ya´ done son---j.b. said to c.q.

hello again.

so sorry for the delay. i know i´ve been slacking---but seriously, i have been SO busy. most recently with my retreat group--a bunch of high school boys from Xaverian Brothers in Westwood, MA. let me just say, i had a lot of fun this past week---these boys definitely brought the energy, and were absolutely hysterical. i haven´t laughed so hard in a really long time. but not only were they funny and witty, they were also so loving and kind-hearted. their mere presence throughout our community brought so much warmth and compassion. sharing ecuador with them was truly a privilege for me, and i was pretty sad to see them go this morning. they reminded me a lot of all my boston friends, and kept me on my toes all week. not to mention their exquisite singing ability, i mean i haven´t heard backstreet boys like that in a really long time. these boys definitely re-energized me for what i hate to say is basically my "home stretch" here in Durán.

so yeah...this home stretch....i feel like i keep finding myself looking at the calendar and saying---but where is the time going? already it´s the end of april---how did that happen? didn´t i just get here? this time last year i was deciding what i would be doing with my life, and here i am again, at that same point saying---well what the heck am i supposed to do after this? didn´t i already go through that whole discernment process? aren´t i already supposed to "know", to be in the real world working....ughhh i guess i took a rain check on that huh?

sometimes i wonder though, if when i come home in august, this whole year, all of this, will feel like a dream. i´ll be picking up exactly where i left off---still recently graduated, with no "real" work experience, still apartmentless, still counting pennies, still unsure of so much.....and yet, ALL OF THIS has happened.

my whole year, filled with so many amazing experiences, feelings, and memories--this is now a part of who i am. does that change things? i mean, i think i´m okay with that. this may come as a shock to many of you, but i truly am a much calmer person down here. and if it´s one thing i´ve learned it´s that, really, we´re in no rush to get anywhere. my life WILL unfold as it will, whatever that may be. however, sometimes i do revert back to that nervous jamie, anxious in thinking about the "what´s next" on my life agenda.

spending time with these boys this past week helped me focus a lot on the present moment. here were a bunch of 17 and 18 year old boys ready to set off to college. so excited about what´s ahead. they have so many amazing experiences awaiting them, and while i was a bit nostalgic, it just reminded me that i really do have to savor every moment. time´s flying, and i can´t get it back---even as hard as i try. pretty soon, ecuador will be part of my past tense vocab, and that´s going to be okay. maybe hard at first, but if i keep reminding myself that i still have time here, keep focuing on the present, keep loving with my heart open, it´s going to be okay. it always is.

ya know, i don´t even really know what i just wrote about. i feel like my mind is really all over the place. so i apologize for that. well, anyway, maybe you get my drift, maybe you´re thinking, this girl has really lost it over there---either way, thanks for reading! ha--i still miss you all so much, especially the XB boys----don´t forget to email me! hope everyone is having a great sunday!
back to work on monday.....
love you un montón,
lupita

oh p.s. les and katie....only 45 days, not like i´m counting or anything!!! ahhhh get ready!

movie recommendation

this is more of a PSA. last night, after banana smoothies and grilled cheeses, we watched a movie called Sin Nombre. very violent and hard to watch at times, but just so thought provoking. there are a lot of themes woven into this really well done movie, but the gist talks about immigration and crossing the border, gang presence in both latin america and the US, and a whole lot of other stuff. after watching it, we all kind of just sat there in silence. there weren´t words. i was just thinking so much about all of the immigrants i know from back home, and all of the people who have made that journey. so powerful. and then thoughts about the US´s idea of immigration and comments i have heard throughout my life came into my head too, it´s just so sad really.

i just thought i should pass it on, that´s all. i think if you have the opportunity to see it, it´s something worth watching. having a great morning here in Durán. today we´re going on a field trip to the historical park of guayaquil--the kids are really excited. our numbers have been low this week due to back to school routines, but hopefully the numbers will pick up. ha i can´t even believe i´m saying this---8 months ago and i would´ve been thrilled by our 15 census numbers, and now i´m wishing for more kids....what´s gotten into me? oh that´s right....i´ve fallen in love with all of them :-) crazy how this year is going....

