i´m still alive

This is just a quick post to let you all know that yes, i am still alive, well, and VERY happy.

I have a little bit of stomach pain with diarrhea right now that i like to call ¨mini-dengue¨ but if its anything like the last time i had it (my first week in site) it will be over by tomorrow and i won´t actually throw up. Don´t worry. It´s nothing serious just a very mild version of the same symptoms of dengue.

I´m here in San Carlos for the Rio San Juan Vac meeting and regional security meeting tomorrow. It´s nice becaus I actually get reimbursed for this trip.

Everything in my site is going great. I still haven´t really started working but i´m gradually easing into it. I feel very well integrated and practically everyone knows my name and greets me warmly when I walk by.

It´s sweltering hot right now. It rained for the first time in over a week last night so that helped a little, but not the same as the first few weeks of may. I had actually gotten used to taking my umbrella everywhere, wearing shoes that either dry fast or don´t get wet, and relying on the rain to get rid of the heat.

Anyway, I know I promised a better post, but I´d rather go down to the malecon and hang out with my other peace corps buddies. I´ll try to post some interesting anecdotes and stories from the campo (i.e. hiking over muddy hills, trudging across rivers, getting my boot stuck in the mud, fallng several times, sweating like crazy, riding back on a horse that could hardly walk faster than a human through the mud, and a small community full of smiling faces huddled under a small building waiting to be tested for hiv (among other things) including a little boy playing with his new toothbrush (probably his first ever)).

As always I love and miss you all so much.

Peace and Cheers,
Shona