well i'll be

oooh boy, its been a while while while since i've blogged. haven't really been in the mood since the last entry. i wonder if anyone is still looking for new entries anyway. let me know ifyou're still paying attention. i'm working on a Community Analysis Tool of my rural town. I came into the San Jose main office in order to work on the really cool flat screen computers and maybe get some quiet and a nice sterile environment. I've been here an hour so far and i haven't even taken out my materials to finish up the analysis part of my paper. Charts and data entry are all done, but the all important analysis of what these numbers mean to actual community development is my goal. I think ILR (college) gave me enough practice in paper writing (also known as BSing) to come up with some authoritative sounding analysis even tho i'm not anywhere near an authority, i guess perhaps experience in community work gives me some authority, but....if i've learned anything here, i've learned EVERYTHING is different in Spanish (in Spanish language, Spanish culture, Spanish country) ok, well not everything...but maybe we'll get into that later.

I'm almost ready to go home for the Christmas Holidays. i'm really excited about seeing everyone and being home for a while. i'll get a massage ( i hope) and some yummy honey shrimp, and all the goodness that comes automatically with the holidays. Home is always a great place, i feel warm and fuzzy just thinking about it...

Ha i'm watching HBO just now (In the volunteer lounge) and a gospel movie is on! we really do have some things laid out in a posh way. yeah but it is HARD. i dunno if the grass would've been greener or not in an African project. anyway its great that i am still connected to the so called 'developed' world.

I was going to a black Baptist church in Limon Centro, the port town nearest me they spoke English! because there is a large population of Jamaican immigrants in this regions urban areas, but i haven't been in a while, it didn't feel ANYthing like New Life, my home church, and i had to travel 4 hours in one day to attend that church. i'll really enjoy getting back home and settling down in the house of God that i know most intimately.

I have a set of friends out here in my town. we watched two movies last night, A history of Violence and ATL. I love the movie ATL its my favorite with Big Boi from Outcast and T.I. as the main characters. i normally am hesitant, to say the least, about rappers-turned-actors, but Big Boi did surprisingly well and i can't WAIT to see him in IDLEWILDE. oh yeah. and Dre too.

Thanksgiving was awesome in Tortuguero even tho i had a small tragedy with the loss of a bag of all brand new clothes. It hurt, i still have't cried about it yet. i spent about 17, 000 colones on a skirt, pair of jeans and a Great white casual dress that i NEVER got to wear. i almost ceartainly left them in a boat as i was travelling the canals of Tortuguero...it hurt. i've seen cute clothes since then and not wanted to buy them, cause they'll prolly either get stolen or get lost. even tho i NEED clothes because, i got robbed in San Jose the other month, (Nov i think.) i left my back pack in the lobby of a call center while i went into the booth to make a call and when i came out the attendant had not seen my bag disappear. USELESS. and careless on my part, but i was lurred into feeling comfortable in that call center because i frequent it and have chatted it up with the duenos...but this day was a new girl at the front desk and...my sense of security was false...by all accounts this is exactly what Peace Corps security advised us not to do...not to let our guard down when it comes to protecting important property.

Oh no, its been two hours now, There may be a laptop i can borrow tonight to continue working on my paper tonight where i sleep. but i should finish up: life has been unprecendentedly tumultuos, aaaand i may just be the better for it. suppose time will tell. big conversation coming up over Christmas with my love to see what will become of our relationship, oh yeah and i went to visit a british and chilean pair of friends in los Barros de Pacuare i galloped on a horse! and carried baby turles from a hatchery to release them to the ocean AND attempted to surf. thats not all, so maybe when i'm up to it i'll fill in all the blanks of all the great other stuff thats been going on.

ttys love joya