everything is in english...!

i indeed made it back safely. on thursday, made it to the bus station on time (after my class ended at 1pm) at 2pm to head to the capital. arrived at 6pm, got a taxi right away (they're all waiting there when then bus pulls in), negotiated a good price for it, my taxista got all lost trying to find my hostel. we talked the whole time and i don't know if he was trying to pick up on me, but he asked if i wanted his number in case i need a taxi again in the future. i'm all, uh no today's my last day and i'm back in the states tomorrow. for dinner, i ate pollo campero, delivered to the hostel and not quite on the cheap side. i will definitely miss the 3 x Q10 deal at the taqueria. 3 tacos for only 10 quetzales! that's about a dollar and a half! good bye cheap, yummy food. slept around 11pm, made a new friend with another girl who was on the same flight as me. we both got up at 5am, got driven to the airport and went through all the fun NO LIQUIDS security check, twice. they took away all my creams, lens solution, lip balm... aiya.

arrived at LAX at 11am friday. customs was fun to go through. blanca picked me up and we were on our way to the UTLA (teacher's union) conference! picked up another friend in LA on the way and we headed out to palm springs with no directions or addresses. yay, adventures are always fun! it's somewhere in palm springs, so we figured we'd find it one way or another. besides, we had numbers of other folks in case we needed to contact anyone. en route we ate el gallo giro, YUMMMMYYYY... pork and beef. how i've missed you both! we arrived in palm springs, drove around a little aimlessly down major streets, then decided to stop at a gas station to find out what was up:

"hi i'm looking for la quinta resort"
"it's in la quinta"
"is that another city?"
"yes"
"where?"
"in la quinta"
"it's not in palm springs?"
"no u have to go 30 min. further down the 10"

HIJO DE LA MAñANA! who would have known? i felt really dumb. all the other union folks talking about the conference kept referring to it as palm springs. so anyway, we finally make it there in the 100+ degree weather. what a resort though! RESORT is the right label. non-unionized, however. ironic, yes. a union meeting at a non-unionized hotel... for the first time. we always have it at a unionized location. i sense we might have it there again next year though... we are a lost union. at any rate, some entertainment during the conference included governor candidate phil angelides and the belligerent, defensive major villaraigosa as guest speakers during the weekend-long conference. antonio = sellout!

so when it was all over, we make it back to LA around 4:30pm on sunday, JUST IN TIME FOR SOCCER! mind u, i still have not been home yet and i have all my guatemala shit with me. my huge traveling backpack and all. good thing i had sneakers, shorts, and a new guatemala jersey! played futbol with folks i missed dearly, and finally went home with my friend meisha in her cool little s2000 ride. a very fun car i learned, as she demonstrated to me the tight turns it could cut... O_O

yesterday i went apartment hunting with future roomie liz. we found a BEAUTIFUL place in k-town. AND WE GOT IT! signing the lease today!! how exciting! i look forward to new changes. the apt ROCKS. it's dope. it has that old school early 1900s look, woodfloors, tall windows in a semi-circle shape in a large living room, gated entry, gated parking, wide but quiet residential street... and best of all, it's right around the corner (walkable distance) from the 24-hour korean restaurants! AAHHHH!! VERY close to both the 10 and 110 freeways. it's not in the part of ktown where u have to drive in through all that traffic, it's just off the fwy. housewarming is definitely in the works! wwaazzuuuppppp~