Happy Thursday! New Pictures are up - link is on the blogpage
Have I ever told you that it´s all for the kids? Well I just told myself that for the first time in a while, which led me to my most recent endeavor. I just got in contact with Las Lomas High School today, my former school for those of you out of the loop, to ask them if they would like to be paired up with me in a program that is facilitated through the Peace Corps. The program is called WorldWise Schools, and the focus of this program is to match Peace Corps Volunteers in the field with U.S. classroom teachers. The result? A vibrant two-year exchange of ideas, stories, pictures, and artifacts that helps U.S. students in the classroom learn about the people, geography, environment, and culture of the world from the direct experience of Volunteers living in other countries. Well, I talked to some people in the office, surprisingly, they all remembered my name, except for the student who answered the phone, but she has probably heard of me. haha. I think I will be placed with a 12th grade AP economics or geography classroom. I was going to pair up with my little 8 year old brother, but I decided I didn´t want to dumb down my inquisitive excerpts.
So what else is going down in the Rama you might be asking yourself? Not a whole hell of a lot. So every last Friday of the month, there is a meeting among teachers called TEPCES, it stands for something in Spanish that you wouldn't understand. How this affects me is simple, 3 out of my 4 schools teach my class on Fridays! So Tuesday when I am supposed to go to Wapí, the school really far away, I just plan, but since the TEPCES is across the street from my house, and my counterpart will be there, I did´t go because I will just plan with her Friday. My other 3 classes are obviously canceled so I don´t have class, nor do I have the need to prepare for class like I usually do during the week. This has resulted in a week filled with nothing but time. What have I been doing?
Studying ze Spanish. Literally 6 hours a day learning about subjunctive and catchy phrases. Today I went to talk to a local university about giving some entrepreneurship lectures to the students. In about 7 minutes I will be at one of my high schools, talking to the English teachers to see if they would be interested in my help. Shit, if they don´t want my help, they don´t want their kids to learn, fact!
By the way, Ramalama has many pretty women, the only problem is that once they turn 18 they also start turning out babies. ohh well!
I forgot to tell you last blog post that 10 minutes before my friend Jessa, Joe, Nga and I arrived at the port in Bluefields to come home, a man was fatally shot. The body was gone, but I literally walked over his massive pile of blood. 2 men came by panga, (little outboard motor passenger boat) jumped out, chased another panga driver and shot him to death. They fled on their boat, only to be apprehended by police on a much faster panga in no more than 20 minutes. Pretty riveting to say the least. I had a little goma, so I was out of it, and didn´t really care. I was more concerned with drinking my Coca Cola classic and relaxing in the shade then about the dead guy.
See Ya
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Drop Draws, Boyee!!
Muy Buenos Dias America,
I have had a pretty interesting 2 weeks. After Ryan left to continue his fun journey to the north, I got back to work, spreading my knowledge to a pretty uninterested selection of misfits. I had my site visit on Wednesday, that was semi-fun. My boss, came into town to check in on me and make sure that I am not loosing my mind. I assured her that in fact, my mind was flourishing in the Rama. I had appointments set up with all my counterparts, and the head lady at the ministry of education so that we could all sign a letter of intent and purpose for me being here, dedicating my precious time. All the appointments went off with a hitch, and the best part about it was that I specifically neglected to make an appointment with the school that is 2 hours away so that I wouldn't have to deal with that garbage. Needless to say, i think my boss was in accordance with my decision.
On that Friday of last week, the 13th, I found out that there wouldn't be school at 2 of my schools for some absurd reason. It is very common here for teachers to not show up and for school to get canceled at the drop of a dime. Speaking of teachers not showing up, one of my best counterparts told me that she would not be in class that day, in the only school that actually still was supposed to have classes. That's fine and all, because lets face it, I can dominate these kids easier without her being around. Just joking, but anyway, it was the class on equilibrium point, so i just taught my first solo class here in my site, and I have to say it went well, besides the heaps of sweat engulfing my face.
The weekend was super duper tranquillo, I watched muchos programas on my computer, thanks for the 24 mom, excellent choice.
