Lynn feels better now!!!
              For breakfast today, we ate pancakes. Shen and Lynn came over and we left to go watch a parade in honor of the Virgen of Guadalupe. We walked to the place where the parade was supposed to pass and their were lots of people on the sidewalks waiting for the parade just like we planned to do. Shen bought some bottles of water and we sat down and watched the show. Aztec warriors danced throughout the street and behind them came floats and the disturbing "para chicos."
              After the parade passed us, we followed behind and asked when the ice skating rink would open. It was supposed to open today, but when we asked, they said it would open on Wednesday. We went to the cathedral and even though I was mostly full, we went to the French Bakery Oh La La and ate pastries and drank coffee. We went to some stores and then went home. Lynn took a nap in my bed before everyone except Oscar and I went to Chamula. Then we went to El Punto for dinner!

On Saturday, we spent a little more time at home.
                   Too early, we had to get up to be ready for Oscar's nine o'clock soccer game. We picked only Shen up because Lynn was violently ill. Oscar played what I thought of as a great game! His team won!
                   I unhappily trudged over to the other side of the bleachers where my team was waiting. For the first half, I was placed in my normal position of right mid-fielder, the first half went very well for my team and for me. I had some good moves and all together, we made four goals or so with them not scoring at all on us.
                  In the second half, I was placed in the same position but this time Profe expected me to try and get goals more. He told me where to position myself and at one point I had an assist!!!!!! A guy came at me and I passed it ahead. I thought it was going to be worthless because it seemed like the other team would get it but, Juan Pablo hoofed it and got a goal!! I was astonished as that was the closest thing I have ever gotten to a goal!!
                  There was a hand ball or foul in the box and so we got a penalty. Profe told me to kick it and I told him I didn't want to but he didn't give me a choice!! My whole team told me that I could do it and other nice things!! I was really nervous but not as nervous as I thought I would be!!!! I took a deep breath and just ran for the ball; I almost got it in but the goalie blocked it. I was disappointed but all my teammates were really nice about it by smiling at me, saying it was okay and that it didn't matter. We ended up winning by seven points. I think the score was 7-0. I was pretty happy about how I played but the game would have been complete for me if I had gotten the penalty!
                  After the game Profe told me that if he told me I was going to take a penalty, I was going to take it and I couldn't say no. I then had a feeling that he was going to force me to take more shots like that in later games.......oh great. He also told me that I am getting much better!!!! YAY!!!!
                After the game, we shopped for a chair for Dr. Jesus (Jesus in doctor-baby form). We bought a wooden one and then went home. We hung out at home for a while and then we played hearts with Shen. It was very fun!!! 

I guess it was kind of good we didn't go to school on Friday! That way we could show the godmothers around!!
                     Throughout the day, we shopped a whole lot!!! I find it really fun to just tag along and walk around the city. We chilled at our house for a bit before we went back out to go to the Virgen of Guadalupe's festival and then eat dinner.
                      Every saint's festival is different and quirky, but this one is by far the most celebrated one and it was really fun. We started to walk up the steps to reach the church at the very top when we bought some churros for a snack. We marveled at the way people had set up stands with bricks under one side of the stand to level it out! We made it up there and mass was underway, so we walked around outside and ate some tamales and drank some punch that was given to us. We walked down some stairs when my mom and I remembered to do a prayer to "la Virgen," so we stopped and said a prayer that went something like this:
"Dear Virgen,
I don't really believe you exist 
but on the off chance you do
I would love it if you would complete this wish for us
Please give us good luck for our soccer games tomorrow
Thanks"
If she really exists I have no idea why she would grant us this wish since we don't believe in her but it was worth a try!!
                   It was freezing (every night seems to get colder and colder!!) and we talked with Maya and Pao (who we saw on the andador). Maya kept asking me to give her hugs because she was so cold!! We ate dinner and then walked home.

This is the closest thing I have been to a war zone.
              Near the end of the day, the clash between the invaders and the police got close to us. Parents started to collect their children early because the police started to block off roads. Lore and I ran Vanessa's kids to the car and buckled them in as fast as we could. The teachers were all nervous and they canceled PE because all the kids were leaving.
              Evodio was joking around and told me that I have pretty eyes. I thanked him and then he said "like a cat." I play-shoved him and then he gave me a new nickname "Meow." Later on, he asked me if he could call me "Cat" (in English)! I said it was fine because to be perfectly honest, I don't mind either of those nicknames! I really wish that in Salt Lake it wasn't such a big deal to have friends that are boys (Toño and Evodio are some of my good friends) and I wish it wasn't such a big deal if a boy or girl gave a compliment to the opposite gender. In Salt Lake, if any of those things happen, people automatically think there is romantic interest involved when there is not!
              Lucerito thought she heard gunshots and ran to see what was going on. There weren't gunshots but something did happen. Wicho cried because his parents were near to where all the craziness was happening. Ana's parents drove us home after school and stopped at some roadblocks to talk to the police and tell them that they had to let some people through because there were still kids at school and some people have houses up there. We stopped at the local government office and Ricardo Sr. jumped out to tell them about that issue. They dropped us off at our house and advised my parents not to take us to school the next day.
             We skipped practice that day just like the week before this time so that we could pick up my godmothers Shen and Lynn from the airport in Tuxtla!! We packed a small overnight bag just in case the police blocked off the road back to San Cristobal! It didn't happen and we enjoyed a nice ride with my godmothers!!!
            

 Wednesday was sort of crazy!!
                  All the training that I hadn't done came down to this....... the one time to prove I could win this thing.......just kidding; it was only the day that I was going to do the Biathlon.
                  I changed into my wet suit and put on my unflattering blue swim cap to make the transition from running to swimming easier. We lined up at the starting line and then a man who did the Iron Man, shot the actual starting gun!!!! We were off. I think I was first for a few seconds before Evodio rushed past me. Favio and I kept together for the first bit but then he pulled away and I was in third. Lore was in fourth, Ana in fifth and Kevin in sixth. It stayed that way during the whole two laps we ran. I was second in the pool (because of my fast transition) followed closely by Favio who shared a lane with me. I started to do my sixteen laps and maybe around the eighth lap, Evodio asks me to "give him a chance," I gave a slight shake of my head and kept going. I was kind of insulted by the fact that he even dared to ask me. I am so competitive and I believe that the fastest should win, I was not about to slow down to "give him a chance" just to make the race more interesting. Okay, moving on, I was the first out of the pool and put my sneakers on halfway so as not to lose my chance of winning this thing. I raced out the door and tore my cap off. I finished the last lap first with second place a lap behind me!!
                   I was really happy but nervous that Evodio was going to take it too hard (I mean he is still my friend). He didn't and I got dressed and put my soaking shoes on to go get snack. While I was there, I learned that indigenous people were mad at the government for arresting ten of their leaders so, to be able to bargain with them, they kidnapped people at a city office and burned documents. It was rumored that the invaders (some indigenous people) came from Chamula. That was what got the teachers really worried, since Chamula is really close to our school. So for that reason they put padlocks on the gates and advised the kids to stay in their rooms. It was kind of exciting because there was a feeling of urgency in the air and nothing happened to us!

