The election is over... Thank God!

The election is over.  The expected happened.  The sitting President's party typically loses Congress in the last two years of his term.  The American electorate is a bit fickle, but the real issue is the lack of real options to choose from and the lack of a real debate.  Where was the discussion of "climate change" and "immigration" and wars we continue to fight?  Where is the discussion of the issues really affecting people?  Instead we heard the same old negative rhetoric with the same talking points that lack any real nuanced discussion.    

The big issue NEVER discussed that leads such a great country to silliness every two years is “campaign finance reform!”  Very few elected representatives talk about this.  I get it.  The typical thinking on the Hill is that you do what you need to do to get elected and then you can do something.  But the problem then becomes our elections are turned into a “game” of electing representatives, rather than electing the person with the best ideas. 

People are already limited enough by the two-party system.  But now in order to be elected you have to raise hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars to even have a chance.  When will public campaigns without paid advertisements and multiple public forum debates occur?  America is better than this.  And now, we’ve gotten so used to the silliness of our elections and campaigns that the majority of eligible voters do not even vote! 

The system needs to change.  Too many people don’t care and are not given a reason to.  The negative campaigning and lack of real discussion of the issues has continued to make the American election an embarrassment to the world and not what they should be, which is a model of what a Republic could be.   

Neyla's Guatemalan Life...

Me and Mommy in Antigua

We’ve been in Guatemala now for about 3 months and we are really starting to settle in and enjoy the new experience.   We are making new and great friends and we’re discovering our new city and country.  I love our new country; however, I am going to attempt to write this blog from another person’s perspective: Neyla’s.  Unfortunately she is not quite old enough to blog, so I’m going to blog for her.  Here’s your chance to see Guate through Neyla’s eyes:

A few weeks before we left, mommy and daddy started telling me about what sounded like a new magical place that we were moving to: Guatemala!  It sounded so fun and I love just saying it, Wa-te-ma-da.  At least, that’s how I pronounce it.  Mommy and daddy keep taking me on planes all over and so far most of those places have been fun, so I was excited for a new adventure.  

Me and the Guatemalan boy playing
in the fountain in Antigua.  

Daddy left a few days early because mommy said he had to do something called work.  The day mommy and I left I said goodbye to grandma, grandpa and all my cousins and we headed to the airport.  It was not a very fun trip.  Mommy was trying to carry so many bags and me; and on top of that our flight got in 3 hours late to Watemada.  I was so sleepy when daddy met us at the airport and took us to our new home.  I fell asleep immediately and when I awoke I was in our new home with mommy.  

Our new home is so cool.  Mommy has made me not one, but two play rooms.  The first is my art room with all my paint and markers and fun paper.  The other room has a big box house, a play kitchen and my own personal penguin rug!  I love it!  Then upstairs is my bedroom which has a cool pink furry rug and butterfly and flower bedspread and fun flower wall stickers which Mommy let me put on myself.  The best though is all the books mommy gets me from the library.  We read together several times a day and I love it!  

The inside of the house is cool, but the best part is outside, where we have an awesome playground with swings and slides and a soccer field where mommy and I play futbol.  Most days we walk up the hill (I ride in the stroller) and go eat lunch with Daddy at work.  When we get there all of these scary teenagers approach me and make strange noises, I think they think I’m some sort of toy.  But it’s fun.  Each day we walk to the university where mommy and daddy buy me a quesadilla or a grilled cheese and I share a smoothie with mommy.  I love the smoothies!  They’re my favorite.  

Me in the sandbox at
Earthlodge!

Me at Earthlodge with Volcano Agua 
in the background.  

The day to day of my life is pretty packed with fun and exciting things.  First, each day mommy and I wake up and snuggle.  This usually takes anywhere from 5 - 30 minutes depending on how hungry I am.  Next, we’ll eat breakfast, nothing too fancy, usually just cereal and mommy drinks this black stuff called coffee, but she won’t let me have any.  Then if it is not raining, we’ll go to the park and swing, play soccer, do monkey bars or play in the little Neyla sized house.  Mommy is so much fun.  Then, usually the favorite part of my day, visiting daddy at school!  Each day mommy will put me in the stroller and chug up the hill to daddy’s school and we sneak up on him through the back door of his classroom.  We usually walk to buy some lunch and eat a family lunch together.  Then daddy plays catch with me and lets me make drawings for his classroom wall.  

Me, daddy, Papu and Grandma 
in Antigua...
Isn't that volcano in the back cool?

We have even travelled a bit!  On our first trip outside of the city we went to Antigua and mommy and daddy bought me a little Watematan horsey!  He’s so cute.  I slept with him for weeks afterwards.  We walked around the town a bit, actually daddy mostly carried me and I got to play in the water fountain at the center of town with another Watematan boy.  We had so much fun splashing about.  On the way home, I fell asleep in the car.  It’s hard for me to stay awake after such a fun day.

Daddy and I on the airplane
at IRTRA

Another weekend, we went with some friends up to Lake Atitlan.  I enjoyed the park at the restaurant we stopped at, but the boat ride to our hotel was a bit scary.  I’m used to riding large boats in Majuro, but this was a tiny boat with too many people.  I had to sit on Daddy’s lap and I could barely see Mommy.  We got a little wet, but when we got to our hotel, there was a fun doggy and some cool chairs made of tree trunks that I really enjoyed.  Our room was super cool, the beds had white tents over them and I love playing in them.  Sadly, mommy got sick that night and the next day Daddy and I went searching through the small town of San Marcos to find her some Ginger Ale.  After a difficult walk for daddy (not me I was on his shoulders) we finally found some and went back to see if mommy was feeling better.  She wasn’t, so daddy and I went hiking.  It was fun!  We saw birds and flowers and walked a long the lake.  I love hiking with daddy!  

Grandma and I napping...

A few weeks after that we went to a cool place called Earth Lodge.  Daddy went to play some golf, so that left me and mommy during the day to have tons of fun.  We hiked, read books, played on the park and I got to play with a few other kiddos.  It was a fun weekend.  We spent so much time just playing and relaxing, so it was basically like every other day for me, but with a great view.  

Mommy, daddy and I at the
Kite Festival 

Then mommy said that daddy had a long weekend and we were going to do something really really fun. I didn't know what that meant, but I was excited! They took me on Sunday morning to a place called IRTRA. It was a magical land of clown, and rides and shows and all around kid fun! It was awesome. I went on a train, a magic bus, I drove a truck and even went on a ferris wheel. The best was the airplane that daddy took me on, at first I was a little scared, but eventually I grew to love it! It was such a fun day with mommy and daddy!

Last weekend was the best!  Grandma and grandpa came to visit us and I had so much fun with them!  We went to Antigua, played in parks, went swimming and snuggled a lot.  Now that they’re gone, I miss them, but it’ll be Christmas soon and I’ll get to see them and Santa!  

Yesterday we went to see the most giant kites ever and it was so much fun!  I made new friends like Dennis!  He’s my new favorite friend.  The kites were huge, I didn’t know that they made kites so big.  There were so many people around cheering and eating and having fun.  Daddy says that this is a Mayan tradition of flying the kites to be closer to one's ancestors who have passed on.  But I loved the bright colors and the excitement.  I hope we go again next year!

I always fall asleep on car rides home.  But that
Apple juice was mmmmmm  good!  

Overall, I love being able to spend so much time with mommy and I love how much the sun shines here!