List of Awesome Stuff: 1st Installment - the Jams

This past week, Ellie and I have constructed a list of "Awesome Stuff". It is a list of random, unambitious goals that have occurred to us of late. There are goals that, if we manage to achieve them, simply make life a little more awesome. The first item on our agenda of Awesome Stuff is the memorization of jams.

We select one song per week (English or Spanish) that we commit ourselves to memorizing all of the lyrics to by the end of the week. This week's jam (Spanish: una rola) is called "Tocarte toda" (English: Touch all of you) by Calle 13. Don't worry - we will give you weekly updates on what la rola de la semana is. We will also keep you updated on whether we actually achieve our goal. And if you are up for participating in the weekly jam challenge yourself, check out this week's lyrics.

Keep your eyes pealed for the 2nd Installment of the list of Awesome Stuff.

About Reflections

Aside from our day to day responsibilities in the Habitat Guatemala national office (to be detailed at another time), Ellie and I also work in the field with our international volunteers, serving as guides and translators for them over the course of the week that they spend building cinder block homes here in Guatemala.

Of the about 15 teams of international volunteers I have worked with since February 2010, Habitat for Humanity Affiliate Ourtowns has, hands down, been the most outstanding. Aside from their high spirits, high energy and high impact that they have had to date on the work of Habitat Guatemala, they also - like Ellie and I - enjoy a couple of cold beers ("bien frias") after a hard day's work.

The fine, constructive euphemism that they developed for their daily post-work drinks were daily "reflections" - a time for them to look back on their hard work over course of the day, enjoy the good company of their team members and also - a chance to get a little tipsy in the afternoon. The title of this blog is in appreciation for the HFH Ourtowns affiliate, the week we spent with them and our shared value of respect for happy hour. May our reflections over the course of our next year in Guatemala be abundant and profound - never in short supply.