It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Wow, so much has been going on lately, that I haven't had time to update in almost a month! But I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on in my world.

First of all, school's out for the "summer" and the next year starts up in February, so I've been doing different stuff than before, and things have been so quiet around here with everybody gone!

In November, as a result of the flooding and all the rain, a nearby community called Corquin basically fell off the side of a mountain and everybody lost their homes and everything they owned. Luckily, most of the people survived since they were told to evacuate. Anyway, the 9th grade girls here took it upon themselves to have a fundraiser for the community. They hosted a dance competition, with every section of every grade participating. The proceeds they got from the event went toward buying supplies like mattresses, clothes, shoes, and supplies for babies, all for the people of Corquin. I got to go with them to deliver it and I was very impressed with the girls' generosity, especially since it was of their own accord.

After that, we had lots of graduations, those for the 9th graders, for the 12th graders, and for those that are in the distance education program. Those was really cool to attend because the chance to study here is a luxury and actually graduating and getting a diploma really means a lot. My favorite part was getting to meet the girls' families. Most of them are pure indigenous and some of them didn't even speak Spanish, but their own native language. I definitely towered over everyone, which I still am not used to. But it was obvious which families were the internas' and which were externas'. Everyone seemed to get along great though, which is really nice to see.

Also, the qualifications for the World Cup 2010 are already in full swing. Honduras is doing well, and just beat Mexico (which is unheard of for Central American countries) and will advance to the next round. I got to go out to watch the game (outside the walls after dark!), which turned out to be a blast! Dani (my American friend) and I had met another two American girls who live here in the their own house because they're teaching English in the bilingual elementary and middle school. Since they actually have a social life, they know their way around town after dark and invited us to watch the game in a bar (which I didn't even know existed). When we got there though, it was completely full, so we went to a hole-in-the-wall Mexican food place instead (yeah, we caught the irony too). So we were four American girls in a Mexican restaurant watching Honduras beat Mexico. Then, the girls' other friends showed up. Another American girl who's a high school exchange student here and her German friend. Then a British guy, a Chilean guy, and a Bolivian guy showed up. So we were up to 9 foreigners all wearing our Honduran blue and white in a Mexican restaurant. The owner was so impressed (or maybe just confused) that she came out with her camera and took a picture of us. After Honduras clinched the victory, all the Honduran men bought us a round and begged us to come back for the games in the next round, because they were convinced all us foreigners cheering on the Honduran team was good luck. As we were starting to leave, it sounded like bombs were going off and the streets were full of people celebrating. They were shooting off fireworks and guns into the air, and driving around in their cars like Guadalupe after a Texas game. It was nothing like Detroit with cars turned over or on fire (the streets are too narrow to turn over a car anyway, the most they could've done is propped up a car against a wall or something), but very exciting nonetheless.

By Thanksgiving, everyone had gone, including three of the girls that work here, so I was put in the doorway. This means that I answer the phone (yikes) when someone calls and open the door when people come. Only, neither of those happen very often since the school is closed, so I have to invent things to do so I don't get bored. Thanksgiving, however, was spent just the same as any other day. Most of the sisters were gone, for meetings or on vacation, so there weren't many of us here. I went out for dinner with Dani to celebrate the day and her birthday observed. We ended up going to a Chinese place which was really good. But who would've thought I'd be spending my Thanksgiving in Honduras eating Kung Pao chicken instead of turkey? Definitely non-conventional, but it was delicious.

Then, I got the opportunity to go to El Salvador again for a little over a week. It was my first time to go all by myself, but it was super easy. It's amazing how normal things have become for me since I've been here, as if I'm not even living in a foreign country anymore. Anyway, arriving in El Salvador felt like I was coming home. The weather was gorgeous and I actually felt warm for the first time in over a month. I went straight to Chalchuapa and hung out with my good friend Sydney, the sisters there, and four of the girls who don't have a home to go home to for vacations. We had a certain feel of solidarity since I won't be going home either.