sending you all lots of love, and so many happy thoughts,
jamie

back to school...back to school

so today i woke up, and i smelled that smell----and no it wasn´t shitt--however, sometimes our house does smell like that....it was that "first day of school smell", and it was definitely in the air. when i went outside all the kids were back in their uniforms, hair all geled nicely, new clean socks, and shoes polished---i love first days of school, and even here, something special was in the air. there were good vibes all around.

and another holiday has passed---easter went down very nicely here---very tranquila, but very full of love too. this past weekend was pretty eventful as well. with a retreat group here last week, we entered into the weekend a little jumbled and tired, but saturday we all decided to go out to the new "rostro" land and do some painting in a small school. this new land is where rostros new house will be next year, called Mt. Sinaii----it´s about an hour from our house, and has a very similar feel to arbolito--a lot more isolated though, and not the same sense of community...well yet anyway--so we painted little red riding hood murals saturday, and then well....had a big fight ha---but i´m not gonna get into that---let´s just say community is hard, and the five of us living together is not always peaches and cream---we are all so different, and when you put five different people together you´re bound to have problems---just think of the real world---well, minus the hooking up, and crazy drunken nights, actually, nothing like the real world, i absolutely take that back....anywho---we all made up, and think it was a huge point of growth for us, then we all sat down and watched fight club, which i had never seen....and all i can really say is ....wow--what an incredible movie----geeze----some people think up the craziest things....

so i´d like to think that we´re all back on a really big upswing---oh my gosh, how could i forget.....such a huge detail! i brought my rice pie tradition down here to ecuador this week...yes...i did it....i figured, well i´m in ecuador, and there sure isn´t a shortage of rice---so i set out to do them this past weekend, and ya know what---they actually came out surprisingly well....with a lot of help from my community mates----and continual correction--"no dan, they´re not rice cakes, they´re rice pies....get it straight" i think everyone enjoyed them, or i´d like to think so anyway. regardless, i was really happy to share them, and felt like a part of me was shared with my community.

anyway folks, thats the gist of life here---things are good--neighbors are awesome---lucy is great, lupe is great----kids are sweet-----oh! and!!! this is huge---really, how could i forget---get ready for it.....MY PARENTS HAVE DECIDED TO COME---not even just decided---the ticket is booked! okay, this is huge people---brace yourselves---no, seroiusly, i am so pumped for this, i really feel like i´m glowing---i can´t wait to share this part of my life wtih them, and i know it will be great.

thats really all for now---happy belated easter----hope the candy was good--easter candy really is my favorite--and all those pretty colors!
i love you all so much, you´re always in my heart and prayers,
lupita

Duran does the Olympics.

So while I may have missed the "world" olympics due to my current life situation...today i plenty made up for it by participating in our 3rd annual after school program wide Olimpiadas, or Olympic Games. And ya wanna know what, they were about 100x better than any Nancy Kerrigan ice capade. Let me set the stage. This happens every year---every year the three programs that we as volunteers run, Valdivia, Manos Abiertas, and of course Semillas compete in a grueling academic and athletic event to determine who in fact is the best program. Well, okay, that may not be the exact point, but from our stand point, there is a lot of taunting and name calling about who has the best/smartest/most athletic kids---all in fun of course. We all love our kids, in fact, we love all kids, well most of us, but it´s fun to get a little competative blood running. And we all know how I love competition.



