my fourth of freakin’ july.

i woke up at around 8ish and stumbled down the stairs for breakfast… i had no energy. after 2 cups of joe, i started preparing for my business class at the colegio. i stopped by our internet cabina (with no internet, of course), to make copies of some forms for my SESP students and talked to william for a bit (one of the few friends i have here in Catache). he asked me to go to la misa (mass) with him at 6pm. “mass on a friday???” i asked… “yeah, its the anniversary of this old man who passed away a year ago.” (here in peru, they do this - every year - on the day of their death.) so i agreed - i’ve only been to misa in Catache once - for christmas.

before i knew it, it was time for my business class. what a disappointment. not many students came to class - i guess on every monday of this month, my students can either attend their last hour of class, or - if they play on one of the sports teams - they have practice. more than half of my students are on sports teams. they are preparing for a game in Santa Cruz this weekend - and for el día de deportes in Piccuy (which is the day after the fiesta de Piccuy, and is on the 10th).

i only have this month to prepare the kids for the competition and help them create business plans - and not a single student has a concrete idea on what business they want to do. so this crapola is weighing on me terribly, and i am pretty much freaking out.

after class, i had lunch - and i tried to cool myself down for a bit. i stopped by cinthia’s house to see if she wanted to run with me earlier than our 5pm daily runs. she said that’s perfect, because she needs to go to la misa, too. we all agreed (william, cinthia, and i) to meet at cinthia’s house, so we could all go together.

we ran for about an hour today - i had tons of energy, for some reason. it was then when i realized it was the fourth of july. it was nice to be running with cinthia, because i could explain to her about the fourth in america, and express to her how much i really miss the states. after running, we showered and met up with william.

mass was beautiful… the church was so full that some people had to stand at the back. and - as always - it made me miss my pops. el padre (the father) was the priest from Santa Cruz, who courtney and i have met a few times. so that added a special touch. after normal mass, the daughter of the deceased came up to the alter for a few words. i could hardly understand her through her tears (which made me cry too, of course).

when mass was over, i ended up talking in the street with cinthia, william, and his friends. one of his friends is in college in Lima (she’s in town only for the mass/celebration of her grandfather) - and she speaks perfect english. we talked for about a half an hour together (in english) - everyone was staring. before i left for dinner, she and i planned to meet tomorrow, after my english class at the primaria - - something to look forward to!

so, now im off to bed… after an awful morning - a mediocre afternoon - but a great evening…!