Hola! I thought it was time I made another update here. The past month and a half has been quite a trip! I still don't know if I'm adjusted to this whole Nica time and the way everything works around here. I have yet to have a full week of English class for some odd reason or another. Sometimes they simply cancel classes here due to rain! To rain! Ha! I thought we had it good back in Colorado when Regis Jesuit HS would get out when it snowed! Here though if it rains nobody leaves there houses and everything just shuts down basically! Other times the teacher decides not to have class so none of the kids show up. What can ya do. Here the kids are in the midst of final exams to finish up yet another school year. Yes, their school year runs roughly from February - November, with their summer vacation being in December and January. Quite different from ours. So many of the seniors are graduating on Nov. 26th, and while some will be off to attend the university, others will be remaining here or leaving to look for a job. Unfortunately the choir trip to Costa Rica in December has been cancelled due to lack of funds. It might be possible in the future but now we'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully I'll make it down there sooner or later. Halloween passed and for the first time in my life I didn't celebrate it! I hope all of you back in the states lived it up and had a great time. Oh how I miss sweets! Cusmapa is a town of people that love their salty foods, and that's all I get. Deserts are extremely rare, usually only for birthdays or other holidays, and chocolate is scarce as well. Now I've never been a huge sweets and deserts person, but going without them is tougher than I thought! On November 1, All Saints' Day, we took a group of kids up from the oratorio to the church and said a rosary for Fr. Rafael Maria Fabretto. This rosary was filled with both prayers and songs, and was actually very lively. I am quite blown away by how many of the kids went when it wasn't required or anything. It was great to see them all get involved, but the sad part is that only very few of them actually have rosaries! Something that is very easy for us in the states to come by is something very difficult for the people here. Every 2 or 3 weeks I make a trip down to Managua. Weekends in Cusmapa are very tranquilo, with about the only exciting thing being Mass every Sunday. Not a whole lot else. So I make it down to the city and hang out with some gringos down there, the Jesuit Volunteers. Every time I go down there they keep telling me how flaco (skinny) I've gotten being up here in the Cus'! I guess it must be that I've learned to eat like the people here having much smaller portions, and the fact that I walk everywhere I go. A few weeks ago the electricity company decided to cut off the electricity in my house as nobody paid the bill for 3 months. Not my fault as 2 of the months were from June and July when I didn't yet live there and the other had just recently been paid. Two days later the bill was paid, but I ended up being without electricity for a week and half! Livin' in oscuro (the dark)! Every night trying to read by candlelight is difficult when the extremely strong winds for this time of year enter in as my house isn't completely closed off from the outside elements as there is about a 6¨ gap between the wall and the roof. You can imagine trying to light and relight the candle. Not to mention there is never running water at my house, but that's just life! I've learned to live with it. When I talked to my mom about coming here and visiting at some point and mentioned that it's not uncommon to find a rat, tarantula, or frog (not to mention other creatures) scurrying, crawling, or hopping around my house, she was like "There is no way I could come there!" Last week I finally began giving an English class for adults, and thus far I must say it's going well. It's much easier giving class to about 10 adults versus the 30+ 6th graders as they actually really want to learn. I do this in the evenings, and so my work day begins at 8:30am and ends at 7:30pm. Don't worry though I have plenty of down time during the day. Well that's life for now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving next week! Geesh I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since high school! I'm excited I am actually going to celebrate it here with a few gringos and will be eating turkey! Know that if you're reading this I'm thankful for all of you and the way you have impacted my life! Peace, love, and God bless! UNTIL NEXT TIME...