And today were the games. The past week we have been preparing, drilling, practicing, getting ready to bring our best game to the events. Geografía, well that was easy, Jhon and Victor Cuenca can fill an Ecuador map with 24 provinces and capitals in less than 2 minutes---Matemáticas--alright, Adonis knows all his time tables and writes at rapid pace, along with José who´s only 10, but can do just as well--Lenguaje-Joselyn y Marcía, well they write better spanish than me and they´re only 11. Alright, we got this i´m thinking. Boris and Diego--two solid brothers who are so sharp and on their game. Gavi---so much creativity--he´ll definitely rock the invention convention. Solid. So much potential. And on top of it, our chiquititos--so smart--vowels, numbers, shapes, colors---damn this kids are GOOD. I´m pretty pumped to say the least.



So anyway, as today came, the nerves started building. Some may have said I went into "crazy Jamie" mode a few hours before we started, but i might beg to differ---where are the markers? the t-shirts? the cups? the face paint? the keys? the microphone? the CDs? the pencil sharpeners? Did someone remember to pop the popcorn? While I love big group events like this, they tend to make me a little...okay maybe a lot, yes, crazy---but I was still under control.



Then we get to Semillas, where the event took place---and the intensity started rising---our kids were so pumped! They looked awesome in their yellow t-shirts! We all wore yellow, Valdivia-red, and Manos-blue. They were just so excited, and with the music blasting, and our newly painted banner all ready from yesterday, we were legit. We also invited parents to come and support---it was really just a great sight.



And then we started with opening ceremonies---we had 16 kids from each program compete, but there was still a lot of kids who came to support family, brothers, friends, etc. We lined them all up with our awesome banners, played the Ecuadorian anthem, and processed in like champs---They were proud. Heck, I was proud. I felt like they were so grown up! Anyway, enough sentimental crap...Then we started, with the cheering, the yelling, the screaming, the dancing! It was sooo much fun. Our kids were doing well too---acing their events, trying their best--even supporting the other teams. I mean I barely have a voice right now.



It was just such an awesome day where I felt like, "Wow, I´m so glad they could have this...I´m so glad they could feel proud of themselves, have confidence, feel important, feel support, and most of all have fun"....So now i´m sure you´re all wondering how it turned out....



Well, unfortunately, we didn´t come in first....but! we didn´t come in last either, and really, our kids were great about it. In the end, along with a diploma they each got, every participant got a very "cool" neon orange or neon green backpack with all fresh school supplies, so they were in their glory! Forget they Olimpiadas, they all got prizes! So all in all, just an awesome day. All of the stress, all of the sleepless nights, yes i´m serious--i´ve been stressing about these for at least a week. All turned out really well. Lots of smiles, lots of laughs, and great memories for these kids to have. That´s really all it´s about anyway right---happy childhood memories?



Still loving life here, everyday brings about something beautiful. I hope you are all smiling and feeling great as the weather warms up. Missing you insanely.



Love,

Jamie



Semillas! Semillas! Semillas!!!!!!!

God, are you punishing me??

i take it back....i take it all back....

teaching is God´s way of punishing innocent human beings who "think" they have something good to share with others. seriously, what did i ever do to deserve this???

was it that time in seventh grade when i harrassed Mrs. Johnson about the metric olympics? or back in high school when we were smart ass teenage girls to Mr. Girard?? please, i am sorry for all i have done, but don´t make me go back to school and teach!!

let me give you some highlights from my day:
---today i had two kids, not one, but two throw up in my classroom
---today i was dished out 12 year old attitude, by kids who are obviously too cool for school
---today i sang the "wheels on the bus" 14 times and i still had kids picking their noses
---today, and this tops it, i had one child, who will remain nameless for confidentiality sake, actually climb up my body grab my neck and bite my arm....i do not kid here.

to every teacher i have ever had in my life----you are my idol. i could never do what you do, nor do i want to ever again.

i have tried to be creative. i have tried to be nice. but i´m over it. these kids are not nice. okay, there was that one kid who offered me his toni mixto( a delicious yogurt treat that i politely declined--who knows where that cup has been). but the majority no. and on top of it all. they do not know a word of english----so me teaching english, has really turned into me being in front of a classroom stuttering out spanish with english vocab inserted here and there. i honestly do not know how people do it. and the thing is, teaching is such a crap shoot. one year, you could have an amazing class---kids who actually listen, kids who actually do what you say. and then the next----it could be like all hell has broken lose.

