After the Storm

This week I started taking Spanish classes in the afternoon with my new favorite Guatemalteca, Mileni. She is actually the coolest, and I am happy that I can pay her to be my friend. According to Mileni, Guatemalan winter is right around the corner, which means sheets of rain in Xela, for weeks at a time. I got a little preview of the upcoming months on Saturday, and I was not very happy about it. I spent most of the day inside, staring out the window while listening to Silvio Rodriguez and pouting, which in retrospect was probably a much needed respite, since last week was pretty exhausting.

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Guatemala

In Between Days

In school news, we are currently in the midst of a lice epidemic. Piojos, we meet again. Other than that, all continues to go well. This week the students had exams, so only half were at school on any given day, which made for a nice test run for the library. I still have not tired of helping the kids check out books. Their faces literally light up when they find the one they want, and then they will actually skip with glee out of the library, clutching their new books to their chests. Gets me every time.

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Guatemala

Viviendo en Sueños

After a unexpectedly eventful bus ride, I finally made it all in one piece back to Xela. About an hour into what was supposed to be a four hour bus ride, we had a breakdown. Nearly two hours later, the bus finally started running again, and the driver decided it would be a good idea to make up time by going 80mph on a one lane mountain road. An older Mayan woman I’d been seated next to on the airplane also happened to be on the same bus, and we made sad faces at each other, while her five family members seated around her puked into grocery bags for the remainder of the journey.

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Guatemala, USA

All to All

My mother claims that she knows I’m actually leaving the country once she hears me playing Cat Stevens. At the risk of being predictable, this time around my packing music has been all Whitney Houston. All Whitney, all the time. She gets me. The only thing I’ve ever wanted, really, is to dance with somebody who loves me.

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USA

Helplessness Blues

Ahhh Facebook. Thanks for reminding me what a big loser I am these days. I’m mostly kidding, but I did learn tonight thanks to Facebook saving my former status updates (Facebook! Stop creepin’ on me!) that on THIS EXACT DAY in 2009 I was packing up after spending the summer adventuring in Costa Rica and Ecuador, and on this same day a year ago I was all packed and ready to leave the 13th to start teaching in Spain. Realizing that after unpacking all my things a week ago into my Grandparents’ guest room closet made me feel like I’d taken a big leap backwards, and I had to remind myself that really in this moment I am exactly where I want to be. You have to understand a few things:

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Croatia

A Summer Wasting

Croatia! Good company and an overdose of sun, breath-taking landscapes, blue skies/seas, and pizza. What a way to end my life here. We started our trip the way I started too many of my trips this year, with yet another 4 30am wake up. We arrived in Milan groggy, but passed our 5 hour layover drinking cappuccinos and eating focaccia, while watching the fabulous, fashionable Italians prancing around the airport. We arrived in Dubrovnik and explored the old city, feeling happy to be in such a gorgeous place. I’m having a hard time describing Dubrovnik, because it’s like no place I’d ever seen before. Surrounded by water and contained within thick ancient walls, the old city’s central promenade is almost all white marble, and full of cute little outdoor cafes and restaurants. Off the promenade there are tons of narrow alleyways the ascend up a bunch of steep stairs, leading to little plazas or homes. We weren’t feeling ambitious enough to tackle the many stairs in the city or a walk around the wall, and we barely managed to split an amazing four cheese pizza before we trekked back up the 364 stairs to our apartment to die for the night.

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Spain

Nick of Time

Just returned back to Madrid after two weeks of working at a summer camp, where myself and nine other monitors gave English classes, taught sports, and put on nightly shows for 144 Spanish children, ages 7-15. My group of twelve, made up of all the youngest kids, chose ‘The Champions’ as their name, and as a result I made them sing along to ‘We Are the Champions’ and ‘We Will Rock You’ every day to start and finish class. I don’t think they hated their daily five hours of classes as much as some of the kids, and I feel good about that.

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Spain

La Despedida

Waah :( On Wednesday the time came to say goodbye to my little babies, and I’ve been feeling sad about it ever since. There is truly not a single one I don’t like, and I wish I could fast forward their lives 10 years and see how they turn out, because they are all such fantastic little humans now. They made me cards saying bye (except most of them read more like: ‘bey bey Alisa, for you, what is a great teacher’) and afterward one of my favorite boys tried for a bit to express himself in English before finally giving up and saying “Teacher Alyssa, por favor, no te vayas. Por favor.” Just about killed me. For you viewing pleasure I got a couple of videos of them, check ’em out, they’re the cutest.

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Spain

De Mis Pasos

Barca Barca Barca! What an amazing city. I’ve never been in a place with such attention to detail, I felt like everywhere I looked there was something interesting or beautiful that would catch my eye. I loved the contrast between the ancient Roman walls or Gothic cathedrals, and Gaudi’s entirely unique architecture found throughout the city. Plus, Barcelona is right on the coast so you have the ocean breezes and that ocean smell… really this might be my new favorite city in the world, it’s shame I only just discovered it now.

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Denmark

Myxomatosis

Copenhagen! I landed in my new favorite city Friday afternoon, to spend a welcome rainy weekend away from the stifling heat of Madrid. Upon my arrival we bought some supplies to make curry and set about playing King’s Cup (Danish rules are way better than American) to pass the time until Blanca arrived. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed, and by the time she landed around 1am we had played one too many games, and were all ready for bed. The next morning after a delicious breakfast of chocolate milk and an assortment of Danish pastries smothered in cheese and jam, it was time for my one day whirlwind tour. Our first stop, at the request of Blanca, was a visit to the Little Mermaid statue. On the metro ride, the homeless people that normally come with every major city were noticeably absent, and everything was just so clean and shiny and new. I also couldn’t help but notice how almost everyone was really actually stunning, working that whole blonde, tall, blue-eyed thing. Hardly seems fair to the rest of the world.

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