end of year visitor.

alyssa was just in monterrey for the week and i told her she could never leave! except... she did, this morning. even though the end of the year is a busy time, she just easily joined in and lived my life with me for the week! it was so amazing to have her here, to truly experience the day to day joys and struggles of living and teaching in mexico. we also were tourists extraordinaire, and literally did everything there is to do in monterrey.

just a few of the moments i don't want to forget:

*talking all evening at a picnic table in the mountains.
*taking a little walk up an almost dried up river-bed and spotting gigantic leeches, yuck.
*alyssa putting me to shame with her ability to inhale uber-spicy salsas.
*when i was stressed with marking, alyss made the BEST mini pizzas for dinner so i didn't have to cook!
*going to salsa class and actually going through the line of randoms since we didn't have partners.
*sharing more then one good solid cry.
*trying to find something to do in santiago, but realizing, there is really nothing to do in santiago!
*me being afraid my grandma taurus would not make it up over the mountains on our way out to camping.
*driving out into the canyon with kahla and going for a hike to watch the sunset.
*having her talk to my class about being a doctor. my kids screaming, ewww, yuck, cool!
*taking a long hike in chipinque and talking the whole way.
*getting all fancy and going to a rooftop bar for a mojito.
*helping her pick out her first pair of kum kum earrings!
*having alyss measure my long hair out before 14 inches were cut off in front of my entire class!

... and so much more.

thanks for coming to visit, alyss!

its true.

"...foreigness is intrinsically stimulating...an escape from the boredom and banality of the everyday. The mundane becomes superreal and experienced with an intensity evocative of the events of a true biography... living in a foreign country can evoke many of the emotions of childhood: novelty, surprise, anxiety, relief, powerlessness, frustration, irresponsibility."
-The Economist