Happy New Year

So classes are going well, its hard to believe ive only been here for 4 days, it feels like forever, im not sure if that is a good thing or bad... One thing that has been strange is the way that pronouns innundate the spanish language and force me to constantly refer to myself as female. I think that maybe a priveledge of the english language is that I can fairly easily avoid pronouns and labels in that way. However the constant pronoun corrections from my teacher put on a different spin. The way that I have thought about my gender while I am here is strangely different then the way that I do in the US. I dont really know how it is, but in some ways I think about it so much less and in someways a million times more. Of course my sexuality is also a completely different story, here I am living with mormon missionaries and so maybe unfairly I do not think coming out would be a good idea around them. Although of course it is always strange that they continue to ask me if I have a boyfriend... in america, most people, except children, know better than to ask that question...
So during the lunch party at the school for the new year one of the other students asked me if it was a good year (he has evidently had a very poor year) and at first I responded yea, it was good.. but then of course I have been thinking since then about the year, I think the first part of the year was good, socially, academically, work wise... all of that, but the past few months have been pretty rough socially, I think that is due to alot of things and stuff also welling up inside me that sooner or later I will have to actually deal with. but I guess that is life...

so here is to a new year, in a new place, I will be bringing it in with the national Guatemalan brand of beer, Cervazo Gallo, literally translated to Rooster Beer...