mcdonalds is taking over the world

hello my two readers,

while i feverishly attempt to upload more pictures for all the visually-oriented peeps out there (and by "feverishly attempt" i mean that i need to vigorously clean my apartment before i take pictures of it for your viewing pleasure, maybe on the sox off-nite) i will leave you with a few vignettes from last week:

spiderman loves me
last monday i arrived at the ginormous home of a 4 year old student whom i'm tutoring and he was dressed in a full-on spiderman outfit. for really. it was one of those jumpsuit numbers that stretched from his neck to his rayon-enclosed feeties: wicked cute. it also had giant, stuffed pecs! he needed help every time he went to the bathroom ("hacer pipi"), but he loved this thing. as i was packing up to go after the hour of psuedo-English tutoring, he said to me, whilst still in his costume, "debes traer tus maletas y ropa y puedes vivir aqui conmigo! y puedes ir al colegio en la manana con claudia." ("you should bring your suitcases and clothes and you can live here with me! and you can go to school in the morning with claudia {big sister}.") it was touch-and-go for a while, but i think it's safe to say that we've won each other over. this week, as i was packing my stuff up again, he said, "ya estas saliendo?" ("already leaving?")

invented spelling and english-language-learners
did you know that $1=100 penis? i'm oh-so-mature.

McDia de Feliz... world take-over
i think i've eaten at mcdonalds more in the past 2 months than in the last year in the states, which is to say that i've been to a mcdonalds in guate about three times now, already. last week there was a giant promotion with the snazzy title of "McDia de Feliz," during which one could purchase a big mac meal for 35q, which is about $5 USD. the lines of cars at every single restaurant overflowed into the street, and a local radio station seemed to set up shop at each location. in case you're wondering, mcd's are as ubiquitous here as they are in the states. however, i should share with you that the proceeds from the day (not sure of the details or percentages) went to a rural children's charity, so that assuaged my guilt, un poquito.

it didn't, however, lessen my stomach issues. in retrospect, it was probably a bad idea to get greasy fast food while my stomach was still topsy turvy from a stomach/whole body/systemic virus that overran me just the day before (including but not limited to: major stomach cramping, big D, fever, cough, full body mini-pains and general fatigue.) but, it seemed like a fun idea at the time, as usual. in the end, however, the big mac was mean to me and i'll never buy one again!