Welcome Matt

I have a new house and a new volunteer. I knew there was a possibility that a new volunteer would be assigned to my site in the new group and that I would have to share my town for a while. Well the possibility is now a reality and he is a pretty cool guy, so I lucked out. Since he is a guy I offered to live with him, and immediately afterwards Lipe (old neighbor) offered me one of his houses which is twice as large as my old one for the same price. So now Matt and I moved into what is either my 4th or 5th house depending on how you want to count. So I am averaging a different house every 6 months of my Peace Corps service. The new house is huge and what I am most excited about actually has sinks, two of them. Those are indoor sinks. Plus, the bathroom and shower are indoors. I don't really care for indoor bathroom and showers anymore since it means water and smells IN the house, but the sinks and a counter in the kitchen are godsends.

Otherwise life is good. I made it back to El Salvador in one piece after my vacation in the US with no other problems than a small fear of populated elevators. The swearing in and party were fun and I enjoyed hosting some friends at the Sheraton again. I will have to invent a reason to come in a get a room in the future. I am still not terribly into large parties of the sort that we had, but I go for the sake of seeing other volunteers. It gives me a chance to see people in a different situation. Namely with their hair down, ready to have a good time, and actually cleaned up and looking like people. Unfortunately it comes with the inevitable party problems. A few people get a little too drunk, there is always the noise in the club and the general chaos of getting around San Sal at night.

Slowly the reality of the last swearing in, having a new volunteer in my site and going to my COS (close of service) conference is making the reality sink in that I have more than just one foot out the door. Already I am jealous of Matt because people in my town have so readily started trying to get him to come to things and not me. I will have to deal with that and just allow myself to slowly get phased out. My PSP is helping. Plus having a new house to get organized helps too.