Ok. The last couple of days have been a blur. Thursday Ben and I went into Santa Cruz to get money and also to celebrate his birthday, which was Friday. So we get into town Thursday night after a 9 and a half hour flota ride (much longer than usual) and discover that the hostal we always stay at and which we had made reservations at the day before was booked. So after some hand waving and confusion, they sent us to a much crappier and equally priced sister hotel down the street that had vacancies, and we stayed there. Friday was a busy day, including making hundreds of copies of a questionnaire I have to do for a project on the world’s most frustrating copy machine, waiting in line at the bank, buying our return bus tickets, going grocery shopping, getting hair trims, etc. For Ben’s birthday we also saw Batman (in a real theater, with popcorn and everything) and then went to pizza for dinner. It was like I was back in the states for a while! So Friday was a good day. Saturday we had to go to a going away party for another volunteer in a small town on the way to Charagua, so after spending a mere day in Santa Cruz, we were back on the bus towards home. We forgot, however, that on the way back the flota doesn’t stop directly in that town, it goes a different route. So we had to keep looking out the window to see if it looked even vaguely familiar, then yelled at the bus driver to stop when we thought we were close. The good part is that we were indeed close, but the bad part is that meant about a half mile walk with our huge packs and bags full of canned food. Yuck! But we finally got there and had a really fun time at the party. The other volunteer slaughtered a cow earlier that morning (I declined the see the video his girlfriend took of the murder), so we were treated to HUGE steaks over half the size of the plate, along with the usual rice and yucca. It was delicious!! The whole town ate, drank, and danced the whole night. They even brought in a huge sound system (I swear to you, every town has a huge speaker system. Even this one, which doesn’t have electricity, running water, or even a toilet has huge amps which blast chaqueño music all night long. Go figure.) that blasted music until 3am! It was great! The next day, however, was a different story. For one thing, we didn’t bring any food or water, and apparently those are two things missing in this town. There are no food stalls of any kind, and the water is way too dirty to drink. So after waking up, I pretty just had to wait until 1pm for my taxi back to Charagua (I bought the ticket the night before). Oh yeah, I should probably mention that Ben probably had slightly less fond memories of this party because he was in the outhouse at least 10 times that night sick with giardia. So the plan was that Erin, Lucho (the two we went hiking with who also came to the party), and I would go back to Charagua, while the other volunteer, his girlfriend, and Ben (to see the doctor) would go back to Santa Cruz. Well, 1pm finally comes, but there is no sign of the taxi. At this point I’m starving, dehydrated, and filthy, and just want to get back home and feed Oso. However, we soon learn that the taxi driver doesn’t want to go all the way to Charagua just for the three of us, and that our only chance to get back is to wait until 4pm, when another taxi MIGHT show up, but that also will PROBABLY be full. At this point I was ready to scream. Why would someone sell us a ticket, then right as we’re supposed to go decide not to take us just because he doesn’t feel like it???!! That drives me crazy! Finally at 3pm, instead of taking my chances on the possible 4pm taxi (which I was sure wouldn’t take me, in which case I would be stranded alone in that desert town), I decide to get in the taxi with Ben and the other two and go back to Santa Cruz, in order to catch the next day’s flota back to Charagua. A half hour into the drive, we get a flat tire and are stuck on the side of the road for an hour or more while the driver hitch hikes into the nearest town to get his tire patched. Ay ay ay!! So the four of us just sit on the side of the road (the driver decided to park right around a blind turn) and waited while we all got eaten by a zillion bugs. But after that the ride was smooth, and we made it into Santa Cruz safely. Dinner was my first meal of the day, and let me tell you, I ate enough to make up for the whole day!! That night I collapsed into bed and slept for a long time, which was much much needed. The following day (yesterday) I hopped on the flota again, and finally made it back to Charagua around 8pm. I should mention that this whole time, since Friday, I had been walking around with a plastic container of worms. Yep, worms for the compost pile! So not only did I look tired and scraggly, I was tenderly carrying around a box of worms! Everyone must think I’m crazy here!

So that’s my story. Now that I’m here it’s back to work for a week and a half, then it’s time for consolidation. I’m not sure what days or where yet, but I know that Peace Corps is grouping all of the volunteers together for a week or so during the election (which I guess might be dangerous or something?). I kind of wish I had more time here, but I’m also excited to see everyone from my training group. It should be fun! We’ll probably have to do busy work the whole time, but I think I can handle it!