Sitting here in my kitchen, listening to the CDs that Roy sent. I've been stuck on the Music Popular CD. I kinda like the Alicia Keys song. The Beyonce one is weird. Is she talking about a guy's penis? Seriously. The Black Eyed Peas one makes me smile and I really like the Shakira one because it makes me think of Halloween. I'm also trying to study for my panaderia test. I haven't had a test in yeeears. I'm pretty happy the class will end soon because having warm bread in your face leads to quick weight gain and I'm not down with that. Other news, tomorrow is Huehue's serenata. People go around cruising Huehue. There's music in the park and tons of vendors. Boyfriends and husbands go serenade their pareja. I'm supposed to get a serenata...I hope its something dreary and not lovey dovey. Blahh. I'm seriously not believing in love. We'll not true. I do. But not for myself. Not now. Too much to think about. To fix. To take care of. Like my new puppy, Jack Piano, that thought it was okay to poop on my metodo del collar handouts. Thanks a lot! So he is officially banned from coming inside the house. He needs to become a manly, Guatemalan dog. Or he won't make it. Those other chuchos will tear him apart.

The time is winding down. Its becoming so blatant now. School is ending for the year and that means I have a few months of vacation and summer activities and only about 7 months of school. Im counting down now, not up. I keep telling that to Profe (one of my best friends here). And he says, why do you have to say that? Cant you just enjoy the now. Yes, I can. But I cant deny reality either. Its coming. Itll be sad. It will come too soon. I hate when people use the word bittersweet but Im sure it will be something like that.

But before I go and get emo on you, I want to share some of the things that Ive been enjoying in the now.

• One of my male students bravely decided to show the rest of the class that he understood a womans menstrual cycle, fertility, etc.
  
• I am starting to announce my summer camps (American sports!, Art workshops, Girl Power/Leadership, Film Festival, Community Service).
• The idea of mom and dad coming.
• Lemon-flavored Emperador cookies
• I bought a toaster oven and made bread and it tasted delicious.
• Sweet text messages I get from my students.
• Finding scholarships for my kids.
• Falling asleep too early.
  
• Internet at my house!
• Talking to my students parents
• Pollo Campero. I want a life-time supply. I dont care what the pretentious PCVs say.
• Going for drives with Profe and listening to the White Stripes.
  
• Scheming and planning mini-vacations in the country.
• One of my students (who unfortunately is pregnant) whooped the boys butts in soccer yesterday. So fierce.
• New coffee place in Huehue--called El Museo del Cafe (will be frequenting this fine establishment)
• The bakery group that I am joining (Ill open up my own business when I get home. Watch out Mexican panaderias!)
• The great clothes I bought at the PACA after going to about 10 and not finding shit.
• The idea of running to lose some pounds and instead making myself pasta or eggs with tortillas.
  

La Comadre

My host brother, aka La Comadre #1, is Cristian. He is 14 years old and you can find him in a lot of the pictures that I've posted in the past. Yes, we hang out a lot. He is probably my best friend here. Why? He shares food with me and I help him with his homework. We put our arms around each others' shoulders as we walk down the dirt path to school. He picks up his dogs and dances different Latin dances with them. He tells me all the good gossip. He is the first to know. People open up to him. Sometimes his mom will send him on some errand and he will take twice as long just because, along the way, he must have found someone to talk to. He's not your regular 14 year old boy, thinking about girls, videogames and soccer. He kinda sucks at soccer actually. He is my comadre. I am his. I am Comadre #2 and his mom is Comadre #3. Because we all snitch to each other, about countless things. Deaths of cows, husbands' cheating on wives, whose pregnant, who bought a new car. Yeah, you know, the really exciting things. TMZ worthy. Perez Hilton worthy.

In true fashion, today Comadre #1 comes down the stairs and knocks on my door to lay down some of his finest material. The neighbor's daughter had been held hostage with two other men, two houses down. Wtf...It's actually not a house, but a bodega where they store all kinds of mercaderia (food stuffs, I'm assuming) and some men came in and tied them up and put guns to their heads until they got all the money they wanted out of them. For 3 hours.

My comadre has always been scared of the dark. We bond over that but since I'm the adult, I try to calm him down. I tell him to repeat "todo lo puedo en Cristo, que el me fortalece." Sound familiar? And he does. And it makes me feel better. But seriously, we have more to be afraid of now. It keeps getting closer and closer to home. Todo lo puedo en Cristo que El me fortalace.

Independece Day

Pues si, tu. About 3 weeks ago I was invited to go traer la antorcha to Barrillas, a city that is 7 hours away in bus. It used to be 12 or 13 hours but now that the roads are better, travel time has decreased, but 7 hours, people! That's a long bus ride with 40 rowdy teens. So off we went at 8 in the morning on a Sunday, passed through all the Cuchumatanes pueblos and eventually arrived in Barrillas, which was surprisingly warm. We get there, choose our spot to sleep on a concrete floor and then go out to discoverer the town. The next morning we are up at 3am to start running. Now, please dont think that we ran 12+ hours. We ran some, walked some, drove some. But it was pretty damn cool and I ran way more than I thought I could. It must have been those whole 4 days that I ran to prepare. Riiiiight. We would take turns in groups of 4. For example, I would run with 3 of my students carrying the flag and two torches and when we'd run a certain distance, 4 other people would get off the bus and run. With stops for eating and peeing, we got back to the Instituto where the school was waiting for us, with delicious bread and coffee. Oh yea, and lots of cheering. :) Here are the pics to prove I ran although you never actually see me running in any of the pics.

Nevermind, no pics. Blogspot is being lame and wont let me upload. Until next time, I suppose.