this week

Another long but productive week. I just got back from a screening of "Scarface" at the university with which I'm affiliated. The US Embassy donated a nice English-language library to the institution, and they show an American movie every Friday night with discussion led by an American scholar, NGO person, or Embassy representative afterwards. It's a great opportunity for the students to practice their English (although they probably don't want to practice the language they learned in this movie!); they're very earnest and are excited to meet Americans. It's all very sweet, and I look forward to showing a couple movies of my own this year. I have a meeting with a woman from the US Embassy tomorrow to brainstorm about more outreach opportunities, which is exciting.

The other highlight of my week was hanging around the ridiculous gym I joined, Planeta Fitness. It's hysterical: all the women work out in matching (usually pink) spandex get-ups, with matching pink shoes, perfectly coiffed hair, and loads of makeup. They even have fans attached to the cardio machines so that you don't have to break into a sweat! Goofy classes are also big here--I'm going to try out Belly Dancing on Sunday--why not?