So, Jeff does the Bluefields for a second time. That's right folks, I was in Bluefields from Monday till about 2 hours ago, aka 3:00 pm on Saturday the 21st of August. I have to say this trip made Bluefields a much better painting in my art gallery. We had the whole week filled with lectures and meetings with literally every famous and or important person in the city. We definitely receive special treatment being the pioneers of the Autonomous region and all. By the way, read about it, the history is crazy here, its supposed to have autonomy from the rest of the country because of all the crazy indigenous and African cultures.
We had terrible beds, no water, and 1000 bug bites while staying at the dorms at the university that we used for the week to host many of our lectures. The week was just plain fun. We had boring nonsense, followed by a slurry of fun. We would go out every night and eat phenomenal food, for cheep. I ate a Turtle on Wednesday for 4 dollars. Now before you freak out, this turtle is not the endangered species, but I have to be honest, it probably will be soon. So it was legal to eat, and it was delicious. It is a red meat, something in between cow, lamb, and alligator. Very nice indeed. I also devoured shrimp 3 times, fish, and 2 steaks, every meal was under 7 dollars, get out of here!
Last night, the gang went out for cocktails on the town, we had fun = now I feel like a pile of garbage. I had to take the panga ride today in a boat with no top = Im freekin Burntski. Ohh another fun thing we did is try some Drop Draws. This is a weird cocktail consisting of Turtle fin, Rum, Milk, Spices, and some other things I probably don´t want to know about. Over all it was a medium at best drink. However the name alone incites happiness. Kriol in the coast is hilarious by the way! Read About it, Rite Nya Da Beech, Boyee!!
Its all for the kids
Monday, August 9, 2010
Ryan and the Rama
1 week in the Rama and I already fell like I am home. My family is absolutely hilarious. I went to my school in Wapi on Tuesday which was every bit as long as I thought that it would be. It took me a total of 11 hours to get about 2 hours of work done. This mostly includes travel and waiting time.
On Thursday one of my best friends, Ryan Spiegel came into town from Granada, Nicaragua. He has been traveling up from Colombia and was able to spend a Few days in the Rama. Thursday night we relaxed, because I had to teach at 3 different schools on Friday. Friday, I went to all the rest of my schools to see what the teaching experience is going to be like. HOT!! I mean I was literally drenched in sweat at one of my schools, it was gross and I felt ashamed to be there so disgustingly wet from sweat.
Ryan came to my last school to see what a day in the life of Jeff will be like for the next 2 years.
Friday night was fun! The whole family, mom, cousin, aunt, uncle Ryan and I went to some reggae clubs to festejar Ryan´s arrival. We danced the night away, actually better than I thought I was capable of doing, until around 1:30 am. The next morning was rough, as we were to embark on a journey to the infamous Bluefields.
Bluefields is a city on the Atlantic Coast that is so isolated the only way in is a 2 hour boat ride down a river from El Rama. The people are of African decent, and speak primarily creole and English, as well as Spanish and other indigenous languages. I have a friend that got placed there as his Peace Corps site, so we were able to hang out with him as well. The city gave us a good time and great, cheap sea food, but it also gave me the reassurance that I was placed in the right site. Why? Well no offense Dino(my buddy there) but, the city is really ghetto and dangerous with way to many people begging for shit all the time. It got to the point where a guy would wait for 3 hours outside of a club for us to try and re-beg for money. Overall we had a good time but after 1 day I was ready to get out of there.
Sunday was my cousins birthday. We celebrated by eating really tasty ice cream that they sell here. I bought here a nice nepolitano cone, while I myself had the Strawberry. A delightful treat indeed. Anyhoo, Ryan left today, and I'm back at work sweating profusely all day long. Ohh and the Eskimo Ice cream shop nest to my house has an old BAMA football welcome matte. Roll Tide, I'm going to buy that for sure.
Hope all is well Everyone!, MOM send me 3 work out rubber bands, they sell them at sports authority. with all the ice cream that will be consumed I need to work out.
Love Jeff
On Thursday one of my best friends, Ryan Spiegel came into town from Granada, Nicaragua. He has been traveling up from Colombia and was able to spend a Few days in the Rama. Thursday night we relaxed, because I had to teach at 3 different schools on Friday. Friday, I went to all the rest of my schools to see what the teaching experience is going to be like. HOT!! I mean I was literally drenched in sweat at one of my schools, it was gross and I felt ashamed to be there so disgustingly wet from sweat.
