Toto, I don’t think we’re in Upstate NY anymore

No, ANN is not some new central-american terrorist group or terrible free trade agreement- it’s just one of the several political parties participating in the upcoming Guatemalan elections.  Unfortunately, ANN has their central office right across the street from the Foundation.  I say unfortunately because, in order to sway the votes of the electorate, ANN’s main method of persuasion is serenading the neighborhood with marimba music at full-volume from a sub-par speaker.  I’m not sure if this is an effective technique and only us gringos are supremely put out by it, but it doesn’t seem like a good tactic to me.  Imagine if Hillary Clinton’s campaign set up shop next door and played banjo music all the live-long day to win your support.  So over the past few months we have been subjected on a regular basis to what we are convinced is the same marimba songs over and over and over again.  It becomes a bit abrasive when you’re trying to listen to other music, watch a movie, talk to someone else, or just hear yourself think. 

As voting is taking place tomorrow, for the presidential and mayoral elections, all campaigning and propoganda was supposed to end at noon yesterday.  We had been looking forward to this blissful tranquility for weeks.  And yet, what blasphemy greeted our ears late yesterday afternoon??  More marimba music, interspersed with strange seemingly-drunken announcements from Sakal Ixim, the ANN candidate for mayor.  It should also be noted that aforementioned Sakal Ixim is well-known in the pueblo for having stolen a large quantity of money from bank patrons while he worked there.  Perhaps he thinks high-intensity marimba music will blast this memory out of people’s minds.  His reputation as a patron of the arts will far supercede his infamy as a thief.

Taking matters into there own hands, in response to the continuing noise pollution, Chat, Angie and Paul marched down to the cede, where they are registering voters to report this violation.  (I stayed home to continue nursing my infirm lungs.)  A very helpful municipal worker returned to the ANN den to inform Sakal and his henchmen that they MUST stop the music.  In a tipsy and staggering manner, these gentlemen assured everyone that they would indeed shut it off.  Incidentally, liquor sales are supposed to be prohibited throughout all of Guatemala for this entire weekend in order to assure a tranquil state of mind for the voters.

Anyways, a happy conclusion to this sordid tale- the music got shut off yesterday and we were not further plagued by it for the rest of the afternoon.  However, I regret to inform you, that even as I sit here typing this morning, I hear the slightly-muted strains of the all-too-familiar marimba son.  Those wiley scoundrels….they continue to play the music, but have now brought their speaker slightly inside the doorway.  Please, join our cause!  Write to your senator!  Demonstrate in the streets!  Down with ANN!!!!

I really wish that I could bring this news to all of you in typical San Mateo style, preceeded by an introductory 5 minutes of wailing siren and then blared in distorted voice from a megaphone….in Chuj.  But I guess I’ll have to settle for announcing through the blog.  Luckily I have plenty of time for computer activity these days since we found out yesterday that we won’t be having class for the next 3 weeks.  Believe me, we were surprised too.  But with the approach of Feria looming, it has been decided that the school’s top priority should be practicing for the big marching band competition that will be part of the September celebrations.  You may be thinking that this seems to neglect some other critical components of the children’s edcuation.  I would have to agree with you there, but please note that in comparison to some of the other schools in town we have shown enormous restraint in postponing practices for this long.  Truth be told, our band is probably the worst in town, because the other schools have been devoting much of the school day to straight-up band practice for months now.  It may very well be that in the parade on the 18th the Centro band is the one in which a trumpeter trips and knocks over 2 girls playing lira and the bass drums just keep playing exuberantly and marching right on over top of them.  All to the dissonant sounds of confused, arrythmic melodies.  Oh well, as Maria de Jesus said,with great sassiness,  ”They may be first place in the band, but we’ll be first place in our studies.”  That’s my girl!!

So the aforementioned BIG NEWS, which I’m sure most of you have already heard by now, is that I will be returning to San Mateo next year for another go-round with these crazy lovable kids.  I’ve enjoyed being here so much, that even from the beginning I had considered that one year just might not be enough.  Upon leaving home 8 months ago, I never imagined that I would be coming to the end of my time here and planning for another year away.  But I really feel that with the experience and knowledge of the school and the kids that I have now, I could do so much and bring more to the school by returning.  They allowed me to learn and grow here, with all the latitude I needed to make mistakes and figure out my own way.  Now that I have a better understanding of all that, I could really do a bang-up job next year, and it will be great for the school to have some consistency in the staff.  So I talked to our director Beth Neville when she was here in August and she graciously accepted me back.  I finally worked msyelf up to telling Mom and Dad while they were visiting, and of course, they were completely supportive and wonderful.  (Makes you wonder what took me so long to get it out huh?)  And now I’m breaking the news to the world!  Spread the word!

