Hark Upon the Gale

Lately I feel like my blogs are much less Guatemala and much more random, useless tidbits from Carrie's brain. I'm not sure if that means I've been especially boring, especially busy, or just an especially crappy blogger as of late, but I promise I'm conscious of the problem and will begin improving this dilemma...oh...sometime after I finish this month's set of vacationing. So on to today's random, useless entry.

The May '09 college grads currently working at NPH have become incredibly nostalgic (even more than usual) for college during the past few weeks.

I can't log in to Gchat without seeing everyone's status updates about their last college paper, their last exam of undergrad life, or how they're jetting off every afternoon to celebrate at the delis.

I can't stalk people on check Facebook without seeing all your albums depicting the Sunken Gardens in springtime, Blowout festivities, and Williamsburg Bucket List completions.

William & Mary's graduation is this Sunday, and I think I'm still denying I even celebrated my own. It's no wonder Katie, Leeah, and I have been blaring Asher Roth's "I Love College" (trashy but accurate) around the house the past few days. It also probably explains how we spent several hours Sunday evening lying on the living room couches, retelling "Ughhh, I miss college" stories, and downing an entire bag of Dorito's. Depressing...and gross.

It was weird in August when another school year started without us. It's even weirder now that another class is graduating -- still without us. You'd think a home of 350 running, screaming kids might distract us, but it doesn't.

And finally, to make the trips down memory road even more painful, I have Austin Wiese and Kelley Quinn to thank. Thanks, guys, for reminding me of this little URL.

It's where Carrie's blogging addiction began, where her (the) College obsession has been permanently documented, and where she returns when she wants a good cry (kidding, but only sort of).

So, think we're going to miss it forever?

I Don't Wake Up in the 5 O´Clock Hour

For the second Tuesday in a row, I woke up today at 5:30 a.m. to do Boxilates (to my new Shakira-Rihanna Power Mix -- yessss) with Sharon in her Chicas Poderosas office (full-length mirror on the wall!) before making it to my desk by 8 o'clock.

Who have I become in this country?

Harry Potter Kermes!

The volunteers put on another Kermes this weekend! Leeah and I were in charge, and the Kermes theme was....drumroll please hahaha....Harry Potter! Yes, it was hilarious.

Games included:

Quidditch

An obstacle course

Wizard bowling

Face painting (lightning bolt on your forehead, anyone?)

Crafts (magic hats, wands, and pipecleaner glasses -- just like Harry Potter)

Magical, Musical, Wizarding Chairs (ok, just musical chairs, but don't you just love all those other adjectives?)

And the snack:
Poporopos mágicos!
Magical popcorn. Kids could choose one of three "potions" for their popcorn. Chile for strength, pepita for intelligence, or cinnamon for looooove.

As always, Kermes was a little bit hectic, but also a lovely afternoon spent with the gang at Hogwarts.

They Dye Baby Chicks Here?

Yes, be confused by the title of this post.

Every now and then in this country I pass cages of chicks for sale. The thing is though -- they've been died bright neon colors. It's the weirdest thing ever.

Yesterday during family project with some of the kiddos here, Nicole and I and the kids ran across some of these neon chicks peeping around the park in Parramos. Naturally, we stopped to play. I got some cute pics, but still no explanation as to why the heck they do this.

Saber.

Concha and Alan couldn't stop picking them up or giving them kisses haha.

We Popped Popcorn for 3 Straight Hours

Welcome to my Saturday afternoon.

Yesterday we had Kermes (carnival), and we decided the snack for this Kermes was going to be popcorn (a.k.a. poporopos)! That meant we had to buy enough popcorn to feed 250 or so kids. And that meant someone would be popping all those popcorn kernels for a long long time. And now you have my Saturday afternoon.

Leti and I flared up the gas stove, broke out all the potholders we could find in the house, turned on some tunes (the Latin version of K'naan's World Cup song was on repeat for a while), and popped popcorn until we thought we would die.

We popped 12 pounds of popcorn. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, 12 pounds of popcorn fills approximately: 2 giant garbage bags plus a huge wicker basket in which I probably could have slept comfortably. We are talking A LOT of poporopos.

Considering this was the first time I'd popped popcorn the real way haha -- in oil over the stove while constantly shaking the pot around (hey, I don't claim to be very domestic) -- I only managed to burn a few batches and only cover the stove, myself, Leti, and the entire kitchen table in oil. I'd say you can write this off as a success!

The poporopos were a big hit at Kermes! No matter that the house still smells like popcorn or that I woke up yesterday with super sore shoulders (standing over a stove shaking an oil-filled pot for three hours will do that to you). We can now proudly say we are popcorn-popping pros. :)

Antigua from the Second Floor

This Saturday I spent alllll day in Antigua. Don't ask, it's a long story, but I was seriously there for about 16 hours. Good thing I can easily amuse myself, hah.

One of those 16 hours was spent doing something pretty cool. I discovered you can tour the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales and even stroll through the second-level balcony for a bird's-eye view of the park -- all FOR FREE!

And I do love free. :)

Funny Photo of the Day