feliz (early) navidad

helllllllllo everyone.
sorry for the lack of blogposts in the last while -
a one Kaelin Beriault informed me of this yesterday,
going to such extremes as to tell me that she clicks on this link just about daily, only to be disapointed everytime and left dejected.
and you know, i dont want that to happen kaelin.

and also IS about high time i write a fillin.
I really will try and be better with putting up some blogs. I just am, quite the procrastinator by nature though, and have been quite busy (and dealing with silly bolivian computers. im so excited for my laptop when my motherdearest comes).
But anyways, hello all:).
Wow, its December 10th already. This past month and a bit has just really flown by.
And that feels so good. I feel like ive finally hit stride with my life here,
and am feeling less in the air.. foreign.. in the ´making friends´ stage. And that really is just the best feeling.
ha, it just started pouring and my kids just came running in with drenched hugs. which was.. kind of nice? except for the drenched part, and the fact that there are computers here.
im so happy its raining though, the weather in santa cruz for the past month has been SO. HOT.
i think we hit a snap of about a week and a half that was about 37 and over. a few days im pretty sure it was 42 or 43. I mean, i love the heat, and normally am fine with it. but a few days there, i just layed under the fans at lunch on the tables lol, and tried not to move.
butt, because of that weather, i was just so cold when we travelled to Moro Moro this past weekend.
Our group of SALTers went and met up with Remi, the SALTer working in Moro Moro. Its this great little town kind of just nestled in the middle of a bunch of mountains. Really gorgeous.
But it was probably around 13 or so degrees celcius for part of the time, and i was. cold.
And that just already makes me dread next years winter lol. Im going to be one of those people who I make fun of, who cant handle the cold and complains at like -15.
I´ll just wear constant longjohns. And no one will know.
Anyways. back to something relevant. Yah, the trip to Moro Moro was great.
Not like im not really enjoying my job, but after a little while of routine day in day out for awhile.. it was super nice to get away.
The friday we went on this awesome hike winding along the outsides of the mountains, passing rural farmers who farm up the less steep slopes. It was gorgeous and fantastic and one of those times when you felt like you kind of had to stop every 10 minutes to make some sort of ´wow´ noise.
HOWEVER. that 6 hour hike also made me realize again how horridly out of shape I am. sigh.
i mean, its finne. but, those of you who know me, know that i like to stay in shape. good shape, if i can. I just love using my body , and making it work hard.
And so now, Im just not used to my muscles not knowing what to do, and failing me. Im just kind of like ´are you kidding me? you used to work. what happened.´ lol. i just kind of want to stare at my leg muscles shaking my head, with a mix of confusion and dissapointment.
soo. im trying to find ways to find physical things to do.
We had a few soccer games last week, the women of the Guardaria (day care/after school program) vs the women of the hogar (childrens home).
it was hilarious, those women are so funny. But also very serious about their futbol. We were rocking jerseys, and going (fairly) hard in like plus 36 heat for about 40 minutes.
after like 10 minutes one game i just turned to one of my little girls (who I call arasmelly.. haha, her name is Araseli. K, that may sound more rude than funny, but shes a hilarious kid, and i explained to her what it meant, and she laughed really hard, and now its an inside joke). anyways, i was just like. ´arasmelly. water. please. im going to die.´ and she just looked at me, nodded her head, and took off at a sprint to the kitchen lol.
but, other than those two games, time for physical activity is hard to comeby.
its not really a cultural norm here for girls - guys play soccer.. and girls can play volleyball, but still. its just not really a cultural thing. And i cant go running past about 8 at night, due to my host parents being worried for my safety, and actaul danger. And i just often dont get home from work or being out earlier than that.
And i just cant hack the early morning run, never have. early morning track practises and waterpolo practises in highschool were just about the death of me. i was always the last one to take my sweats off and get in the pool for waterpolo, and in track, i always tried to come 15 minutes late (to skip warmup).