so today i had my septimo (7th) class for two hours, then recess, and then kinder for two more. two hours of those little devils. talk about two different worlds. septimo was just pure attitude. and i dished it right back. i told them, hey, i´m not the one going to school next year, i don´t HAVE to know this information, so really, it´s only yourself that you´re hurting if you don´t want to learn. and then i said, i have kinder kids who listen better than you (which of course is a total lie, but i had to make them feel really bad)....that shaped them up a little, but it was still a war zone.
and then.....

kinder.

really there are no words for kindergarten teachers....they are little angels sent to this world to take care of other peoples´awful children. we all owe our lives to kindergarten teachers. i mean this one´s throwing up, the other is throwing blocks, that one is jumping off the table, the next is eating jello (seriously where did that kid get jello?)...i mean come on people----what do i have to do to get you to listen????.....well i´ll tell you.

ladies and gentlemen, the hokie pokie. if teaching is god´s punishment, then the hokie pokie is god´s savior. children love the hokie pokie, no matter how ridiculous you look doing it, they will do it again and again and again. and never tire. if i didn´t do the hokie pokie 20 times today....

so as awful as today was on a whole....there were moments of pure genius, hence, hokie pokie. maybe i exaggerate a little. maybe i´m just coming off a tense day, but seriously, this shitt is hard. the past two weeks i have had no voice whatsoever. i have been taunting my roommates with rhymes and songs...which is really just asking for a beating. i have entered into the elementary world, and i´m going to be there for at least two more weeks. but it´s true, they´re not all bad. of course after class is over, they all run up to me and hug and kiss me and tell me how much they love me, but of couse i´m only thinking to myself, you little hypocrite---playing mindgames with me.

yup, so that´s been my life lately. i´m still great though, health is solid, attitude, solid----i´m just really happy. despite my adventures in grade school of course. went to the beach this past weekend, so that was awesome. and tuesday lupe had karla and i over for a cangrejada which was delicious. so yeah as i always say, estoy contenta, estoy feliz.

still missing each and every one of you. don´t think for a minute that you are not in my thoughts and prayers, because you are. everyday.

i love you all,
cuídense,
jamie

water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink....

how many times a day do you turn on the sink, the shower, the hose, to wash dishes, take a shower, wash your hands, water the lawn, do laundry, flush the toilet, drink some water. repeat. water. water. water. all the time, never a question.

where i live right now, for this year anyway, water is a luxury. everything we do that involves water has to be intentional. our showers, our dishes, cleaning, doing our laundry, flushing the toilet (yes we´re fans of the "if its yellow let it mellow...."well you know the rest)---we´re always thinking about how much water we´re using, and how to make it last longer. unlike most of our neighbors. we´re actually lucky because our water comes out of the faucet and we have a cistern that holds gallons of water. but when the powers out, or when the truck doesn´t come to, we too have to haul water out of the cistern and into buckets to shower and clean.

one day a few weeks ago, we lost power for two days straight, and it happened while we were in the middle of our BIG three month clean---so what could we do, well, we just proceeded by pulling water up out of the cistern, being so frugal with the usage, while trying our best to clean as meticulously as possible---and then after, when we were filthy dirty from cleaning our dirty house, we only had buckets of water to clean off with....now it doesn´t sound so difficult, but its moments like those when you would really appreciate water coming out of a shower spicket.

but this was only two days for us. for the majority of our neighbors, they have to constantly wait. wait for the water trucks (tanqueros) to come by while they shout Agua, Agua, trying to get their attention. if they are heard, the truck comes to their house and fills up trashcan like buckets that remain outside their house and serve as the storage of water they have until the next truck comes. if the truck comes. i have heard stories of people waiting eight days without water. imagine. eight days, without water. incredible.

