chijnaya

23 September 2006

it´s my first night in chijnaya. it is incredible! the way of life is so appealing. i mean a month is probably going to be perfect, but i´m already getting comfortable here. my host family is so nice. mercedes, my mom, and her two late-teenage daughters are so welcoming.
the sun went down soon after 6pm, and i hear it rises again around 5. they are having their anniversary party (it´s still going on at different homes, late into the night). I was a bit sick still today but i tried to act as excited and lively as i could - i danced with 3 different women and talked for a while with an english teacher from nearby lampa. his daughter and son were exceptionally cute, and i woudln´t mind hanging out with them more... he offered to translate songs into spanish or vice versa that i could use in my english classes. he says his family will come back here.
i think i actually prefer the squat toilet. it´s such a more natural way to poop (not much pushing is necessary). i was a bit overwhelmed during the fiesta because of all the people and me being an obvious outsider (there are a few, maybe 800 people in this village, although it seems much less than that), but i instantly fell in love with the physical town. and oh - just now iu went to brush my teeth and the stars are incredible... i´ve never seen the milky way so dominating in the sky- and it´s a whole different sky down below the equator which makes me want to spend hours looking at it. I only got 3 hours of sleep last night and i´m dosing off. oh, before i forget to mention, the daughters in the family (my sisters) have taken to calling me "angel". in other news, they use a notebook of old math homework for toilet paper.