Where do I begin? With the weekend of course!
Friday we had a lovely presentation and dinner at a donor’s home to report what happened in 2009 and a vision for 2010. Their home was lovely as was the presentation, meal, and company. It was nice to meet other supporters of CasaSito along with the board members. It was also nice to curl up on their big comfy couches at the end of the night, sip wine and laugh. (For those of you who know PGL meetings; this had a very similar feel.)
Saturday I met up with Giovanni in the park. I met Giovanni when I was apartment searching. I decided not to live with him and his roommates mainly for distance reasons. Giovanni is learning English so he inquired if I would be interested exchanging conversation to improve my Spanish and his English. I jumped on board. Saturday we sipped drinks from Café Condesa and talked for two hours. He’s an artist who recently painted a huge mural at his old elementary school with a friend. They even wrote an article about it in a local magazine, which he showed me. We planned to meet again Monday.
That evening I volunteered at a Venetian Ball fund-raiser. It was held in the ruins of an old monastery. It was completely lit by candle light and the dirt paths were covered in pine needles and rose petals. It was all open air and one of the most GEORGIOUS events I have ever been a part of. There was an orchestra and for painters painting in the main grassy field. The paintings were auctioned off at the end of the night. Everyone who attended wore lavish costumes (even wigs and hoop skirts!) and masks. We left tired but quite impressed by the beauty of the evening.
Sunday I woke up from a text message of a girl I met last weekend. Her name is Diana and she’s a missionary here. She invited me to lunch and since host families don’t cook on Sundays I quickly took her up on the offer. We ate at Mono Loco, a popular sports bar here. I had a burrito with sweet potatoes in it. It was delicious. The conversation, however, was just as great and I really feel like I have made yet another great friend! We went back to her beautiful home and went swimming in the community’s pool. It was nice to swim laps again and it reminded me of swimming with Shea in college. Then to offset our workout we made brownies and cookies to take to a Super Bowl party. A group of missionaries at her church were celebrating the Super Bowl together. About 40 of us crowded together to support our respective teams and eat and eat and eat. Oh my goodness it was so delicious it gave me a stomach ache! There were wings, veggie chili, Asian coleslaw, mac&cheese, buckeyes, guacamole, pineapple, sooo much delicious food. I asked where the Saints and Colts are from and some one (I’m pretty sure a Guatemalan) told me the Saints were from New Jersey (New Jersey, New Orleans…whatever?). Anyways, I think if I would have known I would have really gotten into the game. Oh well it was a good game and met lots of neat people- including another woman named Jackie Sue and born in May….
When I got home after the Bowl I was exhausted but Stijn, the guy who also lives here, wanted to go salsa dancing so I gave in. When we got there I realized this was no place for me to dance, just watch. It was very impressive and I wanted to try but when I did I realized I was way too tired to get into it. Very sad
Monday I was given the day off because we volunteered Saturday night. I rested for a majority of it then went to the library to get a tour from a guy I met at the Super Bowl party who works there and get my library card! Then Giovanni and I met and had a really great Spanish/English exchange.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, I’m going to a sculpture exhibit and then to a free movie at the library with Fabiola a wonderful fun girl from Guatemala who is doing her college internship in graphic design with CasaSito. I’m excited to get to know her better and watch a free Argentine love film---since it’s the month of love here!
Then Thursday I pack up and say goodbye to Antigua for a few weeks. I’m headed north to the land of Momos two help coordinate the construction of the first two water tanks of 2010! I’m excited to get my hands dirty and (hopefully) find my inner engineer? We’ll see!
Later, I’ll hopefully post pictures from friends of the Venetian Ball!
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