The beginning!

Day: 7
Time: 10:00
Digestive Status: good
Location: EEE

I swear there are stray lap dogs here, little carpet dogs, zeus dogs, cassie dogs, allie dogs, big giant fluffy dogs. Essentially show dogs, but on the streets. They have little hangouts by stoplights and run up to your window when your car is stopped and lookatcha all inexplicably well-groomed. Probably just a side effect of everything being beautiful.
Also another point is that the walk signal here is an animation of a man running, which is pretty good advice. And he runs faster and faster until he's inhuman then the light changes and you best not be in the street because no one will stop for you. And the toilet paper is OUTSIDE the bathroom, so you have quantify your intentions before the actual toilet.
The money is really beautiful, like all the people and the trees and the weather most days. I did, however hear this crazy rumor that letters take two weeks to deliver from here.
My new family is real cool and they treat me less like an idiot every day. The food is consistently really great. I cannot remember names of shit for the life of me, but today I ate little tiny corn pizzas with mashed potatoes instead of cheese. And spicy rice with bananas in it. And some sort of flower drink. And fresh-squeezed OJ evry mornin.' It's the best. Also the bananas are significantly better and smaller here. Bananitas.
That's another thing. Everything's got an ita on the end. It's not just close, it's cercita, it's not just a squash, it's a calabacita. Which is sometimes zucchini.
The school itself is a lil trippy. Most people are from the US and canada and talk in this awful spanglish all the time. The classrooms have chairs too big for the room and tables too small for the chairs, which doesn't seem to be an elaborate joke.
I've made a habit of getting tragically lost every couple days and refusing to get out a map and look like I don't know where I'm going. So my legs is sore what with the hills. Yesterday it only took half an hour to get like half a mile from where I started. I really want to buy an instrument but I don't know what kind. Jarapa or mandola? Jarapas seem easy but mandolas are really beautiful. Like viola mandolins. Just don't know. There´s lessons down the street for 40 pesos.
Goin out for Carnival this weekend. To Veracruz to see thousands of people do thousands of crazy things. That´s all anyone has to say about it, that it´s crazy.
Here someone is always, always cleaning the streets and no lady who is anywhere near young has short hair except for me.
Last night I went to a bar that was ladies all you can drink for a peso. So like $.07 US. Then a guy bought us a round of drinks and set them on fire. I get the feeling that everyone here is either way crazier or way less crazy than me.
I´ll post pictures later.

ellis out.