My friends are perpetually late.  All of them, if you can believe it, but especially the Rossettis.  And the truth is, it may very well be my favorite thing about them. There was a package on my desk this morning – one whose return address was stateside.  I tore it open like an anxious child […]

Posted in friendcitos, my emotional state 2 Comments »

Sometimes it’s hard for me to get started writing.  My brain goes all fuzzy and fills up with nonsense and, for the life of me, I can’t get anything logical down on paper. I could stress out, I guess, or have an emotional breakdown, but I’ve already had one of those today and two squalling fits […]

Posted in writing 5 Comments »

You know those kinds of weeks that seem to blindside you?  The kind of weeks that overwhelm you and sit like an eighteen-wheeler on your shoulders?  The kind of weeks that you wonder if you’ll ever survive?  I had one of those.  I didn’t write or sleep and I don’t recall breathing, although I suppose […]

Posted in teaching 3 Comments »

I’m not cool.  I go to bed by 9:00.  I wake up at 7:00 with no alarm clock.  I consider jeans and a t-shirt formal wear.  And I don’t go out.  Ever.  Except for Friday night when one of the women in my adult English class invited me over for dinner and I went even […]

Posted in friendcitos 6 Comments »

Valentine’s day is all hearts and mush and “I love you so much, pookie bear.” Blah, blah, blah and so on and so forth and gag me with a fork. No, I’m not some bitter, single, brooding woman.  Honest.  I just don’t buy into all the hokum.  Never really have. Now, to be fair, I […]

Posted in because 8 Comments »

After the longest day of my life, I drug a bowl out of the cabinet, poured some cereal for my dinner, and pulled my only box (yes, box) of milk from the fridge. Then, I gracefully dropped said box of milk onto the floor. I watched the thick, white liquid gurgle and spill and run like a lactose river across […]

Posted in my emotional state 9 Comments »

Sundays in Manizales are my favorite, I’ve decided. I woke up early this morning and went for a wander along the Avenida just like everyone else in town.  The street was closed for bicycles and joggers and roller blades and for a few short hours the screeching brakes of buses didn’t rip savagely through the […]

Posted in colombia 6 Comments »

I brought a bag of Indulgent Trail Mix back to Colombia with me and sat nibbling absentmindedly at a handful yesterday afternoon while I worked.  As I made my way to a stopping point, I glanced up and giggled out loud.  There above the papers I was marking, was a neat pile of almonds.     I met […]

Posted in friendcitos 6 Comments »

Hello.  My name is Emily and I’m an over committer. The sad proof: Monday-Friday 7:30-3:30 Fifth grade hormone management, crowd control, and teacher clothes Monday 3:30-7:30 Musical practice (with equally hormonal high school children who are less afraid of me) Tuesday 3:30-4:30 staff meeting 4:30-6:00 tutor Spanish speaking sophomore on the beauty of the Southern […]

Posted in Uncategorized 5 Comments »

After almost two years, I think I realized that this is my life. All it took was a house full of my Colombian friends, some live music, and not feeling the least little bit weird about it. Yes, that’s a man with a saxophone in my house and lawdy, could he play. And here’s the […]

Posted in Uncategorized 4 Comments »