there are days when it looks like rain...

but today it FEELS like rain. It’s been super super hot, and this morning when I went running at 6am I had trouble breathing because the air was so heavy (it had nothing to do with being out of shape, I swear). It’s so hot and humid, and the clouds are moving in, and every so often a refreshing breeze comes, bringing the hope that more will follow with the rain. So I’m optimistic, as is the rest of town it seems, that we’ll have a nice cool afternoon to sleep. I still have a couple items of clothes drying on the line, but they’re almost done and if I pay attention when it starts raining I can dash outside and grab ‘em (often the woman next door and I do this at the same time and wave and laugh as we rush to save our clothes).

This morning we wrote up the pedido or request for a follow-up volunteer. I’m super hopeful, though I’m trying not to be because in the end the decision to get a follow-up is my boss’s based on the sites available and the skills and interests of the volunteers to be placed. This morning the high school principal talked a lot about the opportunities for someone to help teach the Ethics class, which is usually pretty lame, and start after-school clubs and activities to help stem the growing problem of drugs and alcohol in youth. Our pedido includes lots of potential activities to show that even though we’re a smaller city, we still have needs. We won’t know for sure til April whether or not we’ll get someone. Unfortunately, that’ll be here soon enough.

And here’s some news … it finally happened. For about a year and a half, I liked it here. I was happy and had some friends and things for the most part were good. Then, I don’t know what changed or when, but I can honestly say now that, for the past few months now, I LOVE my site. Apparently this tends to happen to volunteers as they near the end, which is such a shame. Even though I know I’m ready to go back to the States, part of me thinks that an extra few months would be so great now that I’m finally so comfortable here. The timing is also incredibly annoying in that classes are supposed to start February 25, but based on last year it’ll be a week or two before things settle down and I have any hope of doing any meaningful work there, and then Semana Santa (the chipa-fest that is Easter Week) comes so early this year (end of March) that any work will likely be put off til after that, and then April 18 is the end of my service. So I’m trying not to get caught up in the work aspect of things – I’ve learned to play the low-expectations game, and also in the last few months I should be winding up my projects, not starting new ones.

These coming days I’m winding up work once again in preparation for my last little vacation. I’m going to Buenos Aires to meet Guido and we have a lovely little weekend planned in Tigre, which looks to be a cute colonial town not far from the city. All dreams of going to the beach were once again smashed because hotels are not only expensive but just plain full at all the beaches within 10 hours of BA. So instead we’ll be on the river, overlooking the muddy brown water, and I’ll be dreaming of the ocean. In fact, I’ll be dreaming of the Caribbean, back where the water is crystal clear blues and greens – that’s my kind of beach. But a vacation’s a vacation, and on the way back I’ll have COS (close of service) conference, the last time my training group all gets together before we swear out in April. From what I hear it’s at a great location, with pools and beautiful lakeside views, so it’ll be a great start to the process of leaving here. I’ve told myself that only after COS conference can I start to obsess about all the ridiculous details like what clothes to leave here (almost all) and who to sell my stove to and such. It’s really coming….