Week 4

Ugh, I’ve been having a spot of computer trouble lately. Hopefully, the situation has been resolved. This week has also felt crazy busy. I taught a class Thursday, which sounds a bit more impressive than it was, since I used a lot of visual aides and such. Either way, the combination of nerves and heat made me sweat a small pond. Also, we’ve been having a bit of youth group drama. We have to start this youth group at our local school to take part in a business competition as part of our training. Well the group needs to pick a product to sell and it’s caused a dash of division in our young ones. One group wanted postcards and the other this candy made from a local leaf. I was kind of hoping for some Gossip Girl like confrontation, where people get yogurt dumped on their head and banned from the steps of the Baptist church or something, but alas, the post card group kind of just stopped showing up and the problem sort of solved itself. These people need to watch more trashy tv.

We also got to step foot on American soil again, at the U.S. embassy that is. It was pretty, and we got a lecture on food security, which I guess was interesting, if your into that type of thing. I kind of was hoping we would get more of a tour though, or at the very least a cocktail party. I always imagine those are the types of things that happen at embassies. On the way back I had an extremely pleasant bus ride where I was shoved standing into this corner and some guy put a power saw by my foot for an hour, like that was an okay thing you can do.

Other interesting things this week. I had cookies and cream ice cream here the other day, it was heaven. I mean I know they use full on fat and probably a butt load of sugar, but I have no idea what else they use to make it so good! I’m not even a huge cookies and cream fan back in the states. Perhaps crack? There was also this odd parade Tuesday where primary school kids ran around the streets in random costumes. One kid was dressed like an old person, some were wearing crazy animal masks. Just in the middle of the day, for what I was told is some holiday called day of the children. I saw a bizarre chicken/mutant walking in the street the other day, that literally looked like an aborted fetus. People here also wear these American shirts, and they have no idea what the writing says. I’ve seen little boys with shirts that say “I’m a Proud Big Sister“, and an old woman with this Cancun shirt that said “I’m shy, but I have a huge dick”. It’s kind of awesome. The noise thing here is still bizarre to me. They shoot these bombas all day and night that are basically fireworks without the pretty lights. Just smoke and noise. All the time. Sometimes I feel like I’m in the middle of the American Revolution or something. Last night I heard what I swear was some kind of traveling band. This noise started getting louder and louder and it was like trumpets, drums, symbols, saxophones, the whole she bang. At 5 in the morning.

Tomorrow we head off on our separate volunteer visits. It’s where each trainee goes and lives with a different volunteer for 4 days to see what life as a real volunteer is like. Mine is Peter and I will be in Telica, Leon. I’m pretty pumped cause there’s both a volcano and a beach nearby, and he told me to bring hiking boots and a swimsuit. Not too excited about traveling tomorrow though. It’s a three hour bus ride, which I know will mean getting straddled by multiple strangers for three hours while other people try shoving tasty treats at me to buy that I know can only lead to diarreaville, and that is a township I visit far too often as it is. I know, no pictures or bar graphs again! But I’m bringing my camera to Leon and will take bunches! Until next time lovely people, I miss you all!