Last week in Jocotenango if all goes well

Elmer is wearing the bracelet rather proudly although of course his loyalty is with Brazil. Monday I was alone with the kids and after the four hours I was ready to have a screaming fit. They just don’t listen to anything you say and do what they please, whenever they please. They decided they wanted playdoo to play with and they all crowded in front of the closet where the material is kept and started fighting who would get it first etc. I had it by than I told them to sit down or nobody would get anything to play with. That actually worked because I got a bit louder and I guess they could tell that I was serious. Small victory but hey kept them in line for a little while! Sometimes I feel really bad about what kind of life they have. I don’t only mean the clothes but their skin has a look to them which I guess comes from malnutrition and no body lotion etc. Their faces are fine and they are cute mostly but got runny noses which just get wiped on their sleeves. They fight and hit each other a lot so in the end someone is crying. All the things we take more or less for granted and they are missing/ lacking gets to me sometimes. After my lunch I needed my nap since I was beat. I went home for freshening up since Elmer and I had a date at night. Being Monday usually no hairdresser shop is open but Ema took me to one and I got my hair cut. I just love this place where you can just walk in and get served. The lady did it slightly differently but than again it isn't that difficult to just cut the split ends in a straight line. At night of course he wasn't on time for our date but neither was I. He was working out in the gym and came straight from there. In the park Hanna and Hedda were waiting with me. Elmer and I went to Queso y Vino because I craved a good wine for a change. It was pretty funny since there I bumped into Carmen, Fabian and Bianca, Elio etc. all the German speakers since someone was leaving and they had the good-bye dinner there. We were celebrating our 2 months one day early because he was working during the day and otherwise usually nights. It was a fun night together, really crazy talks, stopped for a final drink in Reilly’s and they had a bar quiz going on and if you got the right answer you would win free beer. It was good for many laughs but I couldn't for the live of me think of the answer since they were music questions or about English soccer (PLEASE!!!). After that we were like let’s get some sleep and sleep in...

We sure slept in nicely. When the alarm went off I pushed the wrong buttons on my phone and turned the alarm completely off which was pretty stupid to do. I was planning on returning home to get my play-with-the-kiddies clothes and than go to work. Instead I woke up when his alarm went off very early because he had to be at Monoloco already at 9am for a staff meeting. I took the bus home and Ema was like where have you been ... so we ended up chatting and spending lots of time together so that in the end it just wasn't worth going anymore to see the kids that day. I was about to take my nap but than decided against it. I had to arrange a couple of other things. In the afternoon I was supposed to meet Carmen but she didn't show up or call or answer her phone so I went to Funky Monkey for a chat. I bumped into her later since she knows where I usually hang out. She looked bad, red eyes, sniffy nose ... I was like what has happened. She told me that she was upset about the phone call she had with her boy-friend. I guess it gets difficult even if it is only 3 months that people are separated. I returned to Ema's and freshened up and had dinner. I went with Carmen by tuc-tuc and that meant finally only 5Q fare per person. At night I went to Monoloco and met all the usual suspects there. I got to know her friend Jose and that was a fun conversation. I am sure my Spanish is still a disaster but at least I get to practice it. Going home as good fun since we were in the end a group of about 7 people who all live in Jocotenango. I found us a driver who I knew who would give us a good price. He is a friend of Elmer’s and of course asked where he is. I was home pretty early and called Elmer to let him know that I got home safe and sound.

Wednesday - not much to tell except went to work as usual. Oh yes Camilla and me were in for a surprise because the director told us that there was no food for the kids except rice and bread. So we took some money with us and went to the market and bought the most basic things for them. Still the whole thing is kind of weird. At home had lunch, slept for a while and in the afternoon was in Funky Monkey and called it an early night at home, being in bed by 8.30pm.

