The Glass Is Half...

February was a big month. I finished my diagnostic, so I finally began to work in my community, I moved from my host family’s home to a home of my own (my first time truly living alone), and I got Lina. October, although it’s only half-way over, is shaping up to be a big month too. I took 3 kids to the Escojo National Conference, I found out a new health volunteer is coming within days to live just 30 minutes away from my site, (and that there’s a potential that 2 more might be coming to the big town just 10 minutes away in the not-too distant future), and I GOT PHONE SIGNAL! Unfortunately, the sort of phone signal that now reaches me is not the same kind that is compatible with the Peace Corps cell phone network, so in terms of being in touch with other volunteers, I’m pretty much where I used to be, except (hopefully) in the case of emergencies. But, the good news is that I can now be reached by anyone willing to pay for the call, 24 hours a day, unless something happens to the cell phone tower; this is unlike my old situation which was “landline” access at my neighbor’s house, so I could only be reached during polite visiting hours, and sometimes not at all because the antenna would be out of whack.

The national conference was great. The three boys I ended up taking where selected because they excelled in interviews I conducted with the entire group and for their good attendance records. I think they had a great time in the various sessions, all having to do with the theme “Breaking the Silence.” So we talked about topics that otherwise can often go unmentioned in this country: abortion, sexual orientation, family violence, sex work, drugs and alcohol, among others. I think that they (like me) enjoyed the nighttime activities the most; on the first night we had a debate in which every kid got to argue a different position on those controversial topics, and on the second night we had a huge dance with some great decorations.

Today marks my official (well at least in my mind it’s official; I seriously doubt anyone in Peace Corps keeps track of things like this) half-way mark of service! I got to country on September 13th 2007 and my official end date is November 20th 2009, which I calculated to have a half-way point of October 16th and one half. So there you have it! (Still sticking to that by-line that it only really starts to matter at my one-year-of-service-completed/one-year-of-service-left mark. I still don’t feel like I’ve accomplished enough to be already half way, and I’m technically, I’m really not. That great day will take place on the 20th of November.)

In the time between now and then I am hoping to complete 2 large projects with more success than they have started. The first is a garden project. I was able to get free seeds from the Department of Agriculture, but I have been unsuccessful in motivating my regular slew of women-participants to bring their children or husbands to come to gardening classes (as I doubted they’d be willing to do any of the heavy-lifting) so that stalled. That was, until I came up with the idea of switching the class times to weekends so that the high school kids (who have classes in the afternoons) can come to learn and to help. (They are the only super-enthusiastic people in the community anyways, and they all wanted to come when I first announced it.) I’m using the same technique to save the new youth group in that huge town one over from ours. We have been unlucky with having power on the nights of our meetings, and the sun is going down earlier and earlier now, so we had two unfortunate meetings where my kids were trying to get a group of over 50 to settle down and pay attention, in the dark! Besides that, the woman who lends us the meeting space got very irrationally angry that we were meeting in the dark and threatened to report us to the Catholic “dioceses” (which mostly consists of one (married) man on his motorcycle who totally supports us anyways.) But still, my main goal here has always been to make friends, and not enemies. So, I moved those meetings to the weekend as well, which makes me all-too-busy on weekends, and perhaps not busy enough during the week anymore.

Other updates:

FIRST AID: continues to be met with mixed results. This week it rained so attendance was limited to 4, but at least they were all adult women, the audience for which the class was originally intended. I think we have one more class, then a review session and then an exam. I don’t have a good feeling for how well people will do on the exam, mostly because I don’t really know how to differentiate between who’s really in the class and who just comes sometimes, like with the nutrition class, but actually worse in this one. After we wrap up I intend to educate the ladies (strictly ladies, I will not let the teens get involved in this part) about how to begin to spread what they’ve been learning: nutrition and first aid, as that is my primary reason for being here. (If only it was to master dominoes, which I have already done… many times over.) That will take us up to December when they’d lose interest for the holiday season (which technically already began on the 8th of this month, I was just informed) and when I go home for 3 weeks! Why start anything longer before a 3 week break, right?

ESCOJO in my town: we’re doing good. Our primary focus is the group in the town nearby, and they want to do it all again in the near year in the town one over on the other side of us. I think, more power to you! The whole main goal of Escojo is for the kids to get motivated and spread the word (about condom use, getting tested, not drinking tons or doing drugs, etc.) either in individual sessions to large groups or as a set in a course to large groups. As far as the library is concerned, we’ve hit a bit of a bump in the road: no one wants to donate the land. It’s unbelievable that in a town this size, in which every single resident is a farmer with loads of land sitting and going to squat a lot of the time, and in which everyone loves to read, we can’t get anyone to donate any land…yet. I am determined and have not given up hope. We’ve only asked a few people anyways. If no one will give it up freely, we would have to go through the government to solicit them to buy the land off of someone. That, obviously, could take years, time I, obviously, don’t have.

And a stall with the stoves project as well… the application for the funds from USAID hasn’t come through, and who knows when it might. And then, I’ll still have to apply for the money, which is dwindling. (I’m not sure if you’re aware, but we’re in the middle of a financial crisis here!) (I DON’T BUY IT! We’re still the richest of the rich, just give me the money to do the stoves, okay? Okay!) Anyways…that could hopefully begin in the start of the new year as well. If it doesn’t start then, then it might not ever… I know it seems crazy, but that’s a long project and I sort of have to know now to make sure I can finish it in before the more than a year that I have left.

In my personal life:

I feel like there are some people here who get me more and more each day, mostly the kids in the youth group, but also a select group of adult men and women (and even some kiddies). These relationships all thrive on my ability to laugh and myself and not take it too personally when they laugh at me.

Lina is in a phase of chewing her leashes to pieces in very clean cuts, which is frustrating. I learned just how attached to her (and defensive of her) I am when people started to tell me she gave me ringworm. I refused to believe it, and I still do. I think that it was her mother, because that dog really is dirty. Sad, but true. I try to keep Lina as clean as possible, and sadly no one says that for Lady, Lina’s mommy.

The rats and mice are back, and boy are the louder and messier than ever. I really dislike the tails. I guess I don’t like the razor-sharp teeth that can chew threw anything either… but the tails are super gross.

In the PC volunteer circle: I’m getting to know members of the group that swore in in May better and have been enjoying that. Things did, however, get a bit heated when a particular volunteer who agrees with me that Dave Matthews is good, that Jack Johnson is okay and the John Mayer sucks then said that Dire Straits and James Taylor are not good! Abomination! Obviously, he and I can no longer be friends. It’s okay though, the new group is swearing in at the end of this month.

And my hair is SO long and sadly, so unbelievable to manage! I think since my childhood this is the first time I’ve had such long hair and zero ability to do anything with it. I get comments all the time on it, mostly because it calls a lot of attention to itself, and not the good kind. People mention its length, its frizziness, and/or where exactly I have it situated on my head, but not once have I heard that it looks particularly lovely in the pony tail I have it in for the day. So the battle continues.