Lonley but productive weekend

The week was just another usual one for school. I have been looking for work in the city since last week with no luck. I would like to make a few extra dollars to supplement living here since it is more expensive than I anticipated. It has become apparent to me though now how difficult it is for the people here to get by. I have been told that bartending is one of the better jobs in the city and it only pays about 80Q an eight hour shift, which roughly equals $1/hr, along with tips to reach a grand total of maybe 30 dollars total on a good night. I have been to maybe six or seven different places with no luck, always missing an opening by one of two days. It is very hard for anyone to find work here. I did have some luck with one place that said they could use me for 2-3 shifts a week but the owner has not called me back yet. This weekend went well but was rather uneventful. The girls left Friday night for Coban with some other people from school. I chose not to go for a multitude of reasons, including money, needing to study for my upcoming exam, weather, and also general desire to not leave the city. Having been on trips the past few weekends it was good to stay behind, as lonely as it was. Friday night I went to the gym and when I returned the water was not on. Not a good thing for a guy having just returned from the gym. I did a little bath with baby wipes but needless to say I was a little perturbed about the whole thing. My family usually shuts off their water at night to save money and I thought maybe they forgot I was still here since I was the only one left however when I went to their house they had no water either. They told me they did leave behind some water for me in a five gallon bucket but when I tested the water it was frigid. So it seemed best to not mess with it and I went to bed early that night. Saturday I had breakfast and a shower to start off the morning. Elvira informed me there was going to be a birthday party for her great aunt in the afternoon and that I was invited for lunch with them. This was a very special opportunity that I did not want to miss however I was a bit apprehensive due to the language barrier. This was also a great chance to see another house in the city. I was told that it is not very often that one gets invited into another’s home, it just is not a common practice. So despite as nervous as I was to go I went anyway. Elvira’s mother’s house was really nice, and actually modern in design. It had been built in the mid 70’s, from what I was told, her old house is where Elvira lives now and her mothers house is the newer one. There was a decent amount of people there, with a small mariachi band in the living room. Lunch consisted of salad, rice with cheese, chicken cordon blue, coconut milk, and of course tortillas. After lunch Enrique and I went to the downstairs to play soccer with the kids in the lower part of the house and we stayed there a few hours. Later that night they returned but I opted to stay back and do some of my homework. Around 8pm I was fed up with homework since I had blogged all day and studied a good portion of the night so I decided to hit the town. Earlier in the week I had met a new friend at the gym and found out she was from northern Kentucky, which is basically synonymous with Cincinnati. We talked about how poorly the Bengals were doing etc , I found out she was studying Spanish too and was looking to switch schools. She was interested in CSA and I told her it would be worth the switch so I think she will be taking classes their Monday. She also just so happens to work at one of the local bars, and since no one else was around that I knew within a close distance I decided to pay a visit. It was a good time and I lucked out because I got all the drinks that were mistakes and all the beers that were semi –frozen, really funny actually because there were several for some reason. Also the music at the bar, it is called La Sala, was really good as well, with a mix of older 70’s rock that all the locals seemed to like. Sunday began with church. Later in the day I went to the Super market to buy a cheap lunch and I even braved the street vendor style food they served there, updates to come on my GI conditions after that meal, hopefully nothing goes wrong. The price was right at least. Other than that the day is pretty much over. I ordered some protein today for Dale to bring with him because I am still losing weight. I am down 15 lbs now from when I got here in only four weeks.

Its very hard to find work here...