But anyways, I tried 3 times to set my alarm for 6 am to go runnin haha, and gave myself like nighttime peptalks ´you WILL wake up kathleen! you can do this´
but the first night i rolled over at 4 oclock, and half alseep thought something just like ´ha! that was a funny hope´ and changed my alarm, 2nd night im pretty sure the same happened, because my alarm was changed again, and the third morning i actually did manage to sit up in my bed at 6, and then was just like ´screw this.´ and fell back down.
so whatever. who needs physical activity. thats my new motto. im having fun, without staying fit. ha. lol.
nah. ill find something. because my body just has so much pent up and restless energy that pretty soon ill just go run into a tree to get it out. lol.
anyways, moving on again.
so, quick fill in on some significant past monthly events?
1.) IPOD STOLEN. ughhhhh. even though it was done in a very epic manner, im still just. heartbroken. i still just cant really think about it. we were stopped in the market though on the bus, and i was sitting in a seat, and just pulled it out of my bag to change the song (stupid), and were watching me and jumped in from OUTSIDE the bus through the window infront of me (mine was closed), snagged it out of my hand, and bolted.
I think it was just so hard because it was one of my last little home connections. All my music that reminds me of people, winnipeg, etc. and plus, theres only so much spanish music a person can take. i swear if i hear ´EN MI CORRAZOONN´(in my heart) one more time. ill just, kick the radio. buuut, im trying to learn to appreciate it more, and obviously lots of latin music is great. it might all have the same beat (reggaetone), but hey. its a good one. lol.
ohk. this is starting to get long, but i still have a little more to type. i guess thats what i get for not posting for a month.
what else has happened. ohyah.
2.) heidi (other salter who works with me) and i went with a group of girls from our work to Samipatis (sp?), a cute town kind of in the mountains too, but much closer to santa cruz than moro moro. its fairly touristy, because its close to great waterfalls, inca ruins, and just the scenery and town itself is just fantastic. anyways, it was just a blast. easily one of my best weekends yet. we went and saw the inca ruins, and just hung out, and got to meet got guys from france, italy, israel, and a few other places in europe that i cant really remember.
It was so much fun, and i just think that i loved that fact that we often were in groups where people were thinking in about 4 or 5 different languages, but all of us spent all of our time together in spanish. i guess it was just nice to finally be able to make friends by using a foreign language, with people who were doing the exact same.
It did make me a little envious and wistful hearing some of the backpackers stories though, and i think i always knew i would, but i think it pretty much made up my mind on the spot that i will end up coming back and backpacking south america.
anyways. im going to about wrap this up. i have a few more stories, but ill save them for antoher time.
my month of vacations starts after next week, and when it ends, ill be at the half way point of being here. crazy.
ah, yah, i havent even touched on christmas though! ohk ill try and blog again next week lol.
my mom is coming in about 19 days though as of now, and i am just SO excited. were going to go travelling to Sucre, and it´ll just be a ´hoot´ as momma vitt is often been known to say.
i think im also going to be off travelling to comarapa with my mom, maybe some water falls with work friends, and then heidi and i are going on an undecided trip from the 10-19 after momma bear leaves.
and then after that, i think my travelling itch will be sufficiently scratched, and ill settle into the second half of my year, with some new staff here etc.
ohk. yah. im going to go sleep though, because im super tired. im getting over probably my best (or longest lasting) sickness here - and so im still feeling a little off, etc.
but ive heard that you cant win em all.
ohk, sorry if this was unfocused, ill blame it on the tired and trying to cram a month into one post.
i hope the christmas season is going well for everyone though.
Its making me miss home quite a bit right now, just hot coco, and decorating the tree with bad Rita McNeal playing in the background, baking.. snow..
yah. its been making me wistful. but thankgoodness i have a fantastic christmas present coming my way in in roughly 5 foot 2 sized packaging. :D.
ohkkkkkkk byeeeeeeee. miss you all. love you tons.
kathleen