dia de descanso

Well, the unthinkable has finally happened: I'm sunburned. Today was our day off from the orphanage and so Naseem and I celebrated by basking in the golden rays of the sun, free of children hanging off the various appendages of our bodies and begging us to play Monopoly Junior with them. Unfortunately I may have basked a little too long because my Native American skin has a wee tinge of red lurking beneath my otherwise golden brown tan. (By the way, did I mention I'm going to be super tan and hot and skinny by the time I get back? Just you wait and see...watch out, ANTM). Before you get too carried away imagining me as a lobster, I should say that I'm prone to exaggeration and maybe I'm not THAT sunburned. Just a little. Just enough to have a really terrible tanline. I'm crossing my fingers that the populace will perceive me as ridiculously tan...and skinny and hot. Just kidding.

Anyway, so yes, Naseem and I spent our day among the tourists of Roatan, meandering through the streets of West Bay, rubbing shoulders with the sun-ravaged Americans, the surgically enhanced older women, the scantily clad peroxide blondes, and the puka shell-adorned, shirtless playboys, while deftly manuevering the speeding taxis and trying our hardest to ignore catcalls and whistles. We relished the rarity of eating non-orphanage food (for those of you following along at home, I ate an omelette and a turkey sandwich, while Naseem had pancakes and a ham sandwich...no beans or rice anywhere) and even went to a little grocery store and bought overpriced ice cream and Oreos. We layed out and read books, real grown-up books, not "Potty Training Is So Fun" books, but actual legitimate literature, and in true Alison form, we had our very own America's Next Top Model photo shoot right there on the beach. I'm pretty sure the other tourists thought we were crazy but we were enjoying ourselves too much to care. I'm going to post a few of those pictures and probably immediately regret it, so I hope you, loyal readers, will enjoy my public self-deprecation and humiliation.

When we came back to the orphanage, where incidentally we did have beans and rice for dinner, we had a major breakthrough: remember the scary girls? The oldest, Debora, actually struck up a conversation with Naseem; I know I'm famous for my sparkling wit and above-average conversational skills, but this really caught me off guard and I sat in stunned silence. Later though, I had my chance. Naseem, Debora, along with her two sisters Theresa and Gardenia, and I sat around after dinner and discussed TV shows. Apparently they are big Lost fans, and while I doubt they share my ardorous passion for Desmond and probably couldn't care less about my various theories revolving around the mysteries of the island, I feel this is a very good start. And, this is more embarrassing, but hey-I've already shared my extensive knowledge of the teeny-bopper world and confessed to the world that I love having fake photo shoots, we all bonded over a love (but I swear mine is one stained by feelings of guilt) of America's Next Top Model. See, you all thought I was just being pathetic when I watched those marathons, but I'm 98% sure God was calling me to watch all those episodes so I could have something to talk about with a snobby, scary Honduran girl. Right? Right??

Alright, I know I tend to go on and on, but I wanted to share something else. Remember Sarah, one of the girls I'm helping with English? Well, she had a spelling test today over the days of the week and if she didn't pass it, her other teacher at the school was not going to continue her lessons with her, so last night Sarah and I spelled Monday through Sunday over and over and over again. Then this morning we spelled again like the world was ending, although now that I think about it, that would be a terrible way to spend your last few moments. We tried all kinds of tricks to help her learn it, but most of them were pretty futile. For example, one dialogue went a little like this:

Me: Sarah, spell 'Saturday.'
Sarah: S-A-...wait, where did they even get that word?
Me: Oh I'm glad you asked that! Maybe this will help you remember...a long time ago there were some people called the Romans and they were polytheistic and they had a god named Saturn and he was the god of agriculture, and that's where we get it!
Sarah: What? Can I go play?

Ok, so despite my paltry attempts to make spelling cool and fun, Sarah was still really worried...but then she made 81%! I was so excited and proud. And she got Saturday right.

I just reread this and realized how dorky this particular post is. Please don't judge me and please still be my friend. Peace.

Alison