On Sunday, Sydney and I took the girls to see High School Musical 3 in the theater in the mall in Santa Ana. A few of them had never been to the mall before, so that was exciting enough for them. When we went in, we all went straight for the escalator, but only Sydney and I made it to the top. When we got up, we turned around and saw all three of the girls at the bottom, letting everyone pass and trying to figure out how to get on. It was just like Will Ferrel in Elf! Yet another reminder of the things that we take for granted. After the movie, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, we had about 20 minutes to kill, but instead of walking around and going in the stores, we practiced going up and down the escalators until the girls could do it without stopping to jump on. We got a lot of crazy looks, but then again, I get a lot of crazy looks anyway, no matter what I'm doing.

Then, Monday through Friday, we put on a camp for the kids in the market in Santa Ana. The VIDES group in El Salvador does something like this at least twice a year, so it was fun to be a part of it. On Monday, we went to the market to invite the kids, and then Tuesday through Friday, we had activities for them to do all morning, like arts and crafts, practicing for a Christmas pageant, games, piñatas, things like that. We were expecting about 50-60 kids to show up, but we were way off. About 125 kids came the first day and it was like that the whole week. Luckily, and maybe miraculously, we had enough supplies for all the kids, but it was a lot of keep track of. Every morning, the team divided into pairs and each pair went down one street of the market, collecting the kids. After the camp, we took them all back. THAT was the most nerve-wracking of all. Chiky and I came back with about 30 kids every time. And with the market so crowded, weird traffic and buses, and lots of kids under the age of 10 running around and "chasing butterflies", it was a nightmare to go the two blocks to the school. But I guess it's better that they came with us than if their parents sent them by themselves, which a few of them were prepared to do.

But despite the large group and its inherent disorganization, the kids had a great time, and I loved getting to know everyone even better. Sydney left on the last day of the camp to go home for the holidays, so I was left in Santa Ana without my American friend. But I did get to go out with my new Salvadoran friends! A group of us, five girls and five boys went out on the town for a night of dancing. It was so much fun, because the guys were such good dancers and the girls were so friendly and sweet. Since I was staying at the girls' house for the night, we went there first to get ready. They all did my hair, my makeup and let me borrow a pair of heels. I hadn't realized that I'd missed that until then. It was the first time a curling iron has touched my hair (still haven't used a hair dryer), and the first time I've put on heels since March! Most of the time, the heels aren't necessary since I'm already "tall" for here, but it was still really nice. The boys were great too. We all got to dance with everyone, because they would switch us out in the middle of the song, without missing a step. It wasn't so much the dancing I'd missed, since I do that all the time with the girls, but when I dance with the girls, I always have to be the boy. It was nice to dance with a real boy for once.

The rest of the weekend I spent with the girls in Chalchuapa, helping the sisters shift through the same donations we got in July (since there was so much, they're still going through it now). One night, I went with the girls for Las Posadas, a Mexican tradition that re-enacts Mary and Joseph's quest for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Every night, the statue of Mary and Joseph is moved to a new host house, usually on the opposite side of town, so that you have to process there, singing, blowing whistles, carrying candles and maracas, and generally making a much noise as possible along the way. Once you get the house, the people outside sing a song to ask if they can come in and the people inside sing back a response. It trades off verses until the people inside finally let everybody in. Then, there's a short Bible reading and the Rosary, followed by the most delicious tamales I've had since I've been here. I've decided that I really like this Christmas tradition and can see why they do it every night until Christmas.

For the rest of my time there, I ate pupusas to my heart's content and soaked up the sun until it was time to go back to Honduras.

And now that I'm back here, I've just been in the doorway and helping out whichever sister happens to be here with whatever she needs. Things are pretty slow, and therefore, pretty relaxing. It feels like it's the Christmas season already, with the cold and the music, but something still feels off. However, I'm sure things will fall into place in two weeks, when the folks come to visit!

I hope everyone's enjoying the season, finishing up the semester and catching holiday sales without too much holiday stress! Take a spin under the Zilker tree for me!