Hey, So this was an ingenious idea of mine: to write a blog entry while at Malingua Pamba (MP). I am writing it on one of their computers in the computer lab, saving it onto my flash drive along with some of my pictures (because Paulino has a Nikon camera like I do so I can download them onto the flashdrive and hopefully upload them onto my blog) and am hoping to then copy and paste this sometime soon online. It feels like forever since I´ve written or been on the computer, even though it has probably been only about two weeks. But when youŕe not writing or communicating at all, 2 weeks seems like an awfully long time. Let me see how much I can write right now!

Starting with most recently, I have just been dropped back off at MP after being at a party for four babyś baptisms. It was up inthe hills about a 15 to 20 minute drive away. I was hesitant about going but decided I should do it because, well, I had no other choice. Josafina, the grandmother, insisted I go so I felt obligated and have never felt up to saying no to her. It was so much fun I am very glad I went, but I'm also glad I had the chance to return early because supposedly the party is going to go on until tomorrow morning, something I don't care to see considering how tired and cold I already am. Elvia and Paulino are the god parents to one of the little boys so they were something special today...although I think Paulino is someone special all the time considering he's the president of the community and very involved in many different activities. As much fun as I had, I have to owe it all to William, Aucedes' eldest 16 year old son, who hung out with me the entire time. I'm sure if I had stayed he would have looked after me all night, but I don't know how much more I could have enjoyed myself considering it is already approaching my bedtime and it has been foggy all day! (By the way my bedtime has been somewhere between 7:30 and 9:30 since I've been here!).

William and I had a fabulous conversation with another friend of his about MP and all the changes Pamelita has made. For example, prior to Pam's visits, no one here used condoms! They thought they were balloons that could be blown up to incredible sizes! I couldn't believe it. They told me how the amount of young girls with babies has decreased along with the overall amount of babies in the population. The older generation still doesn't know about condoms, but I guess it doesn't matter since they are no longer reproducing? They also told me how she brought them water, the high school, and so much more including technology—prior to her visits they didn't have computers or cell phones, while now almost every person over the age of 14 or so has a cell phone.

Besides the interesting conversations, there was also a TON of food! We were served two meals while we were there, both consisting of cuy (guinea pig) and chicken in a broth. The first time we were served I wasn't too hot on the whole guinea pig thing since I already tried it and felt it was too tough to enjoy. However, the afternoon meal included cuy cooked differently and I enjoyed it much more, much juicier and tender than I had expected. Oh and I forgot that both included egg that was cooked kinda like a thin omellete draped over the meat soup. And of course there was the ceremony in this very small church that held a surprising amount of people. Something I've realized is how much I like mass in Spanish, especially with the priest of this community since he speaks slow enough I can usually understand him. The surprising thing was how at the end he mentioned a cemetary and I didn't follow his thought. I asked William afterwards and he told me that the community's cemetary is on a woman's property who now wants to use it for gardening so the people either need to give her some money or move the burried remains...kinda weird but I guess that is how things go here.

Overall the day was great and I definitely ended up feeling so much more at ease here than I have for a long time. I think it also helped to have a pall with me all day who wasn't too busy working in the fields or with his family, as he usually is. I am getting a bit freaked out being in the computer lab on my own right now so I'm hopefuly going to write more tomorrow before leaving!