Lying Low (a semi-boring blog entry incited by a HURRICANE)

Last night I made a rice and chickpea salad with veggies and lots of lime and sea salt (my few seasonings here, as I haven't learned words for spices yet) as the sky outside my kitchen window darkened. In the back of my head, I couldn't help but think about this being a perfect meal if Hurricane Beatriz hit as predicted and the power went out for days, because it is cooked, would be fine unfrigerated, and ended up rather huge. The cold (by La Manz standards, which I have happily adapted to) wind blew right through my screened windows and I wondered when the flash-flood rains would join it.

Though I slept lightly, listening for the drizzle to pick up and the thunder to crack, the hurricane never touched us, leaving only the rain (which is the weird mist that usually annoys Portland) and an accompanying overcast. Beatriz did fizzle into a pretty mighty tropical storm down the coast in ManzanillO, which caught the eye of The Guardian.

Truthfully, the lasting rain fall slows down our days in a pleasant way and comforts me. The three Portlanders in my language classes feel the same way. It helps, too, that this week is less packed than normal, because Stephanie and I planned all of our lessons over the weekend, and some visiting teachers wanted to teach our after school class. School here is rounding up for the summer, and we've begun to plan the summer camp (three weeks of fun in July). It feels strange to be able to map out the rest of my time here, but also gives it some productive momentum.

Speaking of which, I just wrote the first blog entry for La Catalina's "Summer Intern Blog," which should go live soon. It will be a lot like this blog, but more project and learning centered (aka, this entry would not be included). I think it should help the foundation recruit new interns, as well as supporters who are attracted by more personal narratives of the foundation's work in La Manzanilla. Actually, this is a perfect time to link you to our website, in case you don't already know what exactly I am doing down here: http://www.lacatalinafoundation.com/.

Sleepy rain makes me appreciate the effects of coffee on numbing my instinct to hibernate, and also the fact that most Mexican people would translate "lazy" into "tranquilo." Amen.