Ryan came to my last school to see what a day in the life of Jeff will be like for the next 2 years.
Friday night was fun! The whole family, mom, cousin, aunt, uncle Ryan and I went to some reggae clubs to festejar Ryan´s arrival. We danced the night away, actually better than I thought I was capable of doing, until around 1:30 am. The next morning was rough, as we were to embark on a journey to the infamous Bluefields.
Bluefields is a city on the Atlantic Coast that is so isolated the only way in is a 2 hour boat ride down a river from El Rama. The people are of African decent, and speak primarily creole and English, as well as Spanish and other indigenous languages. I have a friend that got placed there as his Peace Corps site, so we were able to hang out with him as well. The city gave us a good time and great, cheap sea food, but it also gave me the reassurance that I was placed in the right site. Why? Well no offense Dino(my buddy there) but, the city is really ghetto and dangerous with way to many people begging for shit all the time. It got to the point where a guy would wait for 3 hours outside of a club for us to try and re-beg for money. Overall we had a good time but after 1 day I was ready to get out of there.
Sunday was my cousins birthday. We celebrated by eating really tasty ice cream that they sell here. I bought here a nice nepolitano cone, while I myself had the Strawberry. A delightful treat indeed. Anyhoo, Ryan left today, and I'm back at work sweating profusely all day long. Ohh and the Eskimo Ice cream shop nest to my house has an old BAMA football welcome matte. Roll Tide, I'm going to buy that for sure.
Hope all is well Everyone!, MOM send me 3 work out rubber bands, they sell them at sports authority. with all the ice cream that will be consumed I need to work out.
Love Jeff
Friday, July 30, 2010
Swearing In - I made it through training
This week has been tremendous. Let’s start with Sunday. So if you remember, I have been working with a group of students from a local high school to make a mango flavored hot sauce and commercialize it. For 5 hours Kate, Amanda (my group partners) and I worked with these kids to get the final labeling, business plan and presentation details finished before our competition that was held this Monday. We cooked our product and bottled it in old beer bottles that came with tops that some lady was selling. This really worked out spectacularly and solved our weeks old problem of not being able to find proper bottles.
Monday morning came around, and we met the kids at the bus station where the Peace Corps drivers came to pick us up to take us to a nice hotel about an hour away to have the competition. To our amazement they showed up decked out in school uniforms, brandishing a large Nicaraguan flag, a school flag, as well as bringing a table cloth and ingredients to help with the table presentation of the product. We set up shop and it looked great, our table was by far the most impressive out of the 13 teams. Each team had to present their product to a 3 person panel of judges for 10-15 minutes. The judges would then ask some relevant questions to see what the kids really know. The criteria for judging was based on, presentation, packaging, labeling, taste or quality, depending on the product, and creativity.
Well the third place team received 86 points out of 100 for their bean sweet treat. The second place team received 89 points for their homemade shampoo as well as winning best overall packaging for their hand crafted bamboo painted containers. Finally, the first place team received an astounding 96 points for their incredible mango hot sauce. Haha, that’s right, we dominated and also won best labeling. Our kids received new backpacks and cell phones. They were so happy!
Then on Tuesday we all left our host families for good to go to Managua for the last few days of training before being sworn in. It was sad to say good bye to a family that has been so kind and generous to me over the last 3 months, but it was equally exciting to start the next phase of this Peace Corps Experience. We are split up into 2 hotels by the Peace Corps office in Managua, the Agriculture volunteers in one, and the business volunteers in the other. It has been phenomenal eating at restaurants and sleeping in a comfortable bed, and taking hot showers for the last 3 nights. Especially because when I get to El Rama, I have no running water, so I have to take bucket showers.
Throughout the last few days, we have had some seriously boring lectures and presentations. However, On Thursday, we went back to the U.S. Embassy to talk with and meet with some interesting and intelligent people. The U.S. Ambassador, Robert J. Callahan spoke to us for a while, and did a Q and A session as well. He was a really great guy – Funny, humble, intelligent, firm, diligent, and detailed, all the things that would make you a good leader. He told us some great stories, including experiences with the current president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega. We also met with some people that worked at USAID, the world’s most preeminent international aid organizations, and people from the Foreign Service. I really thought that Thursday was a pretty cool day. That was a nice lead into today, Friday July 30, 2010.
