A week ago today, I left for Bolivia. It feels like I have been here for a month which is great because I pretty much love it here. It has been like a week at sleep away camp. There are 11 new teachers and after a short nap upon arrival we headed out to find places to live. You can live in just about any situation here. Andy (the math teacher) got a 3 bedroom house with a yard the size of half a football field...treehouse included. Analia and Nicolaas (elementary and p.e.) are in a condo a block from school. Matt and Kirk (physics and social studies) are on a compound that occupies a full city block. There are 2 other houses on the compound that other teachers live in and they all have shared access to the pool, outdoor bbq and thatched cabana style sitting area. I found 7th floor 2 bedroom apartment downtown on the main avenue. The area is called El Cristo, named after the HUGE statue of Jesus located on the main circle. The street is lined with cafes, banks and shops. Finding our places involved driving around in a shuttle then filing in and out at each house. Once we all had places we all went to the bank to open our accounts and get money for our landlords. The school has been great about getting this set up for us. When we arrived at the bank we just signed for our credimas (atm card) and left. So easy. Then it was on to the lawyer's office to sign our lease contracts. These were of course in Spanish so we were all a little unsure about what we were signing. The lawyer assured us they were simple contracts with nothing hidden in them....we'll see if that is the case in 2 years when we need to move out. Yesterday we went to this huge indoor market to get household stuff. My apartment is completely furnished so I only needed a coffee pot. We have also started meetings at our school. It is a beautiful campus full of trees, grass and flowers. You basically walk off the street and into paradise when you pass through the gates of the school. Unfortunately, until I have internet access at home I won't be able to send any pictures. Hopefully that will happen soon. I am excited to get started on school stuff next week and to meet the rest of the staff, but I'm going to enjoy these last few days of going out and living large before the stress of work hits. Oh, the food. There is a ton of Argentinian beef here and it is not only cheap, but super tender and tasty. We get lunch at school everyday and no joke it is restaurant quality food. That is all for now. I am off to get a cell phone with the rest of the group. I'll pass that number along when I have it. Talk to you all later. -adria