I’ll be returning home to the States for about 2 months on November 12th and am so excited to see family and friends and spend the holidays with all of you.  It’s unfortunate that it will be relatively short time that I’m back, but I hope to be able to see as many of you as I can.  I’ll try to keep the blog up-to-date in these last few months.  (I know what you’re thinking.)  Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to check and read despite months of non-blogitude!

Well, actually, the Butlers have already come and gone. The mid-August visit of los padres Butler was round 2 of the Butler invasion here in San Mateo. The first wave of attack came in May, when little miss Mary Beth arrived in town and mercilessly plundered the hearts of the male population of Yinhatil Nab’en. There is many a young tercero lad still pining away for senorita Meribet and frequently enquiring as to when my sister is going to return.

I believe there was slightly less romance and heartbreak involved in my parents’ stay, but it was a thrilling and beautiful week nonetheless. Wayne and Molly’s Guatemalan adventure began in the lovely colonial town of Antigua, where I met them lounging in the garden courtyard of the luxury digs of Hotel Aurora. (Lounging can here be interpreted as pacing nervously, because my bus was caught in construction all day and I was about 2 hours late in arriving.) After a full day of travelling, my own appearance frankly frightened me as I passed a mirror, but loving parents that they are, they were happy to see me, and forgave my bedraggled presentation and the unreliability of the camionetas.  Following this joyous reunion, we enjoyed a mini-weekend-vacation in Antigua and Lake Atitlan.  Having grown accustomed to Pullman buses and the Governator Hotel as the ultimate in luxury, I could hardly believe the star-quality accomodations and transport that my mom had arranged- I felt like a Guatemalan princess.

Of course, this royal treatment couldn’t last forever, and after feasting and fiestaing our way through Atitlan, we soon found ourselves on the chicken bus on the 5-hour ride from Huehue to the mountains of SMI.  Much to the delight of my mom (at least at first) this was a very tipico camioneta ride- very crowded, very bumpy and there were even live chickens as fellow passengers.  The novelty soon wore off, sadly, but I was so proud of the way Mom and Dad rose to the challenge and accepted it all with an adventurous spirit.  On this particular bus ride, I was lost to all the charm of mass transport, as I was completely abosorbed in the world of Hogwarts through the gift of the final installment of Harry Potter which my dad had kindly brought for me.  I did however emerge from wizard battle long enough to purchase the essential chuchitos in Soloma – no one could resist the siren call of this old woman’s feeble, hoarse voice beckoning you to buy her delicious wares of this quintessential bus food. Chuchitos are like Mexcian corn tamales with chicken filling, but moister because they’re wrapped in huge green leaves rather than corn husks.

Travel-worn and dust-covered, we finally arrived in the grand centro of San Mateo, where I’m sure my parents were awe-struck by the display of several fried chicken stands and hot dog vendors that our central park has to offer.  I dare to conjecture that they were even more starry-eyed when they saw the faaabulous hotel room I had booked for them.  OK, so it was slightly less majestic than the Hotel Aurora (seriously, check out the website for that place!)…..or maybe it was a bare room with nothing more than a bed, a toilet and an odd odor.  But once again, troopers that they are, my parents said it was just what they needed, and settled right in.  I feel so appreciative that in everything that they encountered during the week, from slight food poisoning to gaping stares from townspeople to long Disney medleys sung at dinner at the house, mom and dad greeted everything with flexibility and good nature.

It was a really lovely week.  Mom got to spend a lot of time with the kids, working on some really fun sewing projects she brought with her, and did a wonderful job using her Spanish!  The kids got a kick out of her being there and learning some more English.  They’re still saying “In the bag!” and “Reaalllllyy??!”  Mom and Dad both got to finally experience the manic nature of primero classes.  Sadly, not classroom management at its best, but you have to love the energy these kids have.  We also celebrated Mom’s birthday here, went to Thursday market, took some nice walks and ate some delicious food, both in and out of the Foundation.  Mom’s birthday festivities resulted in the serendipitious creation of a new dessert that I dubbed Chocobanano Custard Crunch a la Mateana.  Someone get me a publisher- I’m dreaming up a cookbook.

The week ended with a fantastic kings of Hooey Hooey tour.  Since we have to go through Huehuetenango every time we travel anywhere, the Foundationers have developed a criterium of essential destinations whenever we stay there.  We have our favorite hotel, The Governator (part of Schwarzaneger’s holdings in Guatemala) where Chat is a preferred client and always gets us a room.  There’s also a fancy schmancy bar and several eateries that we enjoy.  Mom and Dad gamely followed me around as I showed them all of our favorites and we had a wonderful last day together.  The next day we had breakfast at our usual joint and took a taxi to the bus terminal where we tearfully said goodbye.  Beyond the fact that the Huehue terminal is just one of the most depressing places in the world, it was tough to send them off on their bus to Antigua.  (I did pin a note with their destination on their shirts and make sure they had enough lunch money.)  They had come at a perfect time when I really needed a little break and support from my family.  The week before had been a really difficult  one- my grandpa passed away, our friend Fer left to go back to the states and there were a bunch of guests in and out of the Foundation.  Nothing could have been better for me than to see my mom and dad and get to spend nice Butler family time together.  It really helped everything get back into order for me, and since then, things have been a lot better.  I miss Mom and Dad now and all the rest of my family and friends too- it’s been a long time!  Can’t wait to see you all in November!!