Today we all woke up around 6 am to get ready for the big day. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. I wore a nice light blue tie and a white shirt, the tie was done flawlessly and I must say Donald Trump himself couldn’t have done it with more precision and excellence. We were driven to the Intercontinental Hotel for our swearing in ceremony at 8 am. This has been a very long 11 weeks of highly intensive training, so needless to say, we were all ecstatic to be finally sworn in. 42 of the 45 original aspirants (trainees) were actually sworn in. Throughout this process there is a lot of stress and people looking over your every move so the freedom that comes with this is incredible. The Ambassador came by the hotel for 2 hours to do the swearing in. Our host families, all the language facilitators, and the other Peace Corps workers participated in the ceremony.
Tonight we will have dinner at the director of the Peace Corps house. On Sunday I will leave for good to El Rama to begin Stage numero dos. I’m feeling better but I think I still have some bacteria growing in my stomach so I have had to take round 2 of the antibiotic treatment. I hope I get better.
Take Care.
Monday morning came around, and we met the kids at the bus station where the Peace Corps drivers came to pick us up to take us to a nice hotel about an hour away to have the competition. To our amazement they showed up decked out in school uniforms, brandishing a large Nicaraguan flag, a school flag, as well as bringing a table cloth and ingredients to help with the table presentation of the product. We set up shop and it looked great, our table was by far the most impressive out of the 13 teams. Each team had to present their product to a 3 person panel of judges for 10-15 minutes. The judges would then ask some relevant questions to see what the kids really know. The criteria for judging was based on, presentation, packaging, labeling, taste or quality, depending on the product, and creativity.
Well the third place team received 86 points out of 100 for their bean sweet treat. The second place team received 89 points for their homemade shampoo as well as winning best overall packaging for their hand crafted bamboo painted containers. Finally, the first place team received an astounding 96 points for their incredible mango hot sauce. Haha, that’s right, we dominated and also won best labeling. Our kids received new backpacks and cell phones. They were so happy!
Then on Tuesday we all left our host families for good to go to Managua for the last few days of training before being sworn in. It was sad to say good bye to a family that has been so kind and generous to me over the last 3 months, but it was equally exciting to start the next phase of this Peace Corps Experience. We are split up into 2 hotels by the Peace Corps office in Managua, the Agriculture volunteers in one, and the business volunteers in the other. It has been phenomenal eating at restaurants and sleeping in a comfortable bed, and taking hot showers for the last 3 nights. Especially because when I get to El Rama, I have no running water, so I have to take bucket showers.
Throughout the last few days, we have had some seriously boring lectures and presentations. However, On Thursday, we went back to the U.S. Embassy to talk with and meet with some interesting and intelligent people. The U.S. Ambassador, Robert J. Callahan spoke to us for a while, and did a Q and A session as well. He was a really great guy – Funny, humble, intelligent, firm, diligent, and detailed, all the things that would make you a good leader. He told us some great stories, including experiences with the current president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega. We also met with some people that worked at USAID, the world’s most preeminent international aid organizations, and people from the Foreign Service. I really thought that Thursday was a pretty cool day. That was a nice lead into today, Friday July 30, 2010.
Today we all woke up around 6 am to get ready for the big day. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best. I wore a nice light blue tie and a white shirt, the tie was done flawlessly and I must say Donald Trump himself couldn’t have done it with more precision and excellence. We were driven to the Intercontinental Hotel for our swearing in ceremony at 8 am. This has been a very long 11 weeks of highly intensive training, so needless to say, we were all ecstatic to be finally sworn in. 42 of the 45 original aspirants (trainees) were actually sworn in. Throughout this process there is a lot of stress and people looking over your every move so the freedom that comes with this is incredible. The Ambassador came by the hotel for 2 hours to do the swearing in. Our host families, all the language facilitators, and the other Peace Corps workers participated in the ceremony.
Tonight we will have dinner at the director of the Peace Corps house. On Sunday I will leave for good to El Rama to begin Stage numero dos. I’m feeling better but I think I still have some bacteria growing in my stomach so I have had to take round 2 of the antibiotic treatment. I hope I get better.
