“Do they actually have class?”

Hours: 5.75

Chispa (the Jack Russell) kept me up for a little last night… breaking into my purse and stealing a little bit of candy then trying to eat my earrings from the night stand. She is a mischievous little dog but that’s forgivable since she is sweet enough.

Same routine: woke up and headed out as soon as the van showed up. Kelly is sick in the stomach sort of way. We went back to the school we started yesterday. Taylor and I set to work on the two machines with oddball issues. The first took longer than we had hoped. The computer was missing a cage for the hard drive and there was no easy way to rig the drive into the case. So we went questing, bringing forth many fine possible candidates but with no luck. Finally, everything came together. We found a cage… it was unlike most. It attached to the front support of the case and swung inward on a track (silly Dell and their silly desktop case designs). We cheered to the stares of our fellow techs. The second was solved easily enough; someone had plugged the master hard drive into the slave ribbon cable.

After a short break, and more pictures with the students poking in, we began working on the room across the hall that was designated the lab. Starting out, there were 6 desks for the six desktops that had been bought new… not nearly enough space for the twenty some odd computers sitting across the hall. So we went desk hunting. We found several of the perfect size in the teachers lounge and were given the green light to use them. More were found in a storage closet. Several skinnier ones were also brought in and doubled up until we had space for the required number of computers.
Mr. John, my former teacher and long time mentor, flies in tonight. (He was delayed due to a death in his family.) With his arrival, everyone is expecting the tone to change and the pace of work to speed up with his arrival. It’s been going well but a bit slow. Of course, we are all still breaking in the changes…

We started to wonder if the students ever went to class. There were several there the entire time we were sitting on the stairs playing guitar and others who goofed around for much of the time. Of course, we walked by classes in session so we knew they did. The pace of everything here seems, for the most part, very laid back and relaxed.

We returned again to our homes for lunch, which was again wonderful… composed mostly of leftovers… corn and beets were new… with a little bit of ice cream to finish it off. (well… a little bit for everyone but Ernesto who probably ate half the carton).

Mia, the Pom, has a wardrobe under Rebeka’s care. People with dogs in clothes…

We made a small trip downtown in the late afternoon. Got to talk with the chef of the restaurant where we ate the first night with the mayor. She showed us how to make tasty corn cakes... a bit sweet but still good. There were people dancing in the square, it seems to be something a school does every once and awhile. Many older people in their best dress joined in. We walked around downtown for a bit. Sadly, I didn't get to see the inside of the church since mass was in session. For another day.

Also! The dance we started learning yesterday will apparently be preformed the Friday before we leave… in the town center, in front of the Palace of Justice (the much cooler and more flamboyant way to say Town Hall). Fondo has a history of springing surprises of that nature on us. Last year, the day after they got here, Fondo brought Durnin to the local radio station to be interviewed. She had fun with that... I’m not too keen on this public dancing and am considering playing the undiagnosed-arthritis-can’t-lift-my-right-leg-more-than-2-inches-hip card. I would like to dance but don’t think I could do it and not be a fool in front of many people. We’ll see, I have a day or two more before I can no longer bail out.

On a side note, by government mandates, all towns are laid out exactly the same way in the center. The Palace of Justice opposite the church with a large courtyard in between and select buildings surrounding.

More corn for dinner... its so tasty.

Old Bug Count: 52