Thursday I went to work as well. The usual thing except for some reason they were angels in the school but once we got to the playground they turned into devils and we had 15 kids to take care of. I was beat afterwards. I had my alarm set because I had a date with Marcela to go shopping for clothes and I can proudly say that I found new clothes two new pairs of jeans, 4 new tops, shoes etc. So now I can really blend in here at least optically since my Spanish still gives me away. I had sent Elmer's brother an email with a picture from us as promised and since than we are emailing and I get to practice my written Spanish which is good for me. I found a good online dictionary so my vocabulary is also getting bigger since I tend to learn more words every day without noticing it. Although it was Elmer's day off he wasn't here in Antigua since Monoloco had an excursion planned for the staff. They were all gone from 6am-6pm to a fun park. So we had agreed that I would come by his place and than we would go out at night. Sure enough the tuc-tuc driver took for me a ride because he didn't know where he lived although I gave him the address. Loser! His brother in law was getting a hair cut when I arrived than it was a late dinner for them and the kids were tired. We were all chatting and I am getting better at it. I guess the biggest difference is that because I chat with Elmer non-stop, chat with the kids and his sister means just more and different topics than with Ema. It is better for my Spanish to hang out there more and chat with them. Maria Fernanda e.g. shows me proudly her homework and other things she shares happily. She loves to hug me ... her brother is a bit more reserved being a boy of course but than again he also likes to laugh and joke. I feel very good there and Ema is just laughing at me when I tell her what we have been up to. He told me to close my eyes once they had had dinner and I got a gift. A little cute stuffed toy flower! I just love him and he is such a sweetheart. He was like I went away for a day so I thought I should get you something. He is a real sweety! We went to La Sala and found a place to dance which was good fun. In the break I was ready for a beer for a change. After the break from the live band the floor cleared quickly and we had lots of space. Carmen and José were there as well and danced. Elmer and I tried out new moves and more turns it was a fun and sweaty night out. We went back to his and stopped on the way to get more water since we were still thirsty. Another thing here is at 2 or 3am in the morning some stores are open and will sell you stuff like drinks, cosmetic artikles etc.

Friday morning {02-06} we slept in and around noon time we showed up in The Black Cat for our breakfast. Connor was just laughing and asking the usual for our drinks ... I had no real plans for that day except that I had a date with Camilla to go shopping and another one for 4pm. Elmer had to work at 6pm so there was plenty of time. I thought he was going to visit his parents and son so I would stop by the internet and write some more. No, he came up with a nice surprise like why don't we visit my parents ... great, I had not bought a gift or anything ... since it is far away he was like either we could rent a motor bike or take a tuc-tuc. We stopped by Frank {he is German and has been here for ages and is a bit weird but he likes me a lot from all the Germans that are hanging around he says I am the only normal one} who gave me a flyer for his motor bike shop the other day and told me to stop by. He was there and we asked how much it would cost to rent a bike for an hour ... in the end he made me a special price. So off we went and I felt really stupid since I was wearing a jeans skirt and it hiked up nicely. His parents live in a very nice place with lots of space and air. I hadn't realized until than that he also has a little brother who is only 11 years old. Introductions were made and I was shown around. Than Elmer brought his brother to school and visited his son while I was left to chat with his parents. I have no idea how good my Spanish was but the conversation was flowing and it was interesting to get to know them. It was so different from my meeting of the parents in Europe. None of this stiff lets sit down and have a tea, no we were outside and they were in the shade while I was sitting in the sun and playing with the dog. Elmer came back and we had lunch except that we both weren't that hungry. He had some salad and I tried it since I try everything here once. I must say that by now I love the food here and would really miss it. Since I mentioned that I love mangos I was given one without a knife. So I was like okay what is the correct manner to go about to eat it. It was freshly washed and they take a bite and suck the juice out and than you start peeling off the skin and eating the flesh. At least I wasn't looking afterwards as if I was in a war with a mango. It was time for us than to get back to Antigua. We made a stop at his since he needed his gym clothes. The kids saw the helmets on the table and got all excited about it. We had a little commitee that waved us good-bye. We brought the bike back and than he went off to the gym and I went off to my appointment. Since Camilla doesn't have a phone I couldn't tell her that I wasn't going to make it for our meeting. I had decided to get a tatoo. It is really cool and it is a sun on the inside of my left ankle. Might be a surprise for some of you o,))) Anyway after that I went by the internet place and Elmer came by before work. I went home than and had a very akward shower since no water contact where the tatoo is. I had my dinner an headed out again. I was planning on going out with Marcella and just wanted to say quickly hi to Elmer in Monoloco. However Hanna, Hedda, Luis etc. were there so I joined them for a while. Marcela came by since she was early I was really surprised. Abbie decided since it as really dead to close early. We went together to Sin Ventura for some dancing. I had a dance partner and she told me later that he was an instructor. No wonder that I felt like whoa this is very different. It was good fun with him until it changed and he started hitting on me. He wasn't even impressed when I told that I have a boy-friend I guess he had a bit too much to drink. I left at around 1am and went back to Monoloco. Elmer didn't have dinner so he asked me if I could buy it since the policy there is that they aren't allowed to buy food. So we had a very late snack at his and by the time we went to sleep it was like 3am.

