Holler, time for another blog… Okay, so since the last one some fun things have happened indeed. Last week I had my friend Lexi with me all week. Her counterpart was in Guate and she couldn’t go with because we had a mandatory safety and security meeting in Jalapa, which turned out to be pretty fun. We got some sandwiches, delicious coffee, fruit and a free lunch (I feel like I talk about free/delicious food a lot…) After the meeting, Emily, Lexi, Brynna and I trolled the streets of Jalapa looking for a hotel to stay in for the night (we picked the one next to the bus terminal and it was a little terrifying… big beds though and hot water so I am absolutely not complaining). We also got some pizza hut for dinner (again with the food) and then left early the next morning so I could make it home for my English class. I LOVE being involved with the school in this capacity. First of all, the teacher that I am working with goes on and on about how fast I have picked up Spanish, which never gets old. Second of all, it’s really nice to get to know the students and have them want to include me in activities such as Carnaval (which I will get to later) and third, I like being able to bring something to the table because thus far I have not really gotten a chance to do that so it’s a nice change. I teach classes Thursdays and Fridays and tomorrow is my first time actually doing a lesson by myself so I am a little nervous but very excited… wish me luck!
Yesterday was Carnaval, which I did not know until Felicia and I walked into the tienda next to my house to get ice cream and were ambushed by the “princesa de carnaval” and the owner of the store. This brings me to the cascarones… they are basically hollowed out egg shells that are decorated and filled with glitter and confetti and then cracked on top of your head (that is what they ambushed us with). Felicia and I got hit by probably five or more cascarones within the first fifteen seconds, until we found out where they were stashing the eggs and bought our own… everyone backed off a bit at that point because we had our own ammo. After we used the rest of our eggs on Felicia’s counterparts in the muni,. I headed to the school to meet up with Brenda (I saved a cascaron for her). There were soccer games going on and the game Brenda played in went to a shoot out, which they won so it was very exciting. While I was sitting on the steps watching the game, I got a bunch more confetti and glitter dumped on me (I like to think that I got attacked so much because everyone really likes me… wishful thinking?) Three showers and lots of scrubbing and I STILL have glitter all over the place (but so does the owner of the tienda next to my house so I feel like a winner).
In other news, today was el dia de la mujer in San Jacinto and the muni had an event for it in the gymnasium that went really well. I was able to be involved in the set up/sign-in/clean up, which was great because I got to talk to lots of the women and hang out with them for the day. There were a couple speakers, a presentation about voting and free haircuts/nail painting for all the women, thanks to students from an organization called Intecap. I think the women really enjoyed it and there were a ton that actually registered to vote, which was one of the main goals so that was awesome. All the women also either got a free t shirt, towel or bandanna and I felt pretty cool because I was wearing my bandanna in my hair and one of the women that came through told me it was adorable and when I saw her later she had hers on the same way… I’m such a trendsetter.
Well there are only ten more days until my friends get here for their visit and we will be going to Monterrico (the beach), Rio dulce (the river), my site and Antigua and I couldn’t be more excited! Also, only thirty-five more days till my visit home so I have a lot to look forward too :) I hope everyone has a great rest of the week/weekend! Adios!
