Wait. What?

My translating skills for the night are SHOT. I just want to find some sort of English speaking bunker to hide out in! I had tea, cake, and pizza at a gathering tonight held at Marusia's house for some of the teachers for San Martin. I really, really wanted to make a punny joke about how 4/6 teachers' names started with "mar" (Marianela, Marusia, Maria, Maria Luis). Here's how it would have gone:

"So you're all from the coast?"
"No, why?"
"Because your names all start with mar!"

... mar means ocean in Spanish.

After 5 hours of chatting, drinking tea, eating cake, (and then) eating pizza, my conversation skills were shot! But it felt so good to be "hanging out" with this group of women. A living room dance party! Just what I needed.

Here's one part of our conversation worth noting:
The teachers asked me what we do with kids when they've gotten older but are still in school. At the present moment, if they fit the niche of high-functioning enough to handle it, and low-functioning enough to need it, we have the transition academy where they do on site training for job skills. Otherwise, they are now staying in the access classes (science, math, social studies, language arts) until they are 22 years old, or drop out of school. Knowing that at San Martin, kids go into carpentry, the bakery, a sewing class, or mechanics class, I was embarrassed. They asked me why they would need science for 22 years? I shrugged. There are some things that are dismal no matter where you are.

Before I left, Profe Maria gave a little speech about my place in heaven. I cried a little. It ended with, "and may you marry whoever you please!" 

Tomorrow's agenda:

• Visits to Vivian and Shakira
• Revisit the ministry of education
• Shoot some vids

Until we meet again, revel in these things.

•  Puppies the Size of Soda Cans
• World's Cutest Sleeping Animals