Soccer practice was actually sort of fun.
               I wasn't excited to go to soccer practice because of the sort of lame soccer practice the week before. It turned out to be great!!! Michel (the girl) was there and it turns out she just didn't show up the other times I came. Only two older kids showed up and that made my whole practice more enjoyable. Oscar and I had a big disagreement about if I was to be his partner or the Michel's partner. In the end it didn't matter because Profe put us into twos and threes. I feel like I played well and I felt less self-concious than the week before! I give it a nine out of ten!

A day when I talk about the Christmas tree.
                 During "homenaje" on Monday, I had to recite a memorized piece on the history of the Christmas tree that went mostly seamlessly (besides an awkward pause were I totally forgot what I had to say).
                After breakfast, first and second years took a math test. Next we had Spanish but in that time we presented our projects for History...or at least that was the plan. But it quickly changed when Eloina found out that one group hadn't done the assigned project of a movie. She told them that she expected a movie in an hour and that all the costumes they needed were in her house. The whole class except me (I was in the other group) ran to her house for last minute costumes. Karla had me present my project to her while everyone else was gone and I felt so much more comfortable that way!! She told me after I was done that as a minimum I would get a nine and maximum a ten!!! I was pleased that it wasn't hard or embarrassing at all!
               They came back soon and changed into their costumes and Karla painted their mustaches on based on how each person involved in the Mexican Independence had one. I only learned that day that the people in the Mexican Indepence (where they fought to rid themselves of the Spanish rulers) like Miguel Hidalgo and Vicente Guerrero are different from people who were involved in the Mexican Revolution (where they fought to rid themselves of a dictator) like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.
               I filmed the movie (where they talk about the characters that they are impersonating) on Andres' Ipod.
               After that was over, Pao and Lore still had to finish their math test, so I talked with Karla and Lucy (and brought them fruit) while they took the test. 

When we have to say goodbye to Mariana.
            Thursday during school was normal except for the fact that it was Mariana's last day at school. She was going to return to Mexico City because her mom finished some course she was taking for anthropology.
            The day before, Mariana and her mother invited us to their house after school the next day. My parents offered to drive Oscar, Yair, Mariana and I to Mariana's house. So that is where we were after Mariana said many countless goodbyes as three boys in her class cried (those were the ones that had a crush on her because besides of how awesome she is, was the only girl in an all-boy class.)
            My parents dropped us off at her house and we ate a delicious lunch of macaroni and chicken. We walked to her neighbor's house to play in his backyard; it is bigger than our backyard in Salt Lake!! The guy who owns it has many animals and a mini-farm back there. We spent our time exploring, playing secret agents, carrying Mariana, and me protecting Yair from the over-hyper dog Pearl (Yair is scared of all dogs bigger than his chihuahua).
            We took some pictures on photo booth and then walked back to Mariana's house to bake a cake. In the end, the cake was delicious but we did something wrong so it was more like Budin (an Argentinian dessert). My parents came and the kids played a game similar to exquisite corpse as we laughed and listened to music.
            None of us wanted to say goodbye. Mariana and I hugged for something like ten minutes and she told me that I was one of her best friends. She almost cried then and I almost cried while we walked back to the car. I think of her as my little sister and I was very sad to see her go.

When I get tired of thinking.
                    On Wednesday I arrived at school in my fancy-shmansy uniform so that at 8 o'clock (in Mexican time: 8:30) Monica could take Emma, Ricardo (Ana's little brother), Yair and I to the Math Olympics. We ate quesadillas and then after a while of saying good-bye to friends and standing around, we finally left in Monica's red sedan.
                   We arrived there cold and more than a little confused; as Monica registered us we stood around and talked. We ate a sandwich, some juice and a banana while everyone else sang the anthem and listened to a speech. Then we walked around in circles trying to find out where all of us were going to take the test. There were too many kids to fit into the number of rooms they thought they would need, so they opened another and that is where Emma, a bunch of other kids and I took our test.
                  We were given four hours to take a test of four questions that were not easy!!! At one point, I was trying to solve this problem that asked how many numbers there were between 1 and 2012 that were divisible by two but not by three! I started a list of numbers divisible by two and and then crossed out every third number (those were the ones divisible by three). I made it all the way to one thousand and as I paused to take a break, the teacher saw my work and said, "Oh that is too long!! There is a shorter way; try using numbers." I thought,  'Lady, I am using numbers' and as much as I wanted to just keep going, those words burst my bubble in which I thought I could really write over a thousand numbers. I later figured out another way to solve the problem. In the end I solved three out of four (the fourth I just left blank).
                During the test, I looked out the open door and saw Ricardo wandering around aimlessly and for some reason that made me speed up and try to finish everything faster. I finished soon and after turning my test in, I walked out and found Ricardo. When he saw me he gave me a big hug and asked me how it went. Evidently, I was the second of our group of four to finish. We walked around in the weather that seemed to show signs of an oncoming rain. Yair came out next and felt a little less sure about the test than Ricardo (who seemed to think it was easy).
              We waited around before Emma finally came out, and remembering Monica's promise to let us leave after the four of us finished, we set out with the goal of finding Monica and leaving. That hope was swiftly deemed as un-likely because she thought Emma was going to take a long time, so she went into a teacher room to grade exams.  We were waved away by other teachers every time we tried to reach Monica. We stood outside the room and fantasized about how we could buy food (we were starving) and leave this cold place. The suggestions were anywhere from: Asking a teacher if we could borrow money (Yair's suggestion); to stealing Monica's car, selling it and then with the money, buying food and getting a taxi back to school (my idea). We never went through with any of these ideas and when Eloina came to pick us up, Ricardo and Yair ran to her and gave her a big hug because she was our ride home.
               We arrived back at school and my class was going to have math and after I claimed that I was tired of thinking, they let me sit and knit instead!!!

On Tuesday, I found out that I was to participate in the Math Olympics the next day.
                      The title is about the only thing I remember from school that day, but, soccer practice is still vivid in my mind!
                      After getting suited up in the car, we walked across the field and we started practicing. This time, Profe split us up into groups of age so that Oscar and I are in different groups and we start to do some drills. At one point, we were running backwards and I caught the bottom of my cleats into the loop of my other shoelace and I fell on my butt!!!! How embarrassing!!! I felt so stupid but I just clenched my teeth, got up and tried to keep going! Out of ten, my practice was probably a six just because of that awkward mess-up, the feeling of not playing well and the possible fact that I am the reason some boys on my team have learned to swear in English (oh goody goody).

