¡Gracias por la Comida!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home! Another Thanksgiving away from the family and I`m starting to wonder if I really like my Aunt`s cooking, haha, don`t ever tell her I said that. Actually, with the help of two other Americans we made Thanksgiving dinner for 15 people on Wednesday night. It was awesome! We had carrots, green beans, stuffing, mango chutney, corn bread, mashed potatoes, roasted chickens and gravy. We did our best for being in Peru with a two-burner stove and a crappy oven.
I've moved into my own amazing little room, with two huge windows, where I have all the peace and quiet in the world (except for the pigs in the yard, the rooster`s call at 4:30am and that little boy that walks around at the crack of dawn honking a bicycle horn selling whoknowswhat). It`s great for studying español, coloring, journaling, reading, sleeping, etc. It is a bit like site would have been except I`m accross the hall from other volunteers so lonliness is nothing to worry about. And I can take all the freezing cold showers I want. Bucket baths in Guinea felt great, except that I had to stand in my dungeon of a bathroom with my headlamp on. Now I have a nice bathroom and a real shower but the water is ccccchhhhhiiiillllllyyyy.
Work at the orphanage is different than anything I´ve ever done before. There are three groups of children: the Lupes (5 handicapped children), the Pequeños (5 little boys), and the Grandes (everyone else). Each day I am assigned to work with one of the 3 groups from either 6-1 in the morning or 2-8 in the afternoon. The orphanage is staffed with full-time Señoritas who tell me what to do and hopefully I understand them and do it correctly. It`s getting easier as I'm getting to know what needs to be done, getting to know the kids and the Señoritas, and improving my Spanish. Still, I often have to get them to repeat what they want me to do several times before I figure it out.
There is a very high turnover rate of volunteers and it shows among the staff and kids. They are used to new faces and used to old ones leaving. They know not to get too attached to you because soon there will be someone else in your place. It`s hard for me to get used to this. It`s different than the daycare in Asheville or preschool in Prague. Those kids go home to their parents at the end of the day. The difference is these kids live there, they are eachothers family and they have to put a guard up with the voluteers or they will be depressed when someone they were close to leaves. Despite their difficulties, they are adorable, happy and fun. Some of them were climbing all over me from the moment they met me. Others, I have yet to win over, but I`ve got confidence in my abilities.
The other day I was reading from my journal about Guinea. Being in another under-developed country so soon is really giving me an interesting perspective. Ayacucho is a fairly big city in Peru, and one of the poorest. I haven`t experienced villagois life but so far it is amazing how much more these people have than Guineans. Specifically, I was reading about the time my neighborhood caught a theif and a mob brought the boy down to the police in the middle of the night. That would never happen here. Guinea is so wild and unpredictable. Here they have a paved pedestrian walks downtown! Guinea barely had paved roads for the cars. There are internet cafe`s all over the city. You can buy almost anything you need (except peanut butter), as opposed to Guinea where you need to stock up in Conakry. There is ice cream everywhere!
Laying in bed and reading about my time in Guinea, I found myself taking my pen and writing GUINEA on the back of my hand. I`m not sure why, but I think it was because I wanted to make sure I don`t forget. I`m sure I won`t, but I guess just in case I`ll make a point to remember once in a while.
Anyways, I`m in a place right now where I need to make some decisions. Do I want to reenroll in the Peace Corps, now, which probably won´t happen until as early as the summer, or do I want to start thinking about going back to school and starting a career? Should I look for a job in South America? Who knows? Let me know if you`ve got any ideas for me. In the meantime, enough of all this internet.
¡Besos y Hasta Luego!
I've moved into my own amazing little room, with two huge windows, where I have all the peace and quiet in the world (except for the pigs in the yard, the rooster`s call at 4:30am and that little boy that walks around at the crack of dawn honking a bicycle horn selling whoknowswhat). It`s great for studying español, coloring, journaling, reading, sleeping, etc. It is a bit like site would have been except I`m accross the hall from other volunteers so lonliness is nothing to worry about. And I can take all the freezing cold showers I want. Bucket baths in Guinea felt great, except that I had to stand in my dungeon of a bathroom with my headlamp on. Now I have a nice bathroom and a real shower but the water is ccccchhhhhiiiillllllyyyy.
Work at the orphanage is different than anything I´ve ever done before. There are three groups of children: the Lupes (5 handicapped children), the Pequeños (5 little boys), and the Grandes (everyone else). Each day I am assigned to work with one of the 3 groups from either 6-1 in the morning or 2-8 in the afternoon. The orphanage is staffed with full-time Señoritas who tell me what to do and hopefully I understand them and do it correctly. It`s getting easier as I'm getting to know what needs to be done, getting to know the kids and the Señoritas, and improving my Spanish. Still, I often have to get them to repeat what they want me to do several times before I figure it out.
There is a very high turnover rate of volunteers and it shows among the staff and kids. They are used to new faces and used to old ones leaving. They know not to get too attached to you because soon there will be someone else in your place. It`s hard for me to get used to this. It`s different than the daycare in Asheville or preschool in Prague. Those kids go home to their parents at the end of the day. The difference is these kids live there, they are eachothers family and they have to put a guard up with the voluteers or they will be depressed when someone they were close to leaves. Despite their difficulties, they are adorable, happy and fun. Some of them were climbing all over me from the moment they met me. Others, I have yet to win over, but I`ve got confidence in my abilities.
The other day I was reading from my journal about Guinea. Being in another under-developed country so soon is really giving me an interesting perspective. Ayacucho is a fairly big city in Peru, and one of the poorest. I haven`t experienced villagois life but so far it is amazing how much more these people have than Guineans. Specifically, I was reading about the time my neighborhood caught a theif and a mob brought the boy down to the police in the middle of the night. That would never happen here. Guinea is so wild and unpredictable. Here they have a paved pedestrian walks downtown! Guinea barely had paved roads for the cars. There are internet cafe`s all over the city. You can buy almost anything you need (except peanut butter), as opposed to Guinea where you need to stock up in Conakry. There is ice cream everywhere!
Laying in bed and reading about my time in Guinea, I found myself taking my pen and writing GUINEA on the back of my hand. I`m not sure why, but I think it was because I wanted to make sure I don`t forget. I`m sure I won`t, but I guess just in case I`ll make a point to remember once in a while.
Anyways, I`m in a place right now where I need to make some decisions. Do I want to reenroll in the Peace Corps, now, which probably won´t happen until as early as the summer, or do I want to start thinking about going back to school and starting a career? Should I look for a job in South America? Who knows? Let me know if you`ve got any ideas for me. In the meantime, enough of all this internet.
¡Besos y Hasta Luego!
posted by emily at 10:41 PM
1 Comments:
you know my vote on what you should do! come back to FBCDC! :) Just kidding! I know you will be great at anything you decide to do!
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