Get Ready!

These last few weeks cannot possibly be representative what my service will be like because if it is, I will never make it two years. In the end of July, I was in a fabulous place, busy finishing my community diagnostic, making some real friends and teaching a disgusting amount of English. On my morning run, I decided to take a little detour when I was viciously attacked by a guard dog in my armpit. It scared me so badly, I shrieked “Somebody help me!” in English, which quickly turned into the new town joke. Jokes aside, the incident really freaked me out. The following week I did the six hour trip to the capital twice for rabies shots, finished my diagnostic presentation, moved into my house, and said some quick goodbyes as I was off to a week-long training.

The beginning of the training was our presentations and time to plan our year with our project partners. Mine cancelled at the last minute so I was all alone presenting and planning. The rest of the training was great. On top of getting the information, it was kind of therapy to hang out with all of my wonderful friends from pre-service training, eat copious amounts of food, and use flush toilets. Upon returning to Pedro Santana, I did my rounds of visiting and was ready to start planning some projects. Apparently my body was not ready because I came down with something that knocked me to bed for two days before I was sent to the capital where I stayed in a hostel, then in the hospital for two nights, and finally back to my community.

So, here I am in Pedro Santana, hoping to free myself of medical crises. I got home last night to my comfortable new house with no furniture except beds and plastic chairs, classy. I was warmly welcomed by the neighbors and some friends who have been very worried about my health. After being constantly asked by nurses why I had no company in the hospital, my vulnerable little self esteem sopped up the affection.

My grand plan is to do some serious visiting, find an end to my English classes (involving certificates), and slowly start some projects with water and kids. My less grand plans are to return to studying Spanish and Creole, do some recycled art, and buy some earplugs (because, damn, they play that merengue loud). My fantasy plan is to go to Haiti and work with a large binational project based in my town, but as of now, I am forbidden to cross the bridge. On a more feasible note, I am psyched about cooking. I bought a bunch of stuff in a supermarket in the capital that I can’t get in Pedro Santana: whole wheat pasta, lentils, oatmeal, peanut butter, soy protein, cinnamon, thyme, pepper, and oregano. Today I bought carrots, onions, and egg plant at our weekly street market. Man, I must be hungry!
How self-involved! I hope to make this blog less about me and more about the situation of the people who live here. It’s about to get so educational, you won’t want to read it… get ready!