Today I felt very comfortable with my class.
           This morning it was extremely cold and since the teacher didn't show up for a bit, Anita and I talked for a while in the frozen morning. Breakfast was very good (bread with a sausage and bean sauce) but the bread was not plentiful so I did not get a lot!
           Lore and I had math again and while I was bored, I drew swirls on my hand in a red pen that Lore had. During Spanish, Karla finished dictating about famous authors --a project we started more than a month ago. During snack, Lore and I held the adorable newborn (Dylan--Karla's son) and showered him in kisses. He kept going cross-eyed and making funny newborn sounds!
          Next I had English but instead, Rosie (the art teacher) came in and talked to us about the Christmas performance in which we are going to do a choreographed dance in which we are all toys under a Christmas tree. I forgot to mention this earlier but I am going to be Tinkerbell!!!!! When Rosie first suggested this to me I was like NO WAY but everyone kept saying how I would be perfect for it and blah blah blah so then I made a deal with Maya. The deal was that I would be Tinkerbell if she would be a fairy with a skirt. So my doom is sealed and I have recently been looking up homemade TinkerBell dresses!! I found this cool one that I can make out of a t-shirt!
        Rosie had us do the mirror exercise where one person does actions and the other has to copy them. That would have been very un-awkward, but then she told us we had to do it in boy-girl partners. She put Evodio with Ana, Diego with Lore, Pao with Kevin and then tried to put me with Andres but since Toño didn't have a partner we begged to be partners and in the end she let us. Just looking at Toño made me laugh so when she told us to try to make the other laugh I immediately lost.
        I was glad to be his partner and I had a fun time goofing around. After Art we had Geography but Karen turned it into Civics and Ethics. We watched a video on youtube about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and we got homework related to it. After school, we didn't do a whole lot besides listen to music from YouTube, do homework and eat but it was very relaxing. Well, I am off to eat some cupcakes!!

Such a cozy day, which is a sharp contrast to the freezing cold of the day before!.
            I woke up relatively early and got right to work on my day's plan of trying to finish many things.  After I was denied access to the TV from my mom (also an early bird....then again, the only other early bird), I took a shower. After that, I finished the last small part of my homework that I had left before I ate breakfast. I read before we got ready to go to Merposur to buy cowboy shirts.
           We took a taxi to Merposur which is pretty much a market where you can buy everything!! I had very little hope that we would actually find cowboy shirts (which by our definition are shirts that have western patterns on it and it HAS to have snaps; without snaps it is simply un-acceptable as a cowboy shirt). I found a really cute blue and green one and Oscar found a nice blue one.
            We then took a combi (colectivo)--which is a minibus that is extremely cheap and goes most places in town--and got off near the Santo Domingo Church so that we could visit their museum. The museum is new and looked very nice and it was very informative (if I had read the signs) and interesting.
            We left the museum and stopped at a bakery on the way home. We sat in the cozy warm loft and ate yummy pastries and sipped creamy hot chocolate as we chatted before going home so that I could skype with two friends before we went to bed. I had great times talking with them and I love skype/facetime!!

Finally, a soccer game I am mostly proud of.
         At eight thirty in the morning, I woke up to the cold house. I got ready for my soccer game and stepped outside to see how the temperature was. It was pretty cold. I put on my long-sleeved soccer jersey with the longest shorts I own (they are blue and down to my knees) and matching blue socks. We arrived there and it was colder even! I guess I should be glad that our uniforms have long-sleeves but I can't get too excited about it because there is mesh in the back. That means that I have to wear an undershirt...argh!!!
          My team starts to do the cheer and I am a little away from the group when Pepe tells me to join them. Then they pull out a cheer that I have never heard anyone practicing before and I am just standing there listening with my arms folded. Not in a grumpy way just because I don't have anything else to do with them. The first half was sloppy and by the end of it, we were down 2-1. During halftime, there was this paper that everyone had to put their name and number on. When it was my turn, Michelle (the boy) who wrote everyone else's names on it just handed the pencil to me because he had no idea how to spell my name. I wrote it down with my stiff hand as everyone craned to see what I had written.
           The part I was most proud of was when someone passed me the ball and I started dribbling down the line. Dribbling is very rare for me and it got even rarer when no one stole the ball from me. So anyway, I see Michelle out of the corner of my eye and I try to pass it to him, it bounces off the legs of the person who is following me and comes back to me. I pass it again and this time it goes through the guy's legs and to Michelle. What made that moment even greater was when I was dribbling and passing I could hear Profe saying stuff like "good job Yur" and other nice things. That made me feel really good especially because during halftime he told me I need to patrol my area (in a way of speaking). At one point, the ball slammed into my thighs (I was trapping it) and then a boy behind me (on the other team) slams into my back and I lurch forward with a strangled sound. I stagger forward as the referee calls a foul on his part. It didn't hurt but I am glad that I got a foul out of that one! As we were about to start play, the boy who slammed into me came over and asked me if I was okay, that was nice. Michelle was also fouled during the game and later the guy came up to him, put his arm around his shoulder and says "I'm sorry about that, no hard feelings" (as far as I could tell). In the U.S. we generally just say "sorry" as if it is their fault and then walk away. I am included in that "generally."
           We lost 3-2 but I was pleased of how I did. After that freezing game, we went to Jesus' (Doña Lesvia's grandson's) first birthday party. We are thinking that the first birthday is very important after going to that party. They had: a cake that was as tall as a wedding cake, ten piñatas in different characters, prizes for people who did competitions and a bunch of candy. It was very nice even though we were cold. A guy came around with hot pineapple punch and would refill your cups for you and for the adults, he would give you a little alcohol in it!! There were a lot of funny games that people played and it was very fun! None of the women would let us leave without food so we came home with a lot of food.
           I did a little homework before Oscar and I watched Despicable Me. I really love that movie!! The minions are the best part!
         We ate some more turkey for dinner before we watched another two episodes of Heroes! (Emery, I am on Season 2, episode 6 I think. What about you?)

We skipped school on Friday to cook, or so we thought.
            Oscar and I woke up on Friday morning and after preparing ourselves breakfast, we ate while watching Pirates of the Carribean which was two and a half hours long (I don't think my parents really noticed!). After the movie finished, we got dressed and made some apple cider before I took a shower in order to be ready for when Lore came over to help cook. We made mashed potatoes and set the table before everyone else came.
            In my opinion the food was delicious and I had a lot of fun. Emma, Lore and I played a game where one person stands on the lounge chair and the other people try to hit them with a mini-soccer ball!! It was pretty fun, if hard.
            The pie was outstanding and it was my very favorite part. After everyone else left, Lore, Oscar and I had a blind pillow fight. Lore and I also tried to play "slide" (a hand clap game) and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't make it to ten. We would always burst out laughing or mess up!
            Our fake Thanksgiving night was very fun and I think it was a success!

