Thursday, December 15, 2005

More training...take it...pray...it´s a 10?

So the photo above is going to replace the "crappy" photo of the San Rafael Cedros crew that I took when we arrived. Apparently no one likes it. This is what the group looks like... :)

Ah, the memories of training...
More training. That´s what I did last week. It was really nice for everyone in my group to come back together for a couple of days. We caught up (which included some pretty intimate conversations that I won´t go into here because I hear Peace Corps removes any filter you might have in the states and I can´t even imagine how many emails I would receive after mentioning those subjects...), learned some more Spanish and had some pretty valuable technical sessions. We all stayed in the same hotel that we stayed in when we arrived here on Day 1, June 8th, in San Vicente and that brought back all kinds of memories. Like...(from day 1) in the morning when I showered, my roommate started shouting, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!!" And I, of course, said, "Showering...what do you THINK I´m doing??!!" And, as it turned out, because the shower walls didn´t reach the ceiling and the water pressure was something that Kramer and Seinfeld only dream about, every time I turned my body at all, water would spray all over the room, and my roommate. Ah, anyway. This time there were no real surprises. We´re used to all the surprises now, I think. The last day of this training was the most helpful for me, however. Our coordinator talked to us about the stages of adaptation that volunteers go through. I told her the previous day that I felt like I was on a huge roller coaster, with HUGE highs and HUGE lows...like I wasn´t my normal level-headed self. And during her presentation, she said that I used, word for word, what this textbook explained as one of the phases. So that´s exciting. And it gets a lot better in the next stage. :) Towards the end of training, I was missing my community so much that I left a day early. And it was SO nice to return. I visited with the Barahonas, the family that took me in after the volcano eruption, and it was extremely comfortable and fun. And EVERYTIME that I visit this family, the 4 girls, all under 10, scream, "¡Señorita Michelle!" and run up and hug me. Talk about a pick-me-up! It´s AWESOME!

You like it...it´s yours...
Here is a lesson I learned this week. I will NEVER EVER say to someone, "I like your ...." I went to a community dance on Saturday and started talking to this woman and just said something like, "Your necklace is really pretty." An hour later, she walks up to me and hands it to me and I started shouting, "No, no no!! I¨m NOT taking your jewelry!" And she insisted. So now it´s in my room. Earlier that day, I was laying on a hammock at a community member´s house. And I was seriously in heaven. Mid-70´s, not a cloud in the sky, just swaying back and forth. And what does the father do? Walks up and says, "I bought 4. I want to give one to you." Oh my goodness. That´s just great. A Peace Corps volunteer taking stuff from her community. Anyway, that just shows you how amazing the people here are, I guess. They have nothing, but freely give away what they do have.

My church day...
In the AM? Catholic mass. In the PM? Baptist service. Sunday was my church day, I guess. I´ve been attending the Catholic church since I arrived in the community, but it was a first for the Baptist church and oh my goodness, people were excited. When I walked in, there were about 5 or 6 youth sitting in the front right side. I took a seat next to a window about halfway back on the left. And they all turned and looked at me with shocked looks on their faces for about 5 seconds. Then they looked at each other like, "Is she going to stay here?" It was pretty amusing to watch. Finally, one of them walked over and said, "Are you going to stay for the service?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Who invited you?" I said, "No one. I just want to come. Is there a problem?" And he was like, "No, no!! Welcome!" I guess it´s not too popular to just drop in. And after the service, people RAN up to me and started shaking my hand and saying, "Welcome! Welcome! Did you like it? Were you bored? We´re so glad you came! Are you coming back?" I didn´t really have chances to answer people because there were so many questions flying around and people asking them! But it was a good experience.

Un pocito, por favor...
So I got haircut #3 in country last week. My instructions? "I just want a little taken off." The result? 3-4 inches gone. Seriously. The woman was like, "It´s a 10!" My thoughts? Hate it. But...I am supporting the community and I suppose that´s more important than liking my hair. Should make for some interesting family photos when they come next week...:)

Ok. That´s about it for now. Many people have asked me, "Ok. What is it exactly that a Peace Corps volunteer DOES?" I will be talking about work that I´m doing soon. The first 3-6 months are reserved for getting to know organizations, people, and general info about the community. I´m getting there and you´ll hear about it!! :)

Miss ya!

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