it's almost been a month!!!

heeey wonderful people!!!
it makes me sooo happy to hear from you and get your comments! really makes my day, thanks so much for responding!!!! i'm glad you enjoy the photos, no new ones today. but oh boy, last week was busy!!!
soo, lets see, came here to the peace corps office, talked to you wonderful family and friends, and then we played some ultimate frisbee-- i twisted my ankle! wooops! everyone was reeeally nice, i got a ride from a peace corps employee back to san mateo, the pueblo where i live! and then, my friend tiara's homestay mom came over and wrapped my ankle, and then my homestay mom brought me dinner in bed! soo that night i just chilled out and read pablo neruda poetry, it was lovely and relaxing. que mas? the next day it was hurtin a bit, it was a pretty rough day. then i talked to a few of you guys and that was absolutely fantasic and it made me feel so much better!
so the next day was an all-time high! the night before we were preparing a presentation for the rest of the youth development group that was coming to visit us in our community. so we planned a presentation for self-esteem in which everyone put a piece of paper on their back and we all wrote happy messages about the person on their back! everyone presented them and it made me so happy to see everyone feeling good and everyone was feeling good because everyone had helped them feel good! so it was just good all around!
that morning we had woken up at 5 a.m. to make the most delicious recipe in the world for tostados made with all these veggies and chicken! we made it for everyone for a snack after our presentation, everyone loovvveeddd it! fantastic!
then that night there was an earthquake that night!!! ahh crazy!!! i was lying in my bed around 5ish or so, listening to music, and i felt my bed start to shake and shake more and shake more!! ahh it was so weird!!!! i thought there was someone under my bed shaking it, or a giant had come to san mateo or i didn't even know! then i started laughing because it was an EARTHQUAKE! TEMBLOR!!! ahhh!!! it was sweeet and fun, but i'm sure it can be dangerous at other times. let's hope to god it's okay the rest of the time i'm here. anyways, so that was CRAZY!
so the next day, we prepared a presentation for san mateo for a group from san miguela duenas that was coming to visit us. so we made a super cool map with markers and crayons of san mateo, and cut it up like a puzzle, and then after we gave our tour, we had them put it together, while we sang a song we had made about san mateo to the tune of "in the jungle the mighty jungle..." they loved it and we loved singing it for them! then we went to their community to have a tour and got ICECREAM! thennn we watched a volunteer's neighbors play xylophones, huge ones, that 3 or 4 people can play at one time!!! it was really cool, i want one!! we tried to play, but eh, not so good at it. oh yeah, i've been practicing the flute recently, i bought one in antigua, it's really hard but i've learned 3 more notes since last week so i think i'll get better!
so then we went to antigua for the afternoon, went to the mercado (market) and huuung out!
then the next day we went to a sweet beach, took private buses there, and the sand was black.. that was really cool! the waves were super strong, pretty scary, but super fun to swim around in!! it was very refreshing but i am burnt like a tomato (sorry mom! i put on the sunscreen i promise). my homestay family thinks its really fun that i'm white but now i'm red. they think a lot of things are funny here. i love it!
then yesterday we went to guatemala city to check out the american embassy and the ridiculous mall and where the hospital is.. so it was a good day. i was so tired after because we had such a full weekend. good times though, i ate my first sandwich.. which was fantasic! and then that night, i put photos on my family's computer that they had taken of the catholic parade in town that weekend. i told them they could borrow my camera, and they did! and they were soo happy to have those photos and to be able to look at those and then to have the other photos from dia de la madre and the other festival that we went to a few weeks ago! then i ate dinner with them, did my homework and read and went to sleep! today i'm here and now i gotta go because it's time for some more youth development training! i took my first shower today in the peace corps office in about a month, which was wonderful! it was cold, but it was running water and thank god for that!
i hope you all are doing super duper! i miss you all dearly!! i love you all so much!! thanks again for your thoughts and comments! they make me really happy!!!
mucho amor, se cuidado, salud!!!!!
love
sarah