Wow! i've really missed a few, huh?

So, my last entry was January 7th, which means i've missed four mondays in a row -pretty bad! I apologize and will breifly summarize my weeks.

Jan.14th
I was settling back into work after a very long break to Salta, Argentina

Jan.21st
I was at a project meeting for Microenteprise Development with my group members and the newbies that just swore in as vols the november before

Jan.28th
My boyfriend was in town for a workshop on communications and its effects on how people use their water systems. i forgot to blog

Feb. 4th
This was the official beginning of Carnaval and i went to Mizque to visit some friends. I got super sick from the day before with all out water balloon wars -i'm still sick, too. (sad face)

Leads us up to today, Feb. 7th
I made it back from Mizque (a short 4 hour bus ride away from Cbba.) on Tuesday. I was exhausted! I didn't realize how sick i was until i got to finally lay down and rest! Phew! Having a really bad cold does not feel good on your head and sinus areas. So i saw the wonderful on staff Dr. of Peace Corps and she hooked me up with all sorts of drugs! yipee!
As far as work goes I'm currently in the works of helping coordinate with a new staff member of the orphanage who is in charge of leading discussions with the teenagers on three main topics: sexuality, self-esteem, and working in groups. For me, this is an incredible opportunity to help out. These topics are rarely discussed amongst teenagers in Bolivia b/c of several reasons: it's taboo, the three R's are more important, no one has been trained to properly address the issue, etc. If you think about it these are key componets to shaping our lives. Do you remember learning about these topics in shcool?
I remember sex ed in highschool and group activities since kindergarten. Self-esteem is a tough one b/c for me i think that comes with time. For example, when you're in kindergarten the teacher's always telling you "now you shouldn't say such things b/c that hurts little jimmy's feelings!" Then there's junior high when you have that one friend who has already gotten the idea of high self esteem and tells you "don't listen to that creep Sally! he has no idea what he's talking about!" Oh and then highschool, when everyone slowly starts to come into their own. You figure out what you're good at whether it be student gov't, sports, liberal arts, math, and you start feeling a whole lot better about yourself b/c everyone's focusing on what you do really well and you like that feeling so you continue to do what you're doing.
Anyway, these topics are not discussed in shcools here in Bolivia and so when these teenagers step out of the safe haven of the orphanage compound, it's a HUGE shock to have interactions with opposite sex at the university, workplace, or anyone outside of the orphanage in general. If i was unsure about myself i'd probably believe every little thing that everyone said about me good and bad.
Enough rambling. I'll post pics soon. Until then check out my website on www.flickr.com

ciao ciao!!!