The coolest game, you know.

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After my philosophic musing last post...some news for all!

The orphanage yesterday was wonderful in that "oh god I'm going to get all teary" kind of way. We went into a compound and all the kids crowded around us, but were afraid to speak. There were all different ages-from the cutest, tiniest little baby to 14 and 15 year olds.

We brought pinatas and watched them beat Spongebob Squarepants into the ground with giant poles. They then performed some acrobatic leaps over each other to get the candy while our group just kind of stared in awe.

Afterwards, we fed them cake and juice while they gave us a heartfelt speech about how we would always remain in their hearts, etc.

Everyone in our group seemed to get along with the kids really well. Some played soccer with them some played frisbee, and a couple of us talked to them about life in the orphanage and their girlfriends that live in the United States.

Mona and I made friends with a fifteen year old guy who was Mayan and taught us to play guitar.

Today we had no activity, so our house slept in late.

Today during school about 12 of us went to Hiper Paiz, Guatemala's answer to a mall/wal*mart. That was ok, I suppose, but really once you have seen a mall in one country, you've seen them all. The REAL fun lay in getting to the mall.

They play a fun little game that is called "Let's see how many gringos and Guatemalans we can cram into one little minibus that is designed to hold 15 people."

In case you were wondering, I'm pretty sure the record is 21.

We cram in 4-5 abreast with our little backpacks on our laps and speed off, miraculously dodging traffic and stopping on a dime to cram ever-more people into the already crowded seats. One man usually hangs out the window and yells "PARQUE CENTRAL" at the innocent passerby, scaring them out of their wits. At stoplights he will open the door and jog about energetically, coaxing more passengers onto the bus. Sometimes the bus starts without him and he hikes up his pants and scampers after it in a crazed panic.

It's kind of the coolest thing ever.

Plus, I sat next to a a cowboy. SWEET.

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Comments

[Sad Zoe]

Have you seen Kelsey?
She's gone. Her room is quiet and I have a hard time sleeping in there without her. I tried to share a room with Lauren and Abbey, but it's not the same (and Abbey snores!) I go downstairs in the middle of the night to bark at the dark through the sliding glass door. Someone might hear me and answer my questions: "Have you seen Kelsey? Tall, thin, and beautiful, she loves all things Spanish. She lets me sleep on the bed even though I'm not supposed to. She always shares her food. She's been missing for two weeks now. Please send word." I try to keep busy in the meantime. I steal the devil cat's food, and lick lots of unsuspecting people and I finally chewed the eyes off my "pig, but I'm running out of things to do, so if you see Kelsey tell her to come home soon.

[Ace.]

Well now.
Alright, my favorite gringo... [gringa, actually, I suppose] I am ever so glad that you are doing charitable works. Doesn't your heart just want to burst with the joy of interacting? Mine generally does after I've spent a couple of hours scooping dog poop at the SPCA. I can't even imagine how yours must be feeling at the moment. But wait, there's more. Liana's next charitable act: Puppy-sitting for the Lopezes. Yeah, that little puppy of theirs is gonna come live with me. [Oh dear god, if anything happens to it Teresa is going to MURDER me...] I have to say that I am rather excited.