Doing Well! (written 8-03-10)

A week and a half in, Ryan and I are doing well in our new village. We are thankful that our house is set in a nice, quiet spot next to an older couple's house. I am getting to know some of the women better and we've gone on a couple walks to talk to people and see the village. This will take a lot of time. We have a larger village compared to other PC volunteers. I am trying so hard to remember people's names, but it's tough. Everyone seems excited to visit with us and is happy we are here to learn about their way of life. There is so much to learn and experience but we have plenty of time! I am relishing not being inside an office building everyday (although that would be air conditioned!) and actually having time to relax, read, not eat breakfast in my car or at my desk, just sit and talk with people and enjoy the cool mornings and evenings. A lot of the time I feel like we've traveled back in time to the pioneer days in North America. There are a LOT of challenges here and not knowing the language and culture can be very frustrating at times, but I would say overall we are doing well and enjoying the adventure. We LOVE getting calls, letters and packages from home and truly appreciate the encouragement and interest in our lives in this fascinating country from friends and family back home.

Random things I'm experiencing:

• Washing my dishes and clothes by hand all the time. My back is not feeling it.
• Having random people that I don't know ask what I cooked today. This is an everyday conversation starter. In general, I don't answer chicken and rice, which is what most people cook everyday, so lots of bewildered looks ensue.
• Having every door and window open all day in the house for air (without screens) but having to close them at dusk to avoid mice entering the house. Even at night the house is hot but when the electricity comes on at 7pm we have our fan.
• Being able to see a billion stars at night. It's beautiful if I have enough deet on to protect me from the mosquitoes so I can enjoy standing still and gazing up.
• Greeting everyone I see with the scripted lines that depend on what time of day it is. Many PCVs find this annoying but I kind of like it. It's nice that everyone acknowledges everyone.
• Preparing every meal from canned or dry goods. I try to ignore the thought of my sodium intake for the next two years. I am used to shopping in the produce and frozen food sections at the grocery store. Neither one is possible here. Fruits and vegetables are only abundant in the city and they go bad really quickly due to the weather. We hope to start a garden (though it will take a while for anything to fruit) and find some people in our village who have gardens and are willing to sell us some things. We do have a baker in our village who sells bread and some of the little stores sell eggs, so we are thankful for that.
• Having to put on sunscreen everyday and mosquito repellent literally ALL the time. You'll be happy to know that I've only mildly burned once in the entire 3 months I've been living on the equator, Mom, which is pretty damn good. All of the locals get a big kick out of the fact that I am way more white than Ryan. Many people in our village have asked if he is American and where his family comes from. I'm still working on light conversation vocab, so try going into a politically correct ethnicity discussion in a language you barely know.
  
  
  Here are a few pictures of our house and from our first week in our village, complete with captions explaining what is going on. Enjoy!