Amebas

I'm sitting here out on the patio area/backyard of the MCC House feeling kind of disgusted and sick. Apparently I have amebas (I think I'm spelling that wrong?). For the past 2 weeks things haven't been so great with the intestines (enough said). Last night I woke up really really hot but I didn't have any covers on and the fan was on and it's not hot at night now. I think the amebas gave me a fever. It was still there when I woke up this morning, but Vilma gave me some special tea and I'm feeling a lot better now. The farmacia is going to deliver the one-time little big pill that costs a whole R$4 (2 dollars). They say if I take it that I should be better by tomorrow.
I can't ride the bus, which I was going to have to do today, all the way to Janga. Two buses. I'm not going to the project today and feel bad because Monday's are always good and Monday nights I give drum lessons. Que pena......ate mais!

Friday the 25th of May, 2007

I turned 21!!

Too bad I was legal here 3 years ago....oh well. We still went to this little restaraunt bar place. Here are the amazing pictures.

Dreamin'of the country....

Lately, all I have been thinking about is being out in the country out past Clovis with Jessie and Alli and everyone else at a little bbq by the river. I think I am really a country girl at heart. Really. I should have been raised on a farm with pigs and chickens and horses and cows.



A few weeks before I left last August (which seems like only a few weeks ago), I went with Jessie and some of her friends to Bass Lake. We swam across it at like 11pm. It was so great. I can't wait to do that again. And all the adventures Courtney and I had in high school driving up to the mountains and getting lost in the snow and sledding with pans and stopping in the middle of the road because we saw a good picture spot. None of this could ever happen here. The safety of my home is something I love most about where I am from. I just couldn't do those things here.
Guess what? 64 days left. I just can't help counting down. Not like I don't like it here, I am just ready to be home...I think I've already said that like 10 times.
Ok- this was just a random post. Gotta go for lunch. ("I saw mommy kissing santa clause" is playing right now:) hehe)

Skeeter Skatter...

is basic bug balm. All natural. Sate and effective. I can't even tell you how many more mosquitos there are during the rainy season. But it has gotten noticably cooler during the day and I'm sleeping better at night with a sheet AND my soft, brown blanket. I have to have weight on me when I sleep...ya know? Or maybe you don't.
Yesturday I woke up and went walking. I had just left my house and my friend Junior was just getting home from where he lives with the Marines and asked to go with me. It was nice having someone else to walk with.

And another random post with random pictures that I feel I should post.


Madi made this for me a while ago.

My new horrible headphones. They hurt my ears if I use the correctly, so I wear them like this.

Rio. Christ the Redeemer from the first viewpoint. Cool huh?!

They made me take it. I know....I know.

Ipanema at Starbucks

I just entered a contest online to win a trip to Costa Rica. It was easy and fast; I usually don`t spend time doing things like that. Someone had told me that the theme at Starbucks right now is Brazil. I browsed the site and that is definitely the theme. Coffee from Ipanema right now is their suggested bean buy. It`s weird how Starbucks has had a running theme in my life for the past 3 years. When I got back from Guatemala I first started working there. At the ridiculous training classes everyone is required to go to, they were showing the process of coffee-making right from the bean and showed a lake in Guatemala I had just been at a few weeks before. It was kinda crazy to have that little connection. Then, right before I left 8 flippin` months ago for Brasil, they had a Brasil them going on. Now, again, it has returned. And Ipanema! I loved that place. The people, the smell, the soft sand and big waves....delicious.
I read another SALTer`s blog this morning. She had gone para gliding and said something about how it didn`t give her that thrill she thought it might have and was questioning what it was going to take to put that feeling in her stomach. I thought the same after hang gliding! It`s true how just walking through the city alone or dodging traffic on my bike is more scary. It probably wasn`t the best thing for me to read her blog and see all her pictures because I began to feel a bit jealous that I`m not having all those adventures. She`s in Bangledesh and has to wear totally different clothes and has been to several of the surrounding countries. It`s too dang expensive to just travel here in Brasil. It`s a huge country with higher prices for quality services. Rio was my one adventure, and I wouldn`t take it back for anything, but can`t help wonder how if I were in another country (another continent) my adventures would be completely different, include a lot more hiking and cheap travel. But I can`t let myself think about it too much (that reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote that I don`t remember right now).
I am going to go here pretty soon to drive my CR to the dentist. I am practicing driving today because when my parents get here I will be their motorista and need to know how to be a defensive driver.
79 days and can`t wait for hot showers. Today I was jumping up and down to try to speed up my heart rate before entering into the freezing water. I didn`t wash my hair. I couldn`t stand it for too long.
I keep smelling Baja Fresh and Red Robin.... chai, jamba, frozen yogurt.

Easter Feet.

Thanks for the socks, mom.

A little late to post something about Easter, I know.

80 days until those feet step onto U.S. territory.