My job today was in the pharmacy, filling Rxs that the doctors wrote. I saw something that pleased me greatly--> a sign hanging in the clinic that says how important it is to breast feed babies! I remember the boycott of 30 or more years ago, when Nestle was pushing baby formula on the Third World and so many women went along with it, thinking it was the modern thing to do, with disastrous health results.

There must be a remnant of that idea linking formula to progress because Kathleen, of JHC, and I were talking about it this afternoon and she told me how women here think their babies are not getting enough nutrition from breast milk alone. So it takes many years of education to reverse one act of corporate greed.

The children are adorable and they greet us with smiles and waves everywhere we go. Today, on the way back from the clinic, two young boys hopped on the back bumper of the truck and Kathleen had a devil of a time getting them off! All the Nicaraguans we have met so far have been more than gracious to us. In light of the U.S. government's passion for attempting to control other nations, by brute force or political underhandedness, I am surprised that they don't hate us. But it is quite to the contrary. We are welcomed everywhere we go.

Okay, now the hablando espanol issue ... I am trying hard to listen and speak, but it is very difficult. This is not like being in the classroom with a professor who enunciates clearly and a bunch of other English speakers muddling through at a snail's pace. So I have not been terribly successful at communicating, but the people don't seem to care how bad my Spanish is, so I will keep trying! They smile and nod at you no matter what you say, and I do think they appreciate the effort.

The beans and rice diet continues to be very satisfying and it's a good thing because we have them three meals a day, with other dishes, too, but it is clearly a staple.

We have had very little time to poke around and buy things to bring home. We did some very fast walk-throughs of four different markets, and finally got to do some leisurely shopping at the grocery store. **This message is for Mary Beth-->I have your salsa lizano! Got the biggest, baddest bottle I could find.** And there is a kind of butter cookie that people love called Chikys. They are quite good so I picked up some of those to bring home, too. So, that's the extent of my souvenir gathering so far --- food!

The agenda for tonight is a musical performance by a popular group here and then tomorrow it's back to work!

Miss you all!