So many stories, so little time!

Well this week has been eventful to say the absolute least.

Last time I blogged, I was on my way out to a quince anos fiesta. It was sooo much fun! Before the party, we had to go to mass for Rosa, the girl who turned 15. We all paraded there with a mariachi band! My host niece, Melissa, was one of the girls leading the way in her gorgeous cream and red gown. Then came Rosa (who I think is a distant relative of mine?) in her beautiful pink princess gown, and then the rest of us. After she took her communion, we all paraded out to the closed down restaurant where the party would be held. My whole family sat together so there were about 13 or 14 of us at a huge table we made from all the little tables. The food was amazing and of course I got to dance! My host sisters didn't dance because their mom (my would-be host mom) died less than nine months ago, so they are still in mourning. =( Out of respect for her, they won't dance for a year. My family's very traditional in that way. Apparently it doesn't apply to the guys though, because my host brothers were dancing all night! (Thank goodness, or else I would've had to fend off the guys in the neighborhood that just wanted a chance to dance with the new “chelita” lol.) Being at the party made me realize how horrible my Spanish is though. I'm fine when I'm talking one on one with any of my family members or teachers because they all know that I need time to think and process, so they speak slowly and simply to me. Being at a table with 13 other people though, made me feel like I had never learned a word of Spanish before in my life! Thank goodness dancing doesn't require language!

Aside from that party though, this week has been nothing but work work work. Now I see why all the previous blogs I've read have said that training is insanely busy. I've had my usual 6 hours of Spanish classes everyday plus nightly homework. On top of that, we started our classroom observations this week. I'm going to be teaching 3 science lessons to 4th graders, but that doesn't happen until two weeks from now, gracias a Dios. We also had two youth group meetings, one of which was observed by our language facilitator and our technical trainer! Luckily our kids (all 22 of them!) are AWESOME! For our recycled materials project, we are making friendship bracelets (pulseras) out of plastic bags (they're multi-colored here.) You should see how into it they are! And I'm talking about teenage kids! I'll have some pics to post next time if these computers ever decide to work fast enough for that. We also had to prepare our charla (lesson) on drugs and alcohol, which we'll be giving to our youth group next week. And lastly, we had to write up our survey, another requirement of all trainees. We decided to survey the 6th graders in our school to find out what they already know about the environment and their natural resources. Keep in mind, ALL of this is completely in Spanish. I must be doing better than I think I am.

Unfortunately, I'm ending my week with a bacterial infection. (fever, extremely upset stomach – neither of which are fun during rainy season in a house with an outdoor latrine!) I'm kinda glad that's all it is though, because after all the charlas on dengue fever and parasites, I was expecting the worst. Thankfully Peace Corps has been awesome and I was able to get diagnosed almost immediately even though it's the weekend. I'm now on antibiotics that my host brother, Nelson, was kind enough to get for me. (Since we don't have a pharmacy in my town, he offered to ride his bike into the town over.) My whole host family has been taking care of me, so no worries. I'm doing just fine. =) I guess in the place of greisbri (I know that's spelled wayyy wrong) and The Princess Bride, I'll settle for tea, soup, and lots of rest.

Unfortunately being sick last night and this morning meant I had to miss the beginning of our school garden today. My three site mates and a few of the school kids worked all morning in the torrential rain to start up the garden. I'm hoping to go help out with the finishing touches tomorrow – assuming the entire area isn't under water. The rain is insane this weekend because of the hurricane nearby. Luckily all we'll be getting from that is rain though. It's bad news for our seeds, and also means that NOTHING ever dries! Literally everything is damp to the touch. Bleck. Well, at least it's relief from the heat! =)

In other news, one of my cows had a baby this week! Absolutely adorable!! Her name is Estrellita.