Some sugar for a honeybee

Supermarkets.
Open air Markets.
Bodegas
Mini Markets
Street side stands.
Carts being pushed through the neighborhood.
Wheel boroughs being pushed through the neighborhood.




There are lots of shopping options. I might even be forgetting a few. I think the weirdest seller I've seen around town is the couple that comes by about once a month. First you hear their megaphone sounding from the park, a block down the street. Then a few minutes later you hear the megaphone quite loud and clear right outside your window. Because they are right outside your window. On the street corner, with a huge pyramid of toilet paper packages. And no my first thought is not, wow that IS cheap! (that's the second thought) It is actually "hooowww did they move ALL of that toilet paper down the block so fast!" There's no cart around, just a man and a woman and a pyramid of 2 pack and 4 pack TP. And I find myself imagining some kind of line of people down the street tossing packs of toilet paper like it is some kind of party congo line but with TP, down the block to the next corner. 


No joke, I can't count how many times this has happen since we've lived on this block... on two hands anymore. And I still don't know how they do it. It's killing me.


What else is killing me is the fact that the honey I was so excited to buy (and at such a bargain price!), turns out to possibly be mixed with something else, too. Or the bees were fed sugar? Which is the theory my mother-in-law has. Or the honey was mixed with sugar water? Anyway something shady happen. Because the lovely honey I bought a week ago is now a solid mass and quite frankly not even that scrapeable. And no its not that cold. The ants that always seem to find their way back into our kitchen when the sun peaks through the clouds, don't even care for it. 


Boo.  The guy that sold it to me was so nice, too. But I guess they always are, aren't they?


Oh well, I'll just listen to one of my new favorite songs that cheers me up. Because what doesn't cheer a person up like someone singing over and over to you in a super cheery voice "Everything is going to be okay" A friend of mine here shared it with me when she knew I was stressed and anxious about an upcoming meeting. Result? I sat singing the song through the meeting :) She's a great friend.

some come. some go. some stay.

Some students come and go. 

Some students disappear and you never see again.

Some students you lose touch with and three years later happen to bump into them on a busy city center street. While there is a clown directing traffic and yelling at you for stopping in the middle of the road. Clowns just don't get the wonder of running into someone you were sure you would never again see in your life. **

Then there are also some students you could write an entire book about. 

I've been lucky enough to teach several of those. 

The kind that make it not so hard to wake up to teach an 8 am class, when you aren't a morning person.

These are the kinds of students that know your mother and grandmother on a first name basis, and call them on skype with you to sing happy birthday. 

And in return for teaching them the difference in "picky" and "detail oriented" and trying not to laugh too much when they call a native English speaking coworker that's visiting the country for the first time, picky... they teach you how to tell off your neighbor in coastal Peruvian slangs for keeping silent when you accidentally paid their electricity bill. Even if you're too shy so you only keep it to yourself. 

I think we are all starting to understand my love for these students. 

We drink coffee and make skype calls to practice our telephone skills.

And they come over to learn how to make bear shaped pancakes.

With Zanax.

** Really, a clown. More and more traffic lights are popping up around town, as well as the signals for pedestrians to cross the street. The problem... is that no one uses them. So the clown was teaching everyone how to properly cross the street. You would be surprised how many people still don't cross on the crosswalk or when the light is red, even if there is a big (scary) clown with a megaphone calling you out in front of at least 30 other people. (because they are ignoring the clown too). 

as of late

How does one jump back into blogging after it has been over two months since your last post?


I think I'll do it with a video. Or two.



I've been addicted to NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. You can download the video as a podcast or just the audio, and for free! This is Julieta Venegas. Love her. She's from Mexico. I found out today that my mother in law shares the same love for her, but apparently no one else in the family does. Julton shows his distaste for her by telling me "you know, she doesn't really sing, it's her style..." my response? "really? that's your biggest diss?"





And of course, Iron & Wine. I love his music, when he plays solo preferably.


So there you have it. I've been consumed with music, and by the way paper work... Julton and I are close to submitting everything for his visa! I had a more heartfelt post written up previously, but... I decided to go with a lighthearted one. Sorry for the absence... I'm going to try to be around more often!


To tell you stories like this:


Last week I went with a few friends to Karaoke. And let me preface this by explaining that karaoke in Peru can be quite a serious endeavor. Was our group serious about karaoke? Singing heartfelt ballads? Sad lovesongs? Or just dancing and singing to salsa? Please. Bring on the spice girls. And Britney. But by the time our songs came out I had a feeling it wasn't a good idea that we sing... because the mood had already been set and everyone seemed pretty happy without the presence of Britney. So we probably shouldn't have been surprised when after we sang... no one clapped for us... and actually... a guy from the back corner yelled "pasala ya!!" (pass the mic already!)


That was embarrassing?