Last Sunday Blog

I know this is the third blog of the day, but I wanted to write a little on our daily lives, not just the trips.

The rain has really been coming down lately. It feels like fall, although today it was 77 F, apparently. It has started getting foggy in the afternoon/evenings, as well.

Jordan and I have been cooking up a storm! Today I made squash enchiladas and yesterday we made mole. Yum! Thanks to Dad and Pam for bringing us the sauce! We currently have a big batch of pico de gallo in the fridge to go with our fresh chips from the market. I have made special whole wheat, banana pancakes, veggie enchiladas, minestrone soup, chili, breakfast bars, biscuits, etc, etc... Actually, Jordan makes the chili. Its really good! With all the fresh ingredients we get here most things task really good.

The produce is also really cheap. Take a look at what $20 buys you a the market. That's peppers, onions, jalapenos, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, bananas, zucchini, carrots, radishes, cucumber, cilantro, pineapple, lettuce, spinach, celery, apples, corn, avocados and chips. Few!



More good news. I have been running again! I bought new running shoes last month at the Adidas outlet in San Jose that one my students told me about. They are white and pink and make me run fast! Well, not really seeing as there are so many hills up here on the mountain. All my routes include at least 1/3 hills. Its good for my health but my face sure gets more red here than it did running in Washington. I learned that it means my body's cooling mechanism is working correctly by bringing blood to the surface of my skin. Interesting... I am semi-training for a 10K that supposedly happens on December 7 in San Jose. I say semi-training and supposedly becuase I can't find any more information about it than the date so far. I am planning to run it, if there is a race.

We have been bonding with the dogs of the owners of our casita. They are Canela, Milor and Pinto. The neighborhood is gated so when anyone or anything passes along the street all the dogs go the fences and bark. When the dogs are barking up a storm, they sometimes come visit. They will come up to the windows of our dining room area and put their faces up. We will usually let them in to say hi. They stick around for a bit and then go back outside to bark some more. That's Canela in the picture.



We also figured out why our room smelled so much like mold. Last week I was laying in bed and the morning light hit the closet doors differently. I noticed some mold on the edges. I stuck my head in the closet and looked at the insides of the doors. Low and behold, this is what I found. Our landlord graciouslly took them off that day so now our room smells a lot better!


All in all we are doing really well. We like the place we are in right now but we are looking forward to moving closer to town in December. It will help both of our non-existent social lives and give us closer ties to the community.

Just a quick reminder to those who know/love Jordan. His birthday is the 23rd of this month. He is sad to be away from his friends and somewhat depressed about turning 27 (old, I know). So, if you feel so inclined, send him an email to let him know you're thinking about him. If you need his email address, just ask!

Thanks for reading! We miss everyone!