corre!

disclaimer: we're all fine. but yes we did have fun.

so the first day of language school in orientation we were told that the guatemalans *love* their fireworks (cohetes is the word they use here apparently) and that when we hear them at all hours of the day and night, we shouldn't be afraid. it's not gun fire, it's just fireworks. and, there is a tradition of shooting them off at 5 am the day of someone's birthday. and i thought "my birthday was yesterday" which brought the obvious conclusion of "I need fireworks" and my teacher and I went to the market to look for them (this is the beauty of 1-on-1 tutoring. but mom i was still learning new words). I finally found some (this was Monday when I had no quetzales), and went back to the market on Wednesday to buy them. I bought two of them for Q6 each (about $1.50), and carried them in my bag all day with apprehension and excitement. my teacher taught me how to shoot them off. there were a lot of words, but the most important one was "corre!" which means "run!"

so last night, we met at a cafe here that has a worship service in english. ask someone else about that, I was having dinner with my guatemalan family so I was late. Afterwards, we were committed to lighting them, and went around the corner to la Merced which is a big church with a park in front of it. That's when we say the procession. there were candles, and people singing. And some really catholic-looking stuff. I thought "thwarted!" as we watched them process around their block. But as they re-entered the church, they set off their own fireworks! God bless this awesome culture.

we went to a side street and put the fireworks strip on the ground. and this is when we ran into technical troubles. the matches i found in my room have an entirely too thin phosphorus layer, so as soon as they light, they extinguish. I think I tried like 10 matches while people (including the group... clary...) laughed at me. finally the group made me give casey and danny a try. they tried three times, and the final time we thought we say smoke. but nothing was happening (cue jaws music...). thomas gave it a try, which we thought was a good idea since he's a boy scout (and boy scouts can set anything on fire). he took the matches and approached the fireworks. it was then that we realized, where there is smoke there will most likely be fire. as in fireworks. and as he bent down with the matches, it started exploding. I think he's ok. I mean, he can still hear out of his right ear... :)

we corre!-ed and enjoyed the noise and light. then I set off the second one (only one try this time! i learn quickly) and it was even better. today, my teacher asked why we didn't place them end to end, like a domino effect of fireworks. looks like I will be going back to the market... setting off fireworks in the middle of the street is the best combination of "when in rome" and "it's illegal in california so i need to do it here"

I also bought postcard stamps today (sorry no transition). John bought them for Q6.5, I paid Q8 (about $1). I walked up to the counter in el correo and waited until the girl who worked there got off her phone. I used my best spanish and she gave me 32 Q1 stamps, and showed me an example of how to put 8 stamps on a postcard (as with hair, the key is to layer...). I paid her, thanked her, and she picked up her cell phone again to continue the conversation she apparently hadn't stopped. It was like this, but in spanish, and not as funny. I was apprehensive of putting 8 stamps on a postcard... 7 of them are sticking to other stamps' waxy surfaces, which does not inspire confidence. I dropped them in the mailbox and I hope they make it to their final destinations. but if not - kristin, alysha, and leah (though I doubt you read this blog...), I tried!!

I learned how to say "holy cow!" (like when something good happens) today - it's "puchica". two notes though
1. it's a derivative of a bad word, like "frick", so don't mispronounce it
2. it's pronounced "POOH cheek ah"

tell your friends!