Hooking Up

Yesterday, Monday, we went with Beng to a little Montessori based school close to the University, The Learning Tree. We met with the principal there and talked about the possibility of Lizzie being a cultural exchange student. That means that she won't be graded or officially enrolled. Rather, she'll participate in the classes and will be expected to talk to her classmates about life in the States. If this exchange works out (the principal has to consult with the board before making such a decision), Lizzie will be in a 6th grade class that meets every day from 12-5:30 PM.

She's really interested in the school, which is small and intimate. No one there wears uniforms -- "We believe that every child is unique and able to express her identity," the principal said. There is a dress code--no flip flops and no short shorts. We toured the small school, nestled in a neighborhood adjacent to the University, 4 small floors with classrooms named after trees. Outside in the playground area, a few 5th and 6th graders congregated, early arrivals. They were dressed like Lizzie, and seemed quite interested in her, smiling at her and acting middle school cool. So cross your fingers and toes, everyone, that things work out with this school and its board, and she gets to participate.

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I'm in my "computer space" (office) with my office mate. I've got name amnesia, sad to say, and I've already forgotten her name. I'll have to ask it again, interrupting her reading, so that I don't forget it: Mikey. That's a cool name, if you ask me. I need a cool nickname. Lauriemac or lmac is just blah.

The guy was supposed to be here by 10 am and it's now 10:10. I wonder if he's going to come in the next hour. And if he doesn't, what should I do?

I walked down here alone. Lizzie's back in the apartment lolling on the couch, watching ETC TV (when I left, they were winding down on an episode of How I Met Your Mother and gearing up for High School Reunion.)

Last Thursday, we gave the housekeeper, Mari, a bag of laundry to do. She washed it for us (by hand) and delivered it to us yesterday, charging 250.00 pesos (the equivalent of $5.00). In hindsight, I'm not so sure how I feel about someone else washing our undies, so I did a load of them in the sink this morning and hung them up to dry on our little clothesline patio. Lizzie's wigged out about other people being able to see our undies drying on the line (if someone were in the apartment next to us and were to go out onto their balcony, they'd see a nice line of undies and bras drying in the sunshine), so I hung a screen towel up in front of them. This is the second day of sunshine in a row, so everyone tells us to take advantage of it to dry laundry.

Last night, Cynch (who was the exchange professor at SNC last semester) appeared with her car and took us to ANOTHER mall, across the street from the mall we tried on Sunday. (The mall we visited on Sunday is the SM, or Shoe Maker -- hee, personal associations of excellence -- mall, and the mall we visited last night is the Trinoma mall.) We went out for an early supper at an Italian restaurant and then walked around the mall, checking things out--two different bookstores! Delicious.

I managed to get myself some free weights so that I can work out in the apartment in the morning, like I'm used to doing at home, and today I tried a modified routine. (I think I need further modifications, though. I'm used to using an exercise ball, and I didn't think to look for one of those last night. I want to keep things simple.)

Afterwards, we went to see Night at the Museum II, in a massive theater (3x the size of any theater left standing in the US), nicely airconditioned, with cushy, slightly rocking seats--assigned seats, even! Clearly, this is a movie culture.

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Update on the computer guy: he arrived minutes after I wrote that, and we discovered together that the LAN input on my Dell isn't working right. That's correct: the slut computer is not open for UP ethernet interface. Hm.

While we were trying to figure out where the problem resides, we ran into Butch in the hallway. He said, again, that I could use his office--his second office, the one he's never using--and that inside it there's wireless. Wireless! Whee! And the wireless, ladies and gentlemen, WORKS.

So here I am, tapping away at this entry, in an office off the busy UP hallway. And I will upload it from the office, where the mosquitos can't get me. Feels decadent.