P.S. Happy Labor Day!  They celebrate it on a different day here in Guatemala, but coincidentally we didn’t really have to work today either, cause they school is practicing for the band competition in 2 weeks during Feria.  Hooray!

4th of July, San Mateo style

Well, we didn’t rent out the California bus (which is painted like the American flag) and drive around town blaring patriotic music as we had previously planned, but Chat and I did teach the cuarto students to sing This Land is Your Land in honor of our nation’s birthday.  It ended up sounding like a big jarbled stream of Swedish rather than an ode to the beauty of the American terrain, but they had fun anyways.  The cuarto students are super sweet but they have the worst accents I’ve ever heard- it’s like they’re not even hearing what’s coming out of my mouth.
Me: Repeat after me- January, February, March.
Cuarto: Hanooaywoo, Ferereray, Mah.
Me: No, listen- Ja-nu-ary
Cuarto:  Han-woo-woo-wee?
I think my favorite teaching experience with them was when they asked me how to say “fast” and I spent the next ten minutes listening to them say flaaaaast, flahst?……flaaahhhhst.  Oh those kids.

I decked myself out in red, white and blue for segundo english class and gave extra points to kids who were wearing the colors of the flag as well.  As I proudly marched into class with the strains of Sousa flowing through my head, it became disturbingly clear that I am very rapidly turning into a middle-aged middle-school teacher in the body of a 23-year-old girl.  Next thing you know I’ll be wearing sparkly holiday sweaters and knitting matching ones for all my cats to wear.   Anyways…..we had a thrilling 4th of July trivia competition between teams representing England and the Colonies.  In one horrifying moment it seemed that team England might actually be victorious, but to my great relief the Colonies pulled through and triumphed in the end, and everything was as it should be according to history.

We spent independence day evening barbequing chicken and setting off firecrackers.  Oh sweet revenge- take that San Mateans who rouse us from early morning slumber with your jubilant explosions!  Who’s blowing things up now?  We even roasted some marshmallows and made s’mores, much to the delight of Chat, who I think ate approximately 17 of them.

So although, I still have a little catch-up to do from my months of blog-neglect, I thought this more recent update might balance out the ancient news I have doling out.

In accordance with the strict goals we layed out for April, great festivities did indeed ensue in celebration of the auspicious trifecta of birthdays that the month contained.  Like my thrilling tales of Easter vacation, this is now very old news, but as a birthday-phile, I think the occasion warrants reporting, despite the fact that it is long since past.  Especially since the 23rd anniversary of my birth was such a special and unforgettable day thanks to thoughtful, wonderful friends and students with huge hearts and even huger supplies of energy.

The day started with a morning trip to the market, as every Thursday does for Chat and I.  This is a ritual we highly enjoy, as we face a barrage of determined San Mateo women ready to use any means necessary to obtain the last avocado.  In our efforts to provide nutritious fruits and vegetables for the Foundation family we risk life and limb as we are chucked into baskets of tomatoes, castigated for not having small bills to pay with, and consistently giggled at as we are bumped and bustled by women half our height and three times our age.  It’s a delicious challenge, and well worth it as we stand surrounded by the spoils of our expedition and sip rice drink at the end of the shopping trip.  There are several stands that sell a very sweet, milky rice drink at the market, but we are loyal customers at one owned by the family of some of our students and the royal throne of the Rice Queen, who we are convinced brings in tanker trucks of the delicious nectar every morning to meet the demands of the throngs of subjects who come begging for her wares.

So, a particularly nice market trip began my day on April 19th, but if you can believe it, that wasn’t even the best part of the day!  I went to school and was besieged by sweet birthday greetings from the kids all day.  The casanovas of tercero even stopped throwing desks and notebooks at each other long enough to present me with some wild roses.  A chorus of catcalls and whistles commenced when I discovered a ring hidden in one of the roses from Francisco “Romeo” Eleazar.  Oh those charmers- is it any wonder Mary Beth fell under the spell of their romanctic enterprises and perfectly-gelled hair?

Brian also commisioned all of Segundo to serenade me with Happy Birthday as I passed their classroom.  This was sung in delightfully-accented, but clearly intelligible English and was a very cute surprise.  But wait, not even this was the crowning moment of the day!

