HEY!!!!!

I'm on my lunch break right now from training. This picture was taken RIGHT NOW!! This is me and my newfound friend Joanna. She is from Michigan and is a Spanish teacher. We started language lessons today. I was placed in the group with some girls that are actually Spanish teachers back in the United States, so I think that means we're in the advanced group. I'm superduper excited. Tomorrow we leave to meet our host families for the first three months. I'm not sure exactly how much info I'm allowed to put on here, but I'm going to be in the department of Carazo. It's on the Pacific Coast. I'm PUMPED!

So, I made a note of something fun things that I wanted to let everyone know. They're not in order.

1) There's a transportation strike right now. There are very VERY few buses and taxis running in the whole country. But it's fine. I think we're taking PC vehicles tomorrow to our sites. And tonight, we're taking PC vehicles ( i think ) to tour Managua a little bit. Don't worry Mom, I don't think we're ever getting out of the vehicles.
2) Nicaragua is the NUMERO UNO country for diarrhea in ALL OF PEACE CORPS! We're so proud. Other than a little allergy/sinus infection, I haven't felt sick at all.
3) The hotel is REALLY nice. It's like a resort. The plants and animals are really different than what I'm used to. There are really scary black birds that are like the size of a housecat and have really long sharp beaks. There are SKIIIIIIINNY black cats prowling around too... we think they're here for cockroach control.
4) The food at the hotel is AWESOME. Been eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies...I ate ate a little bit of chicken breast when they served it, but I think I should be able to stick to being a vegetarian pretty easily. Been eating eggs, beans, rice, papaya, pineapple, melon, salad, tomatoes....)
5) My cell phone gets service down here, but I haven't tried to use it. STRANGE: the first night here, at 1:30 am, my cellphone turned itself on and some kind of alarm went off to alert me that I was able to pick up the local cell phone service provider. I couldn't get it to turn off, and it was super loud. I had to knock the batteries out to stop the noise. My roommates were thrilled.
6) Apparently mail takes only 8-10 days!!!!!!
7) It is HOOOOOOOTTTTT!!! The sun is SO strong. I have sweated constantly since we've been down here. But there's an occasional breeze. And two pools (we're spoiled). Don't worry, the "Pampering" ends tomorrow.
8) Yesterday we started our shots. Most of us (including me) only had 2 yesterday. Flu shot + typhoid shot, one in each arm. Didn't hurt going in, but my shoulders are pretty sore. I'll have to complete those series, along with rabies shots. We also got our malaria pills, and I'm starting those tonight. Apparently they can have some side effects (unpleasant) so we'll see how this goes.

I'm having a great time, and I can already tell that I'm going to make some really close friends. But that doesn't mean I don't think about people at home too! I'm happy to have the photo album that I made. I'm going to tell my host family about all of you!!

I put just a few pictures on my flickr page, so check those out. I don't have time to label them, but they're from orientation and training.

Again, tomorrow we meet our host families in Carazo. I may not have internet access there initially, and I haven't tried to use a phone yet, so if you don't hear from me or I don't answer emails, don't worry.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Thanks for reading, it makes me feel good that people are interested in keeping up with what I'm doing.