In regards to my banking woes, my ATM card worked when I tried it at the ATM here in Morocco, so what we're hoping is that this is one of those times that a hiccup in the system will not let you take out cash for a day or two. Happened to my parents while travelling, so I'll just make sure never to get down to the wire on money - it would be a wise choice anyway I think, heh.
Anywho, work is going well, as I'm constantly getting more and more comfortable with my coworkers and with the kids. Now, one thing to note here is that my coworkers all speak the local dialect - most of them understand maybe a word or two of Spanish or English, but only one or two of them have anything close to a conversational grasp, making communication pretty difficult. That and neither one of the toddlers speak Spanish, so I'm pretty much down to the one or two commands I know in classical arabic, which aren't largely helpful - but even we are tending to get along better.
After more trips into town to pick up groceries or popping out for dinner (last night we had pizza - I like this local stuff - small pizzas, maybe the size of a dinner plate, very thin hard crust, little sauce (NOTE: a lot of people eat the slices doused in ketchup - gross!), but just stuff to die for - sooo tasty) I'm learning my way around town and am building up teensy relationships with people that I regularly purchase from (mainly the baker and one of the produce guys - but the fact that they recognize me is nice).
My new volunteer coworker/roommate is really nice - Spanish, but a fair bit of a wanderer - travels all over and speaks English, German, Italian, French and a bit of Arabic - this doesn't include her Spanish, heh - needless to say, I have goals now. Very nice though, very personable and easy to get along with. Spends most of her time at the house working on translations (whereas I'm just sitting around doing jack squat), so both of us tapping away on our keyboards reminds me a little of GT, heh.
It just hit me yesterday that I'd been gone for just over a month already! I mean, there are moments when time drags and scuffs it's feet on every pebble along the way, but really, it's been a while. 1/6 of my journey is completed. Wowsers. My dad's birthday was on Tuesday and was my 1 month 1 day marker, but I didn't even think about that - by the way, Happy Birthday again daddy! I love you!
My family is headed out on the first family vacation sans Melinda on Monday - heading down to St.Johns Island for a week away, which sounds awesome - they really need it - they work too hard. And I've been having a high old time keeping up with some people on AIM or email, even some that I don't regularly get to talk to. Thanks to everyone putting in the time ^_^ Makes being a world away not quite so lonely!
And my week hasn't been entirely unproductive - I've spent a lot of my free time researching scholarships (They don't EXIST for a middle-class white girl - just don't), study abroad (may not happen as the rest of my courses are pretty specialized), and jobs in general. One thing I'd forgotten about but was recently reminded of is the fact that Copenhagen is one of the top five most expensive cities to live in - in the WORLD. I'm going to be SO broke when I get back >.<>
But yes, most of my time these days is spent planning ahead - I'll possibly be taking a language intensive course in Danish while staying with my family in Denmark - the best way to learn is to combine class work with immersion, so I'm excited about that! Also the Royal Library offers so many books on so many subjects in tons of languages that I'll have no shortage of things to research and read about! Museums too... oh, I'm so geekily excited about this. ^_^ Two months from Monday I'll be in Denmark - kind of weird to be able to put it into that perspective already.
Anyways, I'm happy to chat and message while I'm here! Send me a wave!
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