Hi everyone, I'm still here! no worries, just super busy and loving my life right now! well lets see...for those of you who don't already know, i have decided to defer graduate school for another year to stay here longer! i am going to work here until the end of the year, then Jess(one of my best friends here...well right now she is in the states again doing some really cool work with "problem" kids in Wyoming, but she will be coming back to work and live in San Fran with me in Sept!) and I are going to go camping in Patagonia for most of January, then we are heading up to Rio, Brazil for Carnaval in Feb.! Then I will travel a little more around Brazil before I start another volunteer program somewhere else..not sure what or where yet...but some possibilities are Guatamala, Ecuador, Peru... who knows? Anyway those are the "plans", we will see how long it takes for them to change=) As for my daily life here, its a whirlwind! I'm working much more than full time...I'm now the committee chair of the sports committee for VE, planning lots of fun and useful workshops for my girls at the hogar, meeting lots of new people all the time (Santiago seems so small sometimes, everyone seems to know everyone!)...and dating a Cuban=) He is a biologist that does research at the University of Chile, can cook really good Cuban food, and can dance like most Cubans...amazingly.=) The weather down here sucks big time right now though...I feel like I am always sick...because there is no heating here and no insulation...so sometimes my room is colder than outside! Also with 27 girls living in the same place, there is always someone sick at the hogar and so the bugs just keep going around! But we all take care of each other, so no worries. Mom's visit was wonderful, I miss her even more now. We went up to the North of Chile...away from the cold and explored Arica, Tacna (Peru), Iquique...met some really nice people, saw a lot of nature and relaxed on the coast...oh and bought a ton of really cool stuff=) ....lots of earings=) We also taught the girls how to make Chinese dumplings, and about Chinese calligraphy! They all love mom, of course! Everyone does. And mom brought a ton of donations down, which all the girls really appreciated. Thanks so much to all of you that helped! Oh, and I might start working soon..to help pay for all my grand schemes=) Karel (the Cuban) set me up with some people that teach English that need someone that can teach English with a focus on Biology...for a company called BioChile! So that would be cool! Well gotta get back to work, so sorry that I haven't been keeping this up, but I will try harder from now on=) Love and miss you all, especially now that I'm not coming back for another year! But this is where I belong now and what I love doing...and I'm determined to speak Spanish like a pro by the end=) Take care! Besos,

Anna