The wait is over.

So it finally happened.  When you get to 3rd worldish countries they all tell you about the plethora of stomach issues you WILL encounter.   Its not usually a matter of 'if' but 'when'.  And so I had been waiting... what was it going to be?  Ameobas?  Parasites?  Fungus?   I successfully avoided all of the above, to my knowledge for the first semester.  But it was looming over me.   All the staff said we'd be lucky to make it past the first 2 months.
Well, yesterday was the end of the waiting.  I spent the day equally divided between my bed and the bathroom- puking my brains out.  Sorry for the graphics.  It was definitely not a highlight of my experience in Guatemala so far.  I don't think it was amoebas or parasites, but probably just some kind of food poisoning.  I decided to go to school today (Its a lot harder here to take a day off than in the states) and it was probably the worst day of teaching I've had to date.  I was exhausted, still didn't feel well, and my kids decided to be off the wall.  Probably didn't help that my patience was pretty thin.  Not to mention, it was my first day with the full 14.  The dynamics have officially changed...a LOT.  But I survived.   And I'll probably head to bed shortly after I finish this post.  I'm sure my run-ins here with stomach illness have not ended with this one, but I'm glad I've got the first experience out of the way (hopefully).  And I'm grateful to have at least held out for this long. 
On a funnier note--  one of my new students is kind of a mini-gangster.  In the most complimentary way possible.  He is Guatemalan, but has been living in the States and comes from a totally different background than my other students.  He just dresses and talks very differently than the rest.  Its been a little bit of a jolt to see, as my students are so incredibly innocent in a lot of ways.  And this new kid is just very different-- super sweet...and the epitome of a stereotypical latino.  Anyway, at the end of  last Friday I was sending them all out the door and telling them to have a nice weekend, that I'd see them on Monday.  To which he responded, "Nawww, I'm gonna see you tonight.  Where you gonna be?!"  With quite a bit of a pick-up line feel.  It probably isn't the same for you reading it as it was for me to hear him say it in his special little voice, but it was pretty funny at the time.  And caught me a little off guard.