playin in cow shit

Hey ya´ll i was tryin to think of some fun things we did and last sat. we got to play in lots of cow shit. Thankully it was dried out so it didn´t smell as bad but man was it fun throwin pooh at your new friends. we worked all day with farmers on top of this gorgeous mountain. all the farmers said i was a good worker so i love gettin respect from them. right now the whole country is havin a water ballon fight. next weekend is Carnival. A huge fiesta. we actually get three days off from classes for it. where ever you walk you got to watch your back cuz bam! somebody is throwin a water balloon at you. they also have water guns. the best way i found to shake the little ones up that are throwin is to run at them and chase them cuz i am a little bit bigger then them. It is hilarious to watch them run in fear when a big gringo is runnin at them and they are the one with the balloon. i am goin to buy a bunch for friday cuz i have to walk through fifty kids who just got out of school and all have balloons. it shall be war!!! cuz after friday my class changes to a new house. other then that my spanish still sucks and the locals love laughin at me especially when nobody can understand the other that is always a fun game with them. laugh-at-the-gringo! If michael from ohio reads this please leave me your e-mail address and phone number i have already read two of the books you gave me. and i want to talk with you bout them they are all awesome thankyou so much. chow, sledge

happy valentines/birthday party

Happy Valentines to everyone especially rachel. I had a really good birthday a bunch of us went out and had Pique macho and drank bolivian beer. I had one especially for you tanner!! and at only 1 dollar for a liter I think I had one for quite a few of ya´ll. But that was sat. night and we have a curfew for the first three weeks until 10 but then it is 12. so on sun we hiked to the top of El christo which is 450 stairs up and it is the tallest statue of christ in the world and is also a beautiful view of the city. It is also bolivian culture to break an egg on your head and then smear flour into it. so i think i might bring back some culture to the states. me and my family had a good dinner that night and then my 13 year old sister went and bought beer for us and we all drank beer after dinner. I wish it was still like that in the states. so that was cool to drink a little with my family.
Well graham it was good to hear that you are bein as lazy as possible and not doin a damn thing with your 13 semesters of school and just blowin all your money. I knew i had faith in you on some things. You know you are so goin back to your parents and then probably goin back to school for a few more years. You need to tell me what the hell you have been doin for a month out in cali.
Thankya´ll jeremy and jessie singin me happy birthday it was oh so sweet. Ya´ll would super love this place it is so gorgous and the natural resource group went up to the top of the mountain yesterday and it was beautiful. we are workin with erosion control right now. It is so much fun!!
Well happy valentines day and talk to ya´ll later

Oh Yeah

I forgot to tell ya'll a few things i have already lost 7 lbs. in 2 weeks but that is good for right now and also my friend got bit by his dogs that lived at his house and had to get rabies shots for it. I think so far i have gotten 7 shots for all my vacs. But that is all

just chillin

Hey ya'll, everything is still new and exciting here. And by new i mean i went to a birthday party and guess what was on the menu A big ol' cow tongue, complete with saliva, I knew i had to get out of that so i went to the bathroom where i felt sick but nothin happened and i got out of eatin tongue. But anyway we get to do bee hive construction this weekend and finish the greenhouse which rocks cuz it cost so little but was alot of hard work and playin in the mud.
To: Justin M thanks man for your words of wisdom they bring bright light in sometimes dim situations and now you and jeremy can see what you have been missin with them glasses. I remember my first time with glasses i noticed the trees. It rocks!
I am pretty much just gettin in a routine of things now and it is goin good just lots of classes and classes and classes. Later ya'll

Finally Workin

We finally did somethin besides have class. We started to build a green house out of adobe bricks and mud. It is awesome cuz it is comepletely free. You just need some dirt and some water to build all the walls. The walls around the complex are also made of adobe brick. All it takes is work and you know i am not opposed to that. Oh yeah you get super muddy which rocks and also is very tempting to become mischievious, which i succumbed to, and started throwing mud at people that were workin in the gardens.We are also learnin how to do compost gardens and wormiculture compost. After lunch we start doin gardens and i am not quite sure what all that entails but it is manual labor and i will be lovin that. Well that is all that is goin on right now it is weird that it has only been a week here it seems like months which means we are doin alot. I haven't forgotten about any of you especially rachel, mom, and val. But i love yu all and thanks for checkin up on me.

Yo!!!!

Hey ya'll I now live with my new family. I have 4 sisters ages 17, 15,13, and 10. My family is real nice and the girls like to play volleyball. When i first got to my home they were havin a huge festival for the next two days so it was a good welcoming. The festival was Senora de la paz and was a catholic festival. The first night was pretty calm but the following day was crazy!! At 11:00 the parade started which was filled with 4 mariachi bands and lots of different types of dancers who would dance in the street the whole time we were walking around the city. Then the parade ended and the festival went to the courts where each distict group did really long dances. It was probably the best introduction to their culture i could of asked for.

I'm pretty sure that i am gonna be busy i have been given 12 books so far that i need to read which probably total around 1400 pages of technical and language stuff, not your favorite john grisham book.We went to the market yesterday which is the craziest, coolest place i have been too, to buy items and everything is offered there. well it was good to hear from ya'll please tell me what is goin on in ya'lls life to. Love ya'll Jonathan