Getting Oriented

Hello to everyone from QZ,
Paul and I made it through another two airplane rides without any problems. Then we endured a hour and a half car ride that we weren't quite sure how we survived. I don't think we will ever try to conquer the skill, or the lack thereof, of driving here in this country. Once we arrived, we were taken to our apartment that we are sharing with a young man from Louisiana. He is here for the whole summer teaching english at the center. We will try to send some pictures at a later time since we cannot figure out how to make the broadband in the apartment work for our computer. So our email is limited to the center right now.

After resting for a little bit and taking a much needed cold shower, we were escorted to dinner with 20 other people. The food was good and I only had to chase off one cockroach from the table! Once we had some time touring the center and orientation, we were beat and ready for bed. Nothing, not the hard bed, the constant traffic and honking noises, nor the persistant sweating, could keep us from getting a somewhat decent night of sleep. This morning, we had the opportunity to be part of a "Topic Lesson" class which is geared towards giving students practice of using what they already know. It was alot of fun participating with the students and trying ourselves to interact with them. The staff and students here are absolutely wonderful in greeting us and being happy to see us. After Paul and I had another time of orientation, we went to lunch with our room mate. We were perfectly content with our meal that only cost us about $1.70 US, and that is paying for the three of us.

We will be going to our apartment for a rest (since we have been awake since 5am) and coming back to the center to observe/participate in another topic lesson, then to dinner and then another class before we head off to bed for the night. Maybe Paul will leave the airconditioning on ALL night this time instead of thinking we need to get use to the heat the first night!! Thanks for all the notes and thoughts coming our way.