First Impressions

Hello all,

Well, the first several days are over and I´ve survived all-right. I still don´t have a host family, but I´ll be looking for one in earnest in the coming week or two. I know that there´ll be something somewhere, and for the time being I´m staying in the municipal hotel, which needs some touching up but is otherwise pretty comfortable, if cold. It does feature potentially the best toilet in town (still no seat, though), which is all mine, so I can´t complain too much.
The town fiestas just got over, which is why I haven´t gotten much done, and they were pretty nice. I described a bit what was to be expected, and it all was pretty exciting. When I have more time in the future I´ll make sure to write a bit on the fiesta culture here, as well as a lot of other descriptive topics, but for now I´ll just keep you updated on what´s happening on my end. Unfortunately my computer was the next electronic device of mine to bite the dust, but thankfully the information on it was all intact and recoverable. There´s an outside shot it can be fixed, but I´m not holding my breath. I´ll know more tomorrow when I´m next in cell phone coverage. At worst, there is another volunteer nearby who has two laptops and may be open to selling me one at a reasonable price. I do have internet in my town, which saves me a lengthy walk, but it isn´t always available so I need to prioritize my time on it.
As for the town, everyone seems pretty nice, if a little withdrawn at first. After a little partying with the mayor and city council among other community dignitaries, I feel as if I´m a little more accepted than my first couple of days. I´ve yet to do anything of any significance with them, but there will be plenty of time in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I´ve already contacted the local schools (they have a primary and secondary/high school here) and set aside a few days to work with each. It appears as if I´ll be thrown into an English classroom right away in the secondary school as they´re looking for another professor. I´ve made it clear that I have no idea how to teach English from the ground up, but would be glad to be a resource and a temporary fill-in. Well, that´s about all the news I can remember,

Zach