baby it's cold (or moderate temperatures) outside...

As I was sitting at my kitchen table/counter, eating cheerios (that I miraculously found one town over) with water instead of milk (because my box of milk had become a solid) I had the incredible realization that someday, I will miss this.

I also came to the conclusion that my secret ring had been compromised as I woke up to someone ringing my bell 3x in a row (now the code’s really compromised) starting at 6ish this morning and naturally, despite the fact that my landlords and their whole family are here for the holidays, I was the first one to get my ass out of bed to answer the door -and I’m thinking…that’s got to stop.

The family I’m sharing the house with/renting from has apparently shared the ring-code with others because it was one of the workers who rang 3x this morning, having arrived to start the day’s construction on the patio.

Oh…Construction on the patio…For the last few weeks or so I have been awakened not to the sweet sound of marimba practice (in my front room, where the marimba mysteriously appeared one day to ruin my peace and quiet), not to the squishing/squashing sound of the mother doing all her boys’ laundry (I say boys…despite the fact that the majority are over 20) or even exclusively with a headache from the aroma of exhaust seeping in through my window from the mechanic shop next door but, to a symphony of machetes chopping, power tools singing, squeaky wheelbarrows and (my personal favorite) various men hocking up phlegm. All of this is happening about 2 feet outside my windows/door and thus, with an overture of 3 chimes of my doorbell, it begins again- the noise that only exists in the United States after 8-9AM, on M-F (and sometimes never) but, in Guatemala happens at every hour of every day and so, I find myself awake and writing.

It’s probably for the best as I owe an entry about my trip to the beach for thanksgiving. As was projected, everything was better at the beach. The sun was incredible and despite my vigilance with the spf I came home with a peeling nose and a layer of skin the demanded the continual application of lotion to preserve the tan.

The beach was great. The black sand burned our feet as we raced down to the water and the waves crashed around us as we laughed at each other’s misfortune at being knocked down. Once we’d gotten our fill of being thrashed by the waves we would return to our little oasis by the pool and read our books, play on the slack line, snack, nap and drink cocktails while appreciating the sunset.

Thanksgiving dinner was a big operation this year. I was in charge of stuffing and found premium ingredients in Antigua to make it delicious. I used garlic bread that I found at Dona Luisa’s bread shop to make into croutons and then mixed it with cooked, ground, Italian sausage that I found at Epicure restaurant & delicatessen, and sautéed celery, carrots, onions, and mushrooms which I then covered in vegetable stock and baked in the oven.
I love stuffing.
Then there was mashed potatoes, pasta, vegetable medley’s, baked chickens, sangria, stuffed mushrooms, hummus, eggplant, bread, and molten chocolate cake. It was a really lovely time to be with friends and enjoy a home-cooked, holiday meal. Then, without further ‘ado it was time to return to our sites… and our normal meals of pasta with ranchera sauce.

Upon my return to my site I treated myself to a Christmas tree, adorned it with colored lights and watched them blink as I fall asleep. It would feel more like Christmas if it was actually snowy or even overcast here but, the truth is, it’s been really beautiful. Even as I write now, at 8AM there is sunshine streaming in through the gaps in my curtains and my thermometer tells me that it is 70 degrees outside. Sometimes at night I put on the video fireplace, plug in the Christmas tree and read a book in an attempt to trick myself into believing I’m somewhere else but then, inevitably someone will start playing some horrible ranchera music and I know where I am.

To celebrate the holiday ambiance I tried to create, Mari and I decided to cook a Christmas-y feast and watch all the Christmas movies we had in our possession so we made chicken rolls with contained the colors green, red and white and watched, The Grinch, Love Actually, Bridget Jones, Harry Potter, and Hellboy II (some of these were a stretch…obviously but, if there was a Christmas scene or snow we decided it was close enough).

I’m really bummed to not be going home for Christmas. I know that I will be home soon enough but I feel sad all the same. I thought I had something special to do this year when I was dating that horrible person, but that turned out to be a complete disaster and now I am alone and stupidly thinking of all of the things I was looking forward to that will not be happening now. So lame.

It didn’t really help that all of the people that I’m really close with here have all elected to go home for Christmas this year; I found myself posting on face book trying to figure out who would be in the country this year to find someone, anyone to hang out with. After asking around I found a few people who would be here and called them to invite myself to do whatever they were doing. I hate inviting myself to things, I know that it’s probably fine but I always think- what if they didn’t want me to come but they didn’t know how to say, “no”? I mean, shit, it’s the holidays right? How grinchy would you feel saying, “no” to someone who would otherwise be alone on Christmas? Buh.
So, I asked, I asked to not be alone on Christmas and now I won’t be. I am going to go with a couple of my fellow PCVs to the beach to lay, eat food, read, and be merry.

