (plates, silverware, spoons/spatulas, etc). The only thing we have here at the house are a few bowls and cups. I had to go knock on Hugo's uncle's door to see if we could borrow silverware for a few days. And when we bought groceries, we only bought one fry pan. Hugo said the other store in the mall (which was conveniently closed already) sold sets of pans for much cheaper than buying them individually at the grocery store. He recommended we wait until we could get to the other store. So, tonight I cooked chicken, beans and bread in one fry pan and served it all in a bowl. Appetizing...eh?!

Thursday
Nothing too interesting to report. It rained all day - kind of depressing, especially since it has rained on and off all week.

Good news to report....we haven't had a singel cockroach since Tuesday...knock on wood!

Bad news...I still only have one pan to cook with.

Friday
Hugo graduates from his English class today! How exciting! His graduation ceremony starts at 4:00pm. Luckily, it is close to his job so he doesn't have to take too much extra time off. But, I really wanted to go watch. Because Hugo wouldn't have time to come back to the house to pick me up, I went with him to his mom's house. He left me there while he worked. He came back to the house to change and pick me up before the ceremony.

It was kind of awkward to stay at hugo's mom's house all day without him. He has always been my translator. For the majority of the day, I played with Rodrigo (Hugo's half brohter). A five year old is very forgiving if my Spanish is incorrect! For the rest of the day, I just sat there and smiled at everyone. I knew a bit of waht was going on, but didn't feel comfortable enough to comment.

The graduation ceremony was interesting. Hugo and I stuck out like a sore thumb! For Hugo, learning English was basically so we could communicate better. And, so he could communicate better in America. For everyone else in the class, it was for career advancement. So, most of the men bought new suits for the ceremony; suits they could wear for job interviews. Hugo had to borrow a suit from his uncle. It was a few sizes too big. We figured it would be fine...it was a black suit, which is what the school required. Poor Hugo looked like a boy playing dress-up compared to all the other guys! I wanted to be comfortable sitting in the hot auditorium. So, I wore a simple cotton dress. The women participating in the ceremony wore very formal dresses....like prom dresses. A few had gotten their hair professionally styled. The women in the audience wore suits and a few of them even wore prom-like dresses too. I was just happy that my fro fit through the front door!

Oh, and one more thing from the morning. On Thursday, there was some violence on one of the busses. Some of the bus drivers didn't appreciate how they police handled it. So, they decided to take matters into their own hands. On Friday morning, two drivers parked their busses perpendicular to the road and walked away...one of the busiest roads in the country. Everyone uses that road to go in and out of teh city. They blocked it off to traffic for the entire morning. So, like a million people had to be rerouted to a one-lane road that went all the way around the city, adding an hour to the commute time. Awesome.

Saturday
Hugo had to work all day today. Usually, he only has to work a half day on Saturdays. I was kind of bummed about that. And...it down-poured all day today. So depressing. We have had rain every day this week. The walls of the house are starting to show the moisture. Everything looks and feels wet. Sad.

And, I still only have one pan. Although, I'm getting better at cooking with it!

Sunday
One week down! It has gone kind of fast. Hugo is home from work today. Yea! It rained all night, but it has cleared up this morning. We worked on small projects around the house all morning. We had planned to go to Hugo's grandma's house to retrieve my bags, but all the rain has flooded the mountain roads. I guess we'll go next Sunday.

We were looking forward to going to the mall again today to buy a TV and more pots (yea!). But the car wouldn't start. Dead battery. Guess it's a sign. I wasn't meant to have more than one pan. And, apparently Hugo and I are just supposed to enjoy each other's company instead of numbing our minds with television. Although if we had had a TV, we would have known the reason we have had so much rain is because there is a hurricane! Good grief!

Good news...no cockroaches! :)