i really like hot sauce on my taco bell.

Either the price of water just went up or an old lady just robbed me blind…

I guess I’m okay with it.

Water is normally Q15 but as I was walking up my street towards the store to buy some water (I’d been waiting all day for the guys with the water truck to pass but when they finally did they didn’t stop by my house, it was awful. I was very thirsty) anyways, as I was walking up my street towards the store to buy some water an old woman who lives across the street from me asked me where I was going, I lifted my empty water jug in the air and said, “to the store, I don’t know how I missed the truck!” and then she said, “well you can have one of mine if you like, I have 3” and I said, “that’d be fantastic, this is much closer” to which, she agreed with me.
Then she told me it was Q.16
As I mentioned earlier, water has always been Q15
So… I gave her a look that said, “uhmmmmm what?” to which she answered that, “the price went up” and by this time I was already salivating at the thought of a glass of water that I handed her my money without further incident.
Either way…I’ll let her have that Q1 and find out whether she took advantage of my laziness another time…

Cool story right?

Yeah, things have gotten pretty sweet down here.

I am sorry that I haven’t written a blog entry in quite some time…I really have no excuse except that (as demonstrated in the story above) I have been exceptionally lazy.

So, let’s see. Here’s what I’ve been up to since I last posted.

May happened and it was pretty sweet. I went to LA to visit KP and meet up with Bri, Liz and Mere and it was great! I ate some crab cakes and drank some dark beer and for my birthday I even got to go bowling and eat some taco bell. (see photos)



at the bowling alley, yes, it was glow-bowling



at the taco bell/kfc...so in love with my volcano burrito (which doesn't exist at taco bell in guatemala...just fyi)

Reunited and it feels so good! Bri, me, KP, Liz and Mere!

The day after my birthday we were walking along Venice Beach (which is awesome by the way) and ran across a tattoo parlor where I finally got my first Tattoo! I had been thinking about getting one since I was 18 and I had told Mom and Dad that I’d gotten one (to gauge whether I could realistically do it without ruining my “best daughter ever” status) but then I‘d chickened out….sidebar: I don’t think I ever had “best daughter ever” status but I am their only daughter…so…
Here are some pictures…you feel like you were there don’t you?

i thought i had a higher threshold for pain...embarrassing.

All healed.



Then I got back into the GUA and headed back towards my site… which was a real B*#$ because despite my best efforts, I picked up a bunch of stuff when I was in the states; primarily clothes that I didn’t really think about when I bought…because there is no way that I can wear them here. Guess I’ll have some new-ish things to wear when I get back to the states.
After I got back to site and reminded everyone that I still live and work here, which I always love, I started to get back to work. I decided that my next big step in my job here would be to move from small-scale, school visits (where I usually spend 30- 90 minutes traveling each way and only talk with the teachers or the principal for a total of 15-30 minutes) to more large-scale workshops with all of the personnel.
I didn’t realize how much of a hassle this idea was going to be. I had estimated that I only had about 50 teachers…but I was wrong because once I actually listed them out in an attendance sheet there were 84, in just my 12 schools alone. The solution was of course to divide my teachers between two days and then do the workshop two times, that way I would have a better shot at facilitating a successful workshop (not to mention to maintain order in the classroom).
The theme that I chose for the workshop was, “classroom management and health lessons” and I even got my little darlings, Claire and Mari to come up and help me out (seriously couldn’t have done it without those guys).
Claire came up for the first workshop and although there were some kinks to work out still, it went really well. The teachers thanked me for doing the workshop and I thanked them for being such a great group to work with, the participation was great and I only had to take away points from their workstation teams a few times… classroom management in action.
One of the notes that I did get from the first group was that the information about the Healthy Schools project is not making its way to the teachers. This was really discouraging information.
I prepared a review game of Jeopardy to play with the teachers and one of the categories was “Healthy Schools” and the amount of people who were clueless at the questions about the basic requirements of the program was astounding. They were mad (because they couldn’t get the questions right in the game) and I was mad (because for the last year and a half I’ve been having meetings with principals and teachers, putting on workshops that detail the program, and leaving tons of information and books, and very little of that information made it to the classrooms…yikes).

there wasn't a classroom that was big enough for all of us...so we held it in the patio/corridor area.

After the first workshop I took the notes and with Mari’s help, adjusted for the next day’s workshop. We woke up early and I was feeling great about the improvements we made in the plans and that we were that much closer to being finished. Well, the second workshop was a disaster.

No one participated.
People talked and messed with their phones.
No one came back from snack on time.
General loss of composure/ sweating profusely/ on verge of tears.
It was like pulling teeth trying to get through the material.

