Out With the Old Fish, In With the New

I have to say, I think I've finally relaxed into the culture here.  I remember how, at first, I was always germ-xing (is that even a word??) my hands, worrying about contamination, worrying about people stealing my stuff, etc.  Now, I'm still cautious (still got a brain), but I'm much more chill and capable of dealing with things as they come.  It's a nice feeling.

So.  I've been, admittedly, super hyper today.  And last night.  I think it's because it's out with the old fish and in with the new fish.  I.e. I have found a new love and joy in the novelty of swimming.  (It's officially the best thing ever, besides PTX, I mean).

Let's dive into my day (see what I did there?).  Got up at 8 AM, though I laid in my bed thinking and snoozing till about 9 AM.  I was gonna take a shower, but then I remembered that we were gonna go swimming later!  So, I dressed, ate breakfast, and then Christina and I headed off to City Center (also known as Wal-Mart).  We had to wait for the bus for foooreeeeeever, but passed the time by talking about politics (it's nice because we agree on lots of things.  Yet still see things not completely the same, so we can have a nice discussion).

At Wal-Mart, I had fun!  Okay, not really.  Well, I mean, I enjoyed it.  But what I was mostly enjoying was the AC (though it wasn't too hot this morning.  Emphasis on the too).  I bought two new shirts (because two of mine fell apart), earphones (because mine literally died yesterday), some sweets (sugar!!!!!!! #sugardeprived), and a drink.  All for under 30 dollars.  (Things here are cheap).

Here's the candy I bought/Christina bought:

These were delicious!!  Can you say gunabana?  (Such a fun word, right??)

The dogs at the bus stop - no, we did not eat them.  Or buy them.

Yummy hard candies :)  Like the good old days when I was a kid.

After we got home (quick side note:  on the bus ride home, totally had the funniest awkward moment ever.  So, it was time to get off, so I stood up.  But, my purse apparently was not on my shoulder, so it totally fell down when I stood, entangling my feet.  Probably took me a good 20 seconds to untangle myself.  I was laughing so hard.  I wish I had looked up to see the looks I was getting), we swam!!!!!!!!!!!!  *Ahem*

In today's swimming event, I learned how to dive in super deep (by super deep I mean almost 6') water (which before had been a deep fear of mine), surface, then tread.  (Still not perfect, but a work in progress!)  I practiced by throwing my hair ties into the water, then diving for them (at one point Christina tossed them for me, making it more of a challenge to find em).  I also practiced my mermaid kick and my underwater stroke.  AND, the best part was, I learned how to sing/talk under water.  (Course, I was laughing so hard, I could never do it for very long.  I always had to resurface to laugh).  AND, for the FIRST TIME EVER I swam, underwater, eyes OPEN, WITHOUT GOGGLES.  (I'll just go ahead and pat myself on the back here).  It was fun.  I think we swam for about 2 hours?  And by then, it was time to go in and eat lunch:

Chicken stir fry and rice.

After lunch, Christina and I decided to be responsible and study for a couple hours.  Which, I studied for most of that time.  I had about 20 minutes where I was resolving an issue with DownEast (the falling apart clothing I mentioned earlier).  But after those two hours...you guessed it, another hour of swmming!! (We found a dead centiped in the water this time round.  We got it out.  Also, it was during the swimming time that the singing/talking under water occured, as well as the adventure of swimming without goggles.  Can I just say, I never realized the whole reason you used goggles when swimming was to be able to see?  I always thought it was just to protect your eyes/make it possible to open your eyes.  But after swimming eyes open without goggles, I see that I was mistaken.  Also, this is the first time that I'd ever a)swam under water with my eyes closed b) swam under water with my eyes open without goggles.  As you can see, I was very excited about that).  Another random note:  I have to admit, I'm happy that I only got a little sunburned on my face after 3 hours of swimming.

Anyway, after swimming, we came in, studied, and showered, then had dinner at 8ish.  (Some yummy bread spread with re-fried beans and cheese, then toasted.  Then topped with green salsa and sour cream.  YUM).  Then we studied (I'm very, very scared to take this test).  Now I'm heading to bed.  (Feeling less than prepared to take this exam *ahem*).

'Til Tomorrow.

R J Carr

PS Because I can (my favorite line:  "Don't you worry, don't you worry, child.  Heaven's got a plan for you").

PPS Also, totally switched my phone over to Spanish today.