1.5 weeks and a cell phone!

Well I have completed 1.5 weeks of official Peace Corps Service!!!!!!!! I wrote this great email tactfully describing how this has be THE hardest adjustment in my life, i don´t need to rehash it again and i´ll actually downplay it with the following bullet points, use your imagination to begin to understand why i wanted to go home everyday last week:

-Food is new and different and greasy
-Cleanliness is on a whole nother scale of relativity
-Sleeping WAS effected by cleanliness and odors but now it is not because of certain effective ´adjustments´ - my D.C. staging officer would be proud
-MUSIC is cool here, most every store and house is blasting some sort of music from reggae to reggeaton to 80´s American pop to latin music.
-btw right now Whitney Houston is ripping it up with I Will Always Love You in the computer lab-
-another btw, they had a country wide Grammy-like awards show on the public TV channel last night, it was inspiring like most awards shows are for me. And I would like everyone to check out a CD titled ¨Reggae from Costa Rica¨ and ¨Mekatelu¨ pronounced (Me Kan tell you) These were two CD´s that were nominated for the best carribbean music and the latter one won! I´m gonna pick up these CD´s as soon as I can find them here, but they may be available online if you wan a taste of the sound of Costa Rica!

Ok and the BEST PART!!! I HAVE A CELL PHONE!!! It makes me feel SO much better out here because I have access to emotional support and conversations with my loved ones, I was telling millie last night it helps me feel like we´re just living parallel lives in different places and not like i´m lost on some deserted Spanish speaking spaceship place. I feel so much more equipped with the cell phone.

EVERYONE: you can call me at country code 506 858-29-36

My mom bought a phone card for $4 and got 50 minutes to talk to me, so I think this should all be within ya´lls budgets. Also, I tried to call Drew Amma and Leon and the calls didn´t go thru, it may be because your phones won´t accept the interntional calls, so if anyone wants me to call them successfully, please go to make sure your phone will receive international calls from country code 506!

Ok LOOOOOOOOOVE I go now to check email!!

TODAY! is my sisters graduation!!!! Yaaaaaaaaay MILIIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!

Milones de felicitaciones hermana mia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T-minus 2 weeks until i am an official volunteer of Cuerpo de Paz

My swearing in ceremony is scheduled for May 19...and that is when i will officially be a volunteer....if i take the oath. GOD! but ok i like my community a lot. I like the new host family i will be staying with, esp my new host sister who has a car and a masters degree and is the directora of a school!

I found SOY meat here!!!! Bataan is the town that is close enough for me to BIKE to! so i have NO worries about protein or a healthy vegetarian diet. i have about 20 fruits and veggies to choose from and soy and rice and beans everday... My host mom does the cooking...and so im worried sometimes about butter usage...but...i´ll figure it out.

I´m feeling a litle sick today, and because of that a little on the under positive side...but it feels like a regular cold...and i have had lack of sleep and was cold and wet for a half day this week. but i also was in Limon, exposed to malarial and dengue carrying mosquitos and malaria feels like a cold, you feel bad one day and great the next....so....tomorow i´ll know if i need to call the nurse......

My nina is coming to bring me some stuff and everything will be great.
Love Joya

hey

I visited Limon Centro today. My village will be Sahar de Bataan, Limon. my counterpart is very nice and my development associacion is very active.

I will get back with more info after my site visit. I´m good! God is in everything and everything is all good.