2019, Here I Come

2019, Here I Come

I keep trying to step out of the world of Academia, but I just sent off a proposal to a conference this next summer in June in Albuquerque. It is a presentation on what Tumulk’in is trying to accomplish. I had a very productive visit with the teachers during my visit in December and got a pilot curriculum written for the first year course on Mopan Maya. I have made my suggestions for getting more Maya data into the Social Studies curriculum. Right now, Mr. Makin and I are looking at Maya Mathematics.

I have been hitting the pool every morning for a week, and I really love the results. On the first day, it was about 70 and raining. The pool guy and I were the only ones around. He brought me a cup of coffee, which really saved me as I didn’t get out until my teeth were chattering.  Now it has become a morning ritual for us to share coffee in the morning. He is a seventeen-year-old from Arenal, a village on the Guatemalan border. His English is pretty basic and Belizean English at that. Because the phone service in Arenal comes out of Guatemala, he can’t even talk to his parents. I think he’s a little lonely.

I finished the first draft of my book about my experiences during the sixties. It’s a collection of narratives, vignettes, sketches, and poetry. Writing it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I have a couple of people reading the draft now. There are a few places where I want to do some additional development, but mostly I am going for readability and enjoyability.

I thought my days of raising children was over, but I continue to be involved with the two kids who live across the street. I hired Kalon, who is fifteen, to mow my lawn. That will free me up some and give him a little jingle in his pocket. I asked Clifara, who is now twelve, if she could come twice a month to dust and mop my floors. I can do both those things myself, of course, but it is my way to give them something. I need to help fix the holes in their fence so that Clifara can get another puppy. That last one got out and was struck by a car. The deal is that I will buy her another puppy from the Humane Association if she shows me that she can keep her dog watered, fed, and in the yard.

That’s mostly what I am up to. Let me know what you are doing.

George Ann