And I Said Hoo oo hoo oo to You (to be read while listening to “Last Tide” by Sun Kil Moon)

One of the things I love most is sleeping under a tin roof. The rain at night turns the roof into a veritable marimba. It gets foggy here most evenings too. Andy and I took a stroll down to the neighboring town and got lost coming back in the fog, but ended up taking a much more scenic route than we would have otherwise. Another favorite thing is having a simple dinner made with fresh ingredients and corn tortillas, and letting Tat Lu (Don Pedro, my host dad, he's more like a grandpa actually) talk and talk and tell all kinds of stories. Sometimes it's hard to understand everything because Spanish is his second language, but I can get the gist. Such an honest, good-hearted man. Last night we sat by the fire stove in their dirt-floor kitchen and he told me all kinds of stories. This one came out of nowhere, the poet in him standing up for minute. He said he felt very sad one morning. He got his horse ready and headed up to clean the milpa (corn) feeling heavy and worried. So he went up to the mirador (“the lookout,” this place has some awesome views of the lake below, Andy and I went yesterday to the mirador and it is breathtaking) where his land is and sat down to think things through, to let the hurricane of sorrow work its wonder and teach its lessons. He said while he was sitting there thinking, two rabbits, a male chasing a female through the corn, ran straight into his legs (one into each leg) and then scampered off. And that was all it took to cure his mood. He decided to go after them because supposedly they're very rico. Two of his sons and his daughter live with him and his wife, as well as their daughter-in-law and her two daughters. Her husband, their oldest son, lives in Houston right now. Tat Lu and his wife, Ramona, are both up there in years, and when she told me her dad was still alive and lived up the road, I almost fell out of my chair. The too granddaughters are so adorable. Ramona is like seven or eight I think, and Yakelin is like three. Ramonita danced and danced last night, showing me all the dances she'd made up. Yakelin was a little timid at first but yesterday she started talking up a storm and narrating everything everyone else said or did. And her laugh kills me! It jumps from her so suddenly and honestly. I played a game with them that Ramona made up as we went that involved a piece of paper she had torn up into smaller pieces and distributed to me and Yakelin. We entertained ourselves for a good while with a couple of torn pieces of paper, Ramona's endless imagination and Yakelin's infectious alegria. They're a great family, always worried about me being comfortable, and wondering if I'm homesick, etc. We had these really good mashed potatoes for dinner and I told them they reminded me of potatoes my mom makes. They asked about my parents, their names and if they missed me. I told them their names and explained that I have the best parents en el mundo. Which is the complete truth. And I always miss my family and friends, though I'm not necessarily homesick. I took my first bucket bath today. They knocked on my door and said, “David, David. Are you busy?” Nope, just sleeping. “Mom has already prepared your bath, do you want your bath first or breakfast?” I didn't know I was taking a bath today. Maybe they were tired of smelling me. I went and had my very first, very warm bucket bath. It worked much better than I had imagined. Then I had a really good fried egg with some salsa and torillas (I had mentioned for some reason at one point that I liked fried eggs as well as scrambled, but that I liked el centro duro and she remembered perfectly). I got a cheap cell phone down here because it's important to be able to keep in touch with my family and Andy, especially when we travel to other parts. I pay by the minute to make calls, but I don't have to pay a cent to receive calls, even if they're from the states. So feel free to give me a call (45488948, I think the country code is 502).

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about the plane ride: At one point we skirted around a thunderstorm. I watched it out the window. I can sing with Nora Jones that one of the prettiest things I ever did see was lightning from the top of the clouds.

I need to go work on some poems because I have to turn in three this week. Hope everyone is happy and well. Love y'all pues. Chao for now.