i'm here...por fin

hey all....
i'm here safe and sound (for any of you who worried). after a long trip with 16 hours worth of layovers i've arrived. it's wonderful being back, and at the same time it's kind of weird. it's almost as if nothing has changed, but again looking at things yesterday driving into san pedro i felt as though i was seeing things for the first time. i remembered the place but didn't quite remember the feel of it. six months doesn't do too much to a place. the still guy still sits outside of the grocery store asking for money. the same woman still sells barettes on the street. the same guy still works at the pastele place. anyways, it's nice. i got to say hello to all of my neighbors. i just gave the little kids at the gomera play-doh which they were excited about. with a big warning not to eat it.

last night i ended up translating. some missionaries were visiting and did a presentation about hospice at a small church. as we got to the church that was in a poor neighboorhood they started pulling out sound equipment. it was pouring rain, and rain kept leaking through the tin roof. they set up a microphone and starting telling the neighboorhood to come and enjoy the presentation. i got up and warned people about my spanish and then continued to translate. at times i got stuck pronouncing a word or not knowing a word. i could see some of the people laughing at me in a friendly way. but at the end i was proud of myself. the people at the church were cool, they were very down to earth, so i think milagros and i will go back.

all in all i'm glad to be here. i do miss you all!
rachel