Yun and I went out for some fish tacos after church this morning. They are always spectacular and so healthy. I had three fish and one shrimp. I’ve never actually been told what kind of fish it is, but with the amount of batter and grease used, I doubt it matters.
I did a previous post regarding some vines I was attempting to grow here at the house. Spending hours searching online, I was able to identify my vines as an ornamental sweet potato.
They seem to be doing pretty well this time of year. They propagate really quickly and seem mostly resilient to intense heat and direct sunlight. But they are not resilient to the trampling by dogs’ feet. Scout has destroyed them on more than one occasion. But they do tend to grow back pretty quick.
This area of the front was no small effort. We uprooted these plants from Gabriel’s house as he was replacing an area for artificial grass. It took hours for four of us to transport and replant them. And then we realized, this area isn’t getting much sun this time of year.
I don’t yet know the name of these flowers. Abe has them at his house and they look great. They are a perennial flower that are always in bloom and come in a variety of colors (reds, whites, and pinks mostly). They also spread well which is what we were hoping for here.
Despite looking mostly dead, nearly all of them are showing new growth at their base subsequent to the transplant.
We went to a pre-wedding party on Thursday night for some friends at church. We knew most of the people there, but there were a few new people we were able to meet and it was nice to spend time with people we’ve known for a while now, but haven’t had opportunity to talk with much.
The bride’s father is a botanist and so I was very much interested in the many plants he had in his garden. He was very kind to give me three plants to take home. A fig and two grape vines (all that I could understand is that they are red grapes). I hope they will not promptly die as most plants seem to do with me.
Kim sent me a photo of one of Finn’s school project. It’s pretty cute.
I picked up a sweet new ride last week in the form of a Jeep Wrangler YJ. I love it. It’s the perfect vehicle for me and for this part of the world. The roads here are incredibly rough. They would be smoother if they were dirt most of the time. Our Mazda and VW run fairly low to the ground. So the ground clearance I have with this thing is spectacular.
Jeep parts are abundantly available and as such, are quite affordable. There are a few things I’d like to replace asap. The cluth, tie rods, ball joints, along with a thorough tune up. It runs just fine, but my hope is to take it to the dunes next month and I’m not sure how ready it would be for that in its current condition. Having my own vehicle at the dunes means I can take the dogs with me. That should be a lot of fun.
Yun and I have been meeting with the younger people in our Church for the last month. They range in age from 15 to 23. Approximately 15 in total. Surprisingly (for me), it has been a lot of fun. They are all rather intelligent and enjoy discussing matters of depth.
We also have opportunity to play a bit of volleyball and other such things as well.
Yun and I spent the afternoon on the beach in Kino yesterday. It’s been in the 100s most of the week, so it was intended to be refreshing change. The water temperature has decreased significantly (from 80s/90s) and so it is actually refreshing to get in the water now.
I found some neat looking shells. Instead of bringing them home this time, I just took a photo. I usually like to bring these things home, but I never know what to do with them. The tube things on the top left were something new to me. I have no idea what they are or what sort of organism lives in them. They were all over the beach this time. They have the same construction as the other shells and don’t seem to break easy.
Matt hosted a book group on Orwell’s book 1984 in Tucson this evening that I was able to join from Hermosillo. I love modern technology. It was an interesting discussion and the book was spectacular in my opinion.
Spanish classes have moved to the mornings this week. I realized how much better they are at this time of day. I generally have zero interest and zero energy in the evening, which is when we’ve been meeting for the last month.
Since I am much more interested in studying in the mornings, we’ve been doing two hours a day this week. I still start by reading 20-30 minutes. And then we move on to grammatical subjects. Often reviewing the tenses and moods. Reviewing areas I struggle with; such as properly distinguishing between para and por (it’s waaay more complicated than I had previously appreciated). Distinguishing between estar and ser (also a few complicated areas), and various other non verb-related grammatical issues.
I’ve increased the amount of listening comprehension exercises which has been really beneficial. I have my instructor read sentences in Spanish which I translate to English. Or she will conjugate a verb and I will translate. That has proven rather difficult. Especially between the 2nd/3rd person plural imperfect subjunctive and the 2nd/3rd person preterite along with the 2nd/3rd person future tense. Here’s an example of the problem:
Hallar (to find, discover, to locate)
2nd/3rd person preterito: hallaron
2nd/3rd person imperfecto de subjuntivo: hallaran
2nd/3rd person futuro: hallarán
Given the rate in which people speak, it’s quite difficult for me to discern the difference between two forms simply by the stress pattern.
Gabriel and Alejandra came over Sunday afternoon for enchiladas and to celebrate Gabby’s birthday. After lunch we played some Nutz. This is a super-70s looking game that I found at a garage sale a few years back. It’s actually quite fun. But I lost. And that’s never fun. I’m pretty sure Gab cheated.
