Road trip

So, I am 4 days into a Peace Corps road trip that has me in the capital for 4 days and then a tourist attraction for another 3.

It started out with a warden training where we were given our individual territories and how to cover them and alert our people in case of an emergency- political, natural, or otherwise. Basically, we had to know how to enact our emergency action plan effectively. I officially am the warden of the eastern half of the country which includes more than 60 people. Though, I luckily split my territory in half and the alternate warden takes the other half. We start making site visits next month to get to know the region and also make sure volunteers feel safe at their sites and make sure they are aware of how to enact their personal emergency action plan. So, it will be a great opportunity for me to see more of the country and other PCVs sites. I am looking forward to it.

The second thing I was in town for was the editing of our volunteer magazine- The El Camino. I recently volunteered to be the editor for the Youth Development volunteers so we spend two days compiling articles that people submit. I steal facebook photos from people's profiles of their sites, I browse blogs and get permission to publish excerpts, and people send me poems, opinion pieces, etc. All are related to PC life and site experiences pretty much.

I am about to start the third leg of my trip tomorrow which will be an in-service training for the Youth Development program. Needless to say its hard to pack for a week in a little backpack. I realized long ago that my small backpack is too small and my big one is way too big (and attracts attention to the fact that I am not from here). It is a problem I hope to remedy when I go home to the States for Christmas. If not, I will constantly be stuck washing my pants with a bar of soap in the shower- yet another new and wonderful experience courtesy of the Peace Corps.

Best part about capital visits- hot showers and terrible American food that you miss- Wendy's, Sbarro, China Wok....mmmm.