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 »

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 »

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 »

This time last year I was saying goodbye to the only other blonde in Manizales.  We were both bound for Bogotá and then on toward home.  Home being good ole Mississippi for me and where The Muddy River starts up in Minnesota somewhere for her.  We both acted tough on the first leg of the trip, […]

Posted in friendcitos 2 Comments »

My brother works entirely too hard.  He’s successful and good with finances and long term planning.  He can fit in at a dinner with more forks than he needs and he’s right at home with a bunch of small town rednecks talking about hunting season or cleaning fish. He’s versatile like that. Brother reads this […]

Posted in family, friendcitos, teaching 4 Comments »

I was just a kid when I started college.  I’d never been away from home and I had no idea how the world worked outside of a 50 mile radius of that house on a hill in Nowhere, MS.  But, even so, I was a dreamer.  I guess I always have been I just hadn’t put […]

Posted in crazy dreams, friendcitos, rambling 10 Comments »

I need to take a deep, cleansing breath. Because if I don’t some folks might die today and that’s just not becoming of a lady, now is it? A list should suffice as the aforementioned deep, cleansing breath. I cannot expect people to value my time as much as I do. Manizales weather does NOTHING […]

Posted in colombia, friendcitos, home, rambling 5 Comments »

That could be because she isn’t with me…. Nonetheless, I’m off to the Amazon! It’s October break here and three friends and I are headed out in the morning at a not-so-bright 3:00.  IN THE A.M.! I have no clue where we’re staying or what we’re doing or what to pack or how my Spanish […]

Posted in friendcitos, travel 8 Comments »

Mis amigos, mi familia: I’ve never liked Valentine’s Day, really. First of all, shouldn’t you be all mushy and romantic everyday? Commercialized holidays shouldn’t tell us when to buy flowers or say nice things, should they? Fair enough, I’m probably just bitter and against relationships altogether. Generally I wear all black on February 14th, eat […]

Posted in colombia, friendcitos, home 4 Comments »

Seriously, these are two of my very favorite people. She was my assistant my first year teaching. She’s organized and honest and she loves Jesus bigger and better than anyone I know. Part of her heart is in Africa and her car is always a disaster. She used to write me little notes on the […]

Posted in friendcitos 4 Comments »