Fall is in the Air....Not!

In Kentucky, the month of October is all about fall. Here in Guatemala, fall does not exist; however, it does mark the end of rainy season!!! They do celebrate Halloween to some extent. Certain places have decorations up, and we have dress like a book character day at school. And since Paiz my grocery store is owned by Walmart, we have pumpkins from the U.S. and Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations! I have already purchased a turkey for Thanksgiving ($40), and my pumpkin, which I carved this evening, was $1/lbs coming out to a whooping $15 pumpkin! They better be some delicious seeds!

Last weekend I went to a Rocky Horror Picture Show party and a more traditional Halloween costume. I was Ginger from Gilligan's Island along with the rest of the cast represented by some other friends. It was on the rooftop of another teacher's apartment building- incredible views. On actual Halloween, I am going to be at the beach relaxing in the warm 90ish degree weather. The real celebration here and in the rest of Latin America is All Saint's Day. We have Monday off of school (Nov. 1) and I will be going to a huge Kite Festival that is a traditional celebration of this day. There will be lots of pictures and details about that in the next entry!

Two weeks ago I went with a group of teachers and students to a service day. We are helping convert a former orphanage into a safe house for victims of sex trafficking in Guatemala. I spent most of the day sanding some doors (my arms were sore for days), but I also helped garden. Plus, the dogs that live there had just had 9 puppies that we got to play with! I almost brought one home, but I used all my grown-up, realistic willpower and left them there with their mother. We are going back to the same place in December to get everything ready for its grand opening. I am excited about the monthly opportunities to work in different areas of Guatemala.

This week is Parent-Teacher Conferences at school. They have a sub for us on the day that we have the majority of our conferences (I have 20 tomorrow), and the rest are after school. All parents are required to attend, and the majority of mothers and fathers both come to the meeting. Everything at school is still going very well. Last week was Revolution Day so we didn't have school on Wednesday. I spent it shopping, getting a massage, and seeing Eat Pray Love in the VIP movie theater. Most of my students didn't even know what Revolution Day was, so I don't feel like I missed out on any big cultural celebrations.

I have been spending time working in my apartment and getting things ready for when my family visits in November. I am counting down the days until I can see them, show them my new life, and travel to new places in Guatemala!