long winded today...possibly repetitive.

so...i forgot to mention that on one of my last long flights i sat next to a very popular reality show (not allowed to give specifics) producer...but they are filming this show in south america. he was only 30 so i was pretty impressed a. that he was only 30 and a producer and b. from bogota, colombia. the whole cast and crew were on the flight. he wasn´t suppposed to tell me anything but you all know me...¨come on..just tell me¨ in all honesty it didn´t take much but his boss was sitting next to him so he had to whisper very quietly. guess it starts airing in september but i´m confused as to if it will be shown in the u.s. even though it´s a popular show in the states, but everyone, including contestants, were from south america, central america and 2 contestants from mexico. i´ll include a pic!

last night i had a lot of fun with my housemates. there are 12 or 13 of us. i am the only one that came straight from home. everyone has been traveling for months and months before arriving here....all over south america. it´s really interestng to hear their stories. last night we had the best indonesian dinner made by a couple who lives in our house. it was papas, arroz that tasted JUST like chipotle´s, pollo con garlic , ginger and soy. wow! erik´s parents arrived today and he just made a great pasta lunch so i´ve been really lucky so far. i tie for being oldest in the house! there´s a guy there that was born in 1989!

don´t know if i mentioned this or not on my last blog ...but during hippy gary´s walking tour of the city yesterday, i was able to buy groceries- coca cola, big bottled water, mac and cheese, cup of noodle, crackers, cheese popcorn, and those wafer cookies that come in vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. i got vanilla. then we went to an awesome open air market and i got a large bag of papas. i have never seen so many tipos de papas. there were seriously like 50 different kinds. we then had ice cream...so good... a mix of ice cream and gelato tasting. then we walked to the ´´cancha´´ to get fresh flowers for erik, whose parents came today for a quick visit and his brother is coming tomorrow.

had a really good time with my house mates last night. i love the fact that we all eat together, and of course there are many big bottles of wine and beer involved as well. entered a world cup bracket with all my housemates but i´m clueless so i need a copy of what i turned in to know who i´m rooting for. guess it´s going to be crazy this weekend with bolivians love of soccer and the world cup games playing at the bars.

definitely going to make it to peru, whether i have to extend my trip or leave volunteering early. my friend and housemate is leaving for cusco the 14 th of july but i think that´s too soon for me to go. it´s really important for me to make it there because i am so close and the rumor in south america is that it´s going to be closed to tourists soon because the high volume of tourist traffic is destroying the land.

i´ve already learned a great lesson here. the value of our lives is so much more important than material things and money. dad´s been gone 6 months today and i miss him so much. mom´s on her way to iowa to visit his grave on their 45th anniversary (the 12 th)

will load pictures later, i have someone waiting for me .

besos, kim