That afternoon, the long-awaited, highly-anticipated, tri-birthday, all-school fiesta finally came to pass.  To celebrate the happy existence of Fernando, Chat and I (all April babies) we brought vast quantities of sugary treats and music up to the primero barn (classroom) where all 150 students were patiently waiting.  And by patiently waiting I mean jumping out of their seats every 3 seconds, screaming We Want Cake!  The cake was a beautiful pink and white, frosting-rose-covered confection worthy of any 8-year-old’s birthday dreams.  It was purchased at Chaz Chaz, the finest (and only) restaurant in town.  Sadly, we realized we had not thought to purchase plates or napkins for serving, so as someone ran out to obtain the necessary party supplies, we pacified the restless crowd with cookies, lollipops, sweet bread and watermelon.  Finally the napkins arrived, the suprisingly-tasty cake was served all around, and the party was an overwhelming success.  Almost….   Despite the conclusion of the commestible portion of the party, all the students were still seated in the tiny desks, looking slightly uncomfortable and awkward.  No one was dancing!  Another disappointing reminder that it’s like pulling teeth to get kids to dance in public around here.  I don’t think it’s a social taboo, because marimba dancing is a big part of the culture.  They always claim it’s because they don’t know how to dance, despite my assertions that you can just do whatever you feel like.  Unconvinced, they usually try to bully us goofy gringos into getting out there and dancing while they all form a circle around and gawk.   On this day however, this awkwardness would not stand, and we finally resorted to grabbing students one by one out onto the floor to dance with us until they squirmed around and we had to rope another one in.

Our party also included a very sweet presentation of gifts and cards from several of the classes, which was unexpected and very generous and really appreciated by all three of us.

The day concluded with a fabulous culinary event a la Brian.  After dinner we enjoyed more cake and a viewing of that shining jewel of the Disney collection, “The Little Mermaid”.  What more could a 23-year-old girl ask for?

in a faroff place, known as Lago Atitlan, I spent a magical week of vacation and returned home so enchanted by its spell that I fell into a deep, eternal sleep which thusly prevented me from attending to the sacred duties of internet record-keeping in the form of my blog. It was only in recent days, through a stroke of fantastical luck that a strange Mayan beggar woman presented herself at the door of the Foundation, asking for food and shelter for the night. Just as my tragically unromantic housemates were about to turn her away, she presented a miniature carved jaguar of entrancingly luminous black stone as payment that greatly intrigued the three youths. They invited her in for dinner, and after taking a second look at the small carving, decided it was very shiny, but not all that interesting after all. They decided to store it away in the spare room for safekeeping- which just happened to also be the place where I had lain slumbering all these many long months. As they carelessly tossed the precious amulet onto the bed with my lifeless form, it happened to graze my pale cheek, upon which I immediately sprung from the bed, full of vim and vigor as if I had just enjoyed an afternoon siesta. We then proceeded to have an all-out reggaeton kitchen dance party with the old Mayan crone (who does a pretty mean booty-shake) and we all lived happily ever after and I have returned to my blogging duties.

OK, so maybe it didn’t happen exactly like that. But is it not a touch more scinitillating than reading my apologies once again for being busy and lazy and neglecting to update since April? I do beg a thousand forgivenesses for this, and hope that this is the beginning of a new era.

Atitlan truly was magical and I can’t wait to make a second journey there with the padres when they stop here on their grand central-american tour in August. While in Atitlan for the week, Fer, Brian and I enjoyed beautiful weather, swimming, kayaking, horseback-riding, yummy fish dinners, and an amazing view from the balcony of our hotel room which overlooked the lake. We stayed in San Pedro which is across the lake from the more well-known tourist destination of Panajachel. We got there by crossing the lake in a zooming motor boat, which reminded me of summers on Keuka Lake. San Pedro is a bustling little enclave for hippies and backpackers and so they had a lot of delicious vegetarian and ethnic cuisine in addition to the fabulous fresh fish from the lake. I indulged in sweet mangoes and fresh licuadoes (fruit smoothies made with your choice of fantastic produce) daily, and sometimes even woke up early enough to see the sun rise over the lake. We got to see the Semana Celebrations which included parades of people carrying vast quantities of bananas, construction of posts over the street with flowers and fruits hanging from them and the beautiful alfombras (carpets) that are created on the street from flowers, plants, seeds and pine needles. The week also included a jaunt over to Antigua with Brian to celebrate Passover with a friend of his from Israel…and approximately 200 other Jewish travelers. Brian and Pesach both said it was the strangest Seder meal they had ever been to, and although I have nothing to compare it with, it seemed to be somewhat other than the normal way to celebrate the holiday. It was a great experience nonetheless and something that I was really grateful to be able to share with Brian.

