Monday, January 28, 2008

Bananas, I am...

There’s a video shop in Robert which I finally plucked up courage to go inside the other day. It’s a dark and dingy place which from the outside gives the impression of very sticky floors and illegal firearms under the counter. I’ve driven past it a hundred times, always wishing I had the courage to go in, and so I finally decided enough was enough and that it was time to bite the bullet this week. I marched boldly past the gang of youths outside, across the surprisingly non-sticky floor and straight up to the counter, where to my great surprise there was a very friendly and helpful man ...and no guns in sight.

I’d gone there armed with every piece of ID and official paper I have, knowing how much they seem to love making things like joining video clubs difficult here. But weirdly all the guy wanted was my address and to look at my passport. Hmmm... too easy... there must be a catch. Maybe you’re required to fill in a forty page form in order to return a DVD... Yes I bet that’s it. Or maybe I’ve been hardened and embittered by my experiences here so far. And maybe I should think about making fewer assumptions and being less judgemental ...maybe...

On Thursday, when I found out my teachers were on strike after all (this was after my having telephoned the school in question that morning and being told by some ill-informed soul, whom I suspect was M. Lazimo, that my teachers were DEFINTELY present that day, and then arriving in school fully armed with lesson plans and flashcards only to find out that in fact there were only three teachers in the whole place, none of whom taught any of my classes - grrr) Courtney and I tried to go to the beach, but had our plans scuppered by rain and so we made a trip to the video store and then went back to my house to watch three movies, drink beer and eat stir fry with noodles instead. And I rejoiced having been brave enough to go to the video shop - it was a lazy but well spent afternoon.

I got a flat tyre today ...and then found out that my jack is broken. Well I suppose if you buy an 800 euro car you can’t really expect all the trimmings too. So I had to ask some man selling ice creams on the side of the road for a hand. Oh and didn’t he LOVE that? Then I had to spend the next twenty minutes gritting my teeth and playing the damsel in distress while stupid ice cream man told me over and over how lucky I was that he had been there and that no one else would have been as kind as him. So the first chance I get tomorrow I’m buying a jack and a new spare. That incident was too annoying for me to risk it happening again.

I was asking the kids the other day which foods they liked, and which they didn’t. When I asked one really cute and very expressive girl if she liked bananas (which incidentally the kids still think is the most hilarious word ever) she looked up at me with a HUGE grin and said, very confidently, “Yes, I AM bananas!” I know it’s not that funny - maybe I was just tired - but for some reason her response rendered me silently and painfully hysterical, and I had to turn and write something on the board to avoid laughing out loud. Oh dear... I need to get more sleep I think.

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