The Flea.

Okay. So maybe ''The Flea'' isn't the proper name for this post, since it's actually about parasites.
Yes. You read correctly.

Parasites.

Here's the thing: apparently, it's really common in this part of the world to take a pill that kills the parasites in your body....every 6 months.

I kid you not. There are commercials of Asian families speaking Spanish, singing a jingle about taking their anti-parasitic.

When I first heard this, I thought it was a joke.
"No way." Those are the exact words I spoke.

Jethro proceeded to explain to me that in these parts, parasites live in everything. Your food. Your water. The air in the markets.

Then he told me about one parasite that lays eggs in your body, sometimes in your brain, and if the eggs hatch you die.  Or become a vegetable. Or lose your speech.

....and that is why people take anti-parasite pills.

So it's been about 2 weeks since this terrible news was broken to me, and all I can think about is how never, not a single time in my entire 26 years of existence, have I ever taken a pill to kill parasites in my body.

I'm convinced that my insides are crawling with microscopic, and not so microscopic, blood sucking, intestine biting creatures that are taking my life force and starting families in my guts.

Seriously. Could this be the reason for the dark circles under my eyes? The strange abdominal pains that awake me in the night?

Are parasites nocturnal?

I think I've accidentally waited this long because I'm afraid. I don't think I need to explain why or what it is I'm afraid of.

And here's a question: why don't we do this in the USA? Are we the only country that doesn't do this? Do we think we're just immune to parasites? Doesn't anyone know that a good portion of our produce comes form Mexico?

Or, is everyone in on this? Has everyone always been taking measures against parasites?
Am I the only one who didn't know about this?

Orange.

I write. It's how I learn, it's how I communicate, it's how I process basically everything occurring in the world around me.

Escribo. Es la manera en que aprendo, es como comunico - es la manera en que puedo procesar lo que ocurre en el mundo.

And I don't want to forget everything I've learned (in regards to Spanish) and I want to take it further - eventually.  So I'm trying to solidify and maintain everything I know in preparation for taking "forward" steps.

Y...no quiero olvidar todo lo que aprendí (en relación a español) y me gustaría avanzar mi comprensión. Entonces, tengo la intención asegurar y mantener todo lo que sé en preparación para avanzar.

So, here I am - with notes in hand - and working out exercises for myself.
Obviously. I'm a teacher. What else would I do?

Aquí estoy, con las notas en mano, y ejercicios para hacer. Obviamente. Soy una maestra. Cual otra cosa haría? 

So, you may not know what you're looking at - but it's all verb tenses and phrases and words to remember...artfully put together in a practical and applicable way. Some of my students do really well with drawing comics and applying their words in that way, some do well in essays, other prefer spoken presentations, etc. Me? Poems. Stories. Every time.

Every. Time.

Quizá no entenderás lo que ves...pero todos son verbos y frases y palabras para recordar - conectados en una manera aplicable y practicable a mí. Algunas de mis alumnas tener éxito con comics - o con essays (ensayos?) - y otras prefieren hablar o dar presentaciones. Pero yo? Poemas. Historias. Cada vez.

Cada.Vez.

----

Camino con cuidado
y miro a donde voy -
para evitar el inesperado;
las grietas, los hoyos, y tú.

Pero con ojos azules y
completamente abiertos
te permití bajo pie
bajo mi piel
resbalé en tus palabras y
me caí dentro de tu alma.

O, quizá tiré la tuya dentro de mí.
Quién sabe?
Quién sabrá?

Huello ligeramente
alrededor el lugar
donde guardas los latidos de tu corazón
y pregunto a mí misma
- en voz alta, como Alicia -
cómo me caí esta caída lenta...
lentamente...
lentamente...?

Y por qué no me importa si nunca regreso al lugar donde estaba antes?

Eres la pastilla que hace que crezca, y
tienes todo el poder de hacerme sentirme pequeña
pero
no puedo imaginar que realmente lo usarías
porque haces que
pueda ver las estrellas con ojos diferentes y
tenga confianza y
me sienta importante a alguien en algún manera.

A tí, en la manera tuya.

Y si me pones el color azul,
te pongo el color naranja -
pero una naranja cálido, como la que puedes ver en los minutos antes la puesta del sol
porque eres mis minutos antes la puesta del sol,
porque eres todos los minutos,
porque eres el temblor anaranjado y cálido de la estrella Betelgeuse
porque cuando rías, está cálida
porque tus manos son cálidos
porque tus ojos cuando ven míos - cálidos, en llamas -
llamas anaranjadas.

Supongo que durante mi camino, nunca estaba mirando por llamas.

Jueves.

I'm writing this post before the end of the day because I actually have some time to do it, and I hate rushing things. You know me.

So this morning started like every other morning.

