October begins the heat

I am getting a bit jealous as I look at friends pictures on Facebook, where everyone is wearing fall clothes.  Last night was the first night in quite a few months where the air went stagnant, the fan was on full blast, and we had to take cold showers before getting in bed.  In other words, its hot here! 

I have been back over a week now, and Drew has already been on two trips since I have been back.  We actually have two weeks together before I hop on another plane and head to COLOMBIA!  I am so excited, and have to continually remind myself that this trip is for work.  I have been working on a diploma program all year that has helped me a lot in my job.  I have one final class to take, but I have to take it in Baranquilla, Colombia (oh darn, Carribbean coast!!!).

Speaking of traveling, we have done a lot of that this year (Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, USA, Colombia, not to mention the trips taken within Bolivia)!  Recenlty, it feels like we only spend a few days together before the other is off on a trip somewhere else.  I am thankful for these opportunities, but looking forward to fewer trips, or some traveling together.  We are hoping to take a week of vacation time in November to visit our friends and Church in Cochabamba before finishing out the year in the office.  So, that should be nice.

Anyways, we can hardly believe it is already the middle of October.  Here in the office, our project leaders are planning and carrying out their final activities for the year, and we are gearing up for end of the year reports.  Our new accountant is working furiously to get everything in order, and that has been a tremendous help to me!  Next week, we have a Theater Festival where students will present plays they have written that reflect a theme we have worked with them on during this year.  We also have a visit from our International Director.  Our Wheaton intern is off in the Bolivian Chaco for nearly 3 weeks by himself.  he is traveling around to different villages interviewing people for his final report on his time here.  We are excited to hear his stories when he gets back.

We are also thinking ahead for next year to figure out what sorts of positions we will be looking to fill that will fit into the projects we have for next year.  We are a bit behind in turning in new projects, but hoping something will work out for us.

Next year should look much different for us, with less travels.  This year we dabbled in a lot, and next year we will begin to focus more on one geographic location or group of people.  As I write this, I realize some of you might think it is strange I am talking like the middle of October is the end of the year already.  But what you might not realize is that almost nothing happens in December in Bolivia, simply because it is the end of the year.  So things will slow WAY down.   We really only have November to finish anything we might hope to accomplish outside of the office.

Personally, I am very excited about settling down in December.  It will be nice to be in the same place with Drew for a few weeks.  We will be at the office most of the month, doing reports and enduring the heat.