FEBRUARY... what i remember anyway

february, i am trying to think, was a lot of fun but not much happened besides working and partying. it was around the beginning of february that i decided i want to buy a car. it became clear that i needed my own vehicle to get around, as the truck iw as driving was sold for way more than i thought it was worth. that should have been my indication of pricing here. used cars are SO EXPENSIVE. the truck that i would have paid maybe 2500 for in the states, my uncle sold for $7500. i about fell out of my chair when he told me. thats why i still dont have one, i will explain in a bit.

i watched the superbowl here, we went to a party and ended up staying out way too late for a sunday night, but had a lot of fun. thats the first superbowl i have actually watched in a long time, as last year i was in italy and the year before, who knows. the following week was super busy because there was a central american realtor conference and i went to take a course on some aspect of real estate in latin america, and then we had to sit at a booth and sell the product. (condos, lots, etc.) valeria, a girl i work with, and i sat at the table all day for 3 days, telling people the same thing over and over, in spanish and english, trying to get them to come check out the property and buy something. we met a lot of nice people, realtors from the states, develo3pers here in nica, all kinds of different people. there were a couple of cocktail parties which were lots of fun, we danced and then went out afterwards. vale and i got a bit of a reputation for partying and still making it to work at 7:30 am... it was good times and it helped me make better friends with the people at work, which is nice because i dont feel like an outsider.

i dont really think much else happened in february... it was a short month, and it went by quickly. though i do guess this was around the time that i started hanging out with tia lucia mama more. i go to her house and she has me try new foods to culture my palate and expand my horizons. she is a pretty cool lady actually, and i enjoy talking to her and hearing what she thinks about things because she has such a different point of view than do i. plus she knew mama as a kid and thus can tell me about her. which is always fun.

oh, i almost forgot, i went to costa rica again in february (i need to go back soon to get my passport stamped) for the wedding of a first cousin of my mom's. it was the daughter of her mom's sister, irene, and the wedding was in san jose. i went in the car with lucy, tia chagua, tia lucia, and mundo, chagua's husband. i of course got super sick on the drive and was miserable the whole way, and i slept the whole first day we were there. we went around san jose some looking for furniture and stuff for the tios, and then we went to the wedding the saturday night. it was a nice, simple wedding, the priest was funny (he mentioned something about hurrying becuase the mashed potatoes were getting cold) and then the reception was fun. it would have been more fun had i known more people and been seated at a non-kids table, but i still had a good time dancing and talking to some relatives that i didnt know were around. and then i took the transnica bus back to managua, it took us 8 hours instead of the 11 it took on the way there. pretty easy actually, its just a pain crossing the border. but it was air conditioned and not full, so i got a row to myself, reclined, and listened to my ipod. i rode with my uncle guillermo and tia marina and diana, my cousin, so it was nice to talk to them some. and they fed us. all for $25! all in all a good time, once i recovered from my illness anyway.

that was february... march was pretty much the same kind of thing, most of it was spent in anticipation of rebecca's arrival on the 30th for holy week here in nica. no luck in the car department in march. i have contemplated buying an old isuzu tropoper off of my friend, she bought it for 3500 when she got here and bought new tires, fixed the a/c, and put in a cd player. shes been having trouble selling it (she needs money, plus she leaves in 3 weeks) and so she lowered the price from 4000 to 3500 and i think i may buy it because then i do not have to worry about car payments. only gas, which is very expensive, but i dont do that much driving because i just go to work and back, and when i go out i take the little car or ride down and back with andres or find a ride. so i may just do it. i just hope that it doesnt develop any issues. but that way i can have a car tomorrow and be done paying for it. so we will see. otherwise i think it will just be a mess having to deal with a loan and payments when i am making such a small amount of money. plus, if i am really coming back to the states in my supposed year, i only have about 6-8 months left. i committed to my job for a year pretty much, so i am looking at being here until january 2008. it just doesnt seem worth it to spend a lot, especially if i am going to want to buy a car when i get back to the states. its really a shame that they had to sell the truck i drove. i would be a lot less stressed out about my vehicular situation...

i am going to put up some pictures i think.

oh one other thing i did in march was play hooky and go to the lake in granada, to go boating and hang out on one of the isletas, the little islands in the lake where rich people have houses. it was gorgeous and a great way to spend a day not working. here i will put some pictures... well, i tried, but my computer isnt finding the ones i want. so i will put up randoms.


well here is the only one i could find that is somewhat current. and its from december. i need to rectify this situation. soon.