Tuesday, July 31, 2007

In advance.

I am going on some field trips and I don't know how well technology will follow me so heres an update of whats going on over the next bit of my life.

Tommorow Alice and I are getting a cell phone. I had orginally planned to swear off these awful leashes for two years, but the problem is simple. They are super cheap, and free to recieve calls. I am paying about 32 dollars for one. It is not super nice, but now people can call me, and with a phone card in the states, it will cost you about 2 cents a minute. I can also recieve text messages, and rumor has it, it doesn't cost any more to send one out here. And if it does, you can go to tigo.com and put in my number, and send one that way for free.

Tommorow I am visiting the capital to go to a market and the bus station. Basically, they are teaching us how to buy/haggle food, and how to travel. Good information, I reckon. Then Thursday until Sunday we are visiting another volunteer. She lives in a fair sized city, so we're excited to go. Then next wednesday we change training sites, so updates may be sparse, but we don't know yet.

I'll try to let everyone know what the good word is before then, but if I can't, Good luck over the next six weeks.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

A couple of notes

Disclaimer: The Peace Corps employs me, but that is it. My opinions don´t reflect thiers, and occasionally vice versa. Sadly, some volunteers have done some very silly things that reflected poorly on this organization in various ways and now I must point out that all opinions expressed below are my own. All recollections are my own version, so your view of this blog should reflect only poorly on me, but reflections of the postive type can be pointed towards whoever. Rock out.

Also, I am working with varios keyboards of various quility, and, additionally, my grammar really sucks, so if your the type to enjoy this sort of correcting, let me know. I could use an editor. Shawn, I´m looking your way.

Today was one of the better days I have had. Why? Because my wife brought me a doughnut from the big city. How awesome is that? It is the first American food of any type I have had.

Also, since I know potential volunteers often peruse blogs to find out what it is like (since I did), heres a story for you. In training, they are going to talk alot about unwanted attention, and as well they should. There is alot of this sort of attention. Some of the ladies are starting to get it alot. Being a man I thought that I would have less to worry about, and overall I do, but when it happens, it is a bit of a shock. Over the weekend I was in the midst of a confrontation with a drunk man who wanted to drink and dance with some volunteers. We weren´t even at a club or a bar. And when I told him they couldn´t speak Spanish, and don´t like to dance, he got mad. Then I had to ask him to stop propositioning my wife. He got even more upset. We excused ourselves from the situation at about the right time, as after we left, he threw a chair. This type of attention is common, and his reaction is not abnormal, and the police aren´t always just a phone call away. If you cannot keep a level head during stressful situtions, reconsider. Most volunteers who experience problems don´t call attention to themselves, it just happens. We knew when we needed to leave, and we did, despite the fact that besides him we were really having fun. Good decisions keep you out of trouble.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

A new post.

The shift button was broken. I figured that was it, but I had to use another computer to decide for sure. Internet Cafes are not what they were in Europe. Your connection is shaky, the keyboards are not only a little different, but half the keys are so worn you can no longer read the letter. I haven't played hunt and peck since I was 12, but now it is like that with a game of guess and check thrown in for extra fun. Neat!

My Spanish is improving quickly, but it seems my Spanish teacher thinks I talk poorly. Today I got a book on pronunciation. I think my left over Spanish accent annoys her, since everytime I mumble, or use a th sound instead of a hard c, or growl a j she makes me say it over and over until said behavior disapates. Overall, I am in the middle of the pack, but I am less afraid to use it and mess up. I met a volunteer who has been here a year and he is still nervous to use it. I think my ability to embarass myelf will be handy. This week I have to talk for 20 minutes on a theme of my choice in Spanish. that should be fun, but today I talked about soccer for 15 to a group that could not have cared less, so at least it can't go worse. It is just not my fault that I am in a class full of ladies who don't like sports.

Not a whole lot is going on really. Since I messed up my knee my first day off I haven't played alot of sports since. I will get back into it, but only once it stops hurting after I walk home. I'll probably go for a jog on Saturday to see how things go. I've restarted hackey sack, but I can only use one leg well right now, but thats cool.

I need to get home before dark, but I hope this finds everyone well.

Drew

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Third world computers

Never in my life have I felt so computer illiterate. Mind you, I can use the thing, but for the life of me I have no clue how to use the shift key, nor do I know how to ask if it is broken. every time I need to use a capital I have to turn on and off cap locks. To get to the underscore, I have to cut and paste. I know this is my fault, but, I hope i figure it out soon.

I love this place. It is that simple. Like when I was in Spain, I know I am making every mistake and offending everyone I can, but there is a much stronger group orientation here, and no one wants to tell me I am being a jerk. I am learning a lot from my host family and the classes that we have started, but it is not enough. They did not tell me until the second day I should speak formally, even with people my own age, and they did not tell me until the third I can´t throw things to people. My host brother is 11 years old and wanted to know what a hackey sack was, so I went and got one, and tossed it to him... I just thought he was not expecting it. I had no idea this was a severe insult. Apparently, here, we only throw things to dogs. I mean that's cool, I just wish I had known. I respect my host brother. He´s cool. Everything here is formal. It is part of the group dynamic that exists, and that's cool, its just a really hard adjustment since the Spanish I learned is really quite vulgar. I learned from drunk Spaniards, and after that, drunk Mexicans, all with loose tongues. Now I have to learn how to be polite in communication. It sounds silly, but really it´s tough.

My host family is very accepting. I have 2 brothers, 17 and 11, but I have all sorts of cousins who stop by all the time. I eat the best food of any volunteer here because we were placed with the cook at the training center. She cooks us the same thing all the admins eat, so lunch is a real honor. All the other volunteers have to eat food from a thermos, I get a fresh hot meal. On the weekend she has her own restaurant. We haven´t been yet, but its going to be awesome.

We have our own room, and our own inside bathroom, though not everyone is so lucky. We have an eltroducha which is supposed to keep the water in our shower hot, but really it just keeps it from being painfully cold. Wanna know what it is like? turn on your shower, and don´t turn it on as cold as it will go. That is what it is like. Without it, I think it would turn on a lovely snow mix.

The training center is rough, but it is getting easier. I understand most of the Spanish, but since this is a very group culture, and I don´t know anyone yet, it feels very impersonal. I need to start talking to the trainers, but I don´t know what about.

Anyways, I´ll fill you all in more as time goes by. I can see things going well, and I think I will get what I came for