Note to self: Deep Woods Off only works on the body parts to which it is applied. Hmmm, I thought I had already learned that one. Today's mosquito bite count is 3, all on my feet.

If you have paid any attention to happenings in Central America, you probably know that the weather here has been unkind recently. Hurricanes, mudslides, errupting volcanoes and a lot of rain--not to mention a GIANT sinkhole in the middle of Guatemala City--have caused some damage and taken some lives. But today, as I wandered around Antigua to get my bearings and take care of a few essentials, such as food and buying a new Movistar phone (phone plus 75 minutes to any where in the world cost me 214 quetzales--about 28 bucks. Take THAT, Verizon!!!!!), the sun shone and only a few rain drops fell. The people here at Centro Linguistico remembered me, and so did the guy at Antigua Gimnasio, which I have again joined for the 6 weeks I will be here, and I am sleeping in the same room as I did last year after my friend, Anne, returned to the States. All of this means that I feel, not as though I have come home, but at least a strong enough sense of familiarity that I feel at home. I find myself wondering how many returns to the same place make it truly one's own. I am not sure 3 is it, but the proverbial charmed number does bring with it less of a sense of awe and more of a sense of being able to maneuver with some facility.

Not much to report as of yet. Monday I will go to the main office of Ninos de Guatemala, the NGO that runs the school in Ciudad Vieja. I will also start a week of intensive language instruction so that I can communicate with los ninos.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

!paz a todos!
Holly