a nice little madlib for the family.

I have been having writer block! what a surprise! what a treat!!!!! our very own, homemade MADLIB!

In case Katiana is having writer's block, I thought I'd just make this one easy, just fill in the blanks and send out:

Dear friends and family,

I'm am having the most amazing, challenging and __full___ time here in Havana! The weather has not been good. But its getting better. We got through the hurricanes! The scary part was __the wind and rain. What strength!___. But, surprisingly __Drinking ron (cuban rum) and listening to music for 5 hours___ was rather fun. I never expected __to be able to handle an entire storm ___.

So far the four most interesting people I've met are __one of the women who works as a waitress in our residence, every child that makes me smile, the director of the program, and more of myself ___. Why? Because __there is such depth and sweetness in each of those four I mentioned and such rawness at times___. You'd never guess what I discovered the other day __revolution is as much a gray/contradictory area here as it is in the U.S.___. Food here is surprisingly __repetitious___. Let me tell you what we had for the whole day yesterday; __we went to the beach and swam in the ocean under a gray/black/rainy sky. We ate the most delicious "little crabs" that I have become addicted to. They are just fried dough with guava jelly in the center___. The most beautiful sight I've seen so far is __waterfalls and children___. And the most heartbreaking was __tourism/effects of tourism/being a tourist and my own fear to connect with anything/anyone/those who need the most connection-including women in my group___.

The past month I've had many feelings, but the top three are ___cravings for food in the states, lost-ness, pure joy and at-home-ness___, because ___this shit is crazy son!__.

In general the people I interact with are the same as back home because ___they're human. and basically we're all just playing the game, trying to get by and following silly norms and conditions__, but different because ___language, and experience....although we're humans, we are living in different realities!__. The two can never be compared, and yet they mirror eachother (a little philosophizing on Leslie's part to help you out.)

The architecture and interiors of homes, buildings is expectantly different here because __everything is more less colonial and more based on European style as opposed to modern stuff like in the states. Although, most of it is extremely old and you have to close your eyes sometimes and imagine what everything looked like new....like in titanic... ___. I like __"little crabs"-see above.___. I'd never __like nato....those fermented soybeans___. The colors (or types of colors like bold or pastel or earthy) I see most around town are __beautiful, different and very particular to cuba. Faded and old...but still strong? too cliche?___.

School is okay, I'd rather just have fun. (NOT!)

School is __slow. It took way longer to start school than expected because of the cyclones. But, school is....hard. hard to understand but good.___. I'm learning alot about __how people sell their own country to us as if it is a sales pitch___. I've met all kinds of different people here, and I try to be respectful and understanding that people come from different backgrounds and exposure, but that most mean well and are capable of love (Leslie philosophizing again). But my favorite friends/characters/

neighborhood sightings are __men in mesh shirts, men with no shirts, kids super excited but super shy (like me) to talk to someone different....from a different world, the noise people make to get eachothers attention (which is not considered rude, but sounds extremely rude and took like two weeks to understand that it was acceptable and I'm still trying to get used to it)....including women on the street.....also, I have a few friends who I love seeing__.

Well, I suppose I must go now to study (party), we have to walk 12 miles to school every morning at dawn (no one will ever go there to check up on your story), and I like to stop and chat with a little girl who's house I pass every day, who's taken a liking to me and tell her a new story. I bet Leslie felt the same way about me when I was that age. I suppose I don't even have to send off this letter since I'm writing all these things down in my journal and Much More! Or that I'm photographing it all, audio taping it, writing poems or something like that (I suppose if you are doing one of these things, you can forgo this fill in letter). But, maybe I'll just skip that one t.v. show and write this letter so Leslie and all her friends who are dying to hear about Cuba can see it through my eyes.

Love Katiana

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED "OUR" LETTER!