it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

hi friends! wow, it really is a gorgeous day today. I'm psyched I can enjoy it, after being a little sick for the last few days. I didn't get slowed down too much, though.... let me catch you up to speed:

on saturday, I went to the local columbian association's annual picnic. I was invited by Xi-nando (Ximena & Fernando), who are columbian and who decided to bring with them a little united nations party. we had 3 columbians, 2 indians, a cuban and 2 gringas. we stood for the columbian national anthem, listened to columbian music, talked and.... ate. and ate. but I didn't mind! we had tamales, stuffed potatoes, grilled chicken, yummy fruit drinks.... it was heavenly! then we all went to the lake in the park, rented some boats, and paddled around. it was probably the most beautiful day ever..... thanks, Xi-nando!!!

I also did a bunch of cooking over the weekend and went to the movies ("my super ex-gf" - very cute and fun). then last night, Olga and I did another push towards getting the apartment set up. we hung a lot of art and a cool clock from Olga's childhood that actually says "made in the USSR" (but in russian, of course) and then we worked on the cabinet! it is now completely assembled except for the support pieces. then it'll just be the finishing/painting. I can't wait to get home and work on it some more!

only 6 hours and 6 minutes to go!

UPDATE: 4 hours and 1 minute

UPDATE: 3 hours and 9 minutes