Hemos Comido por Los Camiones de la Basura

I haven't posted in a while, due mostly to the fact that I have been galavanting across Texas. I spent last week in Brownsville with my church. We were doing things from painting to sanding floors to battling the deadly plague of Africanized roaches that are running rampant and killing small children and racoons.

Somehow, it was found out that I speak a little Spanish (please note the emphasis on "little"). We're talking proficient like, "Where is the ice cream?" not proficient like "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die." Suddenly, I was being asked to hold on normal conversations with people in Spanish. I had to ask for things like forks, knives, dishrags, and carbeurators. Every time I walked into the kitchen at the place we were staying, the lady working there would sigh, put down her things, and shake her head in utter disgust. At one point, I had to tell someone that the place we were working at was closed. I am pretty sure I told him that we were being eaten by garbage trucks (or something to that effect). I talked to this man after he had seen me run screaming through the garden, flailing my arms in a manner that can only be compared to that little blond kid in Home Alone (I was being closely chased by a bee, or maybe an Africanized roach...I'm not sure which), so the man just smiled, nodded and said "Gracias," which I think means, "Sad, stupid girl."

So, needless to say, I have started working on my Spanish since I got home. No fancy lessons or "Teach Yourself Espanol!" tapes. No, I have started watching Spanish soap operas (Telenovelas), and WOW are they entertaining--even if you don't understand a word they are saying. I really have no idea what's going on in any of them, but some lady caught on fire and then there was some generic backstabbing, followed by a plethora of single-eyebrow raises. Folks, this is the stuff of classics.

I left Austin on Sunday for almost the last time and had to say good-bye to a number of my youth there. The parting was bittersweet (well, mostly bitter, not a lot of sweet), and I have discovered how much I will truly miss them. Between pirate names, wall-sits, R. Kelly, tonking, silly songs and more, they have been my life for the past few years...thanks guys. I will miss you.