Diary #1

For the sake of my sanity I'm just going to write. There may not seem to be any sequence to what I am about to put down but I haven't been writing with enough frequency to actually 'catch up' at this point so I'm just going to tell a few stories and hope that there are enough clues for you to chain the links together.
The past three weeks have been a blur, a super fun colorful blur of events and movement and friends. I am feeling really lucky to have met some really amazing people and these past three weeks I have felt more comfortable due to their presence than I have felt since I've been down here. It has been awesome to spend so much time with so many good people. There's Shira, my spooning buddy for when the hostel gets too full and when we're at the beach and there is no sense in spending more on an extra bed. She's a midwestern gone New York and we chisme and laugh ALOT. It's to the point I think where we can actually communicate effectively through inside jokes and references, pretty annoying probably to the outside world. She has eyelashes like the angelitos that float around in our chocolate. There is Ramsey who has been a partner in crime for the past two months, we've managed to have nearly the exact same scholastic itinerary. He's a super-musician-vegan with a well balanced sociopolitical perspective from the generally confused state of Texas. Like a diamond in the rough that one. Esteban, or eh-Steve is the misplaced Chicagoan who unfortunately for us went back to LA last week. Kicking ass at ajedrez and at quite a few tunes on the guee-tar, he kept me alive with his compasion and pee-in-pants sarcasm. I hope he is throwing wads and wads of toilet paper into toilets for us back home. My teacher and confidant Eunice, which is a prettier name pronounced in spanish, has been like a light for me down here too. Even though technically she was my spanish teacher we got along like friends; we are exactly the same age with only countries and cultures separating us. She has two amazing kids who love her like crazy and amazing ideas and energy for her country. It was so inspiring to spend time with her and to talk about the state of the world with her. Her perspective is so refreshing and hopeful that now I have someone to go to when I lose morale for helping the planet.
Last Friday I technically 'graduated' from spanish class, which just means that I finished my scheduled time here at the school. It has been two unbelievable months and of course I can't believe that they are over. Finishing my time here has put me, duh, into a reflective place and I really do need some time to process everything that has happened over this last little bit of my life. I will say that as frustrating as this country can be with the corruption and machismo and lack of social infrastructure I have definitely fallen in love. There have been a few times on the bus from somewhere to another somewhere when I have felt the love most completely. I sometimes get waves of it when I am on a bus in Vancouver as well and the feeling is without a doubt love. Love that comes after the illusions have faded and the eyes see for the first time completely what is there to be loved. The streets, the buildings, the random people doing their random things, the sidewalks, the signs, the plants; all out there. At least three times I've been struck like that here and the feeling is good, like I'm seeing a familiar place with open eyes, ready to accept without judgement and unconditionally. Xela, San Juan, Concepcion Chiquirichapa, San Martin Sacatepequez (Chile Verde), Columba, Nuevo San Jose, Fatima, Coatepeque, Tilapa, Tilapita, San Marcos, San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Zunil, San Fransisco Ixteac; all these places are in like thirty miles of each other and represent a fraction of the country in terms of human experience. It's only slightly overwhelming...