Stories to tell my gringo friends.

Beautiful blue skies after 2 weeks of non-stop rain and clouds.

This always happens. I am so happy and proud of my blog posts, that I don't want to write any more. Or I think that I don't have anything to write about. So what has been going on since October 11th? Well mid-October saw the end of the rainy season. And it was quite the glorious moment to wake up not only to the sun, but to perfectly crisp, blue skies, as well. (I am forgetting how to correctly use commas, my 12th grade English teacher would be disappointed.)

Once the rains subsided, I was able to go back to school, which meant about 3 days of teaching. Then classes ended for the year, and they don't start up again until January. Here in Guatemala, the school year is January to October-November. And it would look like The States has more vacation time, but with all the holidays and meetings they cancel class for, it actually kind of evens out. So what is my plan until then? Well I have a bunch of planning to do for the next year, but most of that will be done tonight and tomorrow as I prepare for Reconnect. This month itself is actually very busy. I have been stuck (sometimes literally) in my site for about a month, and this month I will be stuck out-of-site. I have a full week and a half of meetings at the main office in Santa Lucia, and then I head to the beach for 4 days (yay!). Then it's back to Santa Clara, and I have no clue what I will do with my time. I am going to participate/help plan the HIV/AIDS activity on December 1st with my local Puesto. But that is all for official plans, but, in Guatemala nothing is really ever official, so SABER(who knows)! I have had a lot of time to think this month, and I have a couple ideas floating in my head, but the plausibility of those ideas needs to be worked out.

Crazy things that have happened since my last post (mostly negative, but funny now, stories):

-I was running a couple weeks ago, which I have started to do in Santa Clara, and not every single person laughs when I run by. Only most, yay, progress! Anyway, I was a block (not even 30 seconds) into my jog, and I had my earphones in. When I pass people I just wave, or if I can breathe, I say Buenos, etc. So I had my earphones in and I saw this man in front of me. I figured he was saying hi, so I gestured my hand to wave. Then he grabbed my arm, and was saying something I couldn't hear. So I took out my earbuds, and I didn't know what I was expected. He lifted his arms, as if imagining that he wasn't able to put them down. Then he said "gorda". I said "NO", and ran off. I was so mad, I couldn't think of anything else to say. I was running, in my own little world, and you thought it was important to stop me (make me leave my little world), and tell me that I am fat. Thanks, buddy. I have been called fat many times in site, but this one was the worst. I don't think that word will ever not sting. (I know all that sticks and stones stuff, but it still does sting.) I definitely wasn't expecting that when I came to country, but it's definitely another challenge to overcome.

-I left for the Sumpango kite festival on Monday, and I was getting on a bus heading from Km. 148 to Chimal. The bus was coming from San Marcos, and, naturally, it was super crowded. So this 50+ man made a small space for me next to him, and I said "gracias". He started asking me all these questions that regular Guatemaltecos ask me. Where do you live? Where do you work? How old are you? Are you married? Where are you going? I said Antigua, and he said he would be there later that weekend. He asked me if I like to dance, and I lied and said no. Then he told me he had been divorced 3 times (red flag!). Then the seat next to me opened up with more space, so I happily moved over. I saw him get out a piece of paper, and he was writing something. And next thing I know he was giving me his phone number, I had, literally, just met the man 5 minutes earlier. While trying not to be grossed-out, I politely said"no gracias". But that's not the worst part of the story. We had to sit next to each other for the next 1.5 hours. No, that's not awkward at all.

-My last story. So this happened with one of my students. I was having a really rough day teaching, and I was excited to teach Tercero because they are usually so good. So I did my lesson on careers, and I was then informed that it was my last day to teach there (not good communication, as usual). So I was saying how lovely it has been to get to know all of the tercero students, etc. (The schools I teach at have three levels, primero(1st), segundo (2nd), and tercero (3rd). So after tercero, I don't teach them again). So, the students were asking me questions about where I live, if I like it here, etc. And one girl raised her hand and asked "Que es su sexualidad?" (what is your sexuality?). I think my whole face did a double take, and I thought there's no way I heard that right, so I said "Como?, as if to expect a different question. She asked the same question again. I have never been asked that question in my life. So I quickly answered "Me gusta hombres" (I like men). Later, I thought about what I should have said. Heterosexual. Or I maybe could have opened the door to the discussion of homosexuality. Maybe this girl was questioning her own sexuality or just wanted to learn more about people who are different than her. Or I could (and should) have gone the "it's none of your business" or "that is very inappropriate" route. Then we could have opened a discussion about the importance of boundaries between a teacher and student, and that in the professional world you would never ask this type of question to a teacher or colleague. But, no, I had to go the "me gusta hombres" route. I thought about it, and I have literally never been asked that question. Where I come from, be that the United States or the South, you do not ask that kind of question, ever! I mean it just never occurred to me that I might be asked that question. It should have since I live in a culture in which the people get married between the ages of 14 and 20, and I am 24 and unmarried. So, that question was one for the memory books. Then the next question makes it ever better. She asked me "Cual es los nombres de sus padres?" (What are the names of your parents?) I told her, and she had a couple more questions, and then I left school for the day. But still, her first question is about my sexuality, and the second is what are my parent's names. Really?!? What a random assortment of questions.

Those are my stories for this blog post. Guatemala continues to surprise me. Love it!

Paz y Amor