In the end, I was very saddened to leave Atitlan, especially during the arduous journey back to San Mateo that followed. As it was Easter weekend, transportation was very scarce, and after an already long trip I arrived to Huehue to find the bus terminal abandonded. As Huehue is still a 5 hour journey from San Mateo, my mood was less than jubilant as I slumped on a bunch with my huge backpack, desperately hoping a micro would be headed that way. I finally discovered to my great pleasure that I could at least get part of the way there on a micro that was leaving. This was good news, because although I could have stayed in Huehue, I had specifically left a day early from Atitlan so I could be in San Mateo for Easter Sunday. So I took this micro (it’s like a small conversion van) to Santa Eulalia, all the time holding out some small hope that I could miraculously arrive at home sweet home that evening. This hope was briefly dashed upon arriving to our destination when I saw that once again there were no vehicles headed to my destination. I was glumly considering my options when my spark of hope was unexpectedly rekindled into a burning flame as I heard my name being called from across the plaza. I looked up to see an unknown ayudante calling “Jessica” and gesturing for me to come over to his micro. Without a second thought I jogged over to this other micro, thinking “I have absolutely no idea who this guy is, but he somehow knows my name, and right now that’s good enough to convince me to go where he’s going.” This turned out to be a good instinct because as I entered the micro I saw the beautiful shining face of Miss Angela Kirkish, my fellow Foundationer who had colborated with a group of Guatemalans to convince a micro driver to take them to San Mateo. It was glorious. Upon arriving safely back in San Mateo, Angie and I consumed massive amounts of beans and tortillas and went promptly to sleep to await the arrival of the Easter bunny with delicious sugary treats in baskets.

We awoke disappointed to find the Easter bunny didn’t dare traverse the treacherous mountain roads. This feeling was short-lived however, and we went to the centro, where I get ice cream for breakfast in the grand Dryden tradition and then spent a lovely morning at the ruins. We attended the service at the Catholic church, where we were banished to the outside porch seating for our apparent non-Catholisicm (not really- there were just tons of people there and we arrived late.) We also colored Easter eggs with markers and stamps. Later that afternoon and even later that evening we were joyously reunited with Chat and Brian who also somehow managed to make it back to San Mateo despite desperate lack of buses and micros. It was an untraditional but exuberant Easter Sunday for me- one I hope to never forget.

After a rousing afternoon of soccer games, in which the whole school participated, the Fantastic Foundation Five are preparing for the forthcoming week of rest and relaxation during which we will all be taking off for parts unknown. After weeks of deep thought and discussion, the destination decisions were finally arrived it: Brian, Fernando and I will be spending the week at the mystical and marvelous Atitlan, while Angie and Chat are making a break for the border and heading into Mexico. As I will be again out of internet contact for some time, I thought it would be good to update before leaving and share with you the April goals that have been set forth by our merry band. We have made group goals every month so far and been fairly successful in achieving them and I feel certain that April will be no exception. So here they are, in no particular order, except that in which they spilled forth from our motivated little brains:

1) Throw a HUGE birthday party for Chat, Jess and Fer.- We are all April babies and have thus decided that an enormous fiesta to celebrate us is in order. Some students have even suggested that we hire the marimba band to play. I can’t imagine anything more exciting.

2) Continue work on the pool.- This is the brain child of Brian and Fer who concocted a plan to build a pool on the roof of our house. The cinder blocks and cement have already been purchased and construction is waiting to commence. I’m not particularly invested in this project, but I did contribute money for the building supplies in order to secure my pool membership and not have to pay the required fee for use of the facility.

3) Close 2 of the 3 deals and have “anti-person-who-didn’t-close-the-deal-night”. – This refers to the attempted wooing of Mateanos that is taking place by some of the teachers and their efforts to secure a kiss from their conquests. I am unfortunately not taking part in this exciting event, but on the positive side, this also means I am exempted from danger of being ostracized for an entire night for failing to obtain lip-to-lip contact.

4) Invite 3 new people over.- We would like to make new friends and invite them over for pleasant conversation and/or subject them to our (mostly successful) culinary attempts.

5) Doll up the Foundation.- We recently renovated what was a guest room into a communal living room and we enjoy lazing about and spending quality family time together. Our first decorating effort was huge charcoal self-portraits that we hung up to celebrate how great we are. They are pretty fabulous, but this is only the beginning of our efforts to really put a personal touch on these dreary cement walls.

6) Learn 3 romantic phrases in Chuj.- Further efforts towards progressing the relationships with Matellanos, by whispering sweet nothings in their native language. We may not know how to say, “How much are those mangos?” or “I really enjoy learning about Guatemalan culture” or “Stop doing that immediately students”, but I think it’s really crucial that we can say “I like your eyes.”

7) Go to a cantina. – Usually we get plenty of interaction with local drunks as they stumble up to us as we’re sitting on the stoop eating peanuts and engage us in scintillating conversation about….????various unintelligible topics, but we thought it might be nice for a change to go to them and spare them the long walk. That’s what friends do.

Have and not eat a chocolate centerpiece.- Real chocolate is a luxury here in San Mateo and keeping it around to enjoy has been an issue for us here. In April, we plan to exert self-control and keep a glorious presentation of chocolate sitting in the middle of our kitchen table for at least a week.

