HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

So updating you lovely peeps on what’s going on with me—

I started teaching computers. I only HAVE 2 students thus far, but soon will have more. One is incredibly quick at picking up what I teach her—so I’m hoping she will learn tons! The other one struggles A bit, but nonetheless I have faith in her :) So far, I find it rewarding, so hopefully it continues to be so….

Be HAPPY for me because I am moving! Woohoo! The landlady I have right now is a bit of a b with an itch. She never says hello to me—which is a must in Paraguayan courtesy. Also, I am paying a lot for a house that I am not happy in. I am always paranoid about finding rats, lizards, and frogs…sometimes I feel like I’m losing my sanity living here. So I´m hoping that my NEW house will actually be a place I can live comfortably—a place I can turn into a temporary home. The two best things about this new place are that I will only have to pay electricity and water (woohoo!) and my landlords are awesome—very respected people in the community :) I hopefully move end of Jan or Feb, but will let you know how it goes…

Be grateful that you have reliable running water. Twice it has happened to me that I go 3 days with out water. It’s insanely tough and of course I got moody—haha!! Now I know that it’s possiblE to take a shower with only 2 liters of water—ayaya!! Hehe I’m crossing my fingers—hoping that these coming 2 YEARS will bring me less of these experiences…haha…Wait it´s actually only 20 more months—woohoo!!

Guess what? I think I have a much better direction with my future—I HOPE to get my MBA with an International Development focus. So just in case I can’t get a job dealing with International Development(which for me is ideal), I can at least work for a company that helps create jobs in developing countries :) I already have a few schools in mind, but if you know of any good MBA programs that offer a focus on development, IT will help me tons if you would let me know please! My internet access IS not unlimited like yours—hehe :)

I spent Christmas Eve in a supposedly rich town called San Bernardino, which is right next to a polluted lake…hehe. It was cool…I went with my Berkeley pal, Jen. We found an awesome French café, where we made our own crepes and had chicken curry—both were insanely delicious! For Christmas Eve, we had French cheese, garlic bread, peaches, crackers, and merengue candy. Oh yeah we FILLED our glasses with Sparkling Wine too—all very yummy!! Hehe.. We watched Spider-Man 2 and Les Miserables. During the day, I went swimming WITH Jen in the hotel’s pool and we walked around in the center. It was very chill and tranquilo. Christmas day we travelled back to our sites. My afternoon I spent sick and lonely—boo!! Missed everyone back home tons!! It was ok—tough, but ok…

So my LOVE life, which many of you ask about…hehe I´ve had weird and awful luck with men here, but the good news is that I want to start dating again and look forward to it very much—hehe. I´m not ready for love, but dating yes!! Haha. So please keep your fingers crossed, so that my luck may change with the coming year :) hehe...

Oh yeah I am getting better at cooking...woohoo!! I've made delicious lentils, chicken curry, and an eggplant dish my Cal roomie, Lana, taught me way back....hehe...so cross your fingers for me so that I only get better...haha...

Ok well hope you spend your New Years well...
Huge hugs and kisses :)

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!!!

So lately in site it has been very chill...i have been doing a ton of excel work to just be able to keep track of records and i want to just know exactly how much money my cooperative has--so far it's been tough, but i'm getting there slowly...and as soon as i figure out how to put the info in a simple & friendly version, then i want to teach my contact how to use the computer and the documents i've created thus far. it's going to be a tough challenge especially since he needs glasses, but we'll see....hehe.... so soon i will be teaching computer classes, which i am looking forward too, but it's going to be a huge pain with the heat that is coming in the summer....aya....

btw i had a mama mouse have 6 baby mice in my kitchen....the grossest thing ever...my vecina and the grandma actually killed them all with a broom and machete...it was a horrible sight, but i was relieved that i didn't have to do it...hehe...they both just laughed at me for being sooo weak...hehe....so about a week later i see a tail coming out from under the fridge and i figured---oh no!!! i have a rat now!!! ewww!!! so i go get my vecina, who brings her sons and they actually chase out a huge iguana that was behind the fridge....ewwww since i've dealt with soooo many problems in that house i am hoping to move in about 2 months, so keep your fingers crossed for me so that i may find a place that i wont have to suffer in...... :)

so i went a whole day and a half without water in 90 degree heat!!! scandalous!!! it was dreadful because i couldn't do anything and i was dying to take a shower because i was scared that i had lice, but it turns out that i don't...sooo woohoo!!! i think i might invest in some type of container to hold water in case of emergencies....because sometimes it goes whenever i need it the most....

so i spent thanksgiving in encarnacion ( a city in the south of Paraguay). i took a midnight bus to get there and my friends and i basically crashed all morning to catch up on our sleep before the fun started:) the hotel was gorgeous!! it had 4 pools and it was surrounded by trees and awesome trails... so the weekend basically consisted of lounging by the pool, drinking, and stuffing ourselves like crazy....it was awesome!! also, we played ping pong, pool, and danced at night for hours....i had soo much!!! i was actually really surprised by the food because it was delicious, we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, salad....etc...considering that i am in paraguay it was probably the best meal i've had here....so on the way back to asuncion (the capital) we took another midnight bus and it was dreadful....i didn't sleep at all and the bus was pretty runned down--we had decided to go on a cheaper bus....but once we got the peace corps office we showered and hung around....omg i had the best &closest to mexican food i've tried here in paraguay...insanely delicious....you have no idea how much i miss it....hehe....

so yeah this week we were in training. it was nice to be back in las piedras and visit my host family. we had a party last nite at my house and unfortunately i had a little too much drink...aya...not good...but i will definitely be more careful from now on ;) hehe unfortunately we weren't able to dance because someone we didn't know passed away and the family was in mourning....getting adjusted to classes was a bit tough cause they made me sleepy and it was hard to pay attention...hehe.... but at least i felt that i learned a lot and it was stuff that i really needed to review....also, i liked being around my g-21 posse and just being able to catch up and talk and act silly was something i really needed.....

so right now i am in asuncion, will go dancing tonight (woohoo!!) hehe and then tomorrow i will be returning to my site and try to be very guapa (hard working) but we'll see...hehe j/k

ok so hope everything goes well for you....huge hug and kiss :)

peace out....