So two days ago I discovered a new and interesting part of this blog: namely, if you write an entry and THEN change the picture, it will erase your entry. Every day a little more. This week is going well, but a little more frusterating than last. My Spanish last week improved incredibly rapidly because, of course, most of it was remembering what I already knew. This week I am learning new things, and it is going much more slowly. Additionally, I went to the org. that I was supposed to be volunteering with and hated it. Basically it is a day care center and basically they don't actually seem to need my help. There are only two women for about 30 kids, but the kids all play by themselves and in reality, the only thing I seemed to add was more reasons for fights and tears, since everybody wanted to be playing with me all of the time. There is a Mayan women's weaving co-op that I am going to check into tomorrow and hopefully be able to work their for my remaining three weeks. Yesterday Volcan Santieguito (sp?) was erupting consistenly all day long. They told us that this has never happened. I have a pretty trippy picture of this flying saucer cloud that was overtaking my house that I'll post later. And on the pictures, thanks, yes, I know they are crooked. Dr. Roberts is on the case and I think I'm all good. This weekend I wanted to climb the other volcano, Tajumulco, but the weather has been very iffy, and also the Buena Vista Social Club (or, at least a few members) is playing here this weekend, so I'm actually sticking around. Sunday I'm going to a neighboring town which has a huge market, so you'd better get your orders in soon. Well, more about life here. The streets are narrow, the sidewalks even more so. There are a lot of street vendors who sell food. All of the fresh fruit and vegetables are bought in the market. There is a supermarket with packaged goods, but mostly you shop at very small stores. All of the goods at these stores are behind bars, and you need to ask for what you want. The market has stores above and stands below, including a few butchers and even just some people who aren't exactly butchers but sell meat and chicken. Nothing opens until 10, and stores shut down around 6 or 7. Lunch is the big meal of the day, and dinner is usually something very small. Tortillas are SO GOOD, thicker and smaller than Mexican tortillas, and you use them more like bread. All of the teachers at my school are fabulous, save one who is creepy and needs to back off. Almost none speak any English at all, which has been frusterating for those who don't speak any Spanish, but has been fine for me. My teacher this week brought me a Guatemalan history book which stops at 1950 (it isn.t that old...it was published in 1993) and a sociology book that has more recent history. I saw two very interesting talks this week. One was by two Guatemalan authors talking about another author named Mario Payedas. Payedas fought with Guevarra, and influenced many Guatemalan authors. Unfortunately, that is about all I understood because it was entirely in Spanish, and these crazy cats talk very fast. One point that I understood and loved was from the male author (the other was a Mayan woman). He said that he is afraid Guatemala's recent history is in danger of being lost. The very next day I saw this book which is missing the last 50 years (and hence probably the most traumatic 50 years) in Guatemalan history. The second talk I saw was thankfully translated into English. He had fought with the guerilla movement during the 1980's and 90's here. He told us about their lives as guerillas, but not much about the fighting itself, which was a little surprising at the time, and not surprising later. He is now a community leader and belongs to a small upstart political party. Basically, the political situation here still sucks. There is a lot of corruption and the people responsible for some of the worst atrocities during the civil war are still in power. I'll be able to tell you more as I read more and talk with my teacher, who has a degree in political science and is smart, passionate, and engaged.