and here we are in the hottest days of the year---and water is still not easily accesible. i was really thinking about this last week when we took our kids to the pool for their paseo. they were absolutely ecstatic. and i...well...was disappointed....kinda like "are you kidding me, this is the pool" if you could even call it that. it was literally a cement hole, with water that went up to your knees, but nevertheless, the kids had a ball. i just kept thinking--these kids live in ecuador, on the equator, where it is usually over 100 degrees, and some had never EVER been to a pool. ridiculous right? and i mean it rains like crazy here at night, but still that doesn´t even provide relief for the heat during the day.

i really just can´t stop thinking about it. water. something so essential, and here, so sparce.

and its not like i can even drink the water that comes out of our tap, because its not clean. ridden with parasites.....its crazy. i have literally gotten my shower down to two minutes too. turn the water on. turn the water off. shampoo, soap, face wash. turn the water on. rinse. get out. i´m a pro.

so yeah, just some food for thought. next time you turn on the water, and let it run without looking, or take a 1/2 hr shower, just think about all those places in the world where water is not so simple. where people have to be really conscious about water usage, and don´t have the luxury of not thinking about it. and i don´t mean to get all preachy on you all, its just something to think about, because honestly, before i came here, i never thought about it. and now, it´s always on my mind.

all is still really great here, i´m actually going to the beach this weekend with a bunch of people from the neighborhood. oh! and how could i forget! i´ve started teaching during my morning job! do´n´t know how i let that slip.....brief update: the school next to my clinic is running summer school classes for a month, and long story short, i got roped in to teach english. so now, for one month, i have twelve classes a week ranging from kinder to seventh grade----hysterical so funny, i love my kids. and teaching is soo fun. exhausting but fun. everyday i´ve left wtih no voice. we do songs and games and cute little rhymes---i always wanted to be a teacher, and now it´s like a get a little glimpse of what life would´ve been like. BUT, i´m also glad this is temporary, because its so hard to be creative 24/7, and think of how to entertain a classroom. so yeah, for 3 more weeks, my days are spent in front of class, acting ridiculous and trying to engage them however i can.

that´s about it. life is solid. always laughing, always smiling here. hope life is just as great in the northern hemisphere.

love you all,
miss you everyday,
jamie

GOAL!!!!

the only real purpose of this entry is to let you all know that i scored my first goal yesterday while playing fútbol with our semillas ayudantes. and who exactly are the semillas ayudantes, they are a group of about 10, seventeen to twenty year old boys who help us out at semillas and are ridiculous at soccer, absolutely ridiculous---and yes, against them...i scored a goal!

may not seem like a huge deal, but for me, this was a HUGE accomplishment! such a high!

so yeah, that´s really it---big smile still on my face, and today we´re going on a great paseo to the pool with ten of our best little semillitas. they´re so excited it´s so cute. i´ll let you know how it goes next time!
love ya,
jamie

thin places

so what exactly is a thin place? we talked about this the other night as a community and i found the image really profound---many people say that a thin place, is where the edges of heaven and earth collide, where you can feel a presence, a force, more powerful than any one thing. some people call this God, other´s call it love, i think it´s just a combination of both, where the realization of human interdependendness and connectedness are made known.

here in Ecuador i have come across many thin places---some are physically breathtaking, like when i was on vacation in Loja, looking out at the beautiful views of the mountains, or sitting in hammocks within the gardens of our hostel----but then again i have also experienced those thin places right here in Durán, those beautiful spots where i am overcome by feelings of immense love and support, and just an overall appreciation for the life i am living---sitting at Lupe´s kitchen table drinking cafécito, or playing pato, pato, pollo with the chiquititos at Semillas, or most recently running around the community during Carneval getting soaked by water and paint as our neighbors introduced us to a huge tradition here in Ecuador.

it´s those places and moments in my life where i feel that tangible love. when i feel like my life is so beautiful, and i know i am loved, and that i love so many people. and it´s not just here in Ecuador that i´ve had those experiences, they were home too. which is why i know that i will be okay when i go back to the states---these places are everywhere, it´s just a matter of recognizing them in our day to day.

