I have a puppie. His name is Tuk (pronounced "Took") and his middle name is Chom which means gordo/fat in Ki'Che'. There are little taxis here called Tuk-Tuk's, but spelled Tuc-Tuc, anyways, when Chuck came to visit me he always made me laugh when he pronounced Tuc-Tuc, so that is where I came up with the name. So everytime I call Tuk, I can also think of Chuck :) Tuk is a Siberian Husky/Chow-Chow mix, so he took after his dad, who is a Chow, and is full of hair! So he is a very cute little guy. He keeps me company and he has already learned how to sit and lay down. Next is to get him to stop peeing in the house and chew on my shoes!! I am still shocked, me, Drea, who loved to live in tornado-styled rooms growing up... is maintaining a puppie. I will admit he was a complusive buy. I'm pretty sure I was thinking I could return him when he stopped being a cute puppie like a pair of shoes...oops. No, but he is a great puppie and he is a hit in my town! Everyone wants to buy him because he is such an interesting looking puppie. As I type this Tuk is currently licking my toes, thanks little man.
I just finished a week of Spanish class at the Peace Corps office, and I left poor Tuk by himself at the house and Zane my sitemate came and fed him. Let's just say I hope the room next door will air itself out from all the little surprises Tuk left in there thanks to all the rain that flooded my back patio. But, Spanish class went really well and I learned a lot! I moved up to an advance, basic level, so I moved up 4 levels since I arrived. So 2 more levels to go and I will be fluent (or somewhere around there), so I am really excited!
I am leaving for the states April 1st!!! I am beyond exicted, I am so stir crazy I just want this week to be over. The week after this one starts La Semana Santa (Holy Week leading to Easter Sunday), so there will be tons of processions and many blocked roads, so I am hoping I will not have any difficulties getting to the airport.
While I am home I am also going to be giving a presentation at my high school about the Peace Corps along with former PC volunteers who work as teachers at my high school. It will be held April 6th and will go through out the day with one big afterschool presentation for those students who are interested and weren't invited to the presentations during the day. Should be a long day...
I am bringing back handmade make-up/pencil bags and friendship bracelets. A minimum donation of $3 gets you a bracelet and a $20 donation gets you the little bag. All proceeds go towards the families I am working with to help build stoves in their homes. The stoves will prevent the many repiratory diseases that unfortunately kill many children in my town. For more information about the housing situations of my families check out my previous blog. I am brining back 120 bracelets and 20 bags, if you think you would be interested in buying any for friends, coworkers, etc. let me know and I can always bring back more.
Sadly, this past week the world lost a great man. I wanted to dedicate this blog entry to Jonathan Banks. I received a phone call Tuesday morning telling me of his passing and with his passing a part of my heart went too. Jon and I worked together at Brio and Jon was the Executive Chef. Jon came to work for Brio about a year or so from when I started working there and man, it didn't take long for the trash talking to start! Jon had a way of making sure you knew where you stood and if that meant making everyone feel completely awkward he knew he accomplished his goal... and he won that round. Every morning when I had to open the bar Jon never failed to say something totally sarcastic or totally inappropriate, or 9 times out of 10, both. He was the personality of the kitchen, and a personality that everyone knew so well at Brio. He might have been a strong force to reckon with, but Jon had a soft side. He started to date Jaime and you could totally see a different change. I remember he started to drink protein shakes, take vitamin supplements and compete with Bret and Tim on how many pull-ups they could do (and the eyes are rolling) and then I found out his little romance.... not saying the two were connected, but I'm just saying ;) Now knowing that he is gone it has been a rough week and at times a bit hard to swallow. Although I am not home and I haven't seen Jon in almost a year goes to show how much of his friendship made an impact on me. My heart goes out to Jon's family and friends and Jaime and know that my heart is hurting for your loss. No one so young should ever have to leave so early. My thoughts and prayers are for those affected that may God give you the strength to get through the pain and the wisdom to understand why God takes us away. Jon, I will always remember you, may you rest in peace.
