June

Night time is kind of tough here. I try and go to bed but the sound of bugs scratching everywhere and falling on my face makes it hard. Cockroaches are probably the worst (besides spiders of course). They are so big and so thick and hard to kill. I feel like I need a hammer to do it. 

This weekend we went to San Miguel de Allende. It was a four hour bus ride from our rancho but I feel like I entered another world. We passed through super green mountains to get to this little city on the edge of the mountain. Most of mexico that I have seen hasnt been too green so it was refreshing to be in almost a rainforest atmosphere. San Miguel de Allende is a very rich city and half the residents are ex americans and europeans. So the city has a very different feel...its very clean for one thing. But its gorgeous. We spent lots of time in bars watching the american cup soccer games. That was interesting. They had mariachi bands playing in the street all night. It was fun to dance along to. 

Saturday we went to national park thing where we hiked around and looked at different ruins they had. There was also a lake and a bamboo forest..it was really pretty! We meet the most interesting people here. I met one lady about 50 years old from England who is taking the year to travel the whole world..by herself! She is just backpacking the world and is going everywhere. We stayed at a fun hostel this weekend where we met lots of different people. 

We were greeted at home today by 4 new pigs! They are about the size or horses and scream like a dying chimpanzee. We are killing all of them tomorrow in preperation for a wedding this weekend. Its going to be a bloodbath!

Sunday night we went to the town carnival which was adorable! It was fun to see all my students in another setting. I also had some awesome chocolate milk and got to dance around with some babies. I avoided the carnival rides though as I couldnt think of anything more sketchy than mexican carnival rides.

I love my family here. They are so wonderful. At the hospitals here they dont serve any food and most people dont have any money either if they miss work for a day. So the people who have family members in the hospital basically starve. So my dear family came up with the idea of feeding all of them. They made a giant pot of arroz con leche and about 100 mini loaves of bread. Then we drove into the city and parked outside of the hospital and started feeding people. We probably fed about 150 people. It was kind of heartbreaking as there were so many children and elderly and they looked so hungry. Me and Abbey talked about how many people we could feed with $100. A loaf of bread is about 10 cents so thats about 1000 loafs of bread for only $100..,1000 people fed! We plan to do that soon.

People are extremely family centered here. And even though I hear so many horrible stories of abuse all day long here I know that most of the parents are really good. One evidence of that is lunch time at school. All the moms or grandmas or aunts (or all of them) spend the morning making their childs lunch. Then about 30 min before the lunch break they will line the fence of the school (they arent allowed to go inside). When their child has their lunch break they find their family through the fence and they all sit and eat their lunch together (prison style through the fence). Its really cute. 

I finally got bug spray and it is working miracles. I was averaging 15 new mosquito bites a day but I've got that down to nothing! These are exciting times! 

Also it has been raining almost everyday for a few hours which is blessed relief! For a few hours a day I'm not wet with sweat. 

Me and Abbey have been on a world war 2 kick this week (a little random for mexico). We watched Pearl Harbor and Schindler's List. I read some holocaust book here and tonight we are watching The Pianist. Just a random tidbit. 

People are so friendly in our little rancho. Yesterday we went to visit a lady and her daughter who had stopped us on the street asking us to visit them. They were so excited when we came over..literally almost jumping. It was a little overwhelming. Everyone wants to take us on weekend trips with them. I cant count how many random strangers invited us to live with them. They let me know that as long as I am alive I am part of their family and have a bed in their house.

Everyone is so surprised we arent married. Most girls get married around age 15 teen (and get pregnant even earlier). Mama Rosa is constantly dropping heavy hints about what an old maid I am and its time to have children! She has given me lots of grandchildren as options.