life here in Durán has been excellent, like really amazing. my house community has been clicking well---i can´t remember if i told you, but we are in the midst of watching Gilmore Girls---we started about a month back with season 1, and we´re already in the middle of season 5--it´s sort of become like an obsession to us, like we have to watch it and finish all 7 seasons---dan is livid, so we can really only watch it when he´s not home, but tom on the other hand is a pretty big fan. there´s just one thing, our tv remote doesn´t work, so when we sit down to watch GG, we have to watch all 4 episodes at a time, because we can´t flick through them. it´s really a commitment ya see, and we´re very dedicated---hence you can probably understand why dan wants to kill us all. we just keep reminding him though that there´s only 2 seasons left, and that when we´re done, we´re going to have a party...and after that he can choose the show of choice.

aside from that, nothing too much going on here that´s different from the day to day--we just had two groups here, one from st. john´s prep in danvers, and one from dominican academy in nyc---both really awesome groups, lots of fun, lots of new energy. valentines day was great too, we ended up losing power, so were forced to have a candlelit dinner ha! how sweet :-)

still missing everyone like crazy----if by any chance anyone has any desire to come to ecuador, please let me know! i´d love to see your face down here! i´ve gotta run for now, but be on the look out for those thin places, let me know what you find.

love you all so much,
jamie

dengue smengue

so for the first time since i´ve been to ecuador, i legit thought i was going to die last week. now that is not to scare you all terribly, it´s just an uncensored statement about my state of health about four days ago.

due to our montón de mosquitos that constantly grace us with their presence, i contracted dengue last week. now for all of you who don´t know what dengue is í´ve done a bit of research to inform you---according to my faithful wikepedia source "The disease manifests as a sudden onset of severe headache, muscle and joint pains (myalgias and arthralgias—severe pain that gives it the nickname break-bone fever or bonecrusher disease), fever, and rash.[8] The dengue rash is characteristically bright red petechiae and usually appears first on the lower limbs and the chest; in some patients, it spreads to cover most of the body. There may also be gastritis with some combination of associated abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea."

so let´s see, severe headache, check; muscle and joint pain, check; feelings that my bones were literally being crushed, check, red rash, check, abdominal pain, nausea check--God spaired me the vomiting and diarrhea which is a good thing or i probably would´ve died----am i painting a pretty picture for you all---yes. it was absolutely horrible. i don´t recommend it for anyone, BUT i survived, and as the old saying goes, it could´ve been much worse---ya see i only has classic dengue, there´s another type, hemorrhagic where you just start hemorrhaging and that´s the case where you could potentially die. Gracias a Dios i didn´t have that one.

so now after conquering that feat i feel like saying..."what now Ecuador???--what else ya got for me?" even though i´m a little bit scared of what else could possibly come my way....as the old saying goes "Ecuador always wins", and it most certainly coul always get worse. i will say though that the community support throughout all of this was tremendous---they all kept checking on me, Karla brought me gatorade, it was all very sweet. if i couldn´t have my mom taking care of me, the next best thing was the arbolito gang.

so being healthy again rocks. you never really appreciate your health until you come off sickness. yesterday i woke up and was just like wow, it feels so good to wake up "well". and i had a great day on top of it. lots of love was being spread yesterday. i dunno what it was, but there were great vibes---patients were all friendly, i helped out at the comedor making lunch with all the women, braided so many french braids at semillas to all the little groupie girls, talked with some awesome neighbors, ate a delicious meal prepared by tom and his mom. ya know when you just have one of those days when you think, wow, this is good. that´s how i felt. i felt like God just kept gracing me all day with so much love---oh! so many letters too! you people really know how to brighten a day. i just had a permanent smile plastered on my face. but a little gentle reminder--while i do LOVE receiving things from you guys, it´s really hard to pick up packages that aren´t in bubble envelopes, or are over four pounds---so for the future, if there is a future with mail, just make sure they´re under 4, and in bubble sobres. graciasss.

