I have a home¡

Yayy¡ After days of searching, I have a home¡ THANK YOU for your prayers¡ it's this sweet 2-bedroom house, on a private street, with security from 7 pm-7 am... i feel great about it. my coworkers have been SO awesome in helping me to find a place and also schlepping me all around to buy furniture, linens, and pretty much everything else--the place didn't come furnished. but it's ok, cause i can decorate etc. to my liking. And, though it's been pretty costly, thankfully Fulbright did us a favor and gave us extra money at the beginning. I've also gotten to see a bunch of off-the-beaten-path places, like a few factory-direct shops, for linens and such. The 'dollar store' inside the wal-mart, where i got cute dishes and other various and sundry things. Also, this ENTIRE street of carpintery. I think that's how you spell it. Anyway. My colleagues Anne and Julio and I walked up and down for a while to find the best deals. Thanks to them, I got 3 pretty cheap things--a bed frame, a bookshelf, and a beautiful table. I'll have to go back for the chairs, but for the moment, I'm getting myself settled.

It kind of reminds me of the old 'student housing' days. You walk into the kitchen-dining room, and to the left you face the kitchen, with bedrooms on either side, and a bathroom in the middle, too. The hot water works, the landlord is letting me borrow a stove and a refrigerator, which is awesome, cause those are super expensive, and little by little, things are coming together. I'll hopefully get some pictures up soon.

There have been a few 'what the heck did i get myself into' moments, but on the whole things are great. I have a phone date with my family tonight, and will hopefully be getting internet soon. Classes start for real on Monday, and mostly Monday and Tuesday I'm a floater, conducting different conversations/games and such with different teachers' classes. Wednesday and Thursday I have 3 of my own classes, which should be nice--intimidating, initially, but nice.

Thanks for reading... besos--