"Is that a girl? Oh my god, it's a girl!" Those were the words that came out of my mouth at soccer practice. But more about that later.
         On Thursday this time during PE we did obstacle courses instead of standing on our heads the whole time. I was glad for the change even though I am awful at dribbling a basketball through cones that are too close together. I suppose there is always a trade-off, right?!
        After we did those races, we convinced Triceratops to let us play basketball this time instead of soccer. I was on a team with Evodio, Lore, Pao and Emma. I got sandwiched many times because of my willingness to get the ball. One time, Toño slammed into me and I fell over; he gave me a hand up. In general when you accidentally foul someone or knock someone over, they help you up and try to make sure that they didn't hurt you too bad. We ended up losing but it was fun regardless of who won.
       After our seemingly routine shopping trips to Soriana, we went to soccer practice where I said, "Is that a girl? Oh my god, it's a girl!" I greeted Profe and then Oscar and I did the whole sashaying thing that we always do to warm up before we practice. I did mine next to the girl; I was so excited she was there that I introduced myself (I rarely do that) and we got to talking. Her name is Michel; she is ten years old; her brother is Javier (he is also on the team) and her parents are forcing her to play. Oscar and I were going to be partners for the drills but Profe put me with Michel (probably Michelle but this is how they pronouce her name and plus I don't want to get her name confused with the boy) so that she could "work with confidence" as Profe put it.
        She had very little soccer experience from what I could tell, so it  was a little hard to work with her but I was just happy to have another girl in our midst. Profe saw that we weren't quite at the same level so he switched Michel to work with Alfredo and Erick came to work with me. That was a lot better and I feel like we are a good match for each other. Profe told us to play keep-away and when we ran past Gabriel (Erick's older brother) while I had the ball and Gabriel said "Ohhhh, Erick, a girl is beating you ohhhh, Erick," I felt kind of like hehe or mwah-haha!!
       Out of ten, soccer practice on Thursday was probably a nine; I was pretty pleased with how I did. If every practice were around those numbers I wouldn't complain!
        When we got home, we ate pizza we had picked up on the way and started to make pies for our Thanksgiving dinner that is going to take place on Friday so that we can stay up later. 

I goofed around with people in my class a lot today.
               During Physics, we solved some problems using formulas. Lore and I played with the babies before breakfast; one of whom gets the same face Oscar does when he tries not to smile!
              We had some surprisingly good empanadas that Lucerito (the cook) had to drain (the oil from it) with her spatula! That probably would be considered "unhealthy" in the United States, though I would like to point out that the school system (in the U.S.) was fine with giving me and my classmates green and bouncy hotdogs......That is not even all...I don't want to make you all lose your appetites so if you would like to know those other stories about U.S. school lunches, you can comment or email me about it!
              We had History class before we had a practice for the biathlon. For the practice, we stretched and then ran four laps. For the actual race it will only be two but we are doing more for practice. Most people started too fast and by the second lap or so, the only ones left running were Evodio and me. Evodio could have beaten me if he hadn't started walking fifteen meters from the goal! So I beat him at that part though if it is only two laps and then swimming.... I better pick up the pace!
              I changed and then did the sixteen laps followed by ten laps around the pool and then got back in the pool to recuperate. Evodio and I splashed each other and just goofed around before we were forced to get out. I got out and handed my goggles to Mafer; I unzipped my wet suit (most people wear those while swimming in my school) and peeled it down to my waist. Don't worry I wear a normal suit underneath because it is easier to change out of at the end of class and once when I didn't where it, there was a little bit too much water circulation in parts where I don't want it!
              I changed into my normal clothes and ate some watermelon for snack. During art class, we talked about what we are going to do for our Christmas celebration. The teachers want us to do a big collage of talents meaning they want us to dance, sing etc. I don't want to do any of those things in public so when she asked what we wanted to do, I said well maybe I could do some flips on the bar or something. She sort of chuckled when I said that and then said well I guess you could.
            After school, we went home and had our Spanish lessons!
Good Night!!

This would never happen in the United States!!
            Even though I showed up ten to fifteen minutes late yesterday morning, I was still the third person at school! Lorena doesn't really count because she comes with her dad (the teacher of the class) to school every morning. Occasionally--only halfheartedly-- does Eloina try to lecture us on coming to school on time because she knows that time is something not heavily regarded here and that some times, the teacher is even late.
          After breakfast (in which we had delicious hot chocolate), our whole class (or who was there, that is) piled into the car, this time with less squeezing. Three kids from our class didn't show up so there was more room. Karla with her newborn baby sat in shotgun with her husband driving us. Karla got back today! I am really happy because she is my favorite teacher!! She has to take her baby in a sling to teach classes and in the case of yesterday, to parades also. She would have left him at home with someone but he won't take a bottle so to be able to breastfeed him, she has to carry him around!
          After hunting around for a parking space, we jumped out and stood on the side of the road to watch the Day of the Revolution parade. The parade was pretty much groups of kids from almost all the schools in San Cristobal parading the streets and showing off their skills (mainly pyramids, jump roping and pom-pom dancing). We watched in the sun and it was more fun than it seems. At one point, Wicho (a kid from my soccer team) came down the street with his school group and for what felt like an eternity, our eyes locked. Now, I wish I could have had the class to smile but I guess I am slow about those social things.
          We had to leave before it was really over because we heard that these indigenous people were really pissed at the president of some local thing and were trying to kidnap/kill/protest against him depending on who you talk to. We drove straight back to school despite the pleas of seventh, eighth and ninth graders who wanted to go anywhere before we had to go to school. When I say they wanted to go anywhere to waste a little time before going back to school, I mean ANYWHERE. They even asked to go to Soriana (a new supermarket), that's how desperate they were!!
        Upon arriving, we had a short class (taught by Karla) before her husband substitute taught us PE. I like his form of teaching us PE (playing games) better!! We played hide and seek and as Julian (just a kid) counted to thirty, I started to climb a big knarled tree for my hiding spot as Yair said "tipico"(typical). I just smiled. Since I have been here I climb up on a bar and do flips. Now people thinking of me as part monkey (not in the racial sense) because of how much I love to do flips, much to the anxiety of my teachers and classmates! 