9) Have a fun trip! A distinct possibility for fulfilling this goal may be a group excursion to Xela to attend the Potato Festival. We’ll keep you posted.

10) New drink night! – In a stroke of genius, we came up with an idea for a tasty cocktail called cuxagria. This will be probably be a tasty mixture of fresh fruit, cuxa, and artificially-flavored grape drink mix, because wine is too difficult to obtain. This and other fantastic concoctions will be sampled one balmy evening in April when we are all relaxing together in the living room. Dance party will almost certainly ensue afterwards.

That’s it folks. Please feel free to offer your words of encouragement and support in these lofty goals we have set for ourselves.

I must make my apologies once again for the lapse in information flow from this SMI-dweller.  But do not for a moment think that this has been an apathetic or merely laconic dismissal of my blogging duties.  Nay, let the fault be laid squarely at the feet of those tyrannical controllers of internet who have been carelessly toying with our worldy connections as they fail to provide sufficient bandwidth.  We are not your puppets you unfeeling business-types!  Yes our connection was completely lost for over 2 weeks, and has been sketchy since then.  This is actually the third time I’ve tried to write this post, so please be patient with me and forgive the delay in news.  Somehow we muddled through without the latest celebrity gossip and infinite accessability of facebook photos, and even managed to have some good times away from a computer screen!  Here are some of the exciting happenings that took place:

A group of musicians from the US came for a week to work with the students recording a CD of marimba, vocals, rhythm and some music the kids wrote themselves.  Watch out Latin Grammys, here come the kids of Centro Comunitario.  This was a slightly hectic time for all of us here at the Foundation, as we were serving as headquarters and dining establishment for 14 people.  Our friend and companero Chat, was sadly forced to flee into exile from this madness and now lives upstairs with our landlord and his adorable family where he feasts like a king and enjoys the company of great kids.  We miss him….but he’s in a better place.  Anyways, the music project was a lot of fun and I had a great time hanging out, helping to translate and occasionally amping up the creativity of the kids.

Beth Neville, our director and her videographer friend Chip, enjoyed a 3 week stay here at El Hospedaje Fundacion.  They cheerfully tolerated and sometimes even participated in the shenanigans of this group of youngsters.  While here, Chip worked on a short film starring some of our students that was a brief interpretation of Romeo and Juliet entitled “Xapin y Axul: A Mayan Romance”.  Don’t miss it when it comes to theatres near you- it features some of the most beautiful people you will ever lay eyes upon.  Upon the departure of Beth and Chip last week, we threw a small farewall party complete with snacks and party games.  A very successful round of telephone took place, which was enjoyed by all.  Providing extra-hilarity was the fact that one of the guests got “slightly” tipsy and kept changing the message to “I Love Jessica.”

One beautiful and sunny Saturday morning we set out on an expedition to the top of Cerro Bobi- the highest point around San Mateo, which is home to the cell phone towers which provide the wonderful opportunity for all of our students to chat with friends even outside the school during class.  We went with some friends who served as wonderful guides and forcibly conquered the 2-hour uphill battle.  When we arrived at the top we then proceeded to climb up the rickety ladders to the tops of the towers, which luckily were not protected by any sort of gates or fences- lawsuits must be slightly less common here in SMI.  About half way up I realized that I do in fact still have a slight fear of heights, but I completed the ascension and the view was definitely worth it.  It was frightening and exhilarating and probably dangerous and great for me.  After laying our feet on solid ground again we enjoyed a hearty lunch of beef, onions, beans and tortillas, flame-grilled to our liking over a roaring fire.  We sunned ourselves and gathered up strength for the break-neck race back down the mountain to our beloved little pueblo.

On one of our traditional Sunday pizza nights we had the pleasure of teaching Maria, Eulalia and Andres, the kids upstairs how to make a pizza.  In return, they laughed and sang and danced and entertained us and made our kitchen a beautiful place for a few hours.  After dinner we played telephone- hey, it’s a Foundation favorite.  There were also some discrpancies in the transferred messages in this game- most of them ended up being jokes about Chat.  These changes were traced back to the mischievious grin of tiny Eulalia.

I have become friends with two very sweet girls from 9th grade, Juana and Maria who assisted me in the crucial and immensely thrilling task of purchasing a corte!!  Cortes are the long skirts that are the traditional indigenous clothing of the women here.  They are basically extremely long, heavy pieces of beautiful fabric that you wrap around you and tie tightly around your waist.  Mine is bright pink and red with shiny thread and I love wearing it, although I am still getting used to taking tiny little steps rather than my long-hurried pant-wearing stride.  It’s nice to feel like I’m a little more a part of the culture and all the kids get really excited to see the gringa teachers wearing cortes.  They are a little disappointed to see me return to wearing pants for part of the week, but I’m still unable to resist the siren call of the practicality of jeans.

