Thursday Morning Musings

The volcano I see from the veranda where I drink my coffee is so beautiful this morning. It rained last night and it's cloudy this morning, so there's a giant blanket of rounded out clouds moving slowly over it. In the background, the birds are chirping like crazy. I had to record one because it sounds so pretty. I'll upload it eventually.

I've decided I might stay here in Guatemala beyond the month I originally planned, but if I do, I think I'll move on from this house. I might go to Lake Atitlan for a week and check that area out. It's incredibly beautiful in pictures and I think it would be a nice quiet spot to work. Here's a shot I stole from a random website to give you the idea. I'm going to look into places.

I don't want to get sued. Photo source: www.keteka.com 

If I don't do that, I'll just visit the lake next weekend and probably just stay here in Antigua an extra week, which would be great, too. I couldn't be happier with my Spanish school and my teacher, Sonia. I wish I could study there more actually, but after work, an hour is about all I can muster. Well, that's not exactly true because our hour class almost always ends up being an hour and a half, which is really cool of her. She just seems to really enjoy what she does and never looks at the time. It's incredible that these classes are just $8 an hour.

Speaking of my teacher, I've mentioned before that Sonia is a very outgoing, friendly person. She's about 4'11", tiny, and pretty. She's almost exactly my age and her birthday is August 11, very close to mine. She smiles all the time and just basically beams with positivity and energy. Unfortunately though, she is missing her front teeth. It was a little distracting when I first met her, but now I hardly notice it since she's so confident and funny. But I really feel for her about this problem because I know how having messed up teeth can affect you. When I was a kid I had about 10 extra teeth in my mouth shooting in all directions, and buck teeth. They looked terrible, and when I got older, I became extremely self-conscious about them. Luckily I got braces and this problem was solved for me. Over the years, I have had other issues with my teeth, such as cracking the front ones and needing caps and things like that. So I guess what I'm saying is I have a soft spot for people's issues with their teeth.

I find myself wondering how much it would cost for Sonia to get a bridge or partial denture or whatever the solution is. It can't be all that much here I don't think. And I know how life-changing it would be for her, especially in the field she's in where she constantly interacts with people. Anyway, I wouldn't know how to broach the subject with her without offending her, and it's probably a crazy thought anyway for someone I've known a week, but it is on my mind. (I'm still blown away by the fact that I started a FoFund Me page for Wanda's vet bill and raised $1,300 in 3 days, so it makes me think of what else I could do.)

Anyway! Here are some random pictures I took yesterday.

Pretty street near my house

Church looking dramatic

Love the colors here. 

Eerie view last night as I sat in the park talking to Shannon.

Money spent today:

Q70 deodorant and another personal item :)
Q14 bread, box of tea, avocado, bananas
Q10 street lunch (didn't get sick!)
Q95 = about $13