Alright, so we are three weeks down and life has gotten a lot less chaotic. First off, we shall start with Isabel. So far she has been cranking out classes from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. every weekday and has been very busy. Thankfully we found a cheap Taco place that we have been eating lunch at for the past week or so. Yay Tacos! This next week is her final week in her TEFL certification program, so she has been cranking out lesson plans and a Grammer paper. Her final week is primarily teaching exercises, so she will have five lessons that she will be teaching (virtually) to English Language Learners, each one starting at 8 a.m (Monday through Friday). After she graduates from the program however, it looks like she will be hired by Maximo Nivel to teach english. It is possible that a different opportunity will arise or that plans will change, but for now at least that is the plan.
On my side of things, life has been fairly consistent. Since I work online, I have been doing most of the life chores for the two of us. Going to the bank for change, setting up appointments with a real estate agent (actually we both were doing that), cleaning and organizing our tiny room, learning about transportation, shopping, service ministries, etc. In between the life chores, I have been building more websites which has been a huge blessing.
This past weekend, we found an apartment that we really liked in a small neighborhood called Manchen which is about a ten minute walk from Isabel’s classes. The apartment has three bedrooms, one bathroom, a living room and a kithcen. With the extra space, we have converted one of the bedrooms into our office (since we will both be working online once she finishes her course), and the other bedroom is primarily being used for storage right now (and the other bed). We have discovered that there are a couple mom & pop grocery stores and restaurants in the neighborhood, and we look forward to exploring each of them. This neighborhood is full of young families and children, which has been really comforting as we have been welcomed into the community and feel very safe.
Also, a few weeks ago we passed by a bunch of puppies and while at the time we couldn’t get a puppy, we both really wanted one. As a result, after we moved into the apartment this weekend, we pick out a puppy Shih Tzu (thank you Tessa for owning Ellie because Isabel loves Ellie). We have named our little puppy “Chorizo” which means sausage. We were wanting to name him something like Theodore or Moose, but while waiting to figure out a name Isabel just started calling him Chorizo…and the name stuck. So welcome little Chorizo Gaultney into our family!!!
For now, the plan is to graduate from TEFL, settle down into rhythm of teaching / working, and then see what else God has in store for us! Thanks for reading!