Maya's birthday was very fun for me even though it wasn't my birthday!!
---            Monday was nothing very special but that doesn't mean it was a very bad day. Lorena didn't come to school, so that was a little saddening, but at least I have Mafer, Maya, Paola and Ana.
---            Again on Tuesday, Lorena didn't come but I had more fun this day than the day before. Tuesday was Maya's fifteenth birthday and for most traditional Mexicans, that is a big deal. When a girl turns fifteen, they generally throw a big party because it is considered when a girl becomes a woman. Many people gave her flowers and chocolate and she gave everyone a little red candle shaped like a rose. I thought it was very generous of her to give people something when it was HER birthday to begin with.
                Before breakfast, Maya (who we all call Masha), Ana, Paola, Mafer and I went to the forest to do a little celebration for Maya. Ana and Mafer smuggled out a little ding-dong-like thing for her and lit a match so that she could blow it out like a candle. Maya gave us each a bite of her little birthday treat and then Ana (I think it was) shoved it in her face so she had sweet white sugar cream on the right side of her face. Pao took pictures of us with her camera (she wants to be a photographer when she grows up) and then we went for another photo location at the treehouse. We walked down back to the school and barely avoided missing breakfast even though Lucerito threatened!! Yair (Mariana's best friend) who is a sixth grader gave me chocolates; when I asked him why he was giving them to me he just replied "They're just for you." They were very good I may add!!
                  Over the course of the day, I gave Maya many hugs and said Happy Birthday three times. We got into a disagreement that started when I said I loved her; then she said "I love you more" then of course I had to counter that my saying "No, I love you more." Now that sounds like a fight a lesbian couple would have, but I think in general, people here are more lovey with their friends.
             The best part about soccer practice was when I beat all the boys (in my age group) three times in a row in a running race. I could hear them saying "no mames" and laughing in disbelief!! In your faces!!!
---        Wednesday, we accidentally went to breakfast early after sitting in the sun as the Math teacher pulled small groups out for math.  Our swim teacher told us about a race that we are going to do. It is a race where we run these two laps around the school grounds, then take off our sweats under which we will have our wet suits. We will dive into the water and do 16 laps. Then we will get out, do one more lap and that's where it will end. I am going to enter the race y tengo ganas de ganar (exact translation is unknown but it roughly means and I really want to win). I plan to train a little on the weekends. My advantage will be in the water (I may be the fastest swimmer in the class). I am not too bad a runner but I am nervous that with the laps first, I won't pace myself and will be very tired by the time we get to swimming.
            We did a practice circuit and even though he said jog lightly, from the moment he said go, I knew this would be no light jog. By the end of the running I was in third place. Judging by that, the transition (where we take off our sweats and shoes to get into the water will be crucial. After a run through of the race, we sat on the grassy hill with Mariano (who is filling in for Karla while she is on Maternity leave) and he read our palms. I will do a summary of what he said for me: I will get a nine out of ten in money; I will have a job in design or natural sciences (I highly doubt that). When he was telling everyone about how love would go for them he looked at my palm, stared up at me and goes ohhhhhh you should talk with me later (he didn't specify so I don't know what he was implying exactly). He also said that when I get sick it will generally be stomach problems and that I am very sensitive so I need to do some sort of art to balance it out otherwise it will cause me harm. I doubt the probability of most of this stuff but it was fun to hear about anyhoodle!
---       On Friday we worked like crazy for another festival (we are practically doing one every week!). For and hour or more, Pao and Toño would pass us banana leaves they had just heated on the stove, then I would pull off the coarse fiber then pass it to Lorena who would wipe it off with a towel. Lore whispered something to Toño and then he turns to me and goes "que si" restarting a disagreement that Lore and I had concerning Evodio's relationship with me. As I mentioned earlier, she thinks Evodio likes me and I disagree. Lore now has Toño on her side and then they call Evodio over and say "que si verdad" (trying to get him to agree with them even though he has no original knowledge of our little "disagreement"). He looks at me as I tell him to say no and after a brief talk in which he asks us which would be better for him he throws his hands up and walks away, sick of not getting any previous information. Then Toño pulls him to the side and tells him what it's about. Upon hearing this, Evodio says "no, solo somos amigos" (no, we're just friends). He says to Toño and Lore, "Like you guys, just friends," then whispers to me on a side note "Well, not them" because we both agree that they like each other though they won't admit it!
          We worked a bit more before we started eating because we were famished. In addition to eating tortillas with mole we also ate a noodle-vegetable-broth soup that tasted even better than it probably was because of our empty stomachs. I sort of love it when your taste buds--so hungry for taste--fool you into thinking this is food from the heavens!
         For the festival, most of the kids from primary stood up and talked about a character from the Mexican Revolution. Maya, Lore and I (unwilling to put on skirts) drew mustaches over our lips for our costume. The teachers and parents lit mini-campfires on sheets of metal to give the atmosphere of a camp where rebel soldiers lived. In this festival they were especially celebrating the women of the revolution who (as Eloina told me) "traveled from camp to camp making tortillas for the soldiers." Okay fine, she also told me that they acted as nurses and cooks but that part of what she told me sounded the funniest when telling why women were so important to the revolution.
        The middle school kids (aka me and my class mates) served food and ran games after the presentation. We drove Ana and her family home and then they invited us for some coffee. The kids played Clue and Monopoly before we went home to get some sleep.
---       My family had to get up earlier than we had wished for to stand at some inauguration for a little soccer field. No one on my team payed attention for more than 2 minutes so once it was over we went home and didn't think much more about it.
---      On Sunday, I did my homework and stayed in my pajamas all day; note to self: follow Emery's advice next time and get out of your pajamas before eleven am.
---      Today we didn't have school because of the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, so we went to a tea shop that reminds me of Butterfly Herbs (in Missoula, Montana) and is really nice. We were going to try to check my math book but because the computer kept going really slow, we barely got any work done. That was frustrating but oh well... For everyone reading this, you guys know that I have had a pixie cut for about a year now.... well I recently decided to grow my hair out again because:
a) everyone in my class thinks I would look better with long hair
b) I am now wishing for a pony tail
c) maybe if I don't sort of look like a boy I will be more accepted on my soccer team as a girl.
Most of you who read that are probably thinking something along the lines of "She shouldn't do something just because other people want her to..." but I don't mind that. I could use a change of pace. Now, my game plan: AVOID THE MULLET AT ALL COSTS. Therefore at 4 o'clock, I went to get a trim at a hair salon.
           Really soon we will watch an episode of Heroes (both of my parents have very little energy and feel sick) before we go to sleep!!
Good Night!

