Adventures In Guatemala (and elsewhere): yestermonth

Everyone tells us how quickly their service goes by; we are perpetually hearing the "before you know it you will be done with training", or "you will be a part of your community before you know it!". Up until last week I pretty much thought that was crap. Not that I didn't believe that was their experience, but I knew it wasn't mine currently. That was yestermonth. Time here is one of the most confusing things for me. As you all know, I am a very punctual person, I hate when people are late, I actually think one of the only things I hate more is being late. That has pretty much gone to hell here. There is this things called hora Chapina here (Chapina is the same as Guatemaltecan, just a person from Guate). Hora Chapina is basically like queer standard time, where people are perpetually late, actually it's pretty much rude to show up on time. This is *really* hard for me, I cannot seem to shake not being ruled by a clock. I am definitely a slave to my watch, to the clock, to the sun dial, anything that will tell me that I need to hurry up I obey. The day that I am late and my insides aren't churning with either fear of consequence of my tardiness or frustration I will know that I have made it.

Anyway, back to yestermonth. I swear I just got here, and yet I have been here for six weeks. I know how to navigate Antigua, I know how to barter, which is absolutely necessary here. I also know how to cut a pineapple with a machete now. There is no possible way I learned all this (completely arbitrary stuff that has no real reflection of time in anyway) in just six weeks, but apparently I did. Oh, there's also that whole learning a language thing, but that can actually be quantified, thus I can't possibly use it as a way to measure personal growth or knowledge gained.
Yestermonth I arrived in Guatemala. Yesterweek I did my first charla in Spanish and didn't even die. And before I know it, it will be tomorrowmonth I will be headed to my site.
I don't actually think I said anything in this post, but as it turns out trying to learn how to do things in another culture and in another language somehow means that I am not allowed to remember how to do things in English anymore. It's a rule...I think.
But here are pictures of pretty or adorable things that will hopefully make up for my ramblings