Rabies, houses and working 'til midnight

Well, life has been crazy (understatement) lately. It has finally, briefly, calmed down, so I thought I'd write a little update.

First up, my house: I've continued to go back and forth about where to live. The last update was that I decided to move in with my neighbors, Mingo and Clelia. I moved in on Monday (while they built me a door). After the first night there, I knew that it couldn't be a permanent situation. The Evangelical church is next door blasting its terrible music sung in tongues until 11pm; the TV is always on; the neighbors start up their ranchero music (also loud) at 5am; and there are just too many people there. So as luck would have it, a new lawyer moved into town needing a place to live as well! Her name is Jacquelyn, is 27 and is from Coban. We hit it off right away and were able to snag back the yellow house that I was originally going to rent. We're moving in Sunday! I was a bit worried after Mingo made me the door, but he said that it's not a big deal. And it turns out that Clelia is leaving him again, so it's better that I move out. I'll probably bring my puppy with me. Jacquelyn also mentioned getting a black lab together! As well as doing yoga in our upstairs, relaxing in hammocks there, planting a garden, and going on vacations in her car that she'll be bringing! I always knew the right option would come along. Just gotta have patience!

Second topic: working unbelievable amounts. I've been at the office until at least 8pm but as late as midnight for the past week. We were finishing up a proposal to the Fondo Nacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza for Q300,000 ($40,000) for infrastructure for my park. It is a ridiculously intricate format, but we did it! We finished last night, my counterpart turned it in today, and so now all we can do is cross our fingers! ... and relax, because we won't get the money until February. Vacation anyone?

Lastly, do to the working late and thus biking home at midnight, a pack of 3 crazed dogs chased me on Tuesday night. I screamed and yelled and kicked them while I was racing down the road. In all seriousness, it was pretty scary. I thought they were going to knock me off my bike and eat me alive. In the end, one of them managed to bite my calf, and once I got to the next block, they left me alone. But I don't know which one bit me -- I wasn't about to stop and analyze the situation with those blood-thirsty killers chasing me! Thus right now I'm at the Peace Corps office for my rabies vaccine. At least it's no longer 14 in the stomach!

So that's a little bit about my life right now. I may have sounded sad and lonely over the past month, which admittedly, I was. It's part of the roller coaster ride of Peace Corps life (especially with how isolated I am), but I feel like I have now fully rebounded. I'm back to being super happy in my site. I've started spending time with other families as well, so that I'm not as reliant on just the Rodriguez family, and with all this work, no time to be lonely! But yes, to sum up, I'm back to loving life and Chahal. I'll put up some pictures of my new house (and of the past 3 months) when I actually find an internet connection fast enough!