Keep in mind while reading the following that I am in no way complaining, but simply stating some facts about the current situation in which I live. That being said, my room is really cold. It is now known in Lankaran as the “Tundra comma frozen.” (This bears no relation or similarity to the field on which the most despicable NFL team plays on). We have now tried two heaters in my room, one of which half works, the other works but is tough to start. You plug it into the wall and it has a bar that heats up and warms the area immediately surrounding it up to and including three inches away. This one is ok and is quite reliable. The other heater we have tried is powered by kerosene and is less reliable but much warmer and effective. I haven’t blown it up yet so there’s a positive. It is much harder to turn on however, and does not get used very often. The Peace Corps issue sleeping bag is wonderful and keeps me warm and toasty while I sleep. I knew it was cold in there the other day when my host brother, Ulvi, walked in and asked me incredulously, “How do you live in here???” The main sitting area in the other part of the house is quite warm though. My family has a little metal stove where we burn wood and it heats up real good. (pictures of host family and home coming soon) Recently I have become insanely jealous of Ashley because he has a fireplace in his room! His room used to be the kitchen of the house and so there’s a wood-burning stove that heats up his room. Like I said though, I’m not complaining. I only sleep in the room and with the sleeping bag, I am quite comfortable. In other news, Rikki George, another Peace Corps Volunteer, came to visit Ashley and me this weekend. She got in Friday afternoon and we showed her around town and headed to Ashley‘s for dinner and hung out and played some games and watched a movie where a fascinating event occurred. It‘s a well known amongst the other Volunteers that Ashley and I break out into laughing fits at random times for no reason and cannot stop laughing for around 10-20 minutes. Up to this point, amazingly enough, we haven‘t had a laughing fit with Ashley‘s Nana (grandmother). Not even when she comes into the room and dances to the music we have playing, or when she calls Ashley a baby when he can’t do something or even when she spills food on herself and calls herself a baby. It finally happened. We were all watching Batman Begins (in English so Nana couldn’t understand what was being said but the action scenes were good) when she said something and we all lost it. Ashley, Nana and I just sat there and laughed for about 15 minutes while Rikki sat there and laughed at the three of us. Good stuff. Anyways, back to Rikki’s visit. There are several places around Lankaran in other villages that have hot springs that people go to to refresh and replenish their souls and we had planned on visiting one on Saturday afternoon but the weather was less than favorable. In fact, it was quite cold and rainy. It was the perfect day though, to push a car up and down the street to try and get it to start. We were unsuccessful, but I reached my three month exercise quota so there’s another positive. That’s how my morning started, but then I met up with Rikki and Ashley and we hid from the inclement weather in Ashley’s house and played some Monopoly during the day. Afterwards we went to my house for dinner and played some Yahtzee (of course) with Ulvi and just passed the time with music and games. We all had a great time and sadly, Rikki went home today. This should be a busy week for us though. The big Volunteer Talent Show is on Saturday after thanksgiving dinner at the Embassy and Ashley and I have a ton of practice to do before we are ready. I also have some meetings coming up with a local committee called CDC (Community Development Committee) where we will make plans on developing tourism in Lankaran and the surrounding areas. That should about do it for now. I took some more pictures of the town Friday afternoon because it was so nice outside and have attached a few. They are from right next to the Futbol Stadium near the outer edge of town.