Homesickness, Headphones and Parades

Well, this week I have only been drowning myself in homesickness, reading fiction books about Kentucky and listening to bluegrass music. It gets really upsetting when you are alone all the time too, and with too much time to think, because Edwin is currently working two jobs and is never around. One day, though, I was walking to work thinking pitifully to myself, ´I dont want to be here, I just want to go home.´ I´ll admit it, I was cranky, and definately had a scowl, listening to my headphones, drowning out Mexico and everyone around me with a mystical sufjan stevens song, when the most halariously unexpected thing happened. When you walk around with headphones on, its easy for things to sneak up and scare you, like barking dogs and boys on bikes. However, this time as I was crossing the street, despite my deafness I noticed out of the corner of my eye that no cars were coming from one direction, which was unusual for this street. And, as could only be expected in Mexico, what was on my right was the most halarious and fantastic spectacle of men dressed in feathered headresses, white-man masks, all playing instruments like drums, flutes, and shooting off some sort of explosive-gun every now and then. They were coming right towards me, completely oblivious, and I gave a little shout and ran across the road, to the amusement of the other cars. Laughing all the way to class, I thanked God to be in Mexico where you can accidently run into parades and where fireworks go off or mariachi bands play outside my window 2 or 3 times a week with no apparent motive. When I got to class, I asked my students, ´did anyone see the parade?´They told me, yes, they had, but they didn´t know what it was for. Apparently no one thought its funny to run into parades for no reason but me.

Apparently in small towns here when you get married, the bride bathes in the river and then is escorted from her house to the church by a group of townspeople playing instruments, shouting, and shooting off fireworks!

For two nights there have been major fireworks outside my window at 11 pm. Why? Edwin doesn´t know, my students don´t know, but neither are they bothered or lose sleep because of this situation.

Also on my way to class I saw my first black person (meaning, of african decent) in Tuxtla and my first crazy person as well, who happened to be the same person, barefoot and with a nest of hair. There are not a lot of homeless or crazy people in Tuxtla, just poor people. My students could not even tell me the name of a homeless shelter here. In San Cristobal there are people everywhere who appear to be homeless vagabonds, but turn out to just be rich Euro or American Rasta-Hippies who secretly have loads of money.

This weekend should be exciting! I am going to a Carnaval celebration tonight and then sunday I am going to the CIRCUS!!!!! Seriously. I´ll have more interesting things to write then, after this weekend.

On another note, my students are very tickled that you can eat Kentucky Fried Chicken, which they call ´kentucky´in the state of Kentucky. They repeat again and again, Eating Kentucky in Kentucky!!!! HAHAHAHA. They are, of course, 14 years old.

well, off to grading tests!!