well its friday afternoon and i gave myself the afternoon off work. there was hardly anything for me to do so i ran some errands-- got some stuff i needed and treated myself to a manicure. it was a short week but it felt super long-- i didnt go to work until tuesday (monday after the election is a holiday), but i worked 8 or 9 hours everyday without really taking a lunch break. and theres only so much to do while sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. but its nice, they hired a new woman to do all the administrative stuff, so shes finally getting some organization into the office. she and i rearranged everything in the office, which, by the way, has the worst feng shui of any space i've encountered in a while-- even worse than the worst of the houses in isla vista. but we made the most of the monstrocities they call desks and have been figuring out more and more what it is we need to make the office function efficiently.

so the election was on sunday and it was a pretty chill day; i slept in and then hung out with cousins all day. in the early evening we went to one of the voting sites where apparently a fight had broken out because someone wasnt allowed to vote or something, i wasnt very clear on that. but man, the polling places are mostly schools, if not all, and these schools, i have to tell you that they are so basic and old and hot. and there were so many people at this place, supposedly one of managua's more dangerous neighborhoods. andres and his friend and i waited in the car after checking it out while lucy talked to people. while were waiting in the car, a little boy on a bike came up and started talking about politics with the boys. he asked for some change and did tricks on his bike in return for 5 cords (about 28 cents). he was so cute and dynamic and was loving the attention. thats how the kids are here. they are so dirty and their shoes are little falling-apart sandals and all they want is a little attention or some spare change. but they are smiling. its quite striking to be honest, because people wouldnt know what to do if they saw these kids in the street back home. its just a completely different consciousness here. it takes some adjusting, but its a part of life here. but seeing the schools is pretty depressing. and i just found out the average grade of dropping out in the poor areas is fourth grade. FOURTH! so that makes the work i am currently doing seem much more important and worthwhile, even if i am only organizing the office that is doing the actual work.

after that polling place we went home where i did more homework with the kids until lucia mama had to go back to the school where this house voted, because she was responsible for taking the people in the junta (people working the polls and counting the votes) food and drinks, seeing as they were there from 4am until 11pm or something like that. we waited there for about 2 hours while they "finished up" counting the votes and writing up the results. we then took them to the office of the winnig party for that location (in our case, the party was ALN, eduardo's party, which was good for everyone here). it all felt so... i dont want to say illicit because that is not the case, but its like, who am i, going with the official results, to drop them at party headquarters? it was pretty cool but i must say, i do not envy the people the responsibility of counting all teh votes. it is a looong process. we didnt get an official answer until monday evening. and sure enough, ortega won. i actually woke up in the middle of a dream monday morning in which he had won, and later that night it was official. weird. but since eduardo came in second, i guess he can be the president of the assembly, so all is not lost. i still dont get politics here, but im learning, bit by bit. ortega does not assume the presidency until january, so at least for now, nothing major is changing. people are just really bummed out over it. i was in traffic in managua for about 45 minutes on wed night due to a gathering ortega was having. i wanted to drive by and take pictures, but it was too complicated. the people here love their politics though, thats for sure.

wednesday i went out with my swedish friends, elin and helena, which was fun but i was tired and came home early. i did, however, stay long enough to have my picture taken for a party website here in nica. as soon as i find the link again i will post it... its pretty funny.

last night my boss had me over for dinner with our salvadorean boss and her own husband. she made italian food and it was realllly good. i havent had any since i got here, so it was a very welcome change. but there is no doubt in my mind that they love me in that office. they told me i cant leave them. which is good while i have nothing else to do, but once i have something else im outta there. probably... theyre really nice people though, and it was fun to talk about things other than work.

lucy, jorge, and andres leave for the states tomorrow to go visit colleges and meli, the sister i replaced here. they will leave me and chele for 10 days i believe, so i get to take him to school at 7am everyday and pick him up in the afternoon. the house is going to feel so empty. but itll be nice to have it almost to myself... im looking forward to just laying by the pool this weekend. its about time i started working on my tan...

in completely random news, 3 or 4 separate people informed me of the end of the spears-federline marriage. no one saw that one coming. i just wanted to make sure everyone out there knows of the really important news out there.

but really, how bout rumsfeld and the elections back home?! i was so shocked when i heard about everything... and a female speaker of the house? thats pretty sweet. i felt bad not voting anywhere this year, especially since everyone in this country who voted still has an ink-stained thumb...

all my love to everyone!!! keep me updated on goings-on up in the US, i love getting news...