I have received the fabulous news that Miss Mary Beth Butler will be gracing SMI with her presence in mid-June.  Preparations for her arrival have already commenced, including the writing of love poems and romantic songs by most of the boys in my primero class.  They are not deterred by either her age or her height, and have assured me that love is the most important thing and one of them WILL marry her.  Watch out Mary Beth, for the battle for your heart is about to begin.

Well, I believe that is sufficient for the moment- this is the last week before we have vacation for Semana Santa.  Plans for our travels are still uncertain but we are thinking about visiting Lake Atitlan for at least part of the week.  I will try to update soon after my return on the wonderful sights we are blessed with.  Hope everyone enjoys their holidays!  Think of me while you’re eating jelly beans and Peeps!  Poor disadvantaged Jessica with nary a Cadbury egg to her name. 

I think not.  After two really great weekends, I was prepared for another mundane beginning to the school week, and consequently was caught completely unaware by MONDAY NIGHT MARIMBA MADNESS!!  Yea you heard right- due to the arrival of a new priest in town, there was a festive gathering last night, to which we gained VIP access through invitation by Eulalia.  The news arrived in the middle of dinner, so we hurriedly finished and strapped on our dancing shoes.  We had to be rushed through the door to keep the other ne’er-do-wells from gaining entrance and were greeted by the sight of many happy couples marimbaing around in a circle.  The dance is kind of a hoppy waltz step- very simple- and the gringao were in high demand to boogie the night away.  We were especially honored by high-energy invitations to dance from some of the most heart-breakingly adorable children to grace this planet.  Before the song started you would see them start to lurk about, staking out their claim, and as soon as the first chipper notes broke the air they would make a mad dash towards us.  The fastest and luckiest would then grab onto your hands and announce (not ask) “Vamos a bailar!”  (We’re going to dance.)  It was the best thing that happened to me all day.  I jived my way around the room with these tiny people with a ridiculous grin on my face the whole time.  It was exactly what I needed, and a perfect reminder of how little it takes to be happy.  This coming after a slightly stressful evening, with the arrival of 2 new Foundation residents (Beth Neville and film-guy Chip) and quite a bit of shuffling around and room change.  Fortunately there are fabulous children in the world to remind me that all you really need in life is a good beat and rhythm in your feet.

As for the aforementioned weekend loveliness- 2 weeks ago, Chat, Angela and Fer went to Xela for a fun timez weekend, and I was bummed because I have 83 classes on Friday afternoon and thus could not join the trip.  My bad attitude was enhanced by lingering illness and a loooong day of classes.  At the end of the day I heaved a huge sigh of relief and headed back to the Foundation to slack and mope a little.  Much to my surprise I stumbled into a kitchen full of ALL 54 primero students making fruit cocktail for their home ec class.  I thought I might lose it, but then realized that the best thing to do was take a seat and enjoy the spectacle of Alejandro attempting to chop open a coconut with our bread knife.    It ended up being a beautiful weekend full of nothing more than good old-fashioned lazing around and good food.  We spent some quality time just hanging out at the ruins, ate awesome challah-bread french toast and generally enjoyed not doing much of anything.  It was good for my soul.

This weekend was slightly more active- activities included a nice hike to a far-away field where I got learned some rugby (not a skill I had anticipated acquiring in SMI) and a death-defying, xtreme-sports-challenge hike up a waterfall.  There was some rock-scaling and near-hypothermia-inducing swim involved.  Fer, Brian and I are a champion trifecta.  Despite the awe-inspiring nature of this traverse, I think my proudest achievement and high point of the weekend may in fact have been the Sunday night pizza.  It had fresh pineapple and two kinds of cheese and my best crust to date.  Please close your eyes and just contemplate this glorious gastronomic feat for a moment.

Also, it must be mentioned and sadly told to the world that Fer and I got into our first fight.  It was a lamentable occasion and we had to write it on the whiteboard for the sake of history.  It was simultaneously remarked that Chip and Brian were talking for approximately 10 hours.  Both of these events are eclipsed by the fact that I made one of the most fabulous fruit salads ever yesterday- mango, zapote, banana, papaya, watermelon and pineapple.  Who can blame Pee Wee Herman for wanting to marry such a delicious dish?

Sorry to be feeding you all this old news, rather than the fresh-off-the-press, up-to-the-minute info you were used to, but as nothing particularly noteworthy happened this week, I figure it’s a good time to catch up on the excitement of the past. When I left off, the 4 intrepid travelers (Chat, Brian, Kati and I) were preparing for our dawntastic journey to the home of Isabela in the aldea of Tiactac. Our REM-inducing behavior paid off and we were indeed able to drag ourselves out of bed at 6 in the morning to amp ourselves up with a little coffee before heading out. The sun was already up and warming us as we began the 3 hour walk with Isabela and her cousin. On our way out of town Isabela spotted two other students who joined us for the trek. Before this I hadn’t realized that Felipe and Diego were brothers or that they lived in Tiactac. But as soon as I saw them coming toward us with their identical radiant smiles I wondered how I could have missed it before.

