Day 15 + 16

Everything is rattling and shaking and the wind outside is howling. It's 10pm, Friday night and the chill is seeping under my door. This is a solid, cement building, but all the windows and doors are metal and rattle. It felt like Seattle today, all blustery and rainy.

It's been a good day today. A full day, productive. I wrote some emails in the morning and then went down to the high school for their carnival celebrations. Carnival is a big deal here, with marimba bands and dancing and people throwing talcum powder at each other, men dressed up in costumes with bells on their ankles and people dousing each other with water and sometimes eggs. The high school looked like halloween had just occurred, with zombie like white powder covering everyone from head to toe. I got shuffled into a dance circle, someone grabbed my camera and took pictures of me while I tried not to feel too self-conscious about being the only gringo there and having a group of teenagers staring at me. It was pretty fun. I think I turned many shades of pink before getting doused with talcum powder and becoming white and ghostlike as the rest of them.

I got to drink pozole from a gourd, which is a chocolatey drink made with maize. It's rich and tasty. A bunch of guys I didn't know wanted to pose with me, so I made the rounds. My photo is on someone's cell phone and he can tell his friends, " that that's awkward white girl who visited our school and looked embarrassed!" :)

The kids don't have school Monday through Wednesday because this is such a big deal Carnival. Sunday is the real party in Coita, or so I hear, but I'm not sure I'll be seeing much of it. It depends on the plan here for that day. Tomorrow night we are having a Disco at Hogar with the proceeds from the tickets going toward our Haiti relief project. Tomorrow's also the day when I get to find out if I win a sheep. This party is going to be great fun. I'm sure we will dance to reggeton for many hours. Hopefully, it's a success and a lot of kids show up.

I spent some time in Coita today doing some shopping. I bought tiny, little fun colored nail polish for the the girls, and some plastic dinosaurs and animals for the little boys. i also got more of my allergy meds, since I noticed I was supposed to keep taking if for 3 more days.

I just got back in time to prepare for art class. We painted landscapes with watercolor today and they turned out beautifully. I showed them a couple examples from an old art history book I found in their library. I taught them what the horizon line was and they just had to draw a landscape with a horizon. Simple, easy project. They sketched it out fist in pencil and then painted it. I had also bought them lolly pops in town, so I had a pretty, content, happy class.

After dinner I spent some time talking to 14 year old Luiz Fernando. He's such a sweet, smart kid. He's knitting me a scarf. He's one of those super smart honor's students, with a dorky laugh and a silly sense of humor. Kyla and I always appreciate that he tries to talk to us, even though frequently we may not understand. He's been taking English classes with Kyla, and his English is basic, but pretty good. Also, Luiz Fernando tears it up on the dance floor. He will be a lot of fun at tomorrow's disco.

So, to bed, to bed. I'm too tired to care about everything rattling and I've gotten used to animals screaming in the night and girls blaring pop music in the morning. Bueno noches everyone!