I'm Still Here

As Mark Twain reportedly once wrote, reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.
It's not very interesting for me to write about routine daily activities and the past month has been nothing much but routine. The kids are all the same and still doing well physically, still struggling with school. Mauricio got all A's & B's but the other three in my house are all on TV restriction, for failing classes or behavior problems in school (you know who). I've gotten to know Jaime's teacher fairly well after having numerous conferences with her. She says there is nothing we can do to change that boy other than pray for him. She is very patient, probably more than me with him. Teachers had a week of strikes this month but the kids are back now.
Last weekend I went with Mauricio to visit the family of his oldest uncle in Quimistan, which is a little more than an hour from here. It is always a good expierience for me to go places like this so I can remember that most of the people in this country do not live like we do here at the casa. They live in a small house in the outskirts of a small town: no running water or plumbing; small unfinished house with dirt floor and occasional chicken wantering through; No kitchen; campfire outside with a piece of metal above it is the stove; meals are very small portions; they bathe outdoors standing on a stone next to a large bucket of water - no shower curtains here. Their electricity is extension cords running through the house. They walk to the local store before each meal because they don't have refrigeration to keep food. We went fishing in a little stream and pond near by and they caught a few 2" long fish.
Sister Eva is in the final countdown to her departure, June 15th. She is leaving the casa after 12 years here. She is still planning on doing fund raising for the casa, but she will be doing it from her new home in RI where she is from. The two summer interns from Notre Dame arrive in a couple of weeks so I will not be the only English speaker here after Eva leaves on the 15th.