Happenings...

A few random anecdotes (not at all in any sort of chronological order)

Earlier this week, after playing soccer, I came home and went out back to shower. It was already dark, so I didn't bother wearing shorts and instead wrapped myself in my towel. Well, about halfway through my shower, I heard 'Buenas Noches.' I looked over to see an elderly woman with a plate of food standing by my back door. Not knowing what to do, I turned off the shower, wrapped myself in my towel, and with soap still dripping down my body, stepped out to talk with her. Of course this made for quite an awkward moment, but also a pretty nice one. She told me that she lives close and that she thought I might like some dinner. It's nice to be so well-taken care of here.

A couple of weeks ago, after a soccer game, I hung out in front of my neighbor's house with a few of my teammates and a few other guys as they all drank 'guaro' (moonshine) and made dirty jokes. I learned at least 10 different synonyms for various parts of the female anatomy--and most of them are the names of local food. Very educational.----That same night, I was asked how many women I would be bringing back to my house since I live alone. In this country, almost no one lives alone, and the fact that I do, in these guys' eyes, means I can have women over whenever I want. I told them I already have a girlfriend, at which point they very sincerely promised me that they would not tell my girlfriend, so it's really no problem. I explained to them, it's not a matter of her finding out, but rather I don't want to cheat on her. This, they could not understand and it got awkwardly quiet for a little bit. With nothing left to say I lifted my glass of water to their bottles of guaro and toasted 'salud.' Much hair-rustling and back-slapping ensued, and all was right with the world again. Ahhh, the boys.

Last month, as I mentioned in my blog, I was in charge of taking pictures for the independence day celebrations here. Independence Day, for the high school girls, becomes an excuse to wear short, cheerleading-type skirts as they march down the street in the parade. Actually, I'm not sure if it is an excuse for them to wear those skirts as much as it is an excuse for the men in charge to make them wear those skirts. Regardless, I think 50% of the male attendence at the parades can be attributed to girls in short skirts. Being in charge of taking pictures, then, becomes a precarious position for me. I know the girls want to see themselves in photos, but at the same time, I don't want to be associated with the men who came only to stare at the girls. I ended up taking very few photos of the cheerleaders. Well, of course, when we got the photos developed and I was about to show them to the teachers, a couple of the women teachers were teasing me saying 'Let's see how many photos Michael took of the cheerleaders.' Feeling pretty proud of myself at this moment, I was thinking 'Yes, let's see.' Well, after showing the photos, the same women teachers started teasing me saying 'So you don't like Latina women do you?' I guess that situation was one I just couldn't win.

Peace and love to all.