GO OBAMA!!!!!!
---                 After school on Monday, Oscar and I went rock climbing. It was challenging (because I haven't practiced in months) and fun. I ripped a callous which was not optimal but I survived.
---                On Tuesday, the Biology teacher had it out for my whole class. She starts out with "today I am going to check your notebooks, you should have all of these in them (respiratory system, digestive system......)" knowing perfectly well we had little more than none of those. How she can do that while smiling at us, I have no idea. She then says, "Since you don't have it now, I want you ALL to do it for Thursday (our next Biology class)." I knew then, I was in for it. I called my dad and told him I wouldn't be able to go to soccer due to an emergency homework session. He understood and told me it was okay for me to skip one practice.
                 After school, we went home; Oscar really really didn't want to go without me though it is possible he was unintentionally working himself up. He was crying so I helped him get dressed (he had asked me before to try and convince dad to let him stay home and since I quickly found that a useless cause, I decided I would try to make it easier for him to go). After he left tear-streaked in the van with my parents and Papa Tom (who was going to watch him), I sat down and got to work on my project that seemed big but I didn't realize how enormous it was until I started writing explanations. To imagine my project, think about the Asian legend where this guy uses chopsticks and moves grains of rice one at a time.....yeah....it took me more than four hours I think!!!
              I was bent on watching the election so I sat at a table doing my homework while my family gave me updates about the ways that the states were going and such. I stopped to eat dinner and watch the part where the channel announced which candidate had to win. I am pleased Obama won because I cannot imagine having such a lying, doofus, fake, creepy man (ahem...aka Romney) for President. Though Obama had his faults and didn't do some of the things we wish he had done, we think he is still a great man and we have hope he can help turn things around.
---              On Wednesday, my grandparents had to leave. We were all very sad because they are such good company. Papa Tom and JoJo, if you are reading this, I thank you deeply for leaving my room better than it was when you guys had it!!!! I miss you guys!! After school, I still had to finish my Biology project so I finished that before I went to sleep.
---              The part of Thursday that really stood out to me was soccer practice. Profe only had us do drills that were challenging but not impossible. Oscar and I were partners so I did not have the awkward time of waiting for Profe to choose some younger kid to work with me. Profe used me as an example of a drill we were going to do with headers. I am generally not great with headers but that time it all worked out and I headed all three right to him. Another accomplishment was that when we were practicing juggling, I felt like I could actually make it most of the time.
                 When Profe told us to get into triplets, we kind of stood around wondering who could be our third person. Without even waiting, Profe told Fernando (the smiley) to be our third person. We were very pleased and the whole time we did group drills, we laughed, talked and smiled. When we did the scrimmage, I made a goal!!! That practice was the best practice I have ever had here. I wouldn't have changed anything about it.
---             On Friday, we went to San Diego's festival; we played foosball for probably a half hour (we all really enjoyed playing that) and then ate some churros. There was a lucha libre performance that none of my family seemed to enjoy as much as we liked the idea of watching it. Then we shot BB guns at little metal levers that when you hit them it would activate music and dancing puppets. It was very fun to do!
---             On Saturday, I went to Lorena's birthday breakfast with her family. In the U.S. when they say a family birthday they generally mean their siblings and parents; here they invite cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and even more distantly related family members! Also when they say birthday party it means like a WHOLE day party. It was really fun because I met a lot of cool cousins I didn't even know she had and we played some fun party games.
                At one point Lorena (who I had been sticking with practically the whole time), went to go set something up and told me to wait where I was. Monica--who is the cousin who was around at the time- started asking me questions. First she asked me if I had relatives in the United States and when I told her that I was from the United States, she was gob-smacked! I was kind of surprised she didn't just automatically assume that's where I was from. So, apparently I sound mostly like a Mexican! She proceeded to interrogate me about the U.S. The question I thought was the funniest was when she asked me if there are a lot of carpets in the U.S. and once I answered that, yes, there were many, she then questioned how they kept them clean! I said normally they have a welcome mat or something similar and that it depends in what climate you live in. I forgot to mention that in the U.S. most people have vacuums which is pretty much essential for living in carpeted places. She also asked if most things are industrial and gave me some examples of things she thought there were a lot of in the U.S. (pre-made microwaveable food, big stores etc).
              We played musical chairs (I tied for first); we played a game where everyone ties a balloon to thier ankle and then tries to keep theirs out of reach while attempting to pop others (I was the first to lose because my ballon popped with the sun), and then we played basketball. That was pretty fun until I was accidentally elbowed in the face by Lupita (one of Lorena's many cousins), though she gave me a big hug and said she was so sorry. I didn't blame her and it was kind of funny how part of my lip ballooned up!
               For Lorena's gift I gave her a a picture of her and me in our costumes for the Day of the Dead festival! She seemed to really like it and gave me a big hug after she opened it!

Day of the Dead like you have never seen it before.

                At school, we did less preparation one and two days before the big Day of the Dead festival than one would expect. Of course we made up for it the day of. Whenever Eloina puts "8am-12pm normal classes" for everyone before a festival, know that it will really be 8-9am (or in my case 7-9am) normal classes before we start in on the organized chaos Eloina and the teachers like to call "set up."

                The only kind of preparation for the Day of the Dead celebration I did on Monday and Tuesday was make "pan de muerto" or dead bread or more likely bread of the dead. All the women who were making bread told me to come in again and again because according to them, I have soft hands which makes the dough soft also. At one point Lucerito (the cook) told me "Wille, will you just make all the bread?!" Of course, she was joking, but I did end up making most of it in the end.

               "Set up" on Wednesday for me started with washing pumpkins for a sweet pumpkin soup with Paola. After, I went over with Maya and Lore to help them set up the giant altar - which for all the time they had been "working" on it - had come along very little. We taped up "papel picado" (think square multi-colored snowflakes made by 3rd and 4th graders) on all the levels of the altar then we started in on the marigolds. I brought an armful and a bucket full of flowers to use for the altar; we put some in "vases" made out of chlorine holders for the pool. The rest of the flowers got their heads cut off to make a path of marigolds to the altar. Then we decked out the altar with offerings of sugar cane, bread of the dead and other little candies. There was one bread of the dead that was only half of one, and my art teacher, Lore and I ate it very suspiciously as crumbs fell from our mouths!
                After we finished the altar, Lore and I walked around seeing all the little kids get ready for their speaking part in our presentation. We kept trying to avoid getting dressed for the reading of legends. I didn't want to change into my dress because I was nervous how people in my class would react. In the end Lore and I got changed in a guest room in her grandma's house (which is right next to the school). I got into my dress and self-consciously put my hoodie over it. I walked around to the classrooms to check on my little friends. I was in one classroom when Evodio came by and seeing the bottom of my dress, he made a pose and then I pretended to punch him in the face. After that I was nervous he or anyone else would tease me more. But then the next thing I knew, he is telling me how I should wear the shawl (that Eloina let me borrow) with my dress! Then, Maya tells me that I look gorgeous so that makes me feel better. She gently forces me and Lore to put lipstick on and tells me to take my sweatshirt off.