0400 hours - wide awake
0600 hours - the children (or animals? I'm genuinely not sure) next door start screaming - as my host sister says, "they sound almost human."
0720 hours - Yo: "Martita. No voy a comer desayuno hoy. Me duele mi estomago. Necesito descansar un poco mas." ("Martita, I'm not going to eat breakfast today. My stomach hurts. I need to rest a little more.") Martita: "Si? No quieres fruta? Quieres te?" (Yeah? You don't want fruit? Do you want tea?) Yo: "Si, te por favor."
0725 hours - I take my "te" to my room.
0820 hours - I get ready for school
0850 hours - I give my mug to Martita...."Como te sientes? Ayuda el te?" Yo: "Si, si, gracias." Martita: "Quieres fruta? Platanos? Puedes tener dos!" Yo: "Okay! Gracias, gracias. Adios!"
0900 hours - Arrive to class.

Class is always really interesting. We end up talking about really random stuff, and then Herman (el maestro) finds ways to fit in a learning objective. So this morning, he asked how we were all feeling. Generally, we were all feeling quite tired/sick. He asked me specifically why I was tired, so I told him how we could hear the music from a huge concert up in the stadium (that didn't end until about 1).

Apparently, this stadium is called El Auditorio Guelaguetza and was built specifically for the guelaguetza. The guelguetza is an event that "showcases" the indigenous cultures - there is food, dancing, music. It used to be free, but now that foreigners use it at a tourist destination, they charge a price to enter. Only those who can afford to are allowed to appreciate indigenous culture, I guess. -_-

Then, we talked about about mezcal (an alcoholic beverage specific to the area). You can buy it at the bar, you can buy it at a mezcaleria, you can buy it in a bottle from a guy off the street (if you know what you're doing). It can come with a worm in it, it can come without a worm in it. It can be smoky or it can be more like tequila. While talking about mezcal, we learned the difference between "que" y "cual" - and then moved onto other exercises to solidify it.

I, and I'm very proud of myself, already knew the difference. (That doesn't mean I don't sometimes mess it up, though). In fact, today was the first day of my classes where I really opened up and just spoke Spanish freely.

I guess I'm getting there. :)

After class, I walked home with Francis. He wanted to go to the store to buy a notebook, first. So we did that. Then I came home, pet Pirata, went upstairs, looked at Facebook, and went back downstairs for lunch.

Martita (and my host mother Paula) are the best. Martita made two types of soup (perfect for a sad stomach!!) - a broccoli, cilantro soup and a chayote, tomato, and poblano soup. With it we ate tortillas that a guy from the neighborhood sells. About halfway through lunch, Paula showed up with - wait for it - a fresh guayaba (guava) for me!!! She remembered how much I liked the first one, and bought me another just for the helluvit. We talked a little bit about mezcal (I mentioned a discussion we had in class about worms - gusanos - in the mezcal) and local laundromats.

Then she told me to go upstairs and rest! So I did. And now I'm here, and I happen to know that Pirata was in my room because he left a perfect pawprint on my bed.

So, what's next for my day?
Well - at 4 I have my last salsa class. After that, a group of us are supposedly going out to a salsa bar as a goodbye party for Britt, who is leaving tomorrow. We'll see how long I last, though. Ideally, I'll be home early.

Sick, tired girls don't get to stay out late. I guess you'll find out tomorrow whether or not I make the right decision.

The United Nations

I think this post will be a little shorter, because it's midnight and I've just gotten home (and need to sleep)!

This morning started - yet again - with "Martita, me duele un poco mi estomago." Bananas for breakfast for me! My stomach hurt until about 11 - at which point I became annoyingly hungry. I waited and waited for 2:15 to roll around...

and then I got to eat delicious mole negro con papas and a little salad, y mas bananas (platanos). After that, it was off to intercambio where I learned 3 words in Zapoteca (an indigenous language here). And, apparently I have a really good Zapoteca accent. Here are the words:

Tortillas = get
Water = niz (sounds like niece)
Eye = lua

After intercambio was salsa, and after salsa was wandering around with my friends. We went to a really pricey place with a rooftop view, and then a group of us went to a taqueria. The experience at the taqueria was really strange.

When we got there, it was kind of busy. We put in our orders and waited and waited. A table was served before us, then a few of us were served, then another table. Then the rest of us. It was really frustrating because we were there for almost 2 hours. It took an unnecessarily long time, and we were a bit angry.

We had been patient and polite. We had ordered in Spanish. Why were they treating us like we weren't important?

It was a little weird. The food was good, though. I doubt we'll go again, simply based on the service.

After that, we found ourselves at Barracuda. The boys wanted to take advantage of a 3 beers/50 pesos deal. At the bar, we realized that each of us was from a different country (England, USA, Australia, Germany - and the waitress was from Spain). We appreciated how uncommon that situation was, and at the end we got a picture.

