Friday after sweep team, Moni, Wes, and I spent some time lying in the sun in the patio. The weather had been a lot cooler lately, two blankets instead of just one was now required at night, and the sun felt really nice. After a short nap, we made pancakes in honor of Teresa's birthday and all enjoyed them before I prepared for Cuernavaca. I took the bus by myself and ended up spending the night alone just hanging out in our apartment as Moni and Wes missed the last bus to Cuernavaca. The rest of descanso was very relaxing. I slept late and then went to Startbucks, Wal-Mart, and the mall with Wes and Moni once they arrived. It was a very American day! Wes and I soaked up some more sun on Sunday and then headed back to Miacatlan.
Monday was uneventful (besides accidentally oversleeping through desayuno and sweep team). Tuesday drama ensued in the section when new boyfriend rules were announced to the girls. Romantic relationships are "illegal" in the house, but with so many it is very hard to enforce. The new regulations were supposed to help cut down on the recent rise of couples. They were met with a lot of tears and anger. Later that night, I spoke to the girls a little more explicitly about why the rules exist and the need for them to take care of themselves and their future. It was an awkward conversation, but one that needed to happen. I hope I got through to at least a few!
Wednesday was a nice break from routine when we headed to Cuernavaca again for our volunteer convivencia. Once a month we are supposed to be gathering with the Cuernavaca volunteers either here or there to share a meal and some time together. This time is important to us because otherwise we would never all be together. November was our turn to go there. We had an excellent meal at the apartment. Mariney, our volunteer coordinator and a native of Cuernavaca, brought food from her favorite taco place in town and it was amazing. Dinner was followed by silly games and then bed. We headed back to Miacatlan very early the next morning.
Moni was over the moon to discover one of her favorite German beers at the local grocery store. We each got one to have with dinner.
The roommates chilling in the Cuernavaca volunteers' sala.
Thursday five of my girls were not to be found in the house all day. They were the only five in our section about to celebrate their quinceanera and had left with one of the directors to go shopping. Once they were back, everyone gathered around to see their new acquisitions: shoes. One of our new girls had never worn heels before so we spent time helping her practice. It was so cute and she was having such a hard time that I was worried for her, but she pulled it together for the day flawlessly.
Friday the weekend planning meeting was centered on the quinceanera celebration the next day: getting the house ready, the program, and the after-party. My girls therefore spent the afternoon scrubbing down part of the house. Dinner that night was a surreal experience. It started when I found one of my girls holding a frog in one hand and trying to serve food with the other (it was our month to serve food in the comedor to the rest of the house). I took the frog so she could do her job and ended up carrying it around with me for the rest of the night as I helped the rest of my girls carrying various pots, dishes, and milk with only one hand. The night really hit its peak when my bad toe was stepped on not once but twice resulting in a pool of blood in my flip flop that I was too busy to notice until it was overflowing my shoe. And I still had the frog. :-D Like I said, a surreal experience. I was finally able to pass the frog back and walked to volunteers as quickly as I could to clean up the toe. That night the only activity was general hanging out in the patio so I was able to slip out a little early and go to bed much to the relief of my injured dedo.
