First day of school, eh? Val + I were like a couple of kids, after breakfast, big brother packing a satchel for both. It was with a degree of trepidation that we set off for school, but after arriving at the admin office, + then being assigned to our teachers, we didn’t really get much chance to think about it. We were both pleased with our teachers – Val got a girl, Luki, + me a guy, Pedro, a guy I’d met before, since he plays the guitar at Ignacio’s bar. The setting was pleasant. I’d rather imagined a biggish hall, a bit like an examination room at school, but this was just a dozen or so tables dotted around a courtyard, a couple of chairs to each, with plenty of plants etc to break things up. We both very much enjoyed the work – I in particular have felt useless, as tho’ I’m just wasting my time, for quite a while now, so it was good to have to do some positive thinking again. For me, we began with general conversation, then moved on to definite exercises, + learning of tenses etc. Most of the work was verbal, tho’ – definitely my weakness. Also we’d been warned that our school, Tikal, has a bad reputation, that we might just be left to work thro’ books, + we were pleased that neither of us experienced this.
At lunchtime, we went to the bank, to replenish our rapidly diminishing supply of cash, + there met Chris, our German friend. Spent some time chatting, + arranged to see him later at the cinema. Rushed back for our lunch, then more school in the afternoon – by no means a chore, a definite pleasure. At 5, when we finished, we went to a craft shop we’d seen yesterday, to look at some hammocks. I indicated my preference, then left Val to bargain for them. She managed to beat them down from Q18 each to Q28 for both – really nice, too.
After dinner, the cinema – a double bill of “The Shining” + “The Exorcist”. I had a stinking cold, unfortunately, + the films finished really late, but did especially enjoy seeing “The Shining” again.
Rather nervous about the demands of school, but actually I enjoyed it, especially since I got on well with Pedro, my teacher. Back to our full complement of hammocks now; we are finding the cost of things here much more to our liking. Quite a double bill at the cinema, and I have to say I had completely forgotten seeing it.
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