Evodio's pose, more or less!

                The little kids line up to say their speaking parts and I stand with Lore, Maya and Evodio who mans the smoke machine. It's a job he seems to really enjoy! After the little kids' turn, they pull out a giant armchair for the story tellers (Maya and Paola) to read in. As Maya starts reading her legend, Lore (who is dressed as a nurse who is one of the characters from that legend) walks around to set the scene. While Maya reads, Evodio trains the smoke machine on her so that occasionally when the smoke is really bad she pauses till the smoke clears. Then it is Pao's and my turn. Pao starts to read and I cover my face with my shawl because the character I am playing is one who disfigures herself (by throwing coals on her face) because she is sick of being liked for her looks and wants to be recognized for who she really is on the inside. I walk around people with my face covered up and at one point I am walking behind Pao's armchair when the top part of my shawl falls off my head. I quickly walk over to Lore where she rights the shawl and I continue walking!
              The thing is a big success and we all gather in the kitchen after a picture and a change of clothes to eat bread, sweet pumpkin soup and tamales. Once Mariana got her makeup off (she was covered in it) she gave me many many hugs to make up for the ones she missed! I ran upstairs to get my backpack and I was out the classroom door when I thought Evodio said something. So I walked back to the door and say "Que?" (what?), and Evodio told me that I needed to say goodbye to him properly. I sighed and went over to give him a kiss on the cheek and went back out the door. Then I realized I need my other bag, so I got up,  got the other one and was at the top of the stairs when Evodio said again "Say goodbye to me properly." I stuck my tongue out at him and walked down the stairs. (And Lorena says he has a crush on me, can you believe it!!). My principal wouldn't let me leave the school without bringing food home so the next night we had left-overs. Note: here they call Day of the Dead, Día de Muertos instead of Día de los Muertos!

             Since we had Thursday and Friday off, we visited some different places to see how the different places celebrate the same holiday. On Thursday, my grandparents, dad, brother and I went to Romerillo which is a small town outside of San Cristobal that is not a hot spot for tourists. Once we realized how heavy the traffic was, we backed up and parked a bit away from the actual cemetery. What we saw was very different from what we expected. We expected indigenous people to be talking with their dead with shawls over there heads; what we really saw was a little fair set up with rides, stalls to buy food and clothes and men so drunk they were passed out cold on the ground. Families were gathered around the graves but it was still very different from what we had imagined. The typical offerings were flowers and a coke (how sad).
             We left after a short time there to make it back to our house in time to get ready for a Day of the Dead gathering at Doña Lesvias house. We got there and the family band sang (as beautifully as ever) and we ate delicious homemade food!
             My mom went home to work some more while the rest of us went to the market to shop for her birthday presents.
            The next day (Friday), Oscar and I stayed home to relax while the adults went to a cemetery to see the celebrations there. When they came back, we went to TierraAdentro (a really cool coffeeshop where I am writing this post from) and played games while we ate lunch. After we left, we went across the street to a lotion-natural-body-stuff store and secretly bought something for my mom's birthday.
          On Saturday, while my mom got a birthday massage with a professional masseuse, Oscar and I took Papa Tom and JoJo to get some things to make a cake for my mom. We went home, looked for recipes and realized we needed more ingredients. Papa Tom and JoJo went out and got the missing ingredient and we got to work....until we realized we needed another thing. Then they went out again to get flour (which we had some of but not enough). In the meantime I did what I could until they got back. We hurried more near to the end of the cake-making process because my mom was coming home and we were going to a museum. We used frosting that Auntie Sarah froze for us while she was here, (Thank you very much for making that,  Sarah; it saved us a lot of time.)
       We went to Sergio Castro's museum for a tour. Sergio Castro is a person that treats wounds for people who can't afford a real doctor. All the treatments he does are free of cost; he works seven days a week even though he is seventy something and not getting any younger. We got a tour, gave a donation and watched him treat a wound (even though it was roughly 7 o'clock at night!)
        After that, we went to Entropia (our favorite restaurant) to celebrate my mom's birthday. After another delicious meal, we went home and my mom opened her presents and ate cake.
       Sunday was sort of a weird day; we drove to Chamula to show our grandparents the amazing church there. The moment we opened the door to our car, indigenous kids swarmed us. They tied bracelets on our wrists quicker than you would think possible. They started out saying: "It's a gift; It's a gift" then "You can pay for it later" then "Pay for it now." We paid way more for them than they were worth but we finally escaped. We went inside the smoke-filled church. It was illuminated by candles and there were floral banners that seemed the sort of thing you would find in Connie's house (my piano teacher). It smelled of smoke and pine needles that were strewn over the floor. I heard chanting that the indigenous were doing to pray to a saint. The saints were in glass boxes because in the past, whenever one of their prayers wasn't answered, they would punish the statue--sometimes by sticking the statue's head in the ground--take that!!!
       We walked back to the car and again were surrounded by indigenous children. They told us we needed to pay for the bracelets that we had already paid for. Two of them wouldn't leave us alone and  when my dad tried to close the driver side drawer to drive away, one put her weight against it to keep it open. My dad started yelling at her to leave us alone, but she wouldn't. So he pushed her and quickly shut the door. Not one of his brightest moments but it had to be done. (Generally the people here are not aggressive like that, so that was weird.)

           

A week in which we go half a block from heaven.

                    Highlights from the past week:

---          On Monday, we went out to buy ingredients for our international food that we were going to prepare for Wednesday. This was the day we were going to have a presentation for the parents, showing our work for Geography. We each had to choose a recipe from the country we were researching on and then the whole class would help prepare them. My country was Mexico (one of the kids from 7th grade had to do it and since I am coming here to learn about Mexico, why not me?) so I chose a delicious soup (called pozole) with chicken, pork, garlic, onion, a sort of chile and radish.

               We went to a little market and with the money that we had gotten from the first food sale, we bought all the ingredients with that and then went back to school to prepare for a while. I cut onions with Evodio and he kept saying to me as my eyes watered, "Don't cry" -- but jokingly of course. Then we both tried to make ourselves cry and our eyes got extremely watered up. It was actually pretty fun!

