I can't seem to catch my breath...

IT'S SUNNY AGAIN TODAY. The sun, and combination of various other things, have made me very smiley lately. With all the beauty going on around me in the landscape, weather, people, and just all together new-ness of life I feel like my brain is screaming MAXIMUM CAPACITY REACHED while my heart just wants to continue to grow (and guess what - my heart is winning this one).

Yesterday I went to the Ninos de Guatemala office in Antigua to see about getting my volunteer on. It was a little upsetting when I realized it wasn't going to work out with them because at most I would only be able to volunteer 3 days a week in the mornings and you have to be able to commit to five days a week. Part of me was relieved, however, because I already feel so overloaded with two classes and having my Tuesday and Thursday mornings free is so nice. Claudia said she knew of an English School in Antigua I might be able to volunteer at so maybe I'll see about that. If not the only thing that'll bug me is not getting my beloved time with the ninos while I'm here. It does kinds totally screw up my plans for my senior thesis, but I really can't do everything while I'm down here. Even if I could find a place to work at, I have hardly done any reading for teaching methodology to base research off of because I'm so busy with my other classes. Not to worry though (because mom, I know you're probably freaking out right now) I will still be earning 7 credits for history and spanish which will keep me graduating in time. I would really love to keep with what I had originally proposed for my thesis, but I just don't see it possible. My final project for history however is to take a current issue in Guate and contextualize it regarding Guate's history. Because I will be doing a good portion of the work here this summer, I'm actually thinking of turning that into my senior thesis; maybe not as much fun as my original plan, but I'm working with what I've got. I have total faith that if this teaching thing doesn't work out a) it wasn't supposed to be this summer and b) I have so much time to come back, teach, and focus primarily on that.

I'm not letting that bug me though because everything else is still better than I could have ever imagined. Last night we were all so drained from the week, we just crawled in Monica's bed and watched Alice in Wonderland (which, by the way, you can buy movies at the market for like 10Q aka a little more than $1. and yes, it is so totally illegal but it's just another example of how apparently copyright laws don't exist here). My Tim Burton obsession was fed and I was happy.

Speaking of obsessions, I have finally found another Andrew McMahon fanatic. Not like, oh yes I love SoCo and Jack's Mannequin - it goes beyond love, which is an emotion hard to find shared with someone else. But my one roommate Abbey and I spent half our morning just swooning and sharing our intense love. It's like our souls were destined to be together. It's weird how I feel that way about so many people here though, especially my roommates. I truly believe we were all meant to find each other in our lives because we share a connection that I've never experienced in such a way before. The overwhelming notion that I am supposed to be exactly here at this moment of my life has not left me once on this trip. I feel more whole, more of my true self because of this country and these people.