Ahhhh... home at last! It's been a busy few days, not the busiest I've ever seen, but busy enough for me lately. All day Friday I had a Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop that was a requirement for all PC-EC posts. I found it useful but very boring as well. It continued into Saturday, which for me was a killer. After the workshop the day before I helped out at Alliance Francaise for their Wine Discovery night. I like doing it since you get to meet new people and try French wine, but I didn't get home till 1 am, and I am old now, so 1 am is VERY late for me. So I was dead tired come Saturday and then bailed on Karaoke that night. I wanted to get some work done for my presentation on Tuesday at a parents meeting here in St. Peters. It will be a talk on HIV/AIDS and I really want to focus on stigma and discrimination. So I got a little rest last night and I have never been so happy to be at home on a Saturday night!

This morning was wonderful because it rained and delayed the heat, which made it much easier to sleep in a bit. Also, I found no ants!! Those guys are always playing games with me and I have gone through so many cans of BOP that I really think it should be factored into our monthly stipend. I didn't go to church this morning though, I had an invite to join an anniversary celebration at the local Baha'i center. I was excited to go because I have heard of Baha'i but didn't know much about it. In a nutshell it is a new religion that believes all religions have it right. They believe that the suffering and adversity of man is what is needed to unite us all. It's a lot like any other christian religion, they just don't believe in the infrastructure of the church. Instead, it is all about independent worship. Living a moral life upon your own free will without the persecution of damnation. They leave it up to you. It was pretty nice. (If I have it wrong, feel free to correct me, but this is just how I interpreted it)

I did end up going to evening church though. I always try to go to one of the services because I really do love the people that go there and it is a way for me to see my host family. I haven't hung out with them much now that I am getting busier. I did stop by this last Thursday, and Betty had me try tripe (again!), I had told her once before that I didn't like it, but I thought maybe it is an acquired taste. It's not! I've counted. Four times now I have tried this stuff. First in Cali when my old neighbors would cook it, and each time I gagged. Well, this time, cooked different, it still tasted like what it was... cow stomach! I made the most horrible face and Betty just laughed! I kept making the face minutes after because the taste in my mouth just wouldn't go away, even after drinking water. Seriously, that stuff is potent! She gave me a sweetie to help it go away. Ahh... this woman knows me too well.

So now here I am on a Sunday night, drinking my own green tea latte concoction (it's really not good, but I'm learning not to be picky here) and trying to catch up and get a jump ahead on the week. I need to get some info and stats for my presentation. I will work on it tomorrow with Elizabeth, a fellow volunteer. She's also the one I will be traveling with to Trinidad in December. Oh yeah, did I mention I am going to Trini?! I told Mavis (our APCD) that I feel like a grown up now, traveling on business and all :)