June 17

June 17, 2009

We took our time getting ready, yet pretty early. We wanted to run a few errands before heading out to the foundation. This fact forced us to take the taxi to town, which I despise more every time I get on one. This time, as usual, I can’t fit in the seat without having my knees pressed against the bars of the seat in front of me, not to mention that my head hits the roof with every bump and there are lots of those here. Also, this conductor wanted to charge us an extra 200 Ug.Shs. to take us half a block. We demanded to get off and that was that.
We walked to 1000 Cups (www.eacol.com/1000cupscoffee) to schedule our “Coffee Safari.” I am so excited. For $85 U.S. (187,000 Ug.Shs.) we get two meals, coffee tasting, learn how to roast, and visit a coffee plantation. I think it is going to be a whole lot-o-fun. I also am excited to just get out of the city for a day.
As we left the coffee shop it began to rain so we hurried off to find yet another cab to take us the rest of the way to the foundation. I was really tired still, so I slipped into the Payless grocery to pick up the daily paper and a Bomba, my new favorite energy drink. Our day was planned to be an ordinary work day. We still had a lot of files to through yet the tedious process gave a lot of insight into the success, challenges, and recommendations from the individual mentors. We ran and grabbed some food from the supermarket and waited for our meeting with the mentor supervisors. Their job is to visit 3 mentors a week, in the field, to evaluate their performance. The mentors are Mary (52 year old social scientist), Robert (40 year old school teacher), and Richard (24 year old with a degree in community psychology). Each of them brings with them their own specialty and a good triangulation of issues for mentor evaluation. They were extremely nice and informative and even stayed around to talk to us for a while when we had finished. They were not nearly as long winded as most people have been, so our meeting didn’t last that long yet was very informative and helpful.
We left work around 4 since Rev. Obed decided to give us a ride home. Riding through the suburbs of the middle of town, which we had never been through before, was quite enjoyable and felt oddly homely. The houses were all very nice, there was little traffic, and just homey. After getting home Ginger and I finally had our big blowout, getting all our frustrations out and coming to some conclusions. Most of all we don’t communicate well with each other and need to be more explicit. With that over with, we headed to the grocery for beer and came home to get back to work.
I am beginning to get a little tired of the food here so am no longer making myself eat when I am not hungry like I had been. Last night I ate potatoes with a cheese sauce and that was it. I probably need to cook again!
Ok, back to typing!
Cheers!