I really do more than just look for pizza and watch TV here

Here are my friends Tara and Stetson, enjoying some of the local beer here called Poker and pronounced "po-khair." It tastes to me like Coors Light, which is why I always order it michelada style with lime and salt.
Here's Tina...Stetson has no idea she's behind him.
Tina, Tara, and myself. I think Stetson bought these for us out of pity for the little boys selling them.
This is Pachito, the parrot who was outside our window at the hotel Sunday night. He was Stetson's new best buddy and kept us entertained with the few phrases he knew: "Hola," "quiero cocoa," and "Pachito."
Here's the courtyard in the middle of our hotel. The owners were so nice and the place was just charming as you can see.

A view from the streets of Santa Rosa.

I reread a few sentences of my last few blogs and realized that it may sound like I never do anything here except look for good pizza and TV shows. That's not a very accurate picture of my life here. So, I'm going to include some pictures of what I've been doing. These were all taken last weekend in Santa Rosa, about four hours away, in the coffee region. It was this adorable little town in which they were celebrating their anniversary, so there was a festival in the town square right next to this church. I went with my two roommates, Tina and Tara, and our friend Stetson. All people I teach with at Bolivar. The next day we went up the mountains a little further and swam in the hot springs with two big waterfalls in the background, it was extremely beautiful. I also treated myself to a massage there, which only set me back about 15 dollars...not bad. The whole weekend was very affordable with less than $20 bus rides and hotel stays. The most economical part was buying the multitude of adorable, handmade earrings, which were about a dollar a piece...I have a weakness apparently.