1. I TOOK IN A STRAY CAT! this is her to the upper-left with the botched haircut i gave her, but you don't understand she is an absolute mess. she needed it. her name is MRS. MARIA LOU COOPER. she was here the first day i moved in but she freaked me out, she had this plastic collar like thing around her neck and also around her right arm. i just wanted her to go away because it had caused a hugeee cut under her arm and on the back of her neck. she would always come around at night, and about a week ago, i got a hold of her and cut off the collar thing. next day i gave her milk, and shes been around ever since. i tried to take her to the vet, but the "vet" here is a guy who sells dog food..he gave me this purple antibacterial stuff he said would dry out her cut but i dont think he understands how bad her cut is...poor maria! or maybe i just dont know how to explain it well in spanish...but i dont think thats it. she eats cat food now, like a total pig but she looks like she is starting to gain weight. she is legitamately starving...but it looks like shell be around for good...she sleeps outside my bedroom (NOT allowed inside) on a folded towel or on this notebook as seen above, lol when i get paid next week im gonna try to get the vet to give her stitches, if he wont im gonna shove her in a box and take her to xela where REAL doctors reside...MRS. MARIA LOU COOPER!
2. Independence Day! on September 15th, Guatemala celebrated 189 years free of Espan~a! this was a great experience to be a part of , celebrations started last monday. i went to one of my schools where i marched in a parade with the kids, waving the bandera proud! the kids had a band for the parade, and each grade k-6 had performances prepared. Guatemala is so rich in culture, the children dressed up in traditional clothes and did dances and sand, read poems etc... it was AMAZING! Here is a picture of the first graders dancing, not only is their clothing tradional, but its specific to the town where i leave in, red skirt and white blouse is representative of Cabrican, Quetzaltenango.
3.Desfile! which means parade, on Tuesday, celebrations continued with the basico schools which means highschool. they led a parade through the town, led actually by the mayor (alcalde). my PCVL (PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER LEADER) was in town as well to see her fiance, so we watched it together with my man too (i'll get into that). This parade had quite a few bands and different kinds of dancers, repreentation from bilingual schools ( i dont mean english, i mean MAM, the indigenous language spoken here )...SUCH A FUN MORNING! Guate! Guate! Guatemala!
4. Erick Lopez y Lopez- also known as my Guatemalan Boyfriend, or actually just my boyfriend. I never thought when i left for the PC this would happen, but having a relationship in another language, with a man from another culture has been probably my most cherished experience here. we met in April, playing soccer which by the way he is DOPE at, he asked me to go on a date everytime i saw him for like a month b4 i said yes. CREEPY PIC OF HIM. lol now that i think about it ive been with him now for 6 months, WOW that creeps me out. we broke up for a little while because its so hard to develop our relationship when we both know there is no future. well there is according to him if i want to stay in Guatemala for the rest of my life which i just absolutely wonttt do. I always say theres nothing i wont do for my man, but i guess staying here is the limit. but i still want to be with him while im here but hes afraid of being too heartbroken to recover from that, THE BROTHA LOVES ME! to say the least.
He works his ass off. He has two greenhouses, one of which he built this summer and he harvest tomatoes, onions, brocolli and something else i cant remember. he is the youngest of 10 kids, omg, and he is the only one not married...i feel kinda pressured by this fact, also the fact that the last volunteer to be in my site is engaged to a guatemalan who lives here. erick and i are both friends with him so i think in his mind thats a possibility for us because THEY are doing it. he treats me like a princess, more than ive ever been before and i appreciate how hard he works, how much he loves his family and we have THE BEST LIFE TALKS, but i wonder if he would ever truly understand WHO I AM, who i am with my friends, my family, or my life in the united states. i try to explain to him my plans for when i get home and he supports me but i dont think he UNDERSTANDS what it is to be a pcv, and what it means for your future, also a reason i would never stay here...but hey..here is a pic of me in his greenhouse back in may! i love him, but in a different way ive ever loved b4, its just nice to have someone in the lonely life of a peace corps volunteer, AMEN. plus, he fulfills my 3 requirements of a man in my life....calls me "mamita", lets me sit on his lap, and listens to music with me.
5. Xela. Just went to Xela this weekend to hang out with my friends and wear cute clothes. i havent seen anyone since reconnect at the end of july. Leah's bf was here from the states..we love john! most of the crew was there, missin serg for sure! but GOD can we drink when were together, were not drunks, we just don drink at all in site, well i cant speak for everyone, but i dont. (ps erick doesnt drink) stayed at the black cat, and bopped all around xela all night. we went to this bar "rumba" and im still crackin up cuz they cleared the dance floor for these brothas to put on a little performance and my friend javi had to physically hold me back from rushin the floor and takin over , lol. thats how i do it. good times all around.
