a few new thoughts and amazing photographs from Ariana, that great Woman of the World, during her adventures in Ecuadar with the Peace Corps:

"It has been over 6 months since I last sent a mass update, so I thought it was time for another one. Plus I have big news!

"Pierre and I are engaged! We went to the Galapagos at the beginning of this month and Pierre proposed one night when we were walking along the beach at sunset. He timed it so that it was the night of the full moon, so we had the full moon on one horizon and the sunset on the other. We had climbed to the top of a lookout point, and that's where Pierre popped the question. We were surrounded by volcanic rocks and marine iguanas blowing snot rockets. Very romantic no? (Marine iguanas are the world's only ocean-going lizards. They swim out in to the surf to eat algae and have special glands to remove salt from their bodies. They get rid of the salt by blowing snot rockets. See attached photos of our proposal witnesses.)

"Pierre and I are thinking Chicago summer 2009, somewhere outside along the Lake Michigan waterfront. Save the date! It would be awesome if the Cubs are in town that weekend, and also a Wilco concert. I have decided that I am not going to a bridezilla. Instead, I am going to be the great delegator. So that everyone can start thinking about their role, here at the tasks I´ve already assigned:

Grandpa Rickard: minister
Nathan: all playlists
Julia: flowers
Sasha: all fashion decisions, picking out outfits for entire wedding party
Cindy: writing the letter to Wilco asking them to perform or attend the wedding (She wrote the letter to DMB inviting them to Nathan and Julia's wedding, so she has experience in this sort of thing)
Carrie: catering decisions
Jamie & Kristin: bachelorette party, you know what i want
Mollie: invitations
Rakhi: choreographing all dance-offs at reception

"Pierre and I had a great time in the Galapagos. The highlight for me was snorkeling with sea turtles and seeing the penguins. I also think my brief time there bleached parts of my hair. Or maybe it's because I dyed my hair reddish in September. For the first time in my life, parts of my hair are blonde! Very weird. Here's a link to my pictures:

"Pierre's photos are much more organized and informative than mine. He also went a little crazy with Google Earth

"The Peace Corps gossip chain is very quick. I told a couple of people my good news, and pretty soon everyone heard about it. One of the Peace Corps nurses congratulated me yesterday, and I have no idea who told her.

"I am currently in Quito to hang out with some friends and celebrate the new group of trainees swearing in as volunteers. It's kindof sad, because at the last swear-in celebration, lots of people from my training group came and it was super fun. Last night, there were only 4 people from my group at the party. My group has been dropping like flies. We started off with 35, and now we are down to 26. My friend Joseph went home last month. He was my 3rd good friend to go home. First Michelle, then Mike, and now Joseph. Both Mike and Joseph were in my Rebelde dance group. My group is falling apart! But I know who I want to recruit to replace them, if we ever need to perform again =) Mike is actually back in Ecuador visiting this month, so he, Maggie, Mike's girlfriend, Amarilys and I are going to see Rebelde today in Quito! I'm very excited. Should be us and thousands of screaming pre-teens and teenagers. It'll be awesome!

"Joseph's departure was tough. But I still have Maggie, Trent, Lindsay, and Nick when he's not being a brat. And I've been using my tried-and-true coping mechanisms: journaling, reading, private dance parties, and the O.C. (I wonder if Pierre will join me for my private dance parties when we're living together or just run away scared like my cats.)

"But I can't complain. I'm going to Machu Picchu next weekend with Nathan and Julia. And I did go to the Galapagos this month. The Galapagos and Machu Picchu in the same month! They don't call it the Posh Corps for nothing. I have 11 months left of my service (but who's counting?) and I'm going to make 3 more trips to the Amazon, plus a Galapagos cruise with my family, and 4 more groups of visitors to entertain. So I should be busy and not too lonely.

"In other news, some pickpocket got my Peace Corps phone when I was either on the bus or waiting for the bus. The buses in Santo Domingo are so crowded, it´s hard to keep control of all my stuff. Anyway, no big deal, I´m just glad they didn't get my wallet, Ipod shuffle, or good phone. I am now on to my 3rd phone...

"I'm still working on the same projects I've been doing for awhile now, and starting some new ones. I started the botany and herpetology projects at the nearby forest preserve, which is fun. I'm starting a computer class next month and I'll start teaching English again next week.

"Thanks for reading! Send me an update if you can. Hope everyone's enjoyinging lovely spring weather =)

Love,
Ariana"

P.S. "Just wanted to share the pictures I took this week of frogs and an opossum at La Perla. I haven't actually sat down and tried to identify these frogs yet. A lot of the them are Jordan's casque-headed treefrogs. I'll be going back to La Perla next month with Paul Hamilton, so I should have more photos of hopefully new species then."