and that about sums up my current thoughts for the moment. it´s hard because recently i´ve been thinking a lot about next year, coming home, and where that will leave me. lots of thoughts were leavign me with a lot of stress, and worry about what i´m supposed to do with all "this". so i finally made the executive decision that i´m not going to think about next year while i´m HERE. for exactly that reason....i am HERE...not THERE. these next 6 months are going to fly, and one day in the near future, i´m not going to have my "time in Ecuador". this is what´s important. this here and now. and really, what good is worrying about the future going to do? it´s not like i can get much done from here anyway.

so that´s that people. i hope i´ve distracted you for a minute or two, or at least got you thinking about what´s positive in your day today. because really, whatever you´re stressing about in this moment right now, probably isn´t that important. not to de-value any struggle, but honestly, what are you really battling? i´m sorry, i don´t know where this preachiness is coming from...i´ll stop now. i love you all, and miss you dearly---especially all my awesome pulsers---wherever you are, pulse office or not, know that i´m thinking about you!!!

con paz y amor,
jamie

mouse hunt!

so this past weekend our entire community spent 3 days at the beach on retreat in a town called Playas. we´re officially hitting the 6 month mark this week, and were fortunate enough to get some time away from Durán to gain some insight and perspective. lucky for me, this retreat also fell on my birthday, so while it was hard to be away from some of our neighbors that i would´ve loved to celebrate with---it was also really great to just relax and chill, swimming in the waves all weekend.

while our retreat house was not exactly the hilton, i must say, i was pretty proud of myself for going with the flow and breathing easy. i think it´s a true testament to how far i´ve come in terms of "tolerance" for the little things in life. if you had asked me to stay there 6 months ago i probably would´ve looked you in the eye and said "absolutely not, hellzzz no!", but this time around, i was much more chill about it. or at least i´d like to think so.

we all got wayy too much sun, sometimes we forget we do in fact live on the equator, but had an awesome time. for me personally, i had some time to reflect on why i did in fact decide to come to ecuador---what God is calling me to do with this experience---and where i see myself going after this....unfortunately, there were no concrete answers discovered from my internal interrogation, but i felt like it was healthy to re-evaluate things. one of my favorite things to do is journal, and sometimes it´s so hard to find time to do that here, so i was really grateful to be able to write and reflect.

so after 3 sun spent days, we headed back to Durán. completely exhausted (not sure how relaxing swimming really was) but feeling that good tired. Karla then decided she was going to make me magic cookie bars for my birthday, and after they were done, the five of us literally sat around the table with spoons just digging in! they were delicious, and we had such a giddy night just laughing and picking out celebrity spouses for each other...as simple as it sounds, i felt so blessed to be exactly where i was, and spend my 23rd birthday around such cool people.

then.....the fun came. just as karla was about to go to bed (mind you she sleeps on the same side of the house that i do) i hear this terrifying scream come from her bedroom. yes, a mouse, in her room. well of course she couldn´t go to sleep with that around, and i certainly couldn´t knowing the close proximity to my room. so the three of us, karla, theresa, and i, staged a mouse hunt running and screaming around the house until finally---must´ve been birthday luck--i caught the mouse in a bucket. we were pissing our pants laughing so hard, but at the same time were really terrified! now i am a very humane person, but unfortunately, that mouse had to go, so after some serious shakage, and a little bit of fumigation---that mouse was toast. after that escapade we were truly exhausted and headed to bed. a pretty awesome birthday if i do say so. i can´t thank everyone enough also, for the birthday wishes that were sent! it was so great to hear from my favorite people, and i loved feeling loved to be quite honest. you all mean so much to me, and if i wasn´t here celebrating my birthday, i would´ve loved celebrating with you all.

i still miss everyone constantly. you are ALWAYS in my heart! keep in touch! thanks again for all of the continued support.

love love love,
jamie