I’m excited to get to know both of these people better and to get back to the beach for a little relaxation.
When I get back from the beach I am planning on spending a few days in my site and then heading to Antigua to celebrate the end of this year, the beginning of a new one, Mari’s birthday, and the two-year in-country mark!

On Christmas day I will have exactly 3 months until my official Close of Service date. Time has flown by and I am ready for the next phase of my life to begin.

GUH so...It took a million an a half years trying upload the pictures on here so, I had to stop. For next time you can all look forward to pictures about all the things I talked about and bonus glamour shots I took of my stuffed animal bunny rabbit. It was one of those 2PM on a Tuesday type situations. Try and contain your excitement.

Thanks to all of my friends for the support- the emails, packages and cards. You make me feel loved.

So, until next time, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

XOXO!

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars. They’re delicious.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars. They’re delicious.

Now...To Quote "Knocked Up"

“We’re going to be positive. Positive! Positive! Positive!”

“How many Red Bulls have you had?”

“I’ve had about three Red Bulls in the
last fifteen minutes. And I feel
fabulous! We’re going to create a new
life and it’s going to be awesome!
Let’s go!”

Excellent advice.

I need to do the dishes but decided to write a blog entry instead.

It’s been a while. I sort of fell off the face of the world but, I’m back. Yay!

For comprehension purposes, you should probably read this blog with a large infusion of sarcasm. As I wrote a lot of it in a slightly self-deprecating and meant-to-be-humorous tone to downplay it’s seriousness for me at this point in time.

I’m actually not even sure if some of it’s appropriate to write about but…it’s what’s been on the brain and I figure if you’re reading...you're probably a friend or family member so it’s okay if you know. If we’re not friends…well, welcome to a more personal moment of my life in service.

That being said…Let's Go!

A lot has happened since my last entry. As I said in the last entry, Dad sold the house so I went home to help pack up the last 20 years into boxes to be moved to the downtown “flat“, the storage unit, goodwill and the dump. It was nice to be home, even if it was to say goodbye to my family home and sleep on a mat on the floor by the dining room table for the two weeks that followed in the new place.

I was also afforded an extra week of time in Portland because while I was there I received word from Peace Corps that it would be better for me to stay in the US for another week because they were evacuating my site due to upcoming elections that had the potential to bring about some violence. So, since I couldn’t go back to my site anyways, I stayed in Oregon for another glorious week.

It was actually a little bit awkward…since I’d already said my goodbyes and had my goodbye cocktails and goodbye dinners…I found myself actually kind of longing to get back to Guatemala. I was starting to feel a little bit self-conscious about my outdated, terribly unfashionable wardrobe and that I sometimes couldn’t think of appropriate words to make witty remarks in English. I was actually feeling ready to go back to my site, to my bed, to my peace corps friends, to my boyfriend.

*sigh*

Alas, “boyfriend“- I had one of those. Up until about a month ago I thought he was the best thing since sliced-bread (or, more appropriately, tortillas) but, he turned out to be, unfortunately, a total and complete loser. It’s funny how people can warn you about things but you go ahead and do them anyway with this idea that you aren’t the same, that you’re an exception to the rule. It turned out that this particular thing was something that I had to learn for myself. Other volunteers advised me to exercise extreme caution in dating a local dude because infidelity is really common and unfortunately, acknowledged but generally ignored in this culture.
So, I learned a lesson. Well, actually, I haven’t. Not yet (apart from “that guy is an asshat“ I‘m unsure what goodies are in this…but they‘re there, they‘ve got to be) I’m sure under all of these feelings of hostility and betrayal…there’s a lesson in there and I imagine somewhere down the road I will understand it all better.
So that's it, I was betrayed by someone that I loved. It was a real bummer.
I know that this happens everywhere…I am in NO WAY saying that Guatemala is the only haven for philanderers, it happens even in my beloved United States of America but dealing with everything within the framework of a culture where it is considered a very common occurrence is a really interesting twist. When I told my host-country friends about what happened I got, what I considered, "abnormal" responses to the situation I found myself in. They said, “oh gee, well that’s too bad. That happens here. Oh, Guatemala, oh men! Hah! Oh well, keep on!” and I’m thinking to myself, “would we laugh at this already?” as I was entirely unprepared to do that a day after I found out what kind of man I had been dating for the past 8 months.
While discussing my woes with Bri, she told me, someday this will be funny. It’ll be something that we can say to get you out of the “never have I ever” game; “never have I ever dated a guy who turned out to be married with two kids” and down my finger goes.
What really shocks me is how many people were in on the deception. I met his friends and the families of his friends, the girlfriends of his friends etc. and they all went along with it when he introduced me as his girlfriend, I didn’t even get a hint of what they all knew I really was- the other woman. At least his family wasn’t in on it…because I never met them. I didn’t even think to question the rationale he gave me, that he thought his dad would scare me away because he’s not the nicest person ever. In retrospect I would classify that as a “red flag“. AHA! A lesson. Nice.
It makes me think that you don’t often hear the story of “the other woman.” I had a picture of her in my mind, she looked nothing like me. Even though I know that it really isn’t my fault because I didn’t know (despite directly asking him whether he had a girlfriend, a wife, another woman or kids in his life) it doesn’t make me feel much better. I just can’t believe that scenario actually played out in my life, my life! it’s absolutely insane but, I digress…

