After this, I went to the bank to cash my paycheck from work. Between bounced checks, arriving at the bank at 4:05 when it closes at 4:00, and all the extra Puerto Rican holidays, this took a little longer than usual. So, when I finally made it to the bank, I thought that the process would be smooth and normal, but- hello!!!! I am in Puerto Rico, so I should NEVER expect anything normal. Usually you sign the check they ask for ID, and they give you the money. Well, this time it was a little more complicated that that. The teller went around asking almost everyone in the bank a if they could lend her some money and looking in the back vaults because she didn't have enough in her drawer (I am only a school teacher, not a doctor or lawyer- so it wasn't an unreasonable amount). She finally found enough money after about 10 minutes of looking. So, I was able to cash my check and received the whole thing in $20s and $10s.
Sadly, this week, I attended my first Puerto Rican funeral. The mom of a girl in my preschool class died of cancer, so I went to the wake (twice, almost 3 times). It was held at the funeral home from 9:00am to midnight. So, on Tuesday, during lunch and nap-time the secretary of the school and I went together. I was under the assumption that the family would be there, but there was no one to be seen. So, we went back to school. I returned around 8:00pm. They had just started to have a song and remembrance service. So, I stood in the CROWDED foyer and looked at everyone's outfits while I waited for the service to end. Here, there is no concept of wearing black to a funeral, there were colors everywhere! The only standard is that you dress nice (usually in a skirt). I contemplated leaving and then returning later (because Puerto Rican services tend to be long- many churches start at 9:00am on Sunday and end around 1:30 or 2:00). But, I decided to stay and wait it out. It ended around 9:45 and instead of all the visitors going inside the room in a line and greeting the family, the family just walked around in the foyer and outside greeting everyone. Basically, it shocked me because there was no organization whatsoever. In the end, I was really glad that I went back and waited it out to see the family, because when the girl saw me she had a big smile on her face.
My college classes are going really well. I am learning a ton and I really like that the professors are all interested and excited about what they are teaching!!!!!
On Monday, I went to the Capital of Puerto Rico with my Social Policies and Services class from the university. Basically, we learn all about the laws of PR and the United States, how they are made and how they relate to social work. So, we took a field trip and the day went something like this:
8:00- arrival to university to carpool (make sure to be there on time because if the public bus system people are still on strike there will be a lot of traffic. Well, the transportation strike was over, but the public school teachers went on a 1 day strike that day!)
9:00- leave university to drive to San Juan (I guess this is 8:00 Puerto Rican time:)
10:15- arrival and parking in San Juan, walk (as slowly as humanly possible) to the capital
11:00- arrival and tour of the capitol building. Our guide did a good job and it was really interesting to hear the process that it took to build the building and all the cultural aspects involved
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| There are bars everywhere in Puerto Rico- even inside the Capitol I found these that are Green Bay Packer colors-yay!!!!! |
12:45-3:10- sit in the hall and wait for the House of Representatives or the Senate to start their meetings. They were supposed to start at 1:00, but once again, this is Puerto Rican time...
3:10-3:15- watch the senate meeting, then they went on a recess
3:20-3:30- watch the House of Representatives. They were talking about making a law that if a child does not show up at school or daycare, the institution needs to call the parents to check up on the whereabouts of the child to prevent forgotten children and kids left in the car. All the other students thought that they need to start making better cars so that it will beep and not let you lock the doors if a child is left inside. They said that if the car knows someone is in the front seat and tells you to buckle your seat belt, why cant the car tell you to take your child out? WHAT!?!?!?!?!? I guess this is one of the differences between PR and Wisconsin.
3:30-4:30- leave Capitol and eat (lunch?)
4:30-6:00- drive back to the university in a TRAFFIC JAM!
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| My class in the Capitol |
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| This was the scenery as we walked from the car to the Capitol- how beautiful!!!!! |
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