Caterpillar Coats and the Cold

I love (kind-of) alliteration. I am surprised I still know what it is. I need to get back in the "school" mindset. It's going to be a challenge. On to life in Guatemala.

Even the caterpillars are fluffing up and moving inside to avoid the cold. I am watching one right now make his/her way around my room, moving within a two square-foot space between the electrical cord of the computer, a belt on the floor, some aluminum foil and a receipt. (I haven't cleaned in a while so there are a few items scattered about the floor.) The caterpillar especially seems to like it under the receipt on the floor-I guess maybe it's a little warmer there? Hopefully it won't try to crawl into bed with me, like a spider tried to do last night.

It has been cold enough here to warrant an advisory from the government, along with the setting up of some centers in the city for people who do not handle the cold very well. It got down to about 6 degrees (Celsius of course) last weekend, which is around 42 degrees for those in the States. In a place where heating does not exist and houses are very poorly insulated (with huge gaps under the door and surrounding the windows that let in all the cool air), that is cold. Luckily I have plenty of warm pajamas and a nice wool blanket and down comforter on my bed, so I stay warm.

School is officially done. All of the teachers were at the superintendent's office today to turn in their paperwork. The only school activity I still have left is a pizza party with the "Healthiest School of the Year" on Thursday, which will be fun. On this past Friday, I was the god-mother to a graduating sixth grade class, so got to attend their graduation ceremony (as well as a ceremony for the preschool graduates). As the god-mother you have to buy them a little gift, so with the teacher and principal who were also god-parents we bought each student a scarf, something that will come in handy as the temperature continues to drop. In return, I got another plate for my collection. This one is pretty, with pink ribbon and butterflies. I may try to get it home if I have enough space in my luggage. The sad thing though is that this was the principal's last activity with the school. He is retiring and turned in all of his papers today. He was one of the best principals and was one of the first people we met when we moved out here to start work. The community and kids will miss him a lot, but he will still be around. He even joked about running for mayor and didn't completely dismiss it as a possibility.

Speaking of going home, that is coming up pretty rapidly. I can't believe that we are already down to under five months. The weeks fly by so that will seem like no time at all. I made lasagna and apple pie with my host family last week and my host mom started tearing up when we were talking about how soon I would be going, which just made me sad. I am going to try to stop thinking about it for now and just go on with things like I will still be here forever, but it will become increasingly more challenging as the weeks and months fly by.