Wednesday.

Today I finally went back to work. Man, those days off put you in the mood to do nothing! It was a good day though. We started out with the bilingual teachers meetings, like every Wednesday, where all the teachers that teach their classes in English go to coordinate and talk about difficulties with the teachers that can actually speak English. Today it was funny, because after a while of speaking in Spanish, finally the coordinator said, "We need to start speaking in English!" Then, all the yelling and discussing stopped. For once, a room full of Spaniards had nothing to say! Ha! So I started talking, haha, because obviously I have no trouble with English! We ended the meeting with clarifying a lot of doubts they had about commonly used words in the classroom, like "Sit down." "Put the blinds down." "Open your books." "Put your books away." "Did you understand?" We argued awhile over what the Persianas were called...they are blinds that close over the whole window so when you put them all the way down no light enters at all. And of course I said there was no perfect translation because Persianas don't exist in America. And it was funny because they were saying, "Close the shutters." I told them "blinds" were much better although even that is not a perfect translation. I would like to know how rich the person is that invented Persianas.


Then, I was in two classes. After that, I came home, ate a bocadillo with chorizo and tomato and olive oil, then went running for the first time in over a week. All I have to say is, I don't know what I'm going to do when I can't run on the trails I run on now, because its too cold, or when I become to old/overworked to run, if there ever is a day. I think I will just die, maybe. I love it so much, especially here. The trails I find just by exploring make me so happy. Sometimes I will just be running and I'll have to stop--and just stare---because I can't believe I'm there and that I'm running someplace so beautiful. The mountains in the distance are so pretty...if it were drier and desert-y I would say the mountains look like the mountains in Tucson.


I've been a little bit down today because it is hard to escape from the news of the 33 Chilean miners anytime you turn on the TV. So many have been rescued already, by this time. Every time I see the footage though, I can't help but cry. It hits so close to home, and it is such a miracle that today, when they brought the first miners up, I couldn't help but cry and get goosebumps. Part of me is so jealous--and I hate feeling jealous--of the families, because after a mining accident, they still get to be with their families. It blows my mind that not one of the miners died in the accident, out of 33 people, they are all still healthy. It also gives me a lot of happiness to see the rescue though, because I know Ravi is there helping each and every one get out alright. Their families must be overjoyed, but I can't help wondering why them, and why not Ravi? I know these are probably not thoughts that I should be having, but it is impossible not to be reminded that in each surfacing miner's happiness, there is in me a gaping hole left by losing another on a similar way. I have such mixed feelings, it is overwhelming.

I also had my first clase particular today (tutoring!) for the son of one of the teachers at my school, Carmen. His name is Abel and he is studying English at the University in his second year, and he's 18. He speaks very well but they have these really tough exams in December, and he has to speak perfectly on it. He lives, like many of the students here, in a flat by himself, but then he commutes home on the weekends to where his parents live, in a little pueblecito.

Tonight we have Germans making us dinner again.. Wish me luck. The last time this happened, I got super sick. But I don't think it was the food.