things that have happened..

So much has happened. I have too much to say, too much time in which to say it, which is actually even worse than too little time. Here are highlights:

• Sarah brought a puppy home in March. I named him Fitzgerald.
  

• I had visitors! Chad came in March and my mom and Max came in April. I had a very redemptive spring break with said visitors at Lake Yojoa and Copan Ruins.

• I had a joint birthday party with my student Candido Fernando. I turned 23! He turned 5! We invited our whole class and broke a piñata together. I love my little friends. They know how to party.

• My dearest friend here, Kirsty (the second grade teacher), took a whirlwind of a trip to St. Louis to interview at Washington University Law School. It's a little pathetic, but I admit that I missed her while she was gone.The good news: she made it back safely to Honduras with all sorts of American goodies to share (espresso brownies?! yes please!). What's best? She owned the interview and got accepted into the program a few weeks later! We celebrated accordingly.

• There was an awful dry spell. We spent a rough two weeks without running water. There were even several occasions where the power also cut out. I don't feel like going into details, but I will tell you that it was really frustrating.

• My students only continue to amaze me! They can all write their names, read three-letter-words, and do basic addition. Can I remind you that they are four years old? I'm glowing with pride. I love my little ones.

• I took a day trip with Sarah, Laura Beth, and Juan Carlos to La Campa, a neighboring village known for its pottery.

• I took a weekend trip to La Union with Kirsty. Highlights included making new friends, exploring a coffee plantation, riding in pick-up trucks, and being serenaded by a wandering mariachi band, all in true Honduran fashion.

• I have a plane ticket! I will be flying home to Chicago on June 14th.
  

I was going to write about a beautiful moment from a golden age, but now that I've come here to write it, it just sounds so antiseptic compared to the beauty of the moment itself, so forget it. Everything else is the same and it's almost June. The dry spell is over and we're in a sea of green again. Maybe it's on account of the rain, but it's not so brutally hot anymore. The smell of the coffee blossoms was so sweet for a while, it smelled like a licorice factory. It was a bit sickening, actually. The bugs seem to enjoy it, though. Every daylight hour is a formidable frenzy of creatures of all colors and creeds.

Sometimes it feels like I've been here forever. Other times, everything still feels like the beginning of something. I have more Honduran tales to chronicle, but succinctness already is getting lost. That can't be helped.