Made it to La Manzanilla!

[Me in my dining room. Forgot my camera, but saved by photobooth.]

I am sitting under the best fan in the house, still sweating. It isn't debilitatingly hot here, just humid. There are many sounds in La Manzanilla--machinery (there is a lot of interesting house construction), birds (especially in the morning), evening mass broadcast from the church, and the loud Mariachi music that blasts from the gas trucks as they drive through town. It is the late afternoon, now, and I'm feeling at home in my new place--a ground floor apartment that belongs to a seasonal Gringo (yes!). Its lovely with red Spanish tile and big windows and a full kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised by all this space!

[my bedroom]

Last night, after a four and a half hour bus ride down the coast I was picked up in the town of Melaque by Nancy and Stephanie, who also work for the educational foundation. The route from the plane to their backseat was surprisingly smooth. Maybe it was nerves that made me expect a more aggressive public space, but people worked with my bad (almost non-existant) Spanish, and I got where I was going. My success was more than Nancy expected, for when I called her from the bus station I told her I was going on the "ELITE" bus line, which only goes north (all the way to Tijuana if you want...). I must have looked for the only word I could properly pronounce on the buses waiting outside the station...oops. She was afraid I wouldn't be in Melaque when she arrived, but there I was, sitting on a curb as it was getting dark, the only lights from the store signs and the streetside taco and hot-dog/hamburgeusa restaurants. Made it!

Today has been my introduction. This morning Nancy took me on a walking tour through La Manz, a beautiful, colorful town surrounding a small cove of the Pacific. There are two main streets and many dirt ones that race around between houses in the hills whose geography, Nancy promised, I would eventually understand. Most of the businesses are markets or restaurants. The town is built around El Jardin, or the town square, and the Church, which sit side-by-side below my house.

[my kitchen window: you can see the church above the faucet]

After walking and talking (Nancy talking, me smiling, picking up some words, and giggling when she laughed--which she does a lot of), we ate at a restaurant on the beach with Stephanie (the other summer intern) and Julie. Julie is an adorable Californian who has been here since 2002, and co-founded the foundation when she started holding English classes in the schools. Stephanie just graduated college in Canada (Toronto, Hannah!) and we get along really well.I ate Chiliquilies con huevos, which was grand because it is basically enchiladas without cheese (tortillas baked with red sauce). It is much cooler by the water. Over our late breakfast Stephanie and Nancy told me about their synchronized swimming act, and said I can join if I can act like an 8-year old flopping around in the ocean. Oh yes, that I can do.

***

I haven't reacted in a really internal or emotional way (either good or bad) to my travels here, perhaps because it has happened smoothly. I think this has been the learned response to things since the last few weeks have been so full of graduating, moving, packing, preparing, and other tasks that, in the end, were things I had to get done (however much I've enjoyed myself!). I am looking forward to relaxing (as I am now) and re-gaining my more acute experiential senses...if you know what I mean. I think writing this blog will help, as will taking a little siesta and getting an early night. Until Monday, I am in the settling and observing stage of the "work." Perfect, because that's exactly what it feels like I am doing.

**Pictures of town coming soon (I have access to another camera woohoo!) Though if you Google "La Manzanilla" and get a beautiful, tropical beach town, that is indeed what it looks like. : )