The hike was absolutely blissful and soul-affirming. I felt happier and happier with every step of my Timberland-clad feet as we passed through sparkling open fields and cool, shady woods and broad dusty roads. Kati and I brought our cameras and let the kids borrow them to take pictures as we walked- it was so cool to see them having fun taking pictures of cows and scenery and each other. Of course all this joy and ebulliance, doesn’t mean that we weren’t exhausted by the time we arrived in Tiactac. We took plenty of ribbing and giggles from the kids about how we must be tired because we’re not used to walk. When we got to Isabela’s house, we were introduced to family, enjoyed some bread, coffee and delicious cauliflower and then sat about laconically until we got up enough energy to wander over to a grassy hill…..where we laid down on the grass and slept for about an hour. This little respite allowed us to muster the strength for another little paseo with Isabela during which she reaffirmed the fact that we indeed don’t know how to walk. That is until she saw Brian flying down the steeply sloped path in his flipflops, which forced her to admit that at least HE knows how to walk. (Si, el sabe caminar.)

We passed the rest of the day communing with the beautiful specimens of chickens living at Isabela’s house and watching Chat attempt to capture their pulchritude with his camera- especially the one we named “Legs” due to its supermodel-like gams. Isabela then showed us to the other house where we would be staying- she suggested that the “senoras” take the actual bed, while the profes share the mattress on the floor- I like how you think Isabela. After we all partook in a much-needed Chuj and closed the Sabbath with Brian, we settled in for a chilly night. It gets even colder in Tiactac than in SMI! I think I would have gotten a lot more rest if not for the fact that after laying in bed for 5 minutes I realized that I really had to pee. There is no latrine up at this house and Isabela had warned us not to walk around at night becuase there are lots of mean dogs. After some valiant attempts, it became clear that this was not a situation I could ignore….at least without some unpleasant consequences for my bunkmate Kati. It was completely pitch black in the cabin, but I remembered Chat had left a little penlight in his shoe across the room. To pump myself up for this little excursion, I told myself it would make me tougher- a real growing experience. With this motivation I sllooooowwwly crawled out of bed in the direction of Chat’s shoes. I slowly shuffled closer and closer with no real idea of where I was going….until I found myself completely disoriented, frozen in indecision in the middle of the darkness. I stayed like this for what seemed like 3 hours. It was probably about 2 minutes.  When I finally mustered the courage to reach out and hope I wouldn’t poke Chat or Brian in the face I miraculously laid grasp to Chat’s shoe and encountered the light.  What a moment of victory.  I feel I am most certainly a stronger person for this experience.  Afterwards I came back and spent most

The next day we ate breakfast and returned to the the  awe-inspiring prehistoric playground that Isabela’s hike had led us to the day before.  It was in a huge bowl surrounded by hills.  The whole area had burned out several years before and there were fallen logs aplenty to satiate our appetite for the “Floor is Lava” game.   As I careened down the slope into the valley, I saw Brian locking eyes with a tiny white fleecy sheep.  With a huge grin I continued racing down the hill to meet our new friend.  The little lamp immediately raced towards the safety of this obviously more gentle and less fearsome creature.  The little guy hung out and bleated pitifully for a while and then left us to enjoy lazing about in this magical place for the afternoon.  When we returned to Isabela’s house we consumed HUGE plates of food and then departed on our death-defying journey back to SMI standing in the back of a pick-up truck with about 10 other people.  It was exhilarating and frightening and incredibly fun.

Monday came and went as usual and then the we awoke Tuesday morning, awash in a sea of love and pica pica (confetti) for the school-wide field trip in honor of Valentines Day.  We all hiked up to a huge field about an hour and a half into the mountains, serenaded by the romantic sounds of the John Cena theme song played on repeat blasting from boomboxes carried by the kids.  Brian and I made the mistake of following a roving band of segundo students who announced at one point that they had no idea where we were and then took off, leaving us wandering and bewildered.  Luckily we were able to listen carefully for the sounds of whoops and hollers that guided us to our destination.  It was a jubilant and glorious day, filled with Frisbee, TONS of confetti being smashed on my head, soccer, limbo, jumping game and the sweet and tender gift exchange.  Every student and teacher drew the name of another person to buy a gift for and then there was a grand ceremony to present them all.  The giver and recepient stood up in front of everyone, gave their gift and then were supposed to show their deep affection through a hug.  In most cases this involved nano-second-long embraces followed by one student shoving the other out of the way.  Or in the case of firecrackers like Maria de Jesus, punching the other person in the shoulder.  There were many sentimental and thoughtful gifts, but I’m not sure if anything tops the ceramic rooster that Fernando received from Juan Santiago.  Unless of course, it’s the whole lot of peanuts and Kenyan macadamias I received from Brian, cause really, nuts are great.