it was like sex and the city... only far less glamorous.

I can't remember what the last thing I wrote about was.... so I will start with Wednesday?

Wednesday we went to work as usual. Walking to the bus I had a very Carrie Bradshaw moment where a bus drove too close to the curb in a puddle of water and splashed me. Gross. It was very much Sex and the City opening credits... minus the designer clothing and NYC glamour. It was disgusting, in fact. It has been raining here for 6 days straight. Apparently, that is unheard of. But Concha, who said it never rained 3 days in a row, says that after such a long period of rain, we should get a week of sun. I like the temperature when it rains (I get to wear pants and I even sleep with the covers on!) but I like the sun. Boo.

At work I made friends with the most adorable, talkative, intelligent 6 year old I have met. She and I instantly became friends. She doesn't have any hair but she says she wants to spray her head different colors when she comes to treatment, for fun. She read me several books, watched a movie with me, and we had a fun time. I was so glad to be able to make her smile. When they put a cap on her IV catheter (she has to come back several days in a row) she got really upset and was carrying on. It was weird to see her instantly go from this strong, funny, alive little girl to one who was scared of the nurse touching her IV (they hurt a lot). But I get to see her 3 days in a row and then again in 2 week!! I made a few more friends, but since she was there for 3 hours, I mostly spent my time with her and the kids around her.

Wednesday afternoon was incredibly lazy. I was in bed reading and napping from lunch until an early dinner. Then we dragged ourselves down to about halfway between our house and Centro (downtown). There we met Heather (can you tell we're friends??!) at the Virgin Carmen's Ex-Convent for a super cheap movie. She discovered the movie schedule and last week she saw "Breakfast at Tiffany's". When we heard about this place, we had to go. So we saw Tennessee William's "Suddenly, Last Summer" with Katherine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Montgomery Clift. It was fantastic! It was sad and depressing like all Tennessee William-based movies, but was still fantastic. And, even better, was only $15 MXN ($1.50 USD).

Today at work I got to see my favorite little girl again! Her treatment was a lot quicker today, so we didn't have too much time together. But tomorrow I'm taking in nail stuff to do her nails and toe nails, as well as some of the other girls. When it was time to cap her IV again, she started screaming but her mom wasn't there (she had run an errand not realizing that so little time remained) and she clung to me so hard! It was adorable and endearing that she was so close to me after only 2 days that she knew she could trust me to help her through what is, to her, one of the most traumatizing moments of her treatment. After she left we played Bingo with 3 kids who were all in a corner together with their parents. The moms played too, so it was a big game. We had a really fun time! The kids are so adorable and you can tell, especially with the way the parents treat you, that our presence is so appreciated. One of the moms lives about 3 hours away in Michochán and she had brought in a bunch of food for Emily and I as a thank you. I tried Chaparras, which are like sweet corn bread balls that are cooked inside the husks of the colored corn they are made of. AMAZING. I need to learn how to make these and where to buy these. I also had my first authentic Mexican TACO!! Here, tacos are much different than in the US. The shells are tiny little soft tortilla shells. When you order tacos, unless you specify, you get a variety of 4-5. Usually its 2 meat, 1 potato, 1 bean and cheese, and 1 chicken or jam. They are fantastic. And they give you the world's most deliciously spicy chile sauce to put on them. It practically burned my tongue out of my mouth, but was well worth it. The head nurse of the ward, Yola, bought them for me. Many other parents, when they leave their kids in our capable hands to go out and buy food, try to give us food or offer to bring back stuff for us. They are so incredibly nice and grateful! I try to tell them that I don't need them to do that, but they do anyways. Plus, they really like sharing their culture with us. It's really fun.

Tonight, I have no idea what are plans are. It is typically Salsa night, but we are skipping that in favor of money-saving alternatives. I may go to Heather's apartment, which is nealry 40 minutes away, to hang out, but I may just stay in.

We are leaving for Guanajuato, MX tomorrow evening, probably around 5:30. That will get us there around 10:30, via bus which is $350 MXN ($35 USD). Then we'll have all day Saturday and most of Sunday to explore. I've heard great things about it so I'm very excited! It will be me, Emily, Heather, and Jennifer, a volunteer from Canada who arrived the day after Emily and I did. She's really nice, but when I hang out with the 3 of them I always feel so young! Emily is 21, Heather is 25, and Jennifer is 24. I'm the baby teenager ( but not for long... 20 is close!!!).

We also got very posh box seats for the Don Quixote The Ballet! And they were only $200 MXN ($20 USD)!!!!! It is next weekend, so I have that to look forward to.

Also, Jacky, our other housemate, is leaving this weekend to go back to Atlanta. And we're kind of glad. He is really rude and very strange. We have high hopes for our other housemates that arrive the 2nd of July from France and the 6th of July from USA.

Speaking of days in July... There is a huge avenue here called 8 de Julio, or 8th of July. Apparently my birthday is famous? That is super exciting news. There had better be a city-wide celebration. I've been told that it is the Saint Day for the Virgin Guadalupe, who is the Patron Saint of Mexico. Unknowingly, I always picked the name Lupe in high school Spanish class. Fate.

I won't be back online probably until Monday as we are leaving for Guanajuato tomorrow. But I will be sure to give a great update when I return! Also, I am planning on putting up the many photos I've already taken on Facebook, so look for those early next week.

Have a happy weekend!