Hello all. I only have a moment to catch-up. In a few moments I leave for my site and start the beginning of my service. My stomach is in knots but I think I am ready to begin. My site visit was amazing and I really got a feel for my town and some possible projects that I could begin. However, it rained the majority of the visit, which meant the schools were closed, and I met only a few teachers. My town is small with only a few small stores. There are however, quite a few billiard halls, a large field to play soccer and one or two bars that only really men seem to frequent. The women expressed to me how there is no real form of entertainment for them except watching television. That is something I hope to work on with things such as women’s groups where we could do art with garbage and such. I thought we could also try to make personal gardens and compost piles in their backyards since there isn’t a market with a large variety of vegetables. Another goal of mine is to work with the deaf-mute population of the town since they have never been taught any form of communication.
Leaving my training town was difficult. My host family was an amazing family that really helped me integrate into the culture. On my last night they threw me a despedida where we broke a piñata, drank pop and cookies and ended the night with a scary movie.
I was sworn in as a volunteer on Monday in a beautiful ceremony. The rest of the week I spent in an all-volunteer conference. We learned all about food security and our future roles to help this country. Last night was Thanksgiving. I was privileged to be invited, along with 6 other volunteers, to the United States Ambassador’s home. (My mother hooked-up me up with that connection back home.) The house was beautiful; his family was down to earth and the food was delish! I am not going to lie between the conference and the turkey dinner (minus turkey for me); I don’t feel like I am in a third world country! But it is back to reality! Sorry for the vagueness of this entry but I am in a rush to begin my next journey!
