thou, thy, thine

Sooooo I´ve already been back from my last retreat for about two weeks and I haven´t written! We went to a Finca on the coast which meant that it was nice and HOT and felt WONDERFUL. I was so happy to see all of my YAV friends and I think the feeling was mutual because I hadn´t laughed so hard in ages. The retreat was on a coffee plantation, which doesn´t look how I expected. The owner´s house was a nice size but far from extravagant. It was inherited by a Guatemalan and her "American" (he hasn´t lived in the U.S....maybe ever..I¨m not sure. But his parents are from the United States). They live there trying their hardest to pay their workers as much as possible, but it is still under minimum wage. They have begun a dried banana business on the far which are surprisingly delicious. In addition, they sell honey made on site. Eventually, hopefully, business will pick up and the workers will be paid what they deserve for their hard work. The business is almost entirely dependent on manual labor. The machines are fairly technically simple. The energy mostly comes from the workers and not electricity. The beans are picked by hand, separated by hand, dried by spreading them out on a big concrete slab, cleaned with river water that runs downhill through a series of cement channels...you get the picture. Or maybe you don´t, because I was very surprised to see it all. And if not, then look up Finca Santa Elena and check out the pictures. I had the chance to help pick some of the coffee, and I won´t say I was afraid I´d see a snake because I want my mom to come, but I did see a neon green frog which was beautiful. Needless to say, I was sad to say goodbye to my friends. But, Comalapa is always a sweet place to return to.

The past couple of weeks have been spent tutoring much English, working on a curriculum for tutoring English, and doing way too many things in English. It isn´t great for this language I am trying to learn, called Spanish. Buuuut, it is good for making friends!

This past weekend the catholic church in Comalapa had its confirmations. Some 150 teens confirmed and my parents sponsored a young girl. They learned she didn´t have a bed, so they bought her a bed which seemed to be quite a nice gift to me. After the 3 and a half hour mass that was the conformation, where the obispo came decked out in tall hat and shepard staff that was taller than he was (and he was already pretty tall), we all marched out of the church following crowds to our respective parties. After a nice time at the girl´s house, we went to my grandparent´s for some major dancing. Pine covered the floors, but not for long, it was kicked out of the way leaving a festive scent but none of the mess. I think I danced with everyone at the party, in circles, in pairs, and as the night went on, my partners were progressively less aware of who they were dancing with and I became more of a prop to hold onto as they deliriously moved side to side. Besides for the accidental hit to the face, I had a great time.

This weekend, I will be attempting to cook my first Thanksgiving Dinner. We are still unsure if the oven works, and there is a live turkey waiting for us down the street. I think I will soon be getting my first experience in slaughtering, plucking, and degutting an animal. I only hope I still have the stomach to eat the poor thing afterward!

Oh interesting note. So now that I am teaching English, I have been, for the first time since grade school, learning English. I had forgotten all of the rules and when my poor students asked me "why," I never knew. So, while studying, I came across something that I found fascinating. The spanish language has a "tu" form and an "usted" form. "Tu" is used as an informal "you" and "usted" is more formal. Well, all along I thought us English speakers were so informal only using "you" to everyone no matter their age, status, whatever. But, no no no, this is all wrong! Remember "thou"? wellllll "thou" was our "tu" form and "you" our "usted" form. Does that make any sense? Well, anyway, look how formal we are going around calling everyone "you". I, personally, prefer a more informal way of speaking. So I say everyone let down your hair, add some -ests to your words, and thou havest a good laugh!

I hope thy thanksgiving ist joyous, gracious, and thy turkey ist already kilt.

don´t forget to vote!

Hello there! I added some pics to my last couple of posts, so check them out! I hope everyone had a nice weekend and get out and vote tomorrow!!!

Love,
Celeste