capitalist swine...one child at a time

The last volunteer applied for a grant and didn't use all of the money which meant it was left to me to use for the community. My PM said, "Chica, you should use it to buy algunos juegos". I ended up buying Monopoly and Sorry. Teaching my host brothers how to play Monopoly was a riot. They were really into the idea of getting all the colors and building hotel empires across the board. To stay true to the home state, I tried my best to buy Illinois Avenue everytime I landed on it (Yes, Michael, I have you to thank for that.) There were definitely times when I had problems with my Spanish, such as, "No, you have to buy 4 houses before you can convert to a hotel" and "Even though you passed go, you do not get $200 when you are being sent to jail" to the common "Please don't put that house in your mouth because it is guaranteed that you will choke on it". But for the most part, it was a really good game and they got to practice math and strategy. (Yeah, I had to add that to justify why I haven't gone out into the community and done actual work.) The best question though was, "Will this game ever end?"............... In other news, I got some LHR love and received my first package from the girlies back in the U.S. Thank you, Michelle and Val. Your package is awesome. The Pop Rocks were the best. Sharing that candy with my brothers was great. Watching their faces as they put the candy into their mouths was priceless. It's fun sharing American candy with them when they don't have as many options here (or they do, but it is expensive). The only other news I have right now is that I am getting out of San Ramon for a week! I get a free trip to Teguc (or TGU) to attend a meeting. On the way home, I hope to visit Crystal and Simon and watch the Superbowl with them. Yes, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer and yes, I haven't done much in terms of work, and yes, I am looking very forward to this escape and to be ANONYMOUS!!!!