Bumps in the Road

The title is meant both literally and figuratively.  Last week was rough physically, mentally and emotionally.  You know those times when it feels like the whole world is conspiring against you and all your friends have ditched you...yeah, those times?  That's what last week felt like to me.  Or maybe I ditched my friends, I don't know...I mean granted I did leave most of them behind...but between battling homesickness, twisting my ankle, and going back to being a social recluse for a few days, fighting with the internet constantly, or so it seemed, trying to get a couple of students up to speed on things because they royally bombed a test...it wasn't a good week. 

Things started looking up on Sunday, I got a chance to talk with a few people from back home for a while, both on the phone and online, and that helped a lot.  On Monday, we had the day off of school for Columbus Day (I know, it was a week "late"), and sleeping in and spending the day relaxing (and preparing for Family Night) was appreciated.  I made rolls and chocolate chip cookies for dinner (and Melody made pasta and Rachel made the salad).  But I got a lot of baking done, and it was good times.  I made rolls again yesterday after school because for some reason they all mysteriously disappeared.  I'll probably have to make them again this weekend.  I don't mind, it's kind of fun...and they're so much better than store bought bread down here.  And between yesterday and today I watched the entire first season of Burn Notice (only 12 episodes long, it's not that big of an accomplishment).  I have seen more TV shows down here (via seasons) than I ever watched back home...than I ever had TIME to watch back home.  The last couple of days have gone well, and I'm doing much better now than I was last week, so that's definitely encouraging.  Considering that Saturday was the first time I've been homesick enough where I wanted to get a plane ticket and fly home, and I've been here 3 months as of tomorrow, that's probably not doing too badly all told. 

My initial tourist visa (which expires tomorrow) has been extended for two months, and residency has been applied for.  This means that I won't have to worry about anything in terms of legally staying here until the end of March, because the two month extension takes me to my flight home for Christmas, and after I return, if I don't have residency yet, I'll get a 3-month tourist visa again.  I'm praying it doesn't come to that, and the cards show up relatively quickly. 

As for the literal bumps in the road...well, apparently we're getting the backlash of Hurricane Jova coming in, and it's basically been constantly raining, misting or drizzling for the past four or five days, and it's supposed to continue for the foreseeable future (the rest of the week at least).  The roads are basically bumpy, potholed, mud pits.  This past Sunday, the busito (15 passenger van) couldn't make it up one of the hills.  We tried three times.  In the end, one of the house parents (who has a 4-wheel drive vehicle...but is definitely smaller than the busito) ended up towing us back to the Ranch.  It was really funny to see, I'm sure (especially as people who were standing on the side of the road as we passed often started laughing at us).  But we made it back safely, and that's all that matters.  And we've already gotten an e-mail saying that likely, no church for us on Sunday...though a few of the people may be going in, so if we're desperate for groceries, we can get them a list.  But mostly, get comfortable here for a while. :-)