Pay Day?

September 17th 2009 10:00pm

My day began with a jumpstart at 1:00am with an absolute downpour pounding on the metal roof over my head. Although the rain intially woke me up, the pitter patter slowly rocked me back to sleep and I slept until an outdoor neighbor decided to yell at his dog around 4:00am. I was able to fall back asleep, but not for very long.

When I got into the car with Freddy I told him about my new friends from Valle Angeles. It turns out that Freddy went to the school that they go to, and that his little sister attends the school now. Chances are good that she knows at least one of my new friends.

Without my having to ask, Freddy reassured me that they were safe people. The school is a little bit more upperclass and he told me that the kids who go there tend to have a good head on their shoulders and know the good parts and the safe things to do for fun around the city. He even encouraged me to see if they would take me on vacations with them to tag along!

At the office, I took some time to answer some emails, then got straight to work on my lesson plan and my translation. I had to try and get it all done today, so that I can go over it with Marisela tomorrow. I was hoping to be able to work with Marisela on it today, but she was out of the office.

It was a pretty normal day, but everyone seemed a little bit short with one another. Around lunchtime Felix (my boss) called the office to talk with me and to talk with Freddy. Freddy was out of the office at that point, so he talked with Nancy for a while before talking with me. Felix had been planning on coming down to visit sometime in November, but called to say that he switched plans and will instead be coming in between October 3rd and October 5th.

We talked for a while about how my experience is going, and it was really good to talk with him. I think that he does a great job, and I have felt reassured and supported by him every step of the way.

A little while later, I got another phone call, but it was from Marisela. She said that the reason why she didn't come into the office today was because she didn't have enough money for both herself to go to work and for her son to go to school, so she gave the money to her son to go to school. She will hopefully be able to come in tomorrow.

At the end of the day when we packed up to go, Heidy asked me if I was coming in tomorrow. I was slighly confused, but I nodded an affirmative answer. Patty then came into the room and explained to me that no one had gotten paid yet, and from what I gather, they were supposed to be paid a little while ago. The lack of a pay day helped to explain everyone's attitudes and Marisela's absence. Without money for transportation, no one can make it to the office tomorrow, so I'm not really sure how that is going to go.

Elmer drove Patty, Heidy, Betza and myself back to Plaza at the end of the day. Patty, Heidy, and Elmer rode up front, and Betza was stuck in the back with me. Since I switched office rooms, I hadn't gotten the chance to really talk with Betza, so it was nice for us to catch up a little bit. In a very short ride, we talked about a lot.

Betza likes to write little reflections and poems, but would really like to write a book one day about the situation of the roadside street vendors. I thought that was a really interesting perspective to take when writing. She likes to read about theology and liberation theories. She asked if I played the guitar at all, and I told her that my brother does, and that together we write songs sometimes. One on the piano, and one of the guitar. She asked if she could ever see them online, and I politely told her no. She told me that she likes singing, but prefers dancing. Betza learned to dance about a year ago, but in her church and consequently her home, dancing is forbidden.

I tried to describe to her the plot of Footloose, but in the end I decided that she should just go see the movie.

When I exited at Plaza, I was very excited because Thursday night television was starting soon. We are two hours behind here, so when the lineup starts at 8:00, it really starts at 6:00 here. It was nice to relax and have dinner infront of the new Office episode. Michael is unbelievable.

After Thursday night television, I studied my Spanish for a little and read some of my Hemingway.

I'm curious to see what tomorrow may bring.