Stupid Internet :)

Sorry I have not written in so long, it has taken me a week just to figure out the internet in my new town and I am still having some troubles. I cant even access my blog here...I think it might be because the computers are so slow? So I am sending it to Greg for him to post it. When I first got to Los Coco´s we went to a retreat center in the mountains to learn about Eco-tourism. It was a cool experience -in more ways than one. It was freezing cold and raining a lot and then it had amazing views. We hiked to the top of Pico Diego and from there you could see the whole city of Santiago as well as a few mountain villages. One night while we were there we had a bonfire with s´mores. That was a good night.

Last Sunday I met my new family here. I now have a Don, Doña, the Don´s sister, a grandmother, a 16 year old sister and a 15 year old brother as well as a neice who is about 4. All in one house that has three bedrooms. (Don´t worry, I have my own). They are all really great, and I can usually understand what everyone says except the Grandmother, she seems a little crazy. The Doña thinks that I need to be fattened up, so I get yelled at if I dont eat enough. I have had to start working out in my room just to combat her efforts. I havn´t tried running yet because I heard from other volunteers that when you first start either you have dogs(and these are stray dogs) or kids running after you. I thought I might wait until I get to my site before I try to lose the dogs and kids. Yesterday my Spanish class went into Santiago to a mall - a really nice mall too, and we got stuff to make an American meal. Mac and cheese, guacamole and chocolate chip cookies. Making it turned out to be an adventure because they dont have measuring cups or anything here so everything is really a guess. The mac and cheese was pretty good, but the cookies that I was in charge of were a little iffy. They still tasted great they just didnt ever look pretty. Oops, I guess I will have to practice a little more with that!!!

And another bites the dust

We lost another trainee today to an unfortunate accident. Jon, one of our two retired trainees, was climbing a fence while he was visiting his volunteer and somehow fell and hurt his leg. The medical office doesn´t think he can adequately recover in order to continue his service. I feel really bad for him, but they say that he is okay with the decision to return to the United States. I am a big believer in fate and what is meant to be will be, there most have been a reason why he shouldn´t be here. Good luck to you Jon, hope your leg recovers and that you enjoyed the time that you did have here.

March already!

I can't believe it is already March. In some ways I feel like I have been here forever already and in others its like I just got here. I hear that for most volunteers the days go by very slowly but the weeks pass very quickly. We will see if that turns out to be true:)

I am moving to a campo near Santiago this Thursday for technical training with my enviornmental education group. It is rumored that there is internet access there, so I am hoping that is true. Keep sending them if you have the time and I will make sure that I check it at least once a week while there. Any mail is welcome as well;) Same address as before, that seems to be the most reliable way to get mail. In my campo, I will live with a new host family there. It is hard to start all over with a new family and this is not even my last one! I will get one more host family once I get to my final site in about 8 weeks. Anyways, nothing much is happening here I will write more when something exciting happens! Keep me informed on all the happenings in the States and Japan!

Volunteer Visit to Bohechio

Last thursday I left (on public transportaion, on my own-imagine my dread) for a visit with another Peace Corps Volunteer to see what it is all really like. I went to Bohechio which is a the end of this long, windy, dirt road where there are no telephones and no cell phone service. Of course that doesnt mean people don't have cell phones or telephones in case they can ever use them;) I had asked the driver to drop me off in front of my volunteers house and so he stops somewhere in town and tells me this is it. I get off the bus and the one of the teachers from the school walks me about five blocks to her house. I think they thought it was better for me if I was hand delivered to the house I wanted. We stayed in Bohechio for Thursday and Friday where I lived the peublo life with electricity on a schedule and water shortages in the town, and then on Saturday we went into San Jaun which is a bigger city so I could see what city life was like. I think I like the pueblo a little better than the city living, but I guess it is early to say. I wont really go into more about the trip unless people want an individual email or have specific questions, I feel like there is so much I could say that I dont even know where to start for the blog. Sorry this one was kinda anti climactic!