So, with only 5 months left, I’m in a bit of a mood towards Guatemala these days. I am aware that “Guatemala” didn’t do this to me, that honor goes to Ricardo…but it kind of feels like I can’t catch a break in this country lately.

Even small things seem to be triggers that have the potential to completely exasperate me. For example, I have been trying to get this bolt to fix my elliptical (I know. I have one. It’s silly. We’ve discussed this, get over it…I was getting fat, I saw one for sale in Huehue and I went for it, okay? I had needs…wow, okay, we know I feel pretty silly now since I felt I needed to justify that purchase to all of you. Hah.) Well, I’ve been trying to get a replacement bolt for it since April- let’s do the math here…carry the…that’s 6 months! I’ve been to the place where I bought it about two-dozen times and each time they have some jacked story that always ends in, “so, that’s why we couldn’t get the bolt.” Two times now they have given me a replacement and I have gotten all the way back to my site only to find that they don’t fit. So I’m still trying to work with them on getting the right part but it seems they are having a very difficult time in troubleshooting the situation. I tried to take the reins into my own hands and went online to try and order the replacement part, send it to my parents and then have them mail it to me. I did a search and what did I find? That the brand of the machine doesn’t exist. I was only able to find one website that even had mention of “Mastertech Fitness” and it was in a Blog… from El Salvador. So It looks like I’m completely reliant on the employees of Tropigas to help me out on this one. So I wait… Touche Guatemala, touche.

So I can’t get the bolt to fix my elliptical, I find out that my whole relationship was a complete sham, and I finally got ripped-off by some jerk on the bus. I probably had this coming, just based on the odds and the fact that until this incident I had not been the victim of even a pick-pocket (probably due to my completely anal way of hiding my belongings about my person). Well, they rummaged around in my pack while it was stowed in the back and stole all of my makeup, some of my meds and some jewelry that was in a compartment of the kit…and while I always put the things I don’t consider valuable in my backpack, always mentally preparing myself to lose them, I am sad to have lost that kit. I can’t help but think of how it probably ended up in a garbage can minutes after the thieves checked it. It would do NO ONE any good here…since well, there aren’t many people with my complexion/coloring, the meds were unlabelled and all together loose in a plastic bag and the jewelry wasn’t really worth anything but sentimental value. It’s more annoying than anything else. I can’t replace what was stolen and that sucks. Losing my makeup isn’t the end of the world. It‘s lame but, I can make do. I mean, hey, it’s not all bad- it cut my getting ready time in half! Now I have more time to complete that Sudoku puzzle while I drink my coffee. Now that’s pretty sweet…

Blah.

Also, *warning* in addition to being a little bit unenthused with my current situation…I’m also a little bit peeved with men in general, so…that means that if you’re a man you should probably exercise caution for the next few months in any dealings with me, I may be forced to de-friend you on Facebook if you rub me the wrong way like that *snap* and then you’d have no way to see my awesome status-updates or tagged photos. I know you would all miss THAT so…tread carefully.

In other news, Bri has told me that she’s coming to visit just before Christmas! I’m so excited to show my darling wife about my life here in Guatemala! I’m also thinking about flying back with her to be somewhere familiar for Christmas…even if it is just the city of Portland as a whole. At this current point in time have no desire to spend Christmas by myself in Spanish. So…if you’re one of my wonderful friends in Portland you may want to accept it now that I may impose and stay with you as to avoid the sleeping-under-dining-room-table scenario at the ‘rents’ new flat.

On to other things that I’m excited about

- Thanksgiving is coming up! A group of us have decided to spend it at the beach. We’ve rented the same house we had last year and I can’t wait to feel the sand between my toes again. I think it may be just what the doctor ordered. After all, everything is better at the beach.

Let’s see…what else...
Here’s some randoms:

-The last time I wrote an entry that was sparked by price of water and whether or not it really went up or I was being taken advantage of. Good news on that, it actually did go up! I was not being fleeced out of 1Q by an old woman. She was just genuinely being nice.

- I got stung by a bee and this just in, that really hurts. I haven’t been stung by a bee since I was like seven and I had completely forgotten. Dear all seven year olds, you are TOTALLY justified in crying when that happens! Love, Kristin.

