Always the cows

Not for the first time, my bus was substantially delayed today because there was a herd of cattle in the road.

So, what's up? It's been a long time since I asked how any of y'all are doing in the U.S. My apologies, for real. I guess that's the trap with blogs, probably. They can sometimes be self-centered little debbie-downers. No more of that now, I promise. There's plenty of things going on...small, big, complicated, terrible and beautiful without focusing in on the nitty gritty (and boring, now that I've re read it) social dynamics of a teeeeeny itty bitty part of my work.  I want to know how y'all are doing...if you know my email, cool, hit me up.  If not, then post a comment and I'll see if I think you're someone I really know or not.  And then give it to you if you are deemed to be, in fact, legit.

SO excited – tomorrow we're doing a fundraiser for the folk dance group. Lily's gonna learn how to make tamales! And then I'm going to walk 5 kilometers to go sell them in Guaitil, where apparently tamales sell like hot cakes. Or. Wait. This analogy has less power when it's used referring to food. Anyway, hopefully I'll get some photos up of that this weekend.

Speaking of photos, I just added my favorites to an album on my Facebook called, ''Las Fotos Favoritas''. Check 'em out, previously unreleased material here, haha. And I suppose they're limited edition as well...not until after Thanksgiving will I have a new camera to keep taking pictures.

Technology's funny, ain't it? Yesterday I was talking to my sister for the first time in a while and she asked if now that I had internet I wanted an iPad or a Kindle. Such a sweet offer, I was kind of like, ''Whoa, your purchasing power so far exceeds my own that I am actually intimidated.'' I think it'd be nice to have one in the future and y'all best believe that I'm going to hit up my sister for a gadget when I get home in 2013 if she's still offering. But a few minutes later as I was drifting off to sleep all I could think to myself was like...''You dummy! Why didn't you ask her for an extension cord for the fan!?''

And Sarah, if you're reading...I'm not indirectly asking you to send an extension cord, it just crossed my mind how much my priorities have changed, lol. And how I'm due for another shift in priorities again once I get back.

So close but yet so far. More like so far but yet so close. I keep having mini panic attacks when I realize that 2012 is not so far away. And after that, 2013 is not so far away. There's so much to accomplish before then. It was kind of a surprise, but a really good one a few days ago talking with a young woman in my town. She's a regular in my English classes, really dedicated and seriously trying to take advantage of all the opportunities she can to further her education. I'm gonna guess she's like...25 maybe? I started having English class in my house because so few people come now and afterward she stayed awhile and we were chatting in my ''living room''. She asked how long I'm going to be staying in my town. I said, ''Just a little less than two years now.''

Usually people are like, ''Woooow, what a long time!'' Like, why on earth would you want to spend that much time here? But this woman actually put on a playful kind of sad face and said, ''Oh no, so little?'' It made me want to hug her and I really appreciated this type of reaction that was based on her interactions with me, not the concept that she has of her own hometown. She wants me around because we get along well, not because I'm a development worker. It was a nice change.

Oh my word, I think this is what they call making a friend, haha. Not part of my host family. Not someone I met by attending meetings. Probably not someone who will turn into a stalker if I encourage friendship. I could probably even go over to her house for cafecito if I wanted to. I will, actually, just to see if my hunch is right.

Cafecito was probably the only lie that Peace Corps told me during training. That everyone would say, ''Come over some time!'' It's an open-ended invite to come over any day to drink coffee around two or three p.m. So I kept my ears open and I'll tell you what, I have had cafecito like...two times out of my house in four months. And they were at the houses of other family members in the same compound. I've gone walking around my town a few times at three p.m. just to see if anyone invites me in when I say ''¡Adiós!'' or ''¡Hola!'' or ''¡Woooo!'' as I pass, the last one being an acceptable greeting to get someone's attention when their back is to you. Nada. But really, unless you're elderly and wandering, no one's having cafecito outside their own homes in my town.

I think that's what I like best about having English class in my house. It's a lot more intimate of a setting and I feel like the few people who are coming have a better chance of getting to know me this way. For instance, today we talked about clothing and colors. I just popped into my room, grabbed some clothes and was like, ''Okay, now let's talk about these.'' Maybe I'm a lot more comfortable which makes everyone more comfortable. It's just a good mix of elements right now in the class – a small group of dedicated people that participate, a relaxed teacher who now has some experience teaching and couches instead of desks built for ten year-olds.

Another rambling post with no overall theme concluded.