I think it's really up to Francis to post it.

Ultimately, it was another successful day in Oaxaca. Every day that I'm here is another day that I'm certain I'll never be able to leave. 

Departure Day

It's been a while. I've had a bit of a dry spell, I guess. Everything worth writing about has been to important for a public blog, so it's been somewhere else.

You know. Girls and their diaries.

Anyway - it's time to revive the blog....at least for now. Because I'm going to Mexico. Between traveling alone, as a vegan with celiac disease and a compromised immune system...If I can't come up with something interesting to write, then I should never write again.

Today, right now, I travel. Currently, I'm sitting the freezing Atlanta airport and trying to keep myself entertained. And warm.

I've been up since 0430 hours, and in the last 8 hours I've stood in the longest security line of my life, I've been groped (apparently wearing a sparkly shirt through those body scanners just makes you look like you're sprinkled in shrapnel or something), I've cleaned out a currency exchange office of their entire stock of pesos (luckily, I was the first customer of the day...at 6AM), made an airplane friend, and walked the entire length of the Atlanta airport.

I even had time to squeeze an episode of Grey's Anatomy in. Parting is such sweet sorrow....

By the way, the first flight (MSP - ATL) was so cold, it refrigerated my water. I'm pretty sure between the cold airplane and airport, I'm going to get hypothermia. I'll die before I ever even get to Oaxaca.

Oh, I should talk about that. Why am I going to Oaxaca? Well, there are a few reasons.

1.) The insatiable appetite for travel. I was born into the world. Not into a city, a town, a state. The world. This is my home, and I want to make sure I know my neighbors, brothers, sisters, friends.

2.) Spanish. I've been working on and trying to learn Spanish for a while. I'm a fairly functional reader/writer/listener...but I'm basically mute as far as speaking is concerned. I have never had to step outside my comfort zone. I have never had the Spanish-immersion experience. I'll be at an immersion school in Oaxaca - for 3 weeks - and living with a local family. If that doesn't force me to (as I tell my students) "use my words" then nothing will.

3.) El Dia de Los Muertos. I remember learning about it in school when I was 13. But textbooks and google searches and a 40 minute class period can only take you so far. I've wanted to experience this for myself for quite some time. Nothing makes you feel more like a grown up (and a totally awesome person) than actually crossing some things of your childhood "dreams" list.

There are other reasons, too. But you've got the ones you need :D

I've got another airport to sit in this afternoon. 4.5 hours in Mexico City. Hopefully I pass through customs without issue. Maybe I'll make a few more new friends. Then a quick flight to Oaxaca, a cab ride to my host family and....October.

Octubre.
Prepare for lift-off.

Spanish Practice. Sorry!

Yo necesito hacer esto. Tengo un examen manana, y un otro examen en varias semanas... Se llama el "LPE" or the Language Proficiency Exam. Si yo no paso esto examen... entonces tengo tomar la clase "SPAN 1004" mientras tomando mi senior project y dos clases otras.

Tengo miedo, porque hoy yo no puedo estudiar! Mis pensamientos estan dispersos. Mi mente es en el futuro, en el verano..!

Esto va a ser trabajo duro. Explicare los verbos y la gramatica a tu en espanol.

Primero: El preterito. Usa el preterito explicar or describir algo que ocurrio una vez. Usa el preterito para definir un evento con un final definido. Por ejemplo: "Yo naci en 1988" o "mi hermano hablo con sus amigos para dos horas." The preterite is used to define something with a definite beginning and end. It happened, then it was over. Like birth. I was born - then it was done; "past actions that are seen as completed."

Segundo: El imperfecto. Usa el imperfecto describir un evento que repita. Por ejemplo: Comiamos ajuntos todos los dias. Tambien, usa el imperfecto cuando describiendo el tiempo/la hora y hablando sobre la edad de una persona.

Espero que yo sabo las palabras que yo necesito pasar el examen!

Una cosa que lucha con es el verbo "haber" - haber. Que es esto verbo haber?! En realidad la significa es "to have" pero no en el contexto como "tener."

Haber: he, has, ha, hemos, han.
"yo he comido." - i have eaten.

why!? why!!?

Voy a escribir sobre mi vida y uso como muchos verbos que puedo!

Hola. Me llamo Nikki y tengo 21 anos. Yo naci en Alemania en 1988. Tengo 3 hermanos y 4 hermanas. Tambien, tengo dos gatos! Mis padres se llaman Ron y Shelley. Mi padre estaba en las fuerzas amadas. Mi familia y yo viajabamos todo el mundo.

Me gusta escribir, hacer ejercicio y cocinar. Mi heroe es Chef Ramsay y yo quiero conocerlo. Me gusta animales, y vacaciones.

Si puedo tomar una vacacion a cualquier lugar viajaria a europa. En europa yo comeria comida bien.