I think I was most hurt that 18 of the 42 teachers have been with the program since phase I, 5 and ½ years ago. They didn’t participate or share their experience with the rest of the class and that was really frustrating. I had to make a little speech at the end of the workshop to express how I felt about the lack of participation and general lack of respect for me, my work partner, Mari and their fellow colleagues.
They are the teachers and they were acting worse than children. It was a low point in my work here.

I am not a teacher and I do not want to be one. Mad props to all good teachers out there. I can’t even tell you how much time it took me to prepare a 4 hour workshop…and good teachers plan for every day, for every lesson - THAT is really something. When I lost control of the class all I wanted to do was put on a movie, like “Wall-E” and then let them discuss our carbon footprint or trash management…
That’ll be my backup plan next time.

I spoke with the superintendent with whom I’m working, and I told her that I am determined to have a firm hand with the teachers from now on- I do not plan to work with anyone who does not want to work with me, it’s a waste of both of our time. If only I’d learned this lesson earlier… sigh. It’s all part of the experience I suppose.

On to more upbeat things!

The 4^th of July happened somewhere in there as did the 4^th of July party for Volunteers. The party actually took place on the 2^nd…because the 4^th was a Monday and we had burgers, dogs, fries, beer, music, talent show, and dancing. It was really fun.
Those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning may remember that last year I sang the national anthem. Well, I somehow managed to get in on it again this year. We sang in a quartet, it was really great. Here’s a picture of us singing (or laughing)…we’re so red, white and blue.

I also got a haircut right before the party…and it didn’t go so well. Hugo did me wrong. I was visiting another volunteer and I went to get my hair done from their main guy, Hugo. I told him I was trying to grow my hair out really long and I just wanted him to take the ends off. CLEARLY there was somewhat of a language/style barrier there because as soon as he started cutting I could see longer and longer clumps of hair falling around my chair, and then he got out the razor and started giving my hair some “body” and “style.”

Hah. It actually didn’t turn out that bad but it was extraordinarily uneven, I even took a picture to illustrate how much hair I had to cut off the right side to make it even with the left after the fact. I felt like it was a lot.
He also advised me to only cut my hair on the full moon if i wanted to grow it really long...so i'm going to get my hands on a lunar calendar.

it's a lot of hair right?

Let’s see, what else?

I still sometimes pretend like I know what someone says when I don’t understand them.

I just received a package from Bri <3 <3 and it has rainbow chip cake mix and frosting in it.

Oh and Bri and Mike got engaged and she just asked me to be the Maid of Honor at their wedding next summer- I’m so excited, can’t wait!

It’s the rainy season again and Mosquitoes are eating me alive…literally.

Dad and Kathleen sold the house- The really funny thing about this is that they had just rented Kathleen’s house the week before on a year lease when they received an offer on 1990 and now they have no where to live! So now they’re thinking of living downtown for a year to get a feel for that lifestyle. Naturally I am on the apartment search from here, sending them links to all the nice places (and making sure I will have a place to crash for a month or so when I get back…)
I also have the great fortune that they have requested my help in getting the house ready to hand over and packing and moving 20 years into a new location and so darling Kathleen has bought me a ticket to come home in a few weeks!
I’ll be in Portland from the 24^th until September 7^th. The majority of those two weeks will be spent helping the rents but I do intend to sneak in a friend reunion some Friday or Saturday evening. Somewhere in there I will also have to get a new driver’s license…since mine is no longer valid. JOY.

This isn’t really following any pattern…oh well.

I have had lots of time in the past three months to think about my future (one might use the word, “obsess” one might, but I certainly won’t) and I have come to the conclusion that my post baccalaureate Pre-Med work should take place at Portland State. I have made this decision based on a few things, 1) it will be the most cost-effective way to get this done and 2) I know and love a lot of people in Portland.

There are more reasons but I don’t really recall them at this point.

I’ve also decided that if I do ever buy a car again that it’s going to be a Subaru.

Yes, I’ve had some time on my hands to think about these things…and read consumer-reports. No big deal.

I also saw the last Harry Potter…I laughed and I cried…and I mean I cried. That movie was incredible.

So I’ve done it! I’ve caught you all up on my life and it feels darn good. So accomplished. To think- all it took for me to kick my writer’s block was a lady charging me Q1 more for water than usual…

Strange.

I hope that this entry finds everyone happy and healthy. I miss you all. I’ve got 8 more months to go, hard to believe that I’ve been here for 19... yikes.

Don’t do drugs. Stay in school. Other words of wisdom.

Love. Love. Love.