beautiful January weather

Hi all,
As I watch the news about the weather in the US, one thing I have to be thankful for is the beautiful weather here. Today I spent a couple hours laying by the pool of the hotel that I lived at when I first got here. It is the perfect relaxing thing to do on a Sunday afternoon :)

I'm settling back into my routine little by little. When I first arrived, there was a feeling that I had to do something all the time with a big group of people, both getting to know everyone here at the embassy and trying to get to know the city. Since I've returned from Illinois, I feel like I've kind of turned a corner toward not feeling obligated to accept every social invitation that comes up. I love hanging out with my co-workers and seeing new things, but I feel a little better taking some time to do things on my own, or feeling ok just staying at home and cleaning, cooking, etc.

This week, a couple of my coworkers (who are married to each other) from Carle are down here visiting her family. She is actually from Colombia, but lived here in Caracas for about 20 years. It was great to get together with them and catch up a bit with them this weekend. I'm looking forward to the chance to catch up a little more on rest tomorrow, since it's a holiday for the embassy.

Chau!