Sunday, March 1, 2009

Much on my mind

School is taking up a lot of my time these days. I forgot how much they can pack on the work and, of course, I'm a perfectionist, so assignments take me forever.

We drove down to Indiana this week for an interview at school. Evidently, I have some masochistic students and I am one of the nominees for adjunct instructor of the year. Between the prep work (an essay) I had to do for that, school work, and two days of driving, I was more than exhausted by the end of the week. I am going to try to get some sleep tonight. My stress level is a bit too high at present.

La Hija has been so testy lately. She gets angry and yells, "I miss my Daddy!!"

On one level, I know that she is pushing buttons because she does the same thing with just about everyone (Nuh-nuh, Papa, her aunts and uncles, grandma, grandpa... just about anyone who is not present. Heck, she will even tell me that she misses her mommy--and then she catches herself and laughs), but I also know there is truth to that.

I had hoped we could go back by May, but my aunt is getting married this summer and I need to be there, so it's looking like August now. I can't afford to be flying back and forth, pretending it doesn't cost ridiculous amounts of money.

I miss Mi Amor as well. We talk almost daily, but I miss his hugs. I miss kidding with him and laughing and seeing his smile. I miss watching him with his daughter. I miss helping him with the business.

Speaking of that, things are getting better, very slowly. He is making about half of what he needs to be making in order to support us. He says the economy is even worse there right now--which is something I can't even imagine. It doesn't surprise me though--they are dollarized. Their economy hinges on ours.

I have been thinking so much about starting up a business, but I have no idea how to begin learning about such things. I will need to learn about creating a business plan and all of those basics, and then I would need to figure out how to finance such a venture--even though it would take far less money to pull it off in El Salvador than it would elsewhere.

I'll put it on the list of things to do while I'm here.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You seem to have a lot of things going on. Are you teaching as well as doing your M.A.?

We used to have our own business when we lived in the States. It's a lot of work, but there are also a lot of advantages. If I were to do it in a Third World country, it would surely be a grocery store. People always have to eat, in spite of inflation or the economy.

Live Simply Love Strongly said...

Do you ever read the Adventures of Hannah and Charlie blog(on my sidebar)? She is starting a business in Tegus making invitations. All that's required for that is a printer/computer and a computer program to design them. Even better would be earning dollars...could you find something you could do online/ by computer? Even if it were just part-time, the money would be waaaay better. Hope you find a solution that works for you...

Kathleen said...

Relax and let things happen as they will. You'll return when it's time. Maybe by then, the economy will have eased a little and you'll be able to contribute more. in the meantime, enjoy everything that I'm missing right now - cold weather, sweet crisp mornings, frosty air, clean air and clean water, and the ability to drive yourself around with out dodging those insane drivers!

cdab said...

Let me know if you need any help with the plans four your business...
I am salvadoran, so I know the market, and I've done business plans for a living... Good luck!

Kadmiel said...

I am also looking into a business in el salvador currenly i make a lillte money with websites and things as long as you have interent that may be an optin as well.. But i hope your doing well have not heard from you in a while and worried about you take car of that little one KAD

aighmeigh said...

MDL, yes, I'm subbing as often as I can. I'm trying to sub 4 days a week and observe for school 1 days/wk. I'm going to school full time as well. I only take 1 class at a time, but they are accelerated so I'm still taking about 12-15 credits a semester. It's a lot, but at least I'm doing something. Now I just need to line something up for the summer :) Mi Amor had a market when we first got there and it did okay, but there was a lot of overhead.

LS, I do read her blog and think I may do something similar... Mi Amor thinks I should do business cards too. It's definitely something I could do easily from home. Wouldn't even need a storefront (although seeing hers makes me want to shoot for one someday).

Kathleen, I am trying to do exactly that. I think one of my challenges (and Mi Amor's for that matter) is to learn patience and acceptance. It's a difficult lesson.

Carolina, please email me so I can contact you directly. I'd love to ask you a few questions!

Kad, I've always wanted to start up some kind of internet business but have no idea where to begin! Thank you for your concern. I'm hanging in there and will do another update soon :)