No, I haven't completely dropped off the planet...

I realized it has been ages since I updated my blog and figured it was time to fill you in on the last month or so. Here are some of the highlights:

* The earthquake, of course. I never thought I would experience an 8.0 earthquake and I hope I never do again. Luckily there was no damage to my apartment and all my friends were safe. The aftershocks lasted for over a week and were not very fun. It has been weeks since the big quake but we are still getting little ones fairly regularly. There was a 5.1 Wednesday morning around 5:55 and my students said they felt one yesterday morning around 7:30. October is supposedly "earthquake season" so I should probably expect to feel the ground shaking a lot more in the next few weeks.

* The start of school. We have been back to school for 5 weeks now and it is going really well. I can't believe I am already in my 2nd year. It is amazing how time flies!! I am still incredibly happy in my job and having a great time with my students. Both my band and orchestra have performances at local music festivals next week so we've been preparing for that since the start of school. My band is playing really well and my orchestra (I wasn't the conductor last year so it is a new group for me) has made great progress. I'm excited to do these performances and then get started on new music for our November concert.

* Babies, babies, babies, though luckily not for me. It seems that every woman at school is pregnant - I swear I think it is something in the water, which kind of freaks me out. My friend Anne had a daughter a few weeks ago, my friend Julie gave birth to a son very prematurely (he was born at 31 weeks but is doing incredibly well and should be home from the hospital in a few weeks) 2 weeks ago, my friend Linda is having a girl at the end of October and my friend Angie is due with a girl at the beginning of February. I've been spending a lot of time and money baby shopping lately, which is fun. It doesn't awaken any maternal urges in me, but it is fun to see other people going through it. And the clothes are really cute.

* Grad school, grrrr. I am enticingly close to finishing my master's degree, but am still slogging through more classes than I would like to. The class I took during the summer was pretty painful, but it ended last week and I think I ended up doing okay. My new class started this past Tuesday and I am already up to my eyeballs in work. But after this 7 week class, I only have one left, then I have to do my thesis project and I am done!!! It looks like I should be finished by the end of February. It will be nice to get my life back and not spend every weekend writing papers.

* The weather. We are currently experiencing the coldest winter Lima has seen in something like 80 years. And when I say cold, I mean cold. No, it is not NH cold, but is freezing for a city that is so close to the equator. Winter here is a very damp cold (kind of strange since Lima is technically in the desert, but we get moisture from the ocean) and it is impossible to get warm. The only time I am warm is when I am conducting band or orchestra rehearsals, waving my arms around and working my butt off. It has been a grey, miserable winter and everyone is desperate for it to be over. Luckily the sun has actually come out the past 2 days - only for a few hours in the afternoon, but that is all it takes for you to feel a little hope - so maybe "spring" is on its way.

I guess that covers the last few weeks. I'll try to be better about updating more often. Now off to write a paper for grad school...