These are really just coincidences, but based on my track record, I apparently like older guys and guys who happen to be shorter than me... although I guess I've liked some taller guys... but they've generally happened to be shorter. Also, if a guy has shorter hair and spikes it up or puts it into a faux hawky sort of look, I will inevitably find him more attractive.
My newest somewhat of an infatuation is with a guy who's only 22 going to be 23 soon. Doing much better on ages... but still, this past year has been 28, then 25, then 22. meh.
His name is Rene (I think... lol) and he works at Maria Cristina. He's full Aimara, one of the large indigenous populations here, and he knows both Aimara and Quechua, which makes him really cool in my opinion. He knows all the official languages of Bolivia! He's been working here for two years and he wants to continue next year, if possible. That's like really sweet of him... considering the whole nearly 100% turnover rate and nearly everyone else I've talked to having worked there since the beginning of this year.
I went to Ciudadela in the morning yesterday (I think Freddy expected me to come in the afternoon. Oops!), where wasn't much to do, but I think I'll be working in the afternoon from now on. It's an orphanage, but for children without disabilities. On the plus side, I guess I do get to practice my Spanish more, perhaps, since I have to be able to speak with the kids and explain math/their homework in Spanish.
In the afternoon, I was the only volunteer today, since the other volunteers went to a nearby town to go sightseeing and I didn't really want to go (they were coming back Sunday, and I wanted to visit a church. Also I wanted to work, haha). Even though I was the only one, I loved it. Here's some things that went down:
--picked up poop with gloves, and i think i earned respect points from the staff, but the poop was my fault, since I kind of let one of the residents walk off by herself in the courtyard as I was wondering and watching this little boy and another taller older resident in a tree, hoping they'd be safe. Fortunately, Rene was there. So I walked back to her and saw her squatting on the ground. She was pooping by the time I got there, and I was unsure of what to do... should I even make her wipe herself? should i make her stop since it's not decent? Or should i just let her finish because that way she won't get poop all over her clothes?
I kind of tried to call for help, but it was halfhearted because I was embarrassed that I let this happen.
--felt like throwing up a couple of times, but generally only when I was in that room that they put chairs in to stop residents from escaping (some residents will go out and eat random trash, but i guess they still do that in the room, so i dunno how much it helps). I think the eating trash kind of made me gag a little, along with the constant smell of feces.
--helped lift this gigantic rock to try to fix the sewage, which is backed up in the women's bathroom (so they can't take showers there) and then as five of us were placing it down, there was the awkward, like, oh no, how will we get our fingers/shoes out in time? And yelling and worry and then the rock slamming to the ground. But no one was hurt, thankfully. We all looked up at each other,smiling and probably thinking, "man, we lived!" since no one's feet or fingers got caught to death.
--helped with showering. Rene is awesome in that he lathers them up all the guys and isn't afraid to get his shirt/pants wet. I told him I'd help him one day, but then I realized I told Ciudadela, the other orphanage I'm working at, that I'd be there in the afternoons, and thus I'd be too late for showering time. Crap. Maybe I'll help him on Sundays. Or maybe I can get out of Ciudadela at 5? not sure.
--the staff served this creamy snack that was served outside from a gigantic wok-like thing. There was one girl who stole a plate from this other girl who is young, really nearsighted, and eats slowly. I ran after her and took away the plate, trying to explain to her that she shouldn't steal this food. She then hit the plate up from my hand and spilled the food all over me and the ground outside. Then she kept eating from the ground with all the dirt as I picked up the food, and then she apologized to me (I forgave her and told her it was alright... what else can you do, i guess?). As I was finishing putting all the food back on the plate, and she was hugging me and apologizing again, she hit the plate from the bottom again and so I picked it up again, and she began pushing me as I was picking up the food, at which I firmly told her to stop pushing me, and would put my arm out to stop her. Then another resident attacked the girl after I was walking away, and finally some staff members came to discipline her.
When the staff asked me if I wanted any, I declined... partly because I was afraid of getting sick, since people were just reaching into the wok and eating at it with their hands (after people were served, there were no utensils provided, but everyone was more or less content with eating with their hands). I hoped I didn't seem too stuck-up...
--they still don't have enough spoons, as evidenced by the many people who just ate dinner with their hands. At least it was some kind of macaroni casserole and reasonable to eat with one's hands.
--getting through to Carlos, who was the one who had the meltdown before by chasing him all around the courtyard. Maybe I can help stop some meltdowns in the future.
--came back at about 8 p.m. Whoops. I wanted to stay longer until 7:30 p.m., when the staff leaves (and when Rene leaves...) at which point I'd probably come back at about 8:30 p.m. (well i think it generally takes half an hour, but sometimes it can be hard to catch the correct trufi/I take the wrong one and end up walking more or something), but I didn't tell my host family I'd be back so late so I decided i should try to come back slightly earlier.
--I asked about who comes on the weekends, and the staff switches off who works. So I asked Rene if he was coming in tomorrow (Saturday). He said no, but on Sunday he would.
--So then I happened to decide to go to Maria Cristina on Sunday after church/lunch and not on Saturday... xD
Today, I walked all along Av. Ameridas for a couple hours for the address of this church I wanted to visit, but then I came back and realized that the address was for their actual living location and not for their church. lol. But I did also want to just look around Cochabamba and explore. I realized that the actual church location is even closer to my house, just around where I go to withdraw bolivianos from the ATMs and where a small supermarket is. It's just like a 10-minute walk! Yay! =D
As I was about to go confirm the location, though, I saw that my host mom was meeting with a couple of people from her English class (they've been learning English for 5 months), and I decided to talk with them for a bit. I ended up staying and just chatting with them in English for a couple hours, and we all enjoyed it a lot. They said it was really helpful, and set up times for us to meet again (or well, one woman really just wanted me to be there and talk), so we chose Thursday and Saturday... haha. Although that means that I'll have to leave MC at 6:45ish to make it to their 7:30 p.m. time, since one of them lives quite far away... =\
Then again, Projects Abroad just has required working hours of about 25 hours a week. With me planning on going to MC in the morning from about 8:30 - 12:30, then Ciudadela from 2:30 - 6, then MC from 6-7:30 (thankfully they are *really* close to each other... like a 3 minute walk or something, so I can do that), every week day and maybe the occasional Saturday or Sunday, I'd be working like 50 hours a week already. haha, maybe I could take a week off at that rate and go see the Salt Flats. Then again, I'd probably be too attached/feel too guilty about that and I'd just keep working.
Just went to confirm the location of the church tomorrow, and it turns out that they were having their youth service! =) (youth being from 12 - 30s) I happened to just decide to walk upstairs to the front entrance because I was kinda confused if that was the entrance or if it was somewhere else. I heard drums being played, so i walked in, but there were black curtains covering a makeshift wall that didn't allow me to see anyone else. So I just stood by the entrance table and bookshelves and looked at the stuff there, until a guy happened to walk over and we talked for a bit. His name was Richard, and he had the kind of haircut i like. bahaha. Anyway, he introduced me to one of the missionaries working there, an African-American guy from the States, so I talked with him for a while, decided to stay for worship and listen to one of the girls speak. It was nice. Later, they went to play wallyball, which the one time I've ever played that was at Jackson's house (my Mormon friend). I decided to go home then since I felt tired and I also didn't have the right shoes.
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