Take Care.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Bacterial Infection - Round One
Hello,
I just now am getting of a sickness my friends. A really shitty sickness, pun intended. I had a bacterial infection in my stomach. I started feeling a little off wednessday morning, but really i was feeling like i was getting a cold, nothing more. In fact i was kind of scared I was to become the 9th member of Nica 53 to get Dangue Fever. Ohh yea, thats right, 8 peaple in my group have already contracted Dangue fever, aka Bonebreaker disease. Luckily I was not the 9th unlucky person. I woke up wednessday night at about 3 in the morning, and in an instant, I was vomiting and peeing out of my but at the same time. Gross I know, but I thought you should really know one of the very frequent sicknesses we as Peace Corps trainees, and soon to be volunteers go through on a very regular basis.
Speaking of almost volunteers, In 6 short days from now, we will be sworn in finally. Well thats the plan at least. It will be really nice to finally be done with this stuff that we have to do during training, but at the same time I will miss being able to see gringos and speak the occational english language. Im excited to be a ramero however.
Oh mom, rob garrett and cruzer, thanks for the box. It was delicious, I ate all the peanut butter filled pretzles the first day. All of you can follow suit and sent me tasty treats as well.
Love you guys. Adios
I just now am getting of a sickness my friends. A really shitty sickness, pun intended. I had a bacterial infection in my stomach. I started feeling a little off wednessday morning, but really i was feeling like i was getting a cold, nothing more. In fact i was kind of scared I was to become the 9th member of Nica 53 to get Dangue Fever. Ohh yea, thats right, 8 peaple in my group have already contracted Dangue fever, aka Bonebreaker disease. Luckily I was not the 9th unlucky person. I woke up wednessday night at about 3 in the morning, and in an instant, I was vomiting and peeing out of my but at the same time. Gross I know, but I thought you should really know one of the very frequent sicknesses we as Peace Corps trainees, and soon to be volunteers go through on a very regular basis.
Speaking of almost volunteers, In 6 short days from now, we will be sworn in finally. Well thats the plan at least. It will be really nice to finally be done with this stuff that we have to do during training, but at the same time I will miss being able to see gringos and speak the occational english language. Im excited to be a ramero however.
Oh mom, rob garrett and cruzer, thanks for the box. It was delicious, I ate all the peanut butter filled pretzles the first day. All of you can follow suit and sent me tasty treats as well.
Love you guys. Adios
Friday, July 16, 2010
Welcome to the Jungle
Hola Folks,
So I arrived from the Rama Today. Whoohoo, I took a marcopolo Mercedes Bens bus on the way back. For those who are not accustomed to long bus rides, this is as you can imagine from the name, one of the comfortable ones. Now in true Nica fashion they were really cheap about it and would not utilize the air conditioning or the built in tv screens they had, but none the less it was a much improved ride from usual.
So how was it? Tremendo as my counterpart would say. On Monday I met all of the Directors, AKA the principals of the schools I will be working with in Managua for a conference type meet and greet. One of my counterparts is a Nun at the Catholic school. Guess what question was the first to come up in conversation with all the counterparts. What religion are you? Do you believe in god? Well that was semi awkward, but I held my beliefs firm and told them the truth, that I thought it was absolutely ridiculous and that god is fake. Haha, no but I did tell them that I am not religious. This brought on ohhs and awes, and "wow gringo you are lost,” to which I replied, “no, I’m just as sure as you are of where we are at in this world.” Anyway the Nun actually stood up for me and said that she was totally fine with all my beliefs and basically that the other guys hounding me should get off my back. Good job Hermana!
We stayed in a hotel with A.C. internet hot water and nice beds, this was fantastic. The next morning I woke up at 4:45 to get ready to take the 6:00am bus to El Rama. I showed up at literally 5:59 with the bus departing and me jumping on with all my bags. We get to the Rama in about 7 short hours, a nice ride in reality. The first day I meet the chief of police just to get acquainted with him, followed by the visit to my future house for the next 6 weeks at least.
