Escaping from the mold

So, firstly the usual apologies for it being nearly two months since I last wrote.  When things are slow at work I find little motivation to write about the monotony of my life, and September was REALLY SLOW.

Anyways, the most exciting news is that the rain has finally stopped, and lately there’s been this big, bright, orange ball in the sky that fills me with happiness the second it shines through my window.  It’s incredible really what a difference a little bit of sunshine makes.  Of course, it didn’t come soon enough o prevent some serious damage in other areas of my life.  My bookcase (that I built myself, handy handy) started molding and covered all my books in mold, my clothes continue to smell musty and damp, and the biggest tragedy occurred in the kitchen.

I’m a big mac and cheese from a box kid (as any of my childhood friends can attest to.  Lunch was ALWAYS mac and cheese) and along with the chocolate and nuts that keep me sane from my mom’s care packages, she’s done fabulously with satisfying my bright orange powder fettish as well.  So, one day I decide to devour the last box for lunch, and as water is boiling I’m reading the back of the box, which is all about their new organic pasta.  So water boils, macaroni goes in, and all of a sudden I realize the noodles are a slightly different color than what I’d remembered them to be.  Had it just been so long that I forgot what they looked like?  Or was it the new organic noodles that caused the green fuzzy color that soon dyed all the water green as well?  No, it was mold.  THE RAIN MOLDED MY ANNIES!  Insert tears and tantrums here.  I half contemplated trying to rinse them off and continue cooking them, but decided it was not worth the risk.  Needless to say, I am not upset that it’s not supposed to rain again heavily until May of next year.  Maybe my walls will have dried by then.

Anyways, in other news school’s out!  Summer vacation down here goes from mid October to mid January, so we have several months of not quite as structured work.  Realizing that I would probably go insane without something to revolve my time around I’ve taken up several side projects.  Not sure if I mentioned this previously but I’ve started a cooking group in one of my communities with the mothers of students.  We

teaching me to tortear. A couple of the little boys came in about 10 minutes later and could not stop laughing at my funny shaped tortillas. oh well, i ate them! p.s. i am a freaking GIANT!

usually have about 10 a week and alternate between making delicious breads and teaching them new ways to eat veggies (serious malnutrition here, which is depressing considering it’s a farming community).  We made stuffed peppers this week, and then the moms decided I needed to learn how to tortear, and I finally remembered to bring my camera to something, so one of the older girls was the photographer for the day and now I have documentation that I actually live in Guatemala.  Yay.

I’m also starting girls groups in 3 of my schools where we meet once a week and play sports and then learn about self esteem and pregnancy prevention and stds and leadership and all that jazz.  I’ve had one meeting with two of the groups and it’s been fun so far although I will admit it’s hard doing solo.  Last time I did something like this I had someone to bounce ideas off with and it really helps, and doing 3 solo is I’m sure going to wear on me, but then at least when vacation ends I’ll be ready to go back to my old work again.  Will be sure to take pictures the next time one of these happens again.

My house is coming along nicely.  I’ve painted and have built a bookshelf and put up shelves in my kitchen.  I plan on building one more and then starting gardens on my roof, and I still have a little painting left to do in my bedroom but will be sure to put up pictures once I’ve actually made it my ownJ

Anyways, sorry for the lame update, this is all I have energy for.  Will try to do better next time!

Abby

here are some pictures related to other things…

Spent a day in the terreno of my host family in nearby town Comolapa. This is my host mother walking through the corn fields. she doesn´t like to show her face in pictures

It was my nephew´s birthday, who is possibly the cutest baby alive, so we celebrated with a piñata that he actually really enjoyed

host family tortearing

November 1, dia de todos santos, is a huge kite flying festival in parts of guatemala. The main activity for kids this month is making and flying kites.

We had an outing with the directors of all our schools where we spent the majority of the day eating sweet corn. did i mention i love october?

Me hanging out with directors. This...is...awkward...

Beans are beautiful. I made about 2.5 lbs in my pressure cooker the other day. Who knew pressure cookers had a limit, but when i released the air vent thing on the top it led to a volcanic eruption of bean juice all over my kitchen walls. it was kind of exciting. beans are delicious

Just some peeps walking in one of our aldeas. the weird thing about this picture is there is a dog on a leash. i´ve seen maybe 4 since i´ve arrived here

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