Spring Break is here! There’s still a few inches of snow on the ground here in Logan, but apparently it’s spring enough to get away from schoolwork and stress for a week. It’s been a busy semester for me so far. I really kicked things up a notch from Fall by taking on data collection in a few different research projects, joining a language acquisition and brain imaging lab, and really starting to prepare my own research for implementation. I’m also taking more classes than I think I technically should, as well as being in the core group of a new grassroots social justice initiative. Oh, and I’ve been snowboarding and sledding like nobodies business because snow is super fun and I’m not letting it melt without getting my money’s worth out of it. But it’s time to take a break from all of this and engage in some “brick therapy”. 

I’m absolutely thrilled to say that I’m returning to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity for my Spring Break. I’ll be exploring the aldeas of Sololá, building houses, stoves, and latrines out of adobe bricks. I’ll be practicing my K’iche and Kaqchikel Mayan, making a fool of myself with unfamiliar vowels and glottal stops. I’ll be soaking up sun on Lake Atitlán and practicing my “cultural diplomacy”. I’ll be missing my kiddo something fierce. But in the midst of it all, I’ve still got about 20 articles I need to read over the break, for classes and for “fun” (aka my own edification). I still need to write a paper about dual language immersion classrooms, and I still need to write a rocking thesis statement for a diversity and inclusion grant. And best of all, I need to suss out how much of the Mayan numeral system the Mayan kids know so I can start planning my dissertation. 

This is going to be AWESOME.