11/10

I got back to my site on Sunday afternoon.  Everything is fine here.  Apparently they were without light for 2 days (what’s new) and the nearest cell tower broke so we were without that for a day, but really there was just a bunch of rain.

Some highlights from the past few days:Climbed the water tank in town with two kids.  This was purely for work purposes only.  I was obviously just surveying it’s condition, noting potentials for future projects along the way.  Ha.  It’s a great view of lomas, cows, fields, palm trees, etc from the top.  I’ll have to take pictures sometime.

Ate my first sugar cane straight from the field.  Teeth are rotting as I write.

Visited Monte Plata (the closest pueblo) with my family.  There’s a post office there, so I figured I’d finally be able to mail letters that I wrote over a month ago.  Silly me, nothing ever works like that here.  They didn’t have any stamps and told me to come back some other day.  Ha.  So we went to the market.  My host mom bought some food and two Presidente’s.  Walked through town, sat in the park, and enjoyed our beers.

Had a guy stop me on my morning run and ask if I was from Chile.  What??  I mean, I wish, but no.  ”Were you by any chance at Portillo for Wine Week this year, sir?  Because I sure was.  Is that what you’re speaking of?..No?…Oh…yeah, I’m American.”

Speaking of my morning run.  I run on the road that leads out of my campo every morning.  It’s so beautiful.  It’s a dirt road lined with trees, fields of cows and goats, some horses, and hills in the distance.  I run for about an hour and rock out to some American music; I, of course, give a nice “buenos” to everyone I pass…but it is essentially the only hour to myself during the day – so I enjoy it.  Sure enough, this morning, I’m almost at the point where I start running and there’s a hefty dona standing in the middle of the road waving and yelling something with my name in it.  Apparently it’s absurd that I would want to go alone and she told me I needed to start walking with her and two other women at 6am in the morning.  Then another dona proceeded to say that she would go walking a 2nd time today so I wouldn’t have to go alone.  On one hand, I’m crying on the inside because I just want to run and listen to music and be alone, on the other I feel loved and accepted and know that I should join them on their walk.  Gaining confianza with the donas is probably the most important thing on my to do list.  Being on their good side will give me some credibility with other people in the community (because, let’s face it, the donas are in charge here)…and, considering I couldn’t even afford stamps a few weeks ago (to mail those damn letters), I am banking on a time in the not so distant future in which I will need some free dona meals…

I’m actually doing some legit things now, too.  It’s not all rice and beans and powerwalking with overweight donas.  I’ve kind of been working on my community map, but considering the clinic in my site has drawn a really nice one with every single house on it…I may just verify theirs…ha.  And I’m editing my Community Diagnostic (questionnaire thingy).  Eventually (very soon actually), I will begin interviewing 100 households about basics like light, water, condition of their house, and health related issues, such as maternal and child health, reproductive issues, family nutrition, hygiene, etc.  This will allow me to better understand the needs and wants of the community before I formulate a plan for the next two years.  (I felt the need to make myself sound somewhat productive, since most of the time I just write about absurd things).

Overall, these past few days have been pretty good and I’m ready to get going.