¡Finalmente! An update

Hi everyone! Well, I have finally got around to updating the blog, so this is going to be a long one. Thank you everyone for your patience, I just needed a few weeks to get settled in here and really process everything that I am experiencing here in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

First: A few people have been asking for my mailing address and phone number while in Bolivia...good thing too - thanks to Patrick, I found out that you can buy a Latin America calling card at your local grocery store or gas station and it is cheaper if you call me rather me call you. :-) So, if you wanna chat, my phone number is 5914.424.2620

If I am home, I will most likely be the one to answer because my family is very keen on having me practice my spanish at all times...that includes answering the telephone, haha. If I don`t understand what the person on the phone is saying, I usually respond with "un momento, por favor" (or "one moment, please) and hand the phone to someone in the house. Anyway, when you call, just say "Con Michelle, Por Favor." If I am not there, they will not hand me the phone (obviously) and say a sentence in spanish that has a "no" in it. Just say "Bueno, Me llamo (your name goes here). Voy a llamar mas tardpronouncedced "voy a yay mar mas tar-day").

Also, my address is:

Michelle Fitzgerald
Instituto de Idiomas Maryknoll
Casilla 550
Cochabamba, Bolivia

Please keep in mind I can only receive items under 2 kilos (about four pounds) or else the Bolivian government charges me a tax in order to pick up the item.

Second: I unfortunately do not have a lot of pictures from Bolivia so I will not have a lot to share with you while I am here. Cochabamba (city I am living in), while I do feel safe in the area I live, has its danger spots and we are told to never take out our digital cameras for fear that they get stolen or that they send off a signal that we are a tourist who has enough money to buy a digital camera...who has enough money that it is worth robbing them. Anyway, I am in the process of setting up a photo account that I can link to this blog so you can see all of my pictures from my next 2 years. When I finish, I will let you know and place a few of my favorites up on the blog directly.

Third and final: Check out the blog in the next few days - I am going to add a "subscribe" option to the blog so you are able to subscribe to my blog. What does this mean? Simply adding your email address to the subscribe portion of my blog will send you an email everytime I update my blog so that way you do not have to check the blog every day and read the same thing over and over.

Alright - the real update. As far as my life here in Bolivia, I absolutely love it - although it does have its own downfalls. I absolutely love my host family. I am living with a mom (Juana), dad (Nestor) and brother (Jorge). Jorge is 24 years old, so it is different but super fun to have an older brother. I will hopefully put up a picture soon. We get along great and have a good time - he is so patient helping me with my spanish. The family does not speak english at all, so it comes down to speaking english about 2 hours total in a day...thank goodness for topportunitynty to talk to Natalie, Patrick, Katie, and the other students here at the institute in between classes! But, I have really grown to love the spanish language and I can´t believe how much I know so far...the day to day speaking and conversations are great with my family (we are hilarious together). In fact, we just took a test the other day in our spanish fluency and I tested at medium Intermediate - who knew! It is amazing how the brain works...pulling out all the old spanish files from college. Sometimes I use vocabulary words without even knowing if they are correct (i.e. bolsa is "bag" or "purse") and they are right! Yeah for me...but still have tons to learn.

I am spending my days as a student at the Maryknoll Institute of Idiomas (Languages). I have four classes that are one-on-one...that´s right, me and the professor. So if I don´t feel like having class (which has already happened a few times), I don´t really have a choice. Crazy, but it is all worth it in the end.

When I am not in class, I am playing tons of volleyball. Boy, do I love that sport - and I am actually good at it...I think I am better now than when I played in high school, haha. Anyway, volleyball is incredibly popular in Bolivia and I will tell you more stories later about that. When I am not playing volleyball, I am hanging out with my host family, knitting a baby blanket for my sister (I will have a neice in November!), going out to drink cervezas (beer) with friends, or dancing at a discoteque (club). All in all, it has been a new experience but one already worth the trip.

Again, I will definitely be updating the blog often - I cannot wait to tell you about how CHEAP everything here is in Bolivia, about the culture here and about living in the poorest country in South America and the 3rd poorest country in the world behind Hati and Bangladesh. If you still want more info about me and my compañeros, check out Natalie and Patrick´s blog - they are linked on the right hand side and they update them pretty often with some pretty funny stuff. Oh - btw - check out Ryan´s blog today (09-15-06). It is pretty real account about how our jobs are sometimes harder than we ever expect.

Hope everyone is well - please call me and say hello, it would be great to hear from you. Otherwise, keep the emails and letters coming! Talk again soon, miss ya all!

PS - Send me updates on Notre Dame football games, particularly if you attend them! Checking on the team through internet is just not the same... :-P