Saturday, we slept in until about noon. We started getting up and had a slice of bread. It took a while until we were ready to leave the house. I was chatting again with the whole family. They are just so nice. Elmer told me the other day that his sister was cracking a joke if I was his new girl-friend or new wife. I didn’t quite get it so I asked Ema and she told me that is just the way it is here especially since we spend so much time together. Okay, fine with me I don't care which title I get as long as I am happy. We wanted to see a movie but the best seats were already taken and the movie was stupid on top. So I stopped by Funky Monkey to ask if Morgan could cover for me an extra hour. Having swapped so often with him he owes me but he couldn't since he had to be at his other job. He told me though of a good place were we could have lunch. They actually had fish on the menu and guess what we had. It was a whole set menu and I got to try a new dessert some kind of fruit that gets boiled with sugar and cinnamon. Preparing it sounded like preparing cranberries but it tasted a bit like plums. I just love tying new dishes. So far there are only some veggies that I am not too keen on they remind me of pumpkins. After that for some reason I wanted an ice cream so we walked back to the park. He wanted a cold beer since it is humid and hot here. On the way to work I meet Hanna in one of these stores and we chatted a bit. Depending on where they will be tonight I might join them later. Elmer kept me company until he had to start work. I got to know some more artists since he helped me prepare a play list with Salsa, Merengue etc. Work has been bloody boring this afternoon and only picks up around 9pm when suddenly the place is full and everyone has weird requests of some reason or other. I haven’t made up my mind yet what I will do later on all I know that I will want my dinner in Monoloco and it will be quesadillas since I just love them with guacamole. That is what I had and was thinking about what to do next when some guy started chatting with me and suddenly Hanna was right next to me with her two friends. We checked out Sin Ventura. It was crowded, hot and sticky and the guys were drunk. I happily declined dancing with them. By now I know too many guys to be able to walk into any place and not at least know the face if not the name. We left and went to check out La Sala and there we would have had to pay 10Q to get in for 30 minutes that seemed stupid. So we left and since all the places were closing they decided to go home and I went back to Monoloco. I was kind of tired and expected him to finish up and to go and get some sleep. Instead Billy and his friends decided to have a party and part of the staff stayed on. They got so pissed that Chris whose hair was shoulder length was at the end of the evening 2mm. I wonder if he woke up and ha a fit when he looked in the mirror. Gee, we sure had really too much to drink. I hadn’t realized just how much Elmer had to drink. In the end he was really drunk and it took me forever to get him home. He managed to make such a racket that his sister woke up and let us in and his brother in law got him into his room and I took care of the rest.

Sunday, he really didn’t want to get up for work so I decided that the wet, cold wash cloth would do the trick it sure did after a while. No one felt sorry for him but they all felt sorry for me having to take care of him. In the end he managed to get to work just in time otherwise they get fined. I went home after a short chat with Marcela. Nobody was home when I arrived so I figured time for a shower and than a nap. Mario and Ema came back when I took my nap since they tried to open my door I woke up. They told me later that they saw the wet foot prints in the bathroom and wondered who was home. I said hello and chatted with Ema a bit since Mario was off napping. She asked me if I wanted lunch and I said sure. Today it consisted of rice and potatoes. I had to pack my first bag really quickly and of course it started pouring when I had to go and I was running late so a tuc-tuc it was. Mike opened the door and told me that the guy hasn’t cleared out of the room yet so I parked my bag in Morgan’s room. Tomorrow I will empty the bag and get the house key. It should be good fun because Mike will be gone until Friday to El Salvador for his visa and Morgan and me are okay with each other anyway. They both know Elmer and there isn’t a problem on that side either. So I got a quick tour today through the kitchen and the rest Morgan will tell me I am sure. I left with Morgan and we both went to work but to different places. I stopped in Monoloco real quick and I guess Elmer wasn’t the only one suffering from a major headache so were Jordan, Kenny and the rest. I went to work and Marcela was happy to leave since she said it was very boring. I can only say that I got busy straight away and had lots of different things going on. So I had no time to be bored and when it was a bit quieter I finally got to write more. Elmer stopped by on his break and I told him to please take the Danish bread {which they don’t like here at all, having to many grains, Elmer is like me though lets try everything once} home and we could all have it for breakfast with some jam. On his way back he brought me a soup so that I wouldn’t starve like yesterday. He is such a sweetheart! Sure feels sometimes like being married since we spend so much time together but the biggest difference is that we both still have our own lives but talk all the time about we have been doing in the absence of the other one and it is so much more my idea of what a marriage is supposed to be. It will be fun to find out how it will be if we cook together as well … Now I am just waiting for my shift to end and than I think I’ll have a small bite in Monoloco and wait for him to get of his shift. We still want to talk some more since we hadn’t proper time yet although we are both tired. I haven’t decided yet what I will do about work tomorrow since I have to arrange a couple of things and move and do some shopping in the market as well to get some fresh fruit etc. Jason was already asking me if I will watch and cheer theme soccer game again on Wednesday and I really don’t know yet. Maybe I should swap to working some days in the afternoon … Only 2 more hours of work and than I can call it a night here!