Here I GO!!!!

Wow so much to say- but where to start!!! I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer which is very exciting. And I’ve moved into my own house in a small little town about six hours from where I had training. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions these last few days. I had one day where I wasn’t sure what I was doing here and the next I was on top of the world, then scared out of my mind to move to a foreign town where nobody speaks English, then so exciting about my new place, and at this moment I can say I’m pretty content with it all but I’m still pretty lonely. This is the first time I’ve lived alone so it’s going to take some getting used to. Not to mention I’m going to have to start practicing my Portuguese even more than before.
My first impressions of my town are great. It seems fairly small even though I haven’t done much walking around yet. And I’m their sixth PCV (I believe) so the people here are used to having an American among them and I have a feeling they’ll all be pretty welcoming. My colleagues all seem welcoming as well. There is one other English teacher so I’m exciting to have him to talk to when all I want is to hear English. I was pretty surprised when I met many of the teachers yesterday at lunch. We’d been told that most likely the teachers would be primarily male but I was surprised that not only were they all male except three but that they were all in their early to mid twenties. I think there are two or three teachers a bit older, otherwise they’re all pretty young.
Ok, my house. It’s a three room house that the previous volunteer has painted lime green (living room), aqua marine (bedroom), and coral (kitchen). It’s impressive to say the least. She also left behind a house full of things which was a nice surprise. I have an electric two burner stove, some pots and pans, spices, a couch, four chairs, a couple small tables, and so many book and teaching supplies. I haven’t tried to go through that stuff yet- for the moment I’m just trying to figure out where all my things are going to fit. Animal wise, last night I came across several cockroaches that really didn’t want to leave my house, several lizards in my bathroom (which backs up to the director of my school’s bathroom- awkward!), a few more spiders, but nothing that I can’t handle. I think I found a nest of some sort when I was cleaning the ceiling with my ten foot poll (I feel like a jouster when I hold it) but we’ll see what happens with that later. All in all I’m really happy with my place and I’m looking forward to make it my own.