- an older woman sat next to me on the bus recently and asked me all about my life and work here and when I told her that I cook for myself she was really surprised and touched my knee and said, “how cute you are!” it was pretty nice to get some physical contact that wasn’t creepy. I wonder if she’ll stay in touch…

- I just had the startling realization that I don’t know how to cook without using Picamas (hot sauce).

- Liz Soucie and Jake Albright got engaged! Congrats you crazy kids, I’m excited for the wedding!

- I didn’t get my driver’s license when I went home because although I passed the written test (with flying colors mind you…) I couldn’t get an appointment to take the behind-the-wheel test while I was home. That was pretty lame…I felt like I was 15 all over again. The DMV lady suggested that I get my permit, then I could drive with a licensed driver over 21...to which I replied, if I’m with a licensed driver who’s over 21...they’ll be driving, this isn’t a matter of me wanting to practice driving, this is about me driving places by myself. So, I ended up riding my mom’s old yellow bike everywhere and by “everywhere” I of course mean the storage unit, the grocery store and (obviously) taco bell. I like that bike.

- I just finished reading the book, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins….IT. WAS. AWESOME. It was a quick read and highly entertaining. If you haven’t read it I suggest you pick up a copy.

- I just ate an entire container (bag) of green olives. They were really tasty and now I’m really thirsty.

- I think I’m expecting some packages from my friends and this brings me great excitement.

- I didn’t dress up for Halloween this year and that makes me sad. I love dressing up. So be prepared for next year’s costume to rock your world. It’s going to be awesome. I have to make up for a lost dress-up opportunity! Ah!

- After 2 months of being on strike the teachers came back to work for 2 weeks before ending the school year. So now I’m in search of purpose again. I’m thinking of doing a little garden project. Try my hand at making something grow. We’ll see. I’m not sure how green my thumb is.

- I will have something to do in the next few weeks. There is a group from habitat for humanity coming down and I’m going to help translate and train people on how to use and repair these new water purification systems that they’re installing in two locations within the urban area of my site! So I’ve got that to look forward to. That and, many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

- I am loving the new Adele and Maroon 5 CD’s. They are fantastic.

- I have been spending a lot of time lately on Craiglist looking at apartments and sectional couches.

- I have a thing for sectional couches.

So...yeah.

I miss my friends and family. I’m hopeful that the next 5 months of my service are going to bring better stories and experiences. I really do feel really privileged to have the opportunity to do this despite the fact that I have had some bad luck of late…

That’s why we run these tests! (right?)

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

　
P.S.
I suck at taking pictures. It’s on my “try harder to” list.
So here’s a picture of me and some friends, Megan and Ingris in HueHue.
And a burger that I made with Mari (while she nursed me back to health, you’re a darling Mar) where I tried to mimic the double-patty situation on a Big Mac. It didn’t really work out. That’s a lot of meat.

XOXO!

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.

my picture blog...blog.

Pictures of stuff i've talked about/tried to explain about my life in Guatemala. enjoy(?)

these crazy flat spiders that are EVERYWHERE. this is a medium-sized one. they're also really, REALLY fast.

this is an enormous bug i found in my room and ushered outside.

this is a bottle kitchen project that the volunteer before me, Kristina, did with one of the schools. look at the triangle, that's a cut-out to show the bottle construction. there's also an unfinished world-map on the wall...that i may finish.

this is a rincon de salud (health corner) it's got toothbrushes, towels, cups, purified water, soap, toilet paper etc.

this is a lava-manos, it's got 12 faucets constructed around a water-tank.

this is a pila (outside sink) on the right i've got some dishes drying and on the left is where i usually wash my dishes and/or clothes by scrubbing them in the concrete-lined basin and scooping water out of the middle section with that little bowl (called a guacal or palangana).

this is how i do drinking water, i buy new jugs of water from the store and then lug them back to my place. they're somewhat heavy and a nuisance to carry but they only cost 15Q ($2.00) and usually last me about a week...not too shabby.

this is why my thighs are getting really strong (because i have to squat under my shower-head to avoid being electrocuted).

this is why i am afraid of being electrocuted. this is a calentador. I turn on the water and then i flip the fuse on. the shower head makes a gargling sound and then the water comes out hot. when i'm finished bathing i take a towel and flip the fuse down and then turn off the water.

just a little idea of what it's like in my site housing and terrain-wise.

  

despite it being the end of the dry season, there is still a lot of green happening.

this is a view of my patio taken from my roof. my landlord is a big fan of flowers and trees. the area where the cinder blocks are is where i burn my trash and you can see the pila in the back left-hand corner.

I think this may be where the winged ants are coming from...this is just outside the door that can be seen in the previous picture.

so...that's that.

in an unrelated note, my birthday is in 9 days and i leave for Los Angeles in 6 days.
i am so excited i can barely contain myself; fun times ahead!

hope everyone is well! love love LOVE!