The Peace Corps requires us to live with a host family for 6 weeks. My new host mom is a lovely young lady that happens to be a national police woman. She is tranquillo though so im fine with it. The only problem is there is no running water, and the bathroom faces the kitchen. This is of great concern because there is only a transparent sheet as a door, and constantly people in the kitchen. I like to poop more or less in private. She really wants me to stay the 2 years I think because she told me that she would put a door on and connect an electric pump to the well so we could have a running water shower and not take bucket baths. Now of course I didn’t ask for this, but if she followed through, I would definitely be more inclined to stay longer than the required 6 weeks. My room has a nice big bed and a door to the outside so I don’t have to come through the front door if I come home late; huge plus.
The next day, I visited Wapi. This is the school that I have to travel 2 hours on a dirt road in an ex military canvassed covered wagon each way to teach my class. No big deal. The school is nice and small and my counterpart is really awesome which helps a lot. I then journeyed back to visit my second school which is about 7 km from my house. This is a fine school. The funny story here is that during my introduction to the class, the principal had me write my number on the board for the students. This has led to a constant prank calling and messaging from girls that say “hola mi amor, donde estas?” This by the way is much more acceptable here than in the land of opportunity.
On Thursday I checked out the remaining 2 schools that are write in my town. I found out that 3 of the 4 schools have the entrepreneurship class only on Fridays, so there will be a scheduling conflict with that. Wapi has the class on Mondays, so it looks like Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will have some hammock time.
I came back today with an overall good vibe from El Rama. It really is like the Wild West. Cowboy hats and machetes galore! That’s all here. 2 weeks from today I will be sworn in – at least I hope, nothing is for sure, so send me money, I mean good thoughts.
Adios
So I arrived from the Rama Today. Whoohoo, I took a marcopolo Mercedes Bens bus on the way back. For those who are not accustomed to long bus rides, this is as you can imagine from the name, one of the comfortable ones. Now in true Nica fashion they were really cheap about it and would not utilize the air conditioning or the built in tv screens they had, but none the less it was a much improved ride from usual.
So how was it? Tremendo as my counterpart would say. On Monday I met all of the Directors, AKA the principals of the schools I will be working with in Managua for a conference type meet and greet. One of my counterparts is a Nun at the Catholic school. Guess what question was the first to come up in conversation with all the counterparts. What religion are you? Do you believe in god? Well that was semi awkward, but I held my beliefs firm and told them the truth, that I thought it was absolutely ridiculous and that god is fake. Haha, no but I did tell them that I am not religious. This brought on ohhs and awes, and "wow gringo you are lost,” to which I replied, “no, I’m just as sure as you are of where we are at in this world.” Anyway the Nun actually stood up for me and said that she was totally fine with all my beliefs and basically that the other guys hounding me should get off my back. Good job Hermana!
We stayed in a hotel with A.C. internet hot water and nice beds, this was fantastic. The next morning I woke up at 4:45 to get ready to take the 6:00am bus to El Rama. I showed up at literally 5:59 with the bus departing and me jumping on with all my bags. We get to the Rama in about 7 short hours, a nice ride in reality. The first day I meet the chief of police just to get acquainted with him, followed by the visit to my future house for the next 6 weeks at least.
The Peace Corps requires us to live with a host family for 6 weeks. My new host mom is a lovely young lady that happens to be a national police woman. She is tranquillo though so im fine with it. The only problem is there is no running water, and the bathroom faces the kitchen. This is of great concern because there is only a transparent sheet as a door, and constantly people in the kitchen. I like to poop more or less in private. She really wants me to stay the 2 years I think because she told me that she would put a door on and connect an electric pump to the well so we could have a running water shower and not take bucket baths. Now of course I didn’t ask for this, but if she followed through, I would definitely be more inclined to stay longer than the required 6 weeks. My room has a nice big bed and a door to the outside so I don’t have to come through the front door if I come home late; huge plus.
The next day, I visited Wapi. This is the school that I have to travel 2 hours on a dirt road in an ex military canvassed covered wagon each way to teach my class. No big deal. The school is nice and small and my counterpart is really awesome which helps a lot. I then journeyed back to visit my second school which is about 7 km from my house. This is a fine school. The funny story here is that during my introduction to the class, the principal had me write my number on the board for the students. This has led to a constant prank calling and messaging from girls that say “hola mi amor, donde estas?” This by the way is much more acceptable here than in the land of opportunity.
