Monday, April 13, 2009

Thanks for the comments! Here's some answers!




I love that you asked questions in the comments! I will answer them all in a post in case others are wandering the same things!

Joanne,
I totally forgot that we haven't taken pictures of the inside of the house. I will definately do a house post soon - today or tomorrow. It is a very cozy little house.

We live in the town of Rio Dulce in the state or county (whatever it's called here) of Izabal. We asked Mr. Castillo the official address of the house for our church records and he said "It is on the Rio Dulce between the catamaran hotel and the city and it has red roofs." It was really cute. We will get an official po box one of these days when we find the post office. Xela has written like 20 letters and is eager to mail them so it will probably happen soon.

Please give Grandma our love!

Dana,
You are so right. Someone needs to eat these frogs! We would love to hear more about the fish. We know there are some huge ones out in the river but you have to take a boat out to get them. Maybe we will wait for you to come to do it. We still have not ate any fish. I need Nathan to teach the boys how to clean them. So they can be cleaned and put in the fridge right away before they get iffy.

We have not opened a coconut ourselves yet because Temio opens them for us but I want to learn how to do it myself. The kids are learning how to climb the trees but I won't let them climb to high yet and definately not with a machete - so we let Temio get them for us or we buy them on the street.

I don't know how much Nathan told you about the cacao hunt but we did find a tree on the way to the beach Saturday. Temio spotted it and we asked if we could have some. The boy picked us five for Q6 which is less that a dollar. Temio is going to teach us what to do with them. He said you can eat the fruit also. I wander if it tastes like chocolate?! We will have to put them in our morning shakes and see. I will definately be using Hannah's recipes soon and post about that.

Give your family hugs for us! We miss them so much!

Leslie,
Hey girl! You are so funny! Your comments always make me smile! We miss you and Preston! We mentioned you guys the other day and Gabby was so excited! She asked "Are we going to see Leslie and Kristen?

Ok - so the language is coming little by little. I got a little cocky because I am understanding so much of the small talk and able to communicate a tiny bit, but church yesterday really humbled me. All I understood from 3 hours was that one of the speakers was talking about tithing and really believes in the priciple, and I understood when the Relief Society President told everyone that I don't speak Spanish but the spirit will still teach me in my heart. (At least I think that's what she said!) I have to learn though or I'll go crazy, so I am going to start really hitting the rosetta stone for more vocabulary and try to translate my scriptures for spiritual vocab to help me at church.

No maid yet. The house is so small that the kids and I can keep up with it no problem. I have thought that it would be nice in some ways but if I don't like it I would feel horrible firing someone. We have a family moving into the guard house and the wife speaks English. Mr.Castillo said that she would want to work for me if I want her. I will have to get to know her first and maybe have her come over a little at a time to see if we like it.

On yummy foods - well my favorite is steak in a big homemade flour tortilla with onions and chilmole. I am also enjoying the morning shakes. I freeze bananas and mangoes and I blend these with juiced pineapple then I add coconut water and sometimes strawberries if I feel like cleaning them and an avacadoe to slow the sugar in the blood stream. They are soooo good and give us a great boost of energy for the day and lots of antioxidants.

I was going to grow my own avacadoe trees but I read that they take 3-4 years to bear fruit. So we are going to buy some. Temio said you can get them for like Q9 or $1.25. I would also like a few Mangoe trees and some tomatoe plants and some onions.

Grandma,
You are right the frogs look like a lot of fun but it's all a deception! The kids have looked at the full moon for several nights (because even when it's not all the way full it looks full to them and they talk about you every time. It was a great way to make a connection! They love their Grandma so much!

Courtney,

Great song! Xela will post soon. Give your mom hugs for me!

Everyone,
Don't forget to check out Nathan's post about Semana Santa (Holy Week)!

Mel

3 comments:

  1. I love ya Xela!
    [just felt like saying that]
    Its so cool that we get to chat on here now!!!!
    Anyway... these are some things I miss about you
    your smile
    your cool cheerleading moves
    your cool dance moves
    your pretty voice
    your kindness
    your friendship
    our memories
    your EVERYTHING!!!
    Really- whats not to like about you?
    I love ya love ya
    xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo9xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
    I wonder how many letters this comment can take?
    anyway
    xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxooxoxox
    My hands hurt now
    this is for you!
    xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo
    OW! Try doing that for 5 minutes.
    Anyway... I think you got the point!
    Love ya! hugs and kisses
    ROCKSTAR COURTNEY best friend of the MUSICQUEEN

    ReplyDelete
  2. Xela... I have a letter waiting for you!

    ReplyDelete