4 months in Ecua-land!!

Hello loved ones!

Although sometimes the days are long looking back I can´t believe that I hve been in Ecua-land 4 months!!! Crazy! And one month in Balzar. And I can say that the "Peace Corps Adventures" are only getting wilder!! These are some of the highlights from the past month:

*Most "Peace Corps" moment: Peeing in a Ziploc bag in the middle of the night because I didn´t have a bathroom.

*Most Painful moment (week): Surviving Chicken Pox in the hottest place ever!! Thankfully I only have some ugly scabs to remind me of last week.

*Most exciting moment: Getting my adorable apartment okayed to by Peace Corps and then moving in it!!!
I am a happy renter enjoying an apartment that is too nice to be at Peace Corps Standards but I am living in a small town (40,000) which isn´t your typical PC site. But wow after 4 months of 2 host families, hotels, hostels, & huts it feels so good to have my OWN space. And I bought a really comfy bed!!!

video tour of my pad:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=SWIlal2P3gE
pictures of the place:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Alicia.ODell/MTVCribsBalzar

*Most ironic moment: Getting done with my bucket bath and then turning on the TV only to find "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" so I totally watched them plan a wedding as my bucket washed with rusty water hair air dried. haha.

*Most embarrassing moment: Becoming a "before Pro-active" model from Chicken pox and have people make comments like "oh did the mosquitoes get you?" or "oh the poor gringa´s skin is breaking out in this hot weather".

But through it all I am surviving. Shoot if I can handle chicken pox in hot humid weather with my host family laughing at my because they think it´s funny that an adult has chicken pox! I can handle anything. haha. Honestly everyday is a challenge here, but I feel like I have a good base in Balzar figuring out why I am here and starting to get a schedule. Life is good. Thanks for all your love and support I carry you all with me.

Much love to you always.
Alicia