not even here 2 weeks!

See photos at: (updated as of 8/26/09)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102016&id=640467317&l=4965dba765

But it feels like 2 months already - it has been so jammed packed! With all the various lectures from 8a-5p each day, my favorite being "Let's Talk About Bowel Movements" which is about WHEN we get diahhera, not IF. My head is spinning with info overload. And then we were shipped off to our CBT (Community Based Training) sites.

I’m now living in a small village, San Antonio, which is about 1.5 hours to the Guatemalean border by bus and 3 hours to the coast. So I'm in the middle of nowhere/middle of Belize. It's a pretty here at least, located in the mountains. There about about 1000-3000 people here. Seems like it’s barely 100 people, which is great, you really get to know your neighbors. But, there is no a/c and no running water. We do have electricity so I have a fan I can run at night which allows me to fall asleep. Staying asleep is another matter. Average temp is mid 90s. All the time. Even when it rains. Which is often.

And my first night here I woke with a start because someone was knocking on my window. Couldn't even breathe or hear anything because my heart was pumping so loudly. Turns out, the "tap tap tap" sound comes from a gecko. A bleeping geecko. Yes, jungle noises are FUN.

So I have my own room, sorta – the house is one large square about 26 feet wide by 32 feet long. My room is in the southwest corner, by the "kitchen" (which has a sink with no facuets and an electric stove/oven). It is an 8’x10’ space made out of boards supported by bungee cords and a credenza. It is open at the top to the ceiling (about 3’ of open space) so I can see the geckos when they come in from the roof. The family sleeps in another "room" caty corner to mine. There is a "living room" with a TV and DVD player, not sure if either work.

We have a latrine in back by the pigs (there are 9 of them, one is pregnant), which is past the chicken coops, about 100 feet away from the house. There are three dogs, one is pretty protective and my host mom has been very worried he would go after me. So I haven’t gone out at night for the bathroom. But I’ve started bringing him a cracker each time I do out during the day and I think he’s almost decided I’m OK so I might be able to go at night now.

My host mom, Antonia, is a very hard working woman. She takes care of her family (2 kids under the age of 4 and her husband who is gone quite a few days a week for work at a local resort which is 2 hours away) and is involved in the Women’s Group in town. They make clay products, embroider, jewelry but are struggling with power politics. The founder doesn’t want to share information and after 7 years it’s starting to grate on the others. Ahh, so good to know issues of power and control and the resulting nonsense is the same world over.

I help Antonia to wash the dishes (after each meal) - we use rain water and a lot of Dawn. I sweep the floor and learned how to do laundry on Sunday. Happily and luckily, she has a machine that agitates the clothes which then we double rinse in bins by hand then the machine does a spin cycle. Then it only take about 20 minutes for the clothes to air dry on a clothes line, if it’s not raining. Which it does. Often.

During the day, we (there are 5 volunteers here) are in “school” six days a week (about a 20 minute walk) with language (spanish) in the am starting at 8a and Tech Training in the pm, til around 4p. The language is a little too remedial for me but that's OK. I usually read ahead or look up vocab. The Tech Training is pretty good – things like how to do conduct community assessments in a way that will build trust. Includes SWAT and other tools and approaches I’m very familiar with. So all that feels easy.

Just not sure about the rural living for 2 years. It's just as tedious and wearing as I remember from India and Africa. But my final Site Assignment remains a question, won't know that until Oct 2, then I really know what's in store for me ... though I could guess based on the community based/practice run I'm going through right now.

One of the best parts of San Antiono is the daughter here at my host family. Julissa aka Julie. She’s adorable, four years old, a lovely Kamryn (my USA niece) substitute. My language skills are right at her level, we can have quite lengthy conversations. Especially about naming body parts and animals, counting, colors, etc. And my Spanish is pretty darn good if I may say so myself. At least it seems so in my head/to my ears. My host mom even said “sometimes when I hear your Spanish, it’s quite good”. That was after I had just said something to the 2 year old, ha ha ha.

The town is very religious. Of the 7 churches, 5 are Penecoastal. There is one Catholic Church and one Jehovah Witness temple. For the Penecoastals (my family) Fridays is church for the ladies. Sunday for the men. Wednesday for the kids. Saturday for the youths. A lot of church but at least I get to "practice" my Spanish by listening to it. Oh, and everyone here (and pretty much all of Belize) speaks at least four langugages: English, Mayan, Spanish, and Kriol (Garifuna is closer to the coast and German in the Mennoite communities). And they code switch without blinking any eye. Makes it real fun to try and keep up.

Food is OK - mostly beans and rice. Or rice and beans. With tortillas (homemade yum). Or rice with veggies. Or rice and a sort of stir fry. And hot dogs. With eggs. Or a veggie burger which is a bun with lettuce and tomato. Quite an array of fruits and veggies - squash, cassava, plantains, watermelon, mango, avocado!!!!, papaya, peanuts, sweet limes, starfruit, grapefruit, and a bunch of others I'm still learning. We can eat the fruits right off the tree...

Es una vida simpatica, y facil, mas or menos. Having the predictable moments of frustration and irritation but they pass. Would give anything for a hot shower (yes, my usual refrain) and mail since internet is hard to come by {hint LOL}

Adios, con mucho amor y besos y abrazos

MJP