Holy Week

I wrote this blog post in my head on Thursday while sitting in church for three hours. Yes, you read that right. Three hours. I can only imagine how long it´s going to be tomorrow. When you are sitting in church at home, and you are getting grumpy because it´s Communion Sundy and church has been going on for an hour and ten minutes instead of an hour, just come on down to the Guate. When you get bored during a prayer that lasts over a minute, just come on down to the Guate. It´s quite normal her to have a prayer that last 40 minutes while everybody is praying outloud. Complete with sobbing and/or weeping. All of this while standing the whole time. Anyways, I´m done with my rant now.

I have more to add to my ¨You know you´ve been in the Guate too long when¨
- your idea of dressing up involves a faded old dress and chacos
- you no longer question the food you are eating, you just eat it

Let me elaborate on the second one a little bit. For example, there is a food called longaniza. There may be an r in there somewhere, I´m not sure. Anyways it´s kind of like sausage. I am not sure what animal it comes from, let alone what part of the animal. I could probably look it up but I don´t think I want to know. So if you know, please don´t tell me. 

We had baptisms last wek. I didn´t get baptized but I did get thrown in the pool. Then I had to put on some random clothing that was not mine because aparently wet clothes in the Guate would be fatal. Anyways, it was lots of fun.  I wanted to put pictures up...but the computer I am using does not seem to be at a high functioning level.

Yesterday I made my singing debut in church. Just kidding, kind of. My sister Sonia decided that her, my other sister Evelyn, and I were going to sing a song for Holy week in front of the whole church. Lovely. I would have curled my hair for the occasion, but I have no curling iron. My sister Karla curled my hair once using a curling iron someone had left at the house, but it caught fire in the middle of doing my hair. Typical. I have a lovely picture of me singing, aka staring at the wall behind me. What a pro.

In other news, my birthday is coming up! Since I know you all love me and want o send me things, send cards to this address:
Jensen Blankinship A-528
P.O Box 669004
Miami Springs, FL 33266
I know it looks wierd, but its a courier service and they will actually arrive. 
If you want to send me packages full of lovely things or anything lavender scented, send them to this address:
Jensen Blankinship
Apartado Postal 41
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

I checked news pages for the U.S. recently and I noticed that the U.S. seems to be falling apart without me. Either that or it´s still George Bush´s fault.

¡Adios!
P.S. I got in law school at the University of New Mexico! yay!

Six Months

It's really good that I am not a professional blogger, as updating once a month would earn me about zero dollars.

Anyways, lets see what has been going on..
I have been working about 50,000 hours a week, which means that I usually sit at a desk all day and do nothing. How typical.

I was planning on just looking in my journal to see what I was going to blog about, but it seems that I have not written in my journal in about two months. Also typical.

We celebrated valentine's day at school, Dia del Carino, except the n has the little squiggly over it which I cannot find on this computer. I received a teddy bear and a note from a student asking me if I liked him. My U.S. mom thought it was cute until I told her how old the student was. In case you were wondering, he is not a little kid. It was a bit awkward. Anyways.

Also some of the teenage boys decided to pierce their ears with a needle in class, so that was a lovely experience.

I have been in the Guate for over six months, which is absolutely insane. Time is just flying by! I really thought I would be miserable and counting down the days until I return and weeping all the time, but I have yet to weep at all! And for those of you that know me real well, I make countdown calendars for everything and I have not made one for my return!

I have made a list of "you know you've been in the guate for too long when". I got my inspiration from the "you know you're a redneck when" jokes by Michael Foxworthy. Anyways, here they are. You probably won't understand them unless you have been to the Guate, but I still think they are entertaining.

You know you have been in the Guate too long when:
-you don't think twice about eating candy from the bus ayudante (the guy that takes your money on the bus)
- you try to hot glue ten dollar target sandals back together
- you eat your pasta with a tortilla instead of a spoon
- you eat your salad witha tortilla instead of a fork
- you stop using utensils altogether
- you no longer care if your pants are zipped or not
- you can go to the bathroom anytime, anywhere
- you buy food on the bus from strangers

I am sure I will think of more at some point, I just find myself so hilarious!

Also, we went to Belize for our six month retreat! It was sooo amazing!!

This is us on the boat in Belize! We went snorkeling off the coast with sea turtles and fishies and sting rays and sharks! It was so amazing!

 

The YAVs and I relaxing on the beach..it was white sand! Soooo pretty!

 

I love Guatemala, but I also love Belize. Belize was a lot cleaner than Guatemala, and people seemed a lot less afraid than the do in the Guate.

 

In other news, I tried liver last week. This is it raw. I touched it. I tried it cooked though, do not worry. It was very soft. I think I will stay away from it in the future.

 

That is all for now!