back to work blues

Well, we´re back from a great R&R trip to the coast. Jer and I left the PH (sniff, sniff) on Saturday around 3 in the afternoon and rolled into Puyo at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Despite the fact that it was a looooong and annoying bus ride and despite the fact that our backpacks were wet and muddy (thanks to bus no. 2) and smelling like fish (thanks to bus no. 3) it was all worth it. Now we are working our tails off trying to make up for the time that we were gone...and we just got hit with the sudden realization that it is September already and ¡yikes! there is a lot of work we want to get done before the end of the year. Today I helped the Waorani Women´s Association put up a display of new T-shirts for sale, helped hang stuff from the hooks in the ceiling (because I´m always the tallest in the group) in the store...and drafted a 2 page workplan of all the stuff I want to do ---and think I can reasonably get done with the women here before the end of the year. We´ll see. La jefa viene mañana...y veamos...

In other mundane news, our new sitemate just arrived in town after swearing in as a volunteer on Friday. She is staying with us until her host family gets her housing situation worked out (lots of drama). Have had to turn down two other international couch surfers because we haven´t been around or couldn´t accomodate so many guests at the King International B&B. Am excited that my folks finally (!) pulled the trigger and bought tickets to Ecualand to visit us in December. Am SUPER stoked to show them around P-town and hear my dad use his 12 high school spanish phrases. : ) Sorry, don´t have anything very witty to post. For humor, I refer you to CT Go Bucks Blog (warning: for adult audiences only). I especially recommend the recent posting about top tailgating moments in history, which recants our mis-adventures in the parkinglot outside the greatest football game of all time. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants reading his post...and it really made me wonder if the government makes travel pee bags for women pilots or Peace Corps Volunteers (hey, I would argue that long latin american bus rides are equally--no, actuall more---arduous than the long flights of Air force pilots. ) Advice before reading: go to the bathroom first. : )