26.2.12

rough week... but such is life. no matter where on the planet you make your life. and i guess i'm learning these things bit by bit. but at the end of the day, the heart of life is good.

news:

1.) dog! her name is pia and she is a two year old mutt that eats meat and is completely content to sleep all day on my bed.

2.) work is a bummer. somehow i thought that this year would be easier. or rather that i would hit the ground running from where we finished last year. i. was. wrong.

3.) i may have broken the window on a bus. yeeaaahh...

4.) my wonderful aunt leslie came to visit last week! we had a fun time around almolonga and enjoying each other's company. i can't thank her enough for coming


for those thinking of coming- watch this video and you will be convinced!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9cCPQVPv8o

10.2.12

sometimes it hits me that i live in guatemala:

-i am now a plumber. well, not really. but i fix toilets. and i know all the lingo. in spanish.

-hairblowdryer? why bother. just jump in the back of a pickup truck

-marriage? easy. the woman who sells me potatos is helping her 18 year-old son pick out my ring (no gracias?)

-no toilet paper? dude, that's what old newspaper is for.

-trash. oh, the battle against the trash.

-fried eggs.

-almolongan coffee- delicious but more like sugar water than coffee. but, it. is. gooooood.

-i bought a traje! yup i did. and it is going to cost me around what i make in a month. totally worth it.

-there is this smell that hits me sometimes in the street, not a foul smell, but not exactly agreeable either. and when i smell it, i know that im home.



and it's all of these things. and all of this still matters.


on a serious note i was thinking this week (shocking right?) about what i want to stand for. my core. my center. because sometimes we spin wildly around and never quite get there.

i want the world to be a better place because i was a part of it.

whatever i do, where ever i go, it has to come back to that.



2.2.12

whiplash is my curse here. it's like everyday is a thousand days with a billion little moments in each one. this up and down. me beaming. literally like fool with a smile that i can't get rid of. or me just wanting to curl up in bed with a book and forget the world.

the year has had kind of a rough start. just being pulled out of almolonga for meetings ect. and feeling behind in my work. but this week i got things back under control (wait a sec, who am i kidding, well as much control as possible here).

Tuesday and Wednesday I put on a workshop for all of the schools I work with (14 total). The workshop is called 'Project Design and Management', basically it gives the leaders at each school the tools that they need to plan out a small infrastructure project in a systematic way. And the kicker- it went really well!!!!! who woulda thought? Anyway, it was so encouraging to read their evaluations (i think im going to hang them up in my room, nothing like 'we love you samata/samanda/shamata to get me out the door in the morning'). It just made me so pumped for the school year, people are starting to get it, starting to want to make positive changes in their schools.

in other news:

1.) a friend loaned me a guitar and it has drastically improved my quality of life (although the songs ive written of late are a bit 'rage'ish)

2.) earthquakes FREAK ME OUT! just cuz im not used to them... when the cabinets start shaking i get nervous. (but the best is being on the phone with my dad... me 'whoa an earthquake' my dad 'GET OUTSIDE NOW') that's love.

3.) i want a dog. yes. yes, i do.

4.) i visited a school and a little girl shyly opened the door, i asked to come in, she stared at me for a while and slammed the door shut. then i heard 'Seño, Seño, there's a señora out there with blueish green eyes'. priceless.