On Thursday I checked out the remaining 2 schools that are write in my town. I found out that 3 of the 4 schools have the entrepreneurship class only on Fridays, so there will be a scheduling conflict with that. Wapi has the class on Mondays, so it looks like Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will have some hammock time.
I came back today with an overall good vibe from El Rama. It really is like the Wild West. Cowboy hats and machetes galore! That’s all here. 2 weeks from today I will be sworn in – at least I hope, nothing is for sure, so send me money, I mean good thoughts.
Adios
Jeff has super cuts
As my family knows I’m not a big fan of getting haircuts. I have a weird fear that they are going to make me look ridiculous. This fear was amplified about 1 year ago when my mother Joanne decided that my stepfather Rob and I had to save 3 dollars apiece to get our hair cut at the Paul Mitchell school for people who obviously need more school to learn how to cut hair. Anyway I left with what looked like a drunken college prank on my head – that is to say I was butchered. So how this plays into today’s blog is very simple; I don’t like getting hair cuts in general. In another country I’m almost guaranteed to get the minimal amount of haircuts I can while still considering myself halfway respectable due to the fact that I can’t effectively tell them how to cut my hair. Moreover, while I’m traveling I don’t really care. Here however I’m a “professional,” so I took the plunge and got one.
I start the day by doing a pretty significant amount of work for a Sunday, when suddenly I look at my greasy - wild – long - lions mop and decide I’m going to go to a barber. No don’t get me wrong, I think my golden locks of love look as good as they ever have, I just thought that I would tame the beast for tomorrow, when I have to meet all my counterparts from El Rama.
So I walk to the family recommended joint which looks really respectable and clean to find that it was packed full. The World Cup was about to start to I walked around the block to where I was positive was another Barber. Sure enough I find Roger in his absolutely filthy shack with hair covered floors and 3 happily waiting clients watching the pregame show for the Cup. I sat down anxiously waiting my turn, noticing the other client’s hair is much more simply cut with a combination 2 to 8 high top fade thing. This kind of freaked me out because not seeing his shearing skills in action before I sat down gave me some reservations. Any way I get in the chair and say please sir give me the same style just a little shorter, but not too short. He said nothing but, “so not with a machine then?” I said you got it buddy and he started my hair cut in a frantic and erratic fashion, I mean this guy was going crazy with the scissors, but when I looked in the mirror I found the half way respectable Jeff that I was looking for. He cut my neck hair and around my ears with a strait blade for good measure. Roger didn’t say much but I respect that as I never like talking to the people that cut my hair anyway.
So I had a pic but I can't find a way to place it so just imagine me even more handsome then ever, I only had to cut a few stragglers, but for the most part I think it looks pretty decent. Anyway I’m watching the game in overtime right now, I hope Holland wins. I don’t know why but I just do.
I start the day by doing a pretty significant amount of work for a Sunday, when suddenly I look at my greasy - wild – long - lions mop and decide I’m going to go to a barber. No don’t get me wrong, I think my golden locks of love look as good as they ever have, I just thought that I would tame the beast for tomorrow, when I have to meet all my counterparts from El Rama.
So I walk to the family recommended joint which looks really respectable and clean to find that it was packed full. The World Cup was about to start to I walked around the block to where I was positive was another Barber. Sure enough I find Roger in his absolutely filthy shack with hair covered floors and 3 happily waiting clients watching the pregame show for the Cup. I sat down anxiously waiting my turn, noticing the other client’s hair is much more simply cut with a combination 2 to 8 high top fade thing. This kind of freaked me out because not seeing his shearing skills in action before I sat down gave me some reservations. Any way I get in the chair and say please sir give me the same style just a little shorter, but not too short. He said nothing but, “so not with a machine then?” I said you got it buddy and he started my hair cut in a frantic and erratic fashion, I mean this guy was going crazy with the scissors, but when I looked in the mirror I found the half way respectable Jeff that I was looking for. He cut my neck hair and around my ears with a strait blade for good measure. Roger didn’t say much but I respect that as I never like talking to the people that cut my hair anyway.
So I had a pic but I can't find a way to place it so just imagine me even more handsome then ever, I only had to cut a few stragglers, but for the most part I think it looks pretty decent. Anyway I’m watching the game in overtime right now, I hope Holland wins. I don’t know why but I just do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
