And the winner is........ Giardia

I have offically been sick for seven weeks. I have lost close to forty pound last time I checked. I am sure it is more by now. I have taken two stool samples, and I now now I have giardia. I am still able to live my day to day life it just makes things a little harder. The Peace Corps office in Lima has sent me medicine. Now I just need time off to go pick it up. Maybe next week.
Things are starting to pick up here. I have English classes twice a week for two hours. I am getting a good turn out. I also am right in the middle of my World Map project. It is really time consuming. Especially since the youth are not around to help. I do not see the benifit of this project and think that it is an aweful idea. It distracts me from real work and is slowing my intergration into the community. In the next few week I am very occupied. I am working with the medical post to write a curiculum for the nurses. They will go to the rural schools twice a month and give the youth lectures. They will be about hand washing, drinking clean water, common disease, and so on. I am working with four different schools to develop a tree planting and organic garden component to thier classes. I will be revising the curent cirriculum on monday. I am working hard in my own garden. I am very pleased to say that I am finally having succes. I have about five hundred sprouts of 25 varities of veggies, herbs and fruit. I am forming a group of artesians. This group is very lost and I really have no idea what I am doing we will have to see how it works out. I have also started talking to two different NGOs about funding projects and how I can work along side them. I went out to the tabacco plantation today to learn about Peruvian style hydroponics. I am going to be trying to revise my counterpart in the next couple months. The system they are using right now is just plain aweful. They need a lot of help but do not want to take suggestions.
It is really hot here right now. It is downpours mixed with 90 degree heat. I miss the snow. Humid is a huge understatement. I have site visit from my boss on the first of March followed by a three day workshop with all of the volunteers from my group. I have a lot of worthless work to do for both and do not know where I will find the time. I hope all had a good St. Val's day.
Matt