first week in Latin America

my good friend cindy and her family have been very gracious and have opened their home to me and it is like my own, i am blessed to be able to stay there, eat great food and have a family. also, my old host family has been very eager to invite me to almuerzos and other social gatherings. how good it is as a stranger to be welcomed in a foreign land!

one thing that is truly amazing about life here is the family culture. all the kids live with the parents until they get married and all the extended family lives in the vicinity so everyone is always always spending time together. its really really neat. well, so far i´ve played soccer, went off-roading, salsa dancing, to a bar, worked in a beautiful farm in the mountains, ate pig skins (soo good!), and ate lunch with 2 different families! oh, and i have a cellphone and ipod here (cindy´s family loaned them to me).



so saturday night was the salsa dancing event. it was actually just a family party but here family parties are a bit different. we got there at 9 o´clock and everyone was there--aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends, etc. well, everyone danced, drank, ate until 2 in the morning! it was incredible to have people from so many different generations all dancing together! even though i did dance with some younger women the older aunts and grandma´s were the best! ha!

i am going to a place near the coast on friday for an overnight vacation with cindy's brother and then off to a small village comprised of mostly indigenous folks, where we'll stay with a family and then off to peru and macchu pichu!

will write more later.

love