Wow, so I guess I’ve gotten a bit behind here…but let’s just say it’s been a super busy couple of weeks! So almost two weeks ago was our swearing in ceremony at the ambassador’s house, which was pretty cool. We all brought two members of our host families, and as you can see, my host mom had a traje made for me for the occasion. I was kind of blown away by the gesture, since I know they aren’t cheap! The blouse is called a huiple (wee peel), the belt is called a faja and the skirt is called a corte. Usually they aren’t made from the same material…but I guess doña Rosa was really into this bright red fabric :) Haha, do I look tall or what in these pictures? Afterwards Kamille, Stephen, Erin and I took our families to Pollo Campero for lunch. It’s kind of a glorified Guatemalan KFC if you ask me, but they all were excited to go, and it really did end up being a good time. It was fun to get everybody all together!
I got to my site just in time for All Saints Day, which people celebrate here by decorating graves with flowers and all kinds of stuff. I went with the volunteer I’m replacing and a family from our village. The rest of last week I spent following Lauren around and meeting people as she said goodbye to them, and getting to know the lay of the land a little. Houses are almost as spread out here as they are at home (ok maybe not quite as much…) but the biggest difference is that all the roads are dirt (well mud right now), with short cuts through pastures and cornfields. Needless to say it can be a little disorienting. But it’s really beautiful here!
I stayed with Lauren at her house last week, but then Friday night finally got moved into my new house! I’ve got a pretty big room with a small family. The couple, Soledad and Nando, are in their 20s, and have a cute 2.5 year old daughter named Emelin. She’s rather mischievous, but fun to play with. She asks me at least 10 times a day “Y tú mama? Y tú papa?”. I’m trying to teach her to say Nueva York…but she hasn’t quite got it yet. So besides organizing myself and my stuff, and the furniture and dishes I bought from Lauren (THANK YOU by the way, it’s made my life a ton easier!) this weekend, I also got out a bit. I went to a graduation party on Saturday (for a kid I’d never met before, of course), and mass on Sunday, and then novenario services both days. It’s like a short church service that’s given in honor of someone on the 7th year anniversary of their death, for nine days in a row. With all this Catholicism, I’m starting to cross myself a lot! Haha. Religion is a funny thing here. The idea of different Protestant denominations is rather foreign- people look at me a bit cross-eyed when I say I’m Methodist. You’re either Catholic or Evangelical…or I suppose heathen, but I haven’t met any of those yet . But despite not being Catholic, I really did enjoy the services I attended this weekend- good messages, and four acoustic guitars that were actually in tune! Amazing!
As for work, well it’s gunna be a little slow to start I think. First off, the dry season is just about to start, making it an inopportune time to plant anything, because most people don’t have enough extra water for a garden. Also, it’s apparently going to get very cold. Brrr. It’s already cold! (Even when the thermometer says 60, I’m wearing multiple layers and a hat- maybe the constant mist and fog make it feel colder?) Also, I don’t know many people yet, or know my way around. So at the meeting of my women’s group today we planned out a bunch of visits to the houses of the women in the group, so I can meet their families, learn how to get to their houses, and see the gardens and compost piles that they’ve been working on. I’m excited for this weekend though, because I’ll be traveling to a neighboring town with two women in my group to learn how to make sausage, cheese and jam. Strange combination I guess, but a local Ag group is putting the workshops on for free, and it sounds like a cool opportunity. I’m staying the night with a volunteer that lives there, and then Sunday a bunch more women from our village are going to meet up with us for a fruit and veggie exchange. Since my site is so cold, they can only grow vegetables (corn, broccoli, cauliflower, and potatoes are the main crops, some cabbage too), but this other town, only about an hour away, grows all kinds of fruits. I don’t know how long these exchanges have been going on, but it’s a great way for them to make some money and add some fruit to their diet.
Guess that’s it for now! I hear the post office here is less than reliable, so Mom’s sending a test package. Give her a call if you want my address!
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