Finally got the picture uploading to work again, so here are a few pics from Mom and Uncle Gus' visit.
I’m still not used to only having two seasons. I got here at the beginning of winter, and now we’re in the beginnings of summer. But…it’s still pretty much the same. Only that it’s a bit warmer, and it’s supposed to start raining in May. On the radio they’ve got all kinds of ads for summer stuff- sunscreen, vacation destinations, etc. Pretty weird, I mean, it’s only may! Growing up in rural NY has really made me love the change of seasons, the distinctions between all four. Here, they just kind of blend together. And they’re not very different. Hence the nickname Land of the Eternal Spring, I guess.
So most of last week I spent in and around the Peace Corps Office, for a workshop called Project Design and Management. It was designed to help PCVs and people in their communities better prioritize the needs of their community, how to organize a project, how to solicit funds from government agencies, and how to supervise and evaluate projects. The previous volunteer in my site helped complete a latrine project, and over 160 families were able to build latrines. While I’m definitely benefiting from that, it’s kind of put the pressure on me to “bring” another project to the community. While I’d be glad to help, I’m a bit hesitant because there’s a lot of other work that I’m expected to complete. I was able to bring two community members to the workshop, both of whom are motivated individuals as well as pretty influential, so I’m hoping that if we do end up starting some kind of project (they’ve got all kinds of ideas, from an ambulance to water storage tanks to improved cooking stoves), that they’ll be able to play big roles in it.
When I got back to my aldea, there were all kinds of surprises waiting for me. First, there’s no water. The water pump that pumps water to all of the houses in the village every four days (each house has one spicket), is broken. There’s been no water for a week, and the community meeting to figure out how they’re going to fix it (I think basically money-wise) isn’t until Saturday. Super. Until then, everybody has to walk to springs to fetch water. (By everybody I mean the women, of course). Luckily though, we had a pretty good rainstorm yesterday, which filled up the tanks at our house. I don’t mind washing my clothes by hand…but I’m not exactly excited at the prospect of walking a mile to wash them in a stream.
There’s also some pretty good gossip in Soledad this week. While I was gone, three girls “went” with boys, which makes a total of six this month. I was surprised to find that not everybody here gets married by the Catholic church here, despite being such a religious community. However, it seems pretty normal for guys to llevar, or bring a girl home, often a secret girlfriend. When talking about the girl, they say se fue, or simply, she went with him. Generally the guy brings the girl home, and then a day or two later goes with his girl and his parents to the house of the girls’ parents, where they arreglar, or make sure there aren’t any hard feelings between the parents. At first I assumed that this was kind of a last minute thing, that only happened when the girl got pregnant. But now I’m finding that it’s pretty normal. So they move in with the guy’s family for a year or two or more, till they can afford a place of their own. Sometimes they get officially married in the church later, sometimes not.
The sad part about all of this is how young these kids are. Word on the street is that one of the, well, boys, is only 15!!!! A 22 year old guy llevared a 16 year old girl. Another girl who’s 20, and by far the best player on our soccer team, se fue a week ago. I was talking to my host mom about all of this, and said “I wonder if she’ll keep playing soccer”. She said “Oh of course not! The way it is here, as soon as a girl officially moves in with a guy, that’s it. It doesn’t matter if she played soccer, loved to dance…once she moves in with a guy, he doesn’t let her do any of that anymore”. How sad!
On a happier note, I bought an oven yesterday! I’ve been contemplating it for a long time, and finally did it yesterday. It was expensive, Q1,565, but will be well worth it…once I get my gas tank refilled. It ran out last night. Somehow I’m not very good at gauging when it’s almost out, and there’s no indicator. Bummer. But my neighbor told me to send it to town to get filled with one of the buses that pass the house every half hour or so. So I handed the tank and Q120 to the ayudante, and hopefully the bus will turn up soon with a full tank of gas for me.
Guess that’s it for now, happy spring!
Libby -- The picture of you and your mom is so cute!! Glad you had a good visit with them. Sorry to hear about losing your soccer teammate :( It's the same for girls in San Martin with basketball. Don't give up on asking her to come to practices or games though (at least until she tells you out right she won't come) There are a few women in town who go against the norm and do keep playing sports despite kids and husbands...maybe she will be the exception if she has a little extra encouragement from you (and hopefully a less machismo than normal husband...)
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