Just this past weekend, my old house-mate Liz (from last year) came to visit for the about five days. Overall, I think surreal might have been the best way to describe that experience. On Saturday morning, Liz, Margaret, and I sat on the porch of our house while eating breakfast and catching up. The topic eventually turned to whether or not we would be hosting a party at our house that night, and we reached a consensus of "hells yes." Liz then looked at me and said "Do you want to text everyone and let them know?" My response was that we should probably confer with the people who actually live in the house before doing that - Liz and Margaret looked at each other - Oh... Right...
In many ways, it was a time-warping-time-melding experience. Margaret has been in town for both of my years here, but to have Liz back in town with us, it felt so much like two worlds were overlapping. It seemed strange that she should be standing there, in what was our kitchen last year, but among Lena, Sara, and Vitina, in what is now our kitchen this year. It also reminded me of how much I've missed having Liz around - as much as I've enjoyed living with each of my 6 female house-mates over the last two years, Liz is the only person that moved in at the same time as me. Everyone else has either been a veteran or a rookie to me, but Liz and I experienced Immokalee as a team, and I realize now that our experience together created a bond that can't be replicated or replaced.
On a lighter note, her stay here included the Christmas carnival, a heck of a decent party, a Steelers v. Bengals game (she's a Cinci girl), and even a (very) brief trip to the beach. She was definitely sad to leave again, but she's also clearly settling into her new life, proving once again that there is life after Immokalee (I'm really getting some use out of those italics today).
How about I do some of those general updates to round out the year?
Spanish - this is the first one I'm updating because it's the one I'm most excited about it. I know it's gradual, and I still confuse and embarrass myself on the daily, but I kind of speak Spanish now, dammit. I realized recently that if I got kidnapped and thrown into a rucksack, and that rucksack fell off of a truck in a Spanish-speaking country, I could actually explain and express myself pretty decently to the natives of that land (well... I can't say rucksack, but you get the point). Of course, I've still only got a basic understanding of the language, but I think I can honestly say that I've gone beyond my initial aspirations (maybe even into the hopes/dreams category) for Spanish-learning in my time here, and I'll (hopefully) only improve in my last 6 months.
Work - I give the Coalition plenty of their own posts, so I'll cover some of my thoughts on Habitat here. This year, I've been on the work-site 3 mornings a week instead of just two like last year, and I'd say there's a definite difference. I don't know when it happened, but I think I'm actually learning life skills out there. I'm consciously appreciative of those life-skills that will help me as a future home-owner, but I'm also starting to realize that even some of the tasks I considered meaningless may have taught me something too. Somewhere out there among the odd-jobs, I learned how to use, reload, and occasionally repair things like air- and battery-powered nail-guns, hand saws, skills saws, table saws, how to set up different kinds of generators and compressors, and even how to drive a humongerous fork-lift. Coming from a guy who got advice on how to hold his hammer last fall, I'd say I've come a long way.
The Kids - No more talking... how about a story?
This year, for Christmas, I got my kids each a few pictures of themselves at the After-School program in a plastic frame, and I even spelled out their name in fun stickers on the front. Word got out early in the week that I had a present for the kids, so by the time I was ready to hand things out, these kids were electric. As I held up a picture at the front of the class and explained the gift, one girl yelled out "Seriously? Pictures? Really?" Another boy, one of my trouble-makers, had been excellent all week in anticipation of a present. He was really happy with his gift, and one of the few children I considered adequately grateful. When I told him to put his picture in his book-bag before we all go to the bus, he said "But, wait - you never gave us our present though?" A third girl told me on Thursday that she was excited to get her gift on Friday (mine had already been passed out) - I thought maybe her teacher was giving out gifts, so I asked who she was getting a gift from - "You! You said you got us presents!" - "I did... you got it yesterday, remember?" - "What? That's not a present! Oooooooh, if that was the present, I hate that present!" You're welcome, kids.
Christmas surprise -- MORE PICTURES (I'll straight up smack you in the mouth if you complain)!! If you click here, I added about 20 more after-school pictures from the last few weeks, including the day that my kids all got Gobble Wobble Wild Thing shirts my dad mailed down to me. Scroll to the end of the album for the new pictures.
Also - a major frost straight-up murdered my garden earlier this week. Click here for funeral pictures (they're the last 7 or so).
With that, I bid adieu to twenty-ten! I'll be taking a personal holiday from blogging while I'm home for the break, so check back in 2011 for new updates.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and thanks for reading!
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