Saturday morning is finally here!

After a loooong week of homework, tests, and essays about foreign policy and US foreign aid to Latin America, my much-anticipated weekend finally arrived.  Last night I hung out with my friend Carlos, who I met at church the first week I was here.  We ate pupusas (my favorite food from El Salvador) and then went to Bello Horizonte, which is one of my new favorite places here.  It's a big rotonda (roundabout), which isn't anything special in and of itself--there are rotondas everywhere here.  But this one is super cool, because rather than just being a traffic tool, it's a great hang out place.  There are only like 2 entrances/exits for the rotonda rather than the usual 4 or 5, and the rest of the way it's lined with restaurants, bars, discos, etc. 

So we found an outside table at a restaurant, and this mariachi band came up and started singing for us.  It was entertaining and very fun, but also totally mortifying!  I'm realizing that I feel like as a white girl, I already stick out like a sore thumb and have people's eyes on me constantly.  Maybe I'm just overly sensitive to it and wish I could blend in better.  In taxis, walking down the street, being on campus, it's clear that I'm a foreigner. So while sitting at the restaurant with a mariachi band singing for us----oh, I forgot to mention they added my name into a ridiculously conspicuous ballad----I felt very much like I was sticking out!!  We then went to Pops to get ice cream and then Carlos dropped me off at my house.  It was a great way to end the long week--very relaxing, I got to see a new part of the city, and got to bed at a decent hour!

This morning has been absolutely glorious! I got to sleep in (ended up waking up because my room was like an oven) and had cereal and chocolate cake for breakfast :).  Quite nutritious, I know.  At breakfast, Emilio informed me that the notice had come for two packages in the mail.....HOORAY! One of the notices said it was from Europe, so finally either my nutrition textbook (which I desperately need for my class!) or the package my mom sent me on August 28th had arrived.  I was thrilled.  Emilio went to the post office for me and picked them up, and when he returned, it was BOTH of my things!

Opening the package from my mom was better than any Christmas morning I remember in years!  Among the clothes I had asked her to send, my sweet wonderful mama included all sorts of treats for me, including people magazine, gum (which I've been meaning to buy here anyways!), sour patch kids, a big package of oreos, and some new hair accessories which I love!  I was so excited to finally have received the much-anticipated package :)  Also inside were presents for my host family: a hat from Perry Tech where my mom works (ahem, runs the place! Ü) and a book of Washington Apple Country.  They loved both of them, and we all looked through the book together, admiring the beauty of Eastern Washington :)  It was a great reminder of home and the beautiful colors you all are experiencing there as fall arrives--enjoy it, because the air isn't so crisp here! haha

I plan to spend the whole day today relaxing, catching up on some nutrition homework, and enjoying NOT having any plans!!  I hope you're all doing well at home...thanks for your emails and encouragements--they are such a blessing to me here.