Culture shock, maybe...

I think I might be beginning to enter the second stage of culture shock, or at least the closest I'm going to get to it, but not really because I'm disillusioned...this might sound really strange, but sometimes I just feel like everything is TOO beautiful. And I'm never going to be able to take it all in. There's always going to be another picture to take and another festivity to see and another beautiful handcraft to buy. And eventually it's going to seem almost normal. And then I'm going to get home to the United States and nothing is going to be as beautiful.

And then there's the fact that I just discovered the other day that I get wireless in my room. Which is pretty convenient, but also pretty contrary to the spirit of things. So I'm kind of falling back into old habits and realizing that I'm still the same person even though I'm in a foreign country...

but there's also the fact that I'm tired right now, and I may go back to goo-goo ga-ga-ing in wonder and amazement tomorrow. Let's hope so.

In any case, I'm already thinking about things I'm really going to miss when I leave here. Number one on my list is "mate de coca," tea made with coca leaves, which is so tasty that I have been drinking between 3 and 5 cups of it a day: one with breakfast, one when I arrive at class at 8:30, one at the start of my second class at 11:00, and one or two at dinner. Not having that available, I imagine, is going to be far more of a "shock" than anything I've had to adapt to coming here.