Recount of the last few days...
i am not going to use capitals in this post because my computer "shift" keys only work on the right, which i am not used to...its a pain.
anyways, so this past weekend i lived up to a promise i made to visit the farthest reaches of my municipio to visit a few friends that i have up there. also, a new volunteer was just assigned to those sites so i thought i would check out where she lives too. i knew i was in for an ordeal because most people i told my plan to would respond with a face like they just smelled something awful and then say 'ay no, es feo'. well, i ignored them. then, i also ignored advice not to arrange my own transport and trusted my friend who i was visiting would guide me...wrong. we ended up waiting at the bus stop in my town for 3 hours. it would have been okay if maybe she hadn't decided that she only wanted to wait there and no where else. i felt like a prisoner in my own town-- unable to relax in my house or with some other friends. when the pick-up truck finally came, about 10 of us got into the back. on this road, only pick-ups or intense large cattle trucks can manage. the road is one of the worst roads you can imagine, its half nature, half cobble stone that was probably laid 100 years ago and nothing has been done to it since. the nature part is pure dust/dirt. it reminds me of moon dust or baby powder...same consistency. i was covered in it by the end. it is almost impossible to navigate during the rainy season... the trip up the hill was about an hour mostly because the road is so bad. the scenery up is beautiful, if you can manage to see it while holding on for your life. when we finally arrived, the temperature was in fact much cooler as they say it is. then, we hiked for another 15 minutes to get to my friends house. and, i mean hike. hike in the sense that i felt like i was in a national park on some obscure trail where animals and humans had declared it a sidewalk. it was very steep and reminded me how sore i would be after the weekend. so, i spent the night with my friend and witnessed two things it never occured to me that were really used anymore...the community relies on solar power for their energy, very future but really unreliable. the day i went up there was a lot of cloud coverage so the batteries were not recharged. so there was no electricity and no light. instead, they use oil cans that maybe you have seen in a museum somewhere. the light from the top of the can is what they carry around to see. also, in the morning, they stuck coals in an old-fashion iron to iron their clothes. it was very surreal in some ways. i slept that night in a room that held the whole family.
the next day, i met up with a different friend and we hiked up to visit the new volunteer. same road, same story....intense. the hike was 1 1/2 hours one-way and it felt every bit of it. when we got back, i bathed in spring water...its the only thing they have and i have a feeling the culprit for why i feel sick...i drank it all weekend.
all in all, a weekend experiencing the rougher side of peace corps life. when i joined the peace corps, i knew that i was not signing up for the intense life. my goal was to work somewhere with basic needs covered. luckily, peace corps does a good job with listening to the volunteer's needs/wants and places accordingly. and, while my site is still very much in the 'developing country' category, we do have things like electricity and potable water. instead, i get focus on education needs. which reminds me...
yesterday, i kicked off my first all-girls soccer tournament at the school. its a 6 on 6 tournament. there are 4 teams, 2 games every week for 3 weeks. i was unsure of the response because girls don't really play soccer here. their desigated sport is softball. its mostly just assumed that thats what they'll play. but, i had a good turn out with signups and the first game was great! the girls were totally into it and didn't want to stop playing. luckily, we also had a referee (one of the boys selected by the pe teacher) so things were mostly calm. after the first game, one of the boys asked if i was going to organize a tourney for them too! it was a good feeling especially after my all-women soccer team ended up being a gigantic flop....
so yeah, peace corps. this is my life right now...sitting here blogging eating french bread because i still don't have a stove or a fridge and trying not to sweat my life out. i live in a tropical region that is like Texas summer year round. imagine never getting a break from that....
anyways, so this past weekend i lived up to a promise i made to visit the farthest reaches of my municipio to visit a few friends that i have up there. also, a new volunteer was just assigned to those sites so i thought i would check out where she lives too. i knew i was in for an ordeal because most people i told my plan to would respond with a face like they just smelled something awful and then say 'ay no, es feo'. well, i ignored them. then, i also ignored advice not to arrange my own transport and trusted my friend who i was visiting would guide me...wrong. we ended up waiting at the bus stop in my town for 3 hours. it would have been okay if maybe she hadn't decided that she only wanted to wait there and no where else. i felt like a prisoner in my own town-- unable to relax in my house or with some other friends. when the pick-up truck finally came, about 10 of us got into the back. on this road, only pick-ups or intense large cattle trucks can manage. the road is one of the worst roads you can imagine, its half nature, half cobble stone that was probably laid 100 years ago and nothing has been done to it since. the nature part is pure dust/dirt. it reminds me of moon dust or baby powder...same consistency. i was covered in it by the end. it is almost impossible to navigate during the rainy season... the trip up the hill was about an hour mostly because the road is so bad. the scenery up is beautiful, if you can manage to see it while holding on for your life. when we finally arrived, the temperature was in fact much cooler as they say it is. then, we hiked for another 15 minutes to get to my friends house. and, i mean hike. hike in the sense that i felt like i was in a national park on some obscure trail where animals and humans had declared it a sidewalk. it was very steep and reminded me how sore i would be after the weekend. so, i spent the night with my friend and witnessed two things it never occured to me that were really used anymore...the community relies on solar power for their energy, very future but really unreliable. the day i went up there was a lot of cloud coverage so the batteries were not recharged. so there was no electricity and no light. instead, they use oil cans that maybe you have seen in a museum somewhere. the light from the top of the can is what they carry around to see. also, in the morning, they stuck coals in an old-fashion iron to iron their clothes. it was very surreal in some ways. i slept that night in a room that held the whole family.
the next day, i met up with a different friend and we hiked up to visit the new volunteer. same road, same story....intense. the hike was 1 1/2 hours one-way and it felt every bit of it. when we got back, i bathed in spring water...its the only thing they have and i have a feeling the culprit for why i feel sick...i drank it all weekend.
all in all, a weekend experiencing the rougher side of peace corps life. when i joined the peace corps, i knew that i was not signing up for the intense life. my goal was to work somewhere with basic needs covered. luckily, peace corps does a good job with listening to the volunteer's needs/wants and places accordingly. and, while my site is still very much in the 'developing country' category, we do have things like electricity and potable water. instead, i get focus on education needs. which reminds me...
yesterday, i kicked off my first all-girls soccer tournament at the school. its a 6 on 6 tournament. there are 4 teams, 2 games every week for 3 weeks. i was unsure of the response because girls don't really play soccer here. their desigated sport is softball. its mostly just assumed that thats what they'll play. but, i had a good turn out with signups and the first game was great! the girls were totally into it and didn't want to stop playing. luckily, we also had a referee (one of the boys selected by the pe teacher) so things were mostly calm. after the first game, one of the boys asked if i was going to organize a tourney for them too! it was a good feeling especially after my all-women soccer team ended up being a gigantic flop....
so yeah, peace corps. this is my life right now...sitting here blogging eating french bread because i still don't have a stove or a fridge and trying not to sweat my life out. i live in a tropical region that is like Texas summer year round. imagine never getting a break from that....
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