A Month Goes By...

...And oh does it go by quickly. I'm paying my rent in two days and I realize a month has passed without a single entry here. Without making excuses (because who is keeping track anyway?), I've been busy and in my free time certain other occupations have taken my interest.

El trabajo me busca. The work finds me. Of course, I'm continually working here in Veragua with the committee and the laboratory. We're currently working out a plan in which we cover the lab's monthly costs by selling discounted lab time to students. But other (not so) secondary projects have been finding me these past 4 weeks. For example:

• Working with a recently formed committee at a high school very close to me
• Working with another non-profit to form a committee in an elementary school 20 minutes away
• Preparing a Photoshop course to give at a lab 3 hours away twice a month starting October (working with the First Lady's Office on that one!)
• Helping a local non-profit create course materials for an introductory computer course
• Giving an advanced computer course 4 days a week
• Maintaining a house without the familiar tools of the trade
• Cleaning the front and back yard and preparing the soil for planting
• Reading 4-5 books a month

So I'm staying busy, and that's a good thing I suppose. I'm getting to know the neighbors quite well, and I'm almost ashamed that my lunches and dinners are more than often provided by other families. It's not like I'm asking, but at the same time, cooking is such an ordeal here that it's not worth cooking for one.

All in all, it was a quick and busy month. I can see how veteran volunteers say that two years fly by. Hope all is well with you guys. Drop me a line sometime and I'll do my best to get back to you.

Peace