---        On Wednesday we had the big presentation. We cooked like crazy practically all day to make up for the missed days of cooking. We were running around and talking as we cooked for the majority of the day. You know when you have been cooking a lot when the little kids actually come and sit next to you and watch you cook just to get to talk to you!! The younger kids did their presentations first but then after a while, we were
all called to go to the little kids of pre-school who had dressed up in the traditional costumes of each country. No kid dressed up for Mexico but one of them held the flag anyway. We are getting positioned in line but none of us could figure out what the heck we were supposed to be doing. We asked Eloina multiple times but finally sorta-kinda figured out what we were going to say. We started walking around the parents but before we had even
gotten half way around, the little boy holding the Mexican flag, started crying and ran over to hug his brother. To get the little kid to keep moving, and asked the older brother to walk with him. Before all the other represented countries came out, I had to explain the dish I made. I was kind of at a loss for words so Eloina fed me the names of the ingredients inside the soup.

              Everyone else explained their dishes and then we filed out with the little kids. Then it was show time for the real presentations. Of course, Eloina had to start with me. I don't like to go first in general but since I had no choice, I grabbed my papers and poster and just tried to get it over with. Xochitl held my poster for me as I read my speech. I was really nervous but someone later asked me if I was nervous at all because apparently, I looked very composed.

               After everyone presented, we scrambled to get our international food ready for the parents. At the beginning, I ran from the kitchen to the serving area over and over again to get some things that we were missing. Later, I settled down to serve free coffee. After everyone ate, I stole some sushi before we left.

                We cleaned most of the afternoon before we went to pick up our grandparents from the airport in Tuxtla. We arrived in the surprisingly warm climate just fifteen minutes or so before they arrived. We bought some drinks and two bags of microwave popcorn as they went through customs. They confiscated some beef jerky that my grandparents tried to bring us but otherwise, everything went smoothly. We had big hugs for them and we had an entertaining ride home in the dark.

Our paper mache map of Mexico 

Lore and I making papusas (or something along those lines)

Our paper mache map of the world

Presenting my food

The girl and boy representing Spain

Kid dressed up in winter clothes to be an "eskimo" for Maya and Favio's state: Alaska

Kids dressed up in the traditional clothing of the country Kenya

In the traditional clothing for Brazil

The boy is saying the traditional greeting in whatever language they speak in Brazil

Kids in the traditional costume of Spain

The girl on the left is named Kenya, how fitting

Little kids filing out

Working the cash register

Waiting for Oscars volcano to explode

My presentation

---                On Thursday, I woke up later than my grandparents who had long plane rides the day before! By the time I woke up, Papa Tom and JoJo (along with my dad) were already walking downtown to pick up pastries for breakfast. Oscar and I watched some TV before we went out to show them a little about San Cristobal. We didn't stay out to long because we had to get in the car for our road trip to a coffee route. We drove on surprisingly straight roads for roughly five hours and just when it was starting to get dark, we came across a long line of cars all stopped up. It was a bloqueo (a blockade.)

                 We all groaned knowing how long these things could last and knowing that we were only roughly seven kilometers from Tapachula (the place we were going to stay the night). We got out of the car to go talk to someone to get the basic information. Apparently, there was a road block because some people were upset about not getting paid. The guys we talked to said he thought it could go on for many hours. We relayed the information back to the people in the car. We discussed our options and watched some people back up and go the same direction but in the wrong lane. We told the guy who told us about it what we planned to do and in response, he said follow me. So we both flipped around and, going against traffic, we saw the long line of people who were unable to back up. We felt very bad for those people and thinking that we would be able to get to Tapachula, we already mentally high-fived each other at our cleverness. The problem was, they weren't letting people through the other way either so we were stuck at the front of an unmoving line.

    We thanked the guy for getting us this far and we discussed our options,

1. we could wait there until they let us through (it didn't look like that would happen extremely soon)

2. we could spend the night in the car if the blockade lasted overnight

3. we could go to Huixtla (a near town), spend the night there and then start afresh the next morning

In the end we chose option 3 though we considered spending the night (most grandparents wouldn't even consider it but since our grandparents are so cool, they did!!)

               We went back to Huixtla and checked out some hotels and we were scared by all the hotels with psychedelic-fun house colors (to which I said from the back seat "these fun house colors are tripping me up" I was very tired!!). Instead of staying another hour trying to find a hotel, we turned back around to go to Tapachula. We were surprised to see that there was no sign of the road block. Once I was sure that we weren't going to get stopped again, I laid my head down on JoJo's lap and I was out...out until we got to the hotel, that is. The hotel was decent and the only misgivings I had about it were when it smelled suspiciously like armpit. That smell passed though after some minutes of watching Storage Wars on TV!

---           The next morning, we woke up and after getting dressed speedily, we ate some breakfast before we jumped in the car to do the last leg of the trip before we got to the coffee route. The roads leading directly up to the coffee plantation, were awful (to put it nicely) but the whole drive was worth it be there!

              We arrived at "half a block from heaven" and practically immediately I am raving about how beautiful it is up there which I hardly ever do! It was jaw-dropping, stop and stare, awe-inspiringly gorgeous. You looked out mountains and hills covered in pine trees. The scenery was blanketed by a veil of poetic fog. It smelled of fragrant flowers and had a perfect temperature. The manager of the restaurant comes out and greats us like we were something special! A guy came out and fixed our tire right there (which we ruined on the drive there). As my dad said "that's what I call service!" We ate first thing and we were surprised to find that is was still more or less breakfast time!

           The rest of the weekend we:

   - Read on the porch of our bungalow
   - Took baths in the first bath tub we have seen in months
   - Took naps
   - Watched a lightning display light up the sky in beautiful patterns from the safety of the porch
   - We took a tour of the coffee plantation and learned about the INCREDIBLY extensive process the coffee bean goes through before  it becomes the coffee that we drink. I translated the whole tour for my grandparents and by the end I was happily exhausted. Every worker in the coffee process works incredibly hard and we resolved to never ever waste a drop  of coffee.
   - Were treated extremely nicely by the staff and especially by the manager
   - Drank coffee in the morning on our porch (the staff brought it to us daily)
   - Learned that we won't get insomnia and WILL get all the health benefits of coffee if we drink it before six minutes (apparently all the health benefits leak out of the coffee by the steam so that's why you want to drink it fast)
   - We went on a zip line that once you stepped off the cement block, you had no fears on the way down
   - We made our own world with our own countries on it. We each made maps, my country was called Reu (pronouced Rue).
   - We played card games also


Pictures from our trip to the coffee plantation:

Since they put flower arrangements on our food, I got into the habit of putting them in my hair!

I have such a florid mouth!

The little coffee plantation village

Oscar and I, German style

Wowee!

Machinery for coffee

Unprocessed-newly picked coffee beans

coffee beans on its plant

What a view

YUM

In the back-round you can see a bungalow

A manicured round about

Our front lawn and then a big drop

the porch of our bungalow

a pruned hedge...but of what?

Oscar in his German-Mexico heaven

A funny looking girl and a feminine looking boy!

Ta-dah!!