6. Standfast. STANDING FAST I SAY! the week after i got back from the states, the pc put us in a standfast which means we are not to move from our sites, or wherever we are for that matter. totally spent my time dancing to usher and nelly! i was stuck in site, its crazy cuz they just sent u a text message that basically controls your moves. i wasnt even able to visit my schools because i have to hike there and it was too dangerous. the reason for the standfast was heavy rains all over the country, causing mudslides on the highways and that type of stuff, i believe about 50 deaths resulted from the mudslides...so sad. but this is why pc takes standing fast really serious. it turns out my really good friend and a dope brother, brent, was caught out of site by the pc administration. as i understand it he was in full contact with the administration by calling out of site and with the safety and security coordinator. the brother knows he broke the rules, and he understands, however the decision has been sent to the washington office to decide whether brent stays a pcv or not..which is rediculous to me. we have "non-negotiable" rules, which CAN get you kicked out of pc, drugs and riding on a motorcycle, for example, but the rule he broke was not a non-negotiable, so he should be charged vacation days, NADA MAS! he is an amazing volunteer with a servant heart and we'd be devastated to see him go! LOVE YOU BRENT! here is a pic of me and him livin it up and loving eachother during training! dammit i think i'm covering his dope tattoo on his wrist <3
7. Healthy schools. Im feeling a little frustrated with my program at the moment, i just have so many schools with specific needs, and the school year is about to come to a close. thats alright tho because when school is out its actually a good time to plan and implement some projects. I'll be looking seriously for some funding in the next couple of weeks.FOCUS TIME! THIS IS FOR THE KIDS! AMEN! check out this BEAUTY!
I'm about to be emotional and dramatic but brent knows thats how i do it. I just wanted to take sometime and show some love to a brother, my friend Brent. we're not positive but it looks like brent is facing a premature end to his peace corps volunteer service here in Guatemala. I'm not gonna bitch and complain about why he may be goin home (done enough of that, amen) I'm just gonna take a moment to celebrate my friendship with Brent, his friendships with everyone.. and his peace corps experience...
When I think about you here, brother, i think of your friendships with your San Luis girls =) the only boy holding it down in his training town and the friendships you formed together with Claire, Kristin, and Lauren. Look at you guys on Swear-in Day! Proud of you!
Our friendship is special to me because you understand what it means to be "DOPE". can i get an Amen?! you always had a good answer for my constant question to you, "hey, what's it like to be SO DOPE?" one time i believe you answered, "i don't know, you tell me" i giggled a little like a school girl. I call you brother, you call me sister, its a special thing...you might even say its dope....everytime we're together its daps, its hugs, its compliments, its awesome. I remember singing my song before swear in, and i wanna say you teared up a little bit...you may deny it if you'd like...you may. when i sang the lyrics..."sisters i can share my heart, and brothers Lord for me to love..." i was talking about YOU! 
My fav training memory would have to be your kareoke performance with the ladies! held it downnnnn, my brother! another one would be the night you walked "camioneta rode" betty back to las carretas...details to be spared..LOL! good times...drinking in the hotel in tecpan...where my debut of the single ladies dance surfaced, and you were right there with that little video gagdet thing...SCRATCH THE KAREOKE THING (not in a bad way) but i give my favorite memory to GANGSTAS PARADISE!!!...."i live the life BAD GIRL what can i say?! " lol and can't forget playing soccer in PARRAMOS with the whole crew...its where i discovered i was a fly-ass soccer player and ran around trying to impress you and the other boys...lol
I don't know much about your life as a healthy schools volunteer because STUPID site placement has put the distance between us, but i know what a hard worker you are and i can only IMAGINE how special you are to the kids. I know you got heart and you got passion, heard you were putting together 3 kitchens this month! i remember how you stepped up to take that Alta spot, i remember for me i couldnt do phase 1 cuz i wanted a partner so bad, but you knew this was YOUR pc experience, and you knew what you wanted...god brotha, u really do got it all!
Please understand this post is no sort of "despedida" its just to celebrate our friendship and our time together, u know me i love to show love. also to make a promise to you that NO MATTER WHAT comes to us in the future, we will ALWAYS be friends. Friendship is THE most important thing in my life and ive always been the type of girl to put an effort in to keep it fresh and keep it thriving. how DO you get a CALI boy to Boston...simple. be the dopest pcv's of all time. AMEN. 
