PC: Pre-Service Training Week Eight (part 1)

I have so many pictures from the past few days. As Calvin and Hobbes so aptly note, "the days are just packed." This is Sunday through Tuesday, since I had Independence Day and Site Placement and candle-making and a new puppy to write about.

Sunday was Central American Independence Day, and all the parades and music from the day before were multiplied by ten and started at 8 am. The mayor came out to give a speech and the bands were accompanied by cachiporristas (cheerleaders) and every class had a flag and flower and tree of one of the countries in Central America. It was awesome how everything was characterized by Central American unity and appreciation. After hours of parading I drifted over to check out the artisan stands (I got some cool tie-dye earrings from Kai's host mom) and join in the dance party that the gringos started in the park. 

I spent the evening with some of the current volunteers who were visiting at one of the other trainees' houses. I was invited to a delicious barbecue and had a blast just talking to the current volunteers and discussing skiing and margaritas with Luke's host dad and enjoying everyone's company. 

Some funny things that have come up recently: one of the trainees just realized that she has been mixing up gracias a Dios (thank God) and gracias, adios (thanks, bye) since day one. No wonder her host mom looks at her funny when she says "gracias a dios" every time she leaves the house. Also, since there are two Rachel Wolf(e)s in country right now, our group is trying to come up with a nickname. I absolutely vetoed "rachelle" and "wolf" doesn't work because the other Rachel is Rachel Wolf(e) too, so what is the next thing they come up with? Light-skinned Rachel. What??? It could have been tall Rachel or Colorado Rachel or blonde Rachel or Raquel or COED Rachel or any number of things, but they decided on light-skinned Rachel (this name is even more ridiculous because the other Rachel also is white). Why is it that my name (or probably personality) is not prone to nicknames? It may be too late, but now I'm trying to come up with a good nickname for myself. 

Monday was pretty low-key, with class and a visit to La Joya for Mario to get rent for his host family which gave me time to buy a popsicle because this has been making me think of popsicles all week. In the afternoon we were back with the women's group, though this time I got to teach three 5th grade girls how to make bracelets. At home Diana played endlessly with my camera (she loves anything technology-related, coins, and jewelry - good taste in a one-year-old), and I finished I, Robot. The book is a sci-fi by Isaac Asimov that outlines the development of robotics (and other scientific advances like interstellar travel) from the first basic robots to the "modern world" run in perfect efficiency by machines through a series of nine short stories woven together by the head robopsychologist of US Robotics and Mechanical Men. I thoroughly enjoyed it - I liked how fast it was and that it wasn't horribly pessimistic about a mechanized future. That's one of the things I have a hard time with about Ray Bradbury's short stories - they often leave me with a vague sense of dread and a definite pessimism about humanity as a whole. 

After I put down the book, Josiel and I worked on our impossible puzzle. Right before I left the US, my mom gave me a 16-piece puzzle. I brought it out in the first week to play with the kids, then Roberto got interested and tried to solve it then every time we didn't have anything to do, we pulled it out. They were convinced that a piece was missing or one of the pieces was off, but on Monday night Josiel and I finally solved it. We probably shouldn't have been as excited as we were, but it was a big deal that merited plenty of photos as proof of our victory. 

 We had been looking forward to Tuesday since day one, and it didn't disappoint. First thing in the morning Clelia and Silvia outlined their elaborate plan to reveal our site placements. It involved popping balloons to get numbers then reading out the site of the person after us and a big photo op as each of us found our site on the regional maps of San Miguel, Morazán and La Union. I picked number 3, so I was up early and found my site way in the upper corner of San Miguel near Nuevo Edén de San Juan. There are three other volunteers relatively close to me, and five of us total in San Miguel. I will be living in a caserio named La Cincuya (or Zuncuya or Suncuya depending on who you ask) in the ADESCO president's house at the top of a hill with a family of ten. The caserio has a population of about 375, the Jalalá river crosses right through the middle of the town, and it will be hot. Clelia and Silvia both told me that it will be a huge challenge because it has the least community development of any of the sites and although the women attend meetings, they do not participate in community decision-making or act as leaders. The only organization Clelia and Silvia identified in the caserio is the ADESCO, which re-formed last October after years of being defunct. I am excited and terrified at the prospect, and more ready than ever to get to my community.

Jaime went over the most pressing Peace Corps policies - don't ride motorcycles, don't do drugs and don't get involved in politics - and some of the less dire ones - be careful about relationships because you could be asked to leave, don't drink, try not to get married or pregnant. I'm pretty sure I just forgot immediately what we talked about in the general meeting, then went home at lunch to tell my host family about my placement and find it on google maps.  In the afternoon we continued our sexual assault sessions with bystander situations and how to recognize danger signs and get a friend out of danger without inciting violence. There were a lot of blank stares in that session, but who can blame us when all we wanted to do was talk about our future sites and compare everything with one another?

 

After class we headed straight to the Artisan House to learn how to make candles. Asiha's host sister makes candles there, so she got us a few hours with the teacher to learn the basics by making one of our own. There are two different types of candles, soft and hard, and we were making soft ones with soy wax. The hard ones have paraffin and are made with mold that you then remove, but the soft ones need to be poured into jars. They melt faster and release a much stronger smell than the paraffin ones. The teacher had the wax melted already, but we were responsible for cutting our wicks, pouring in the wax, mixing colors and adding scents. It was a super fun chill way to spend a few hours, and we got to take our candles home. It is the sort of thing that, given the raw materials, I could easily learn more about and teach to others to start a small business or co-op. Yay more arts and crafts!

I stopped by my house briefly to eat dinner and listen to the group planning the decorations and invitations for our goodbye party with our host families. It's going to be a good party, that's for sure. I joined Catherine on her walk back to her house to meet my puppy for the first time, since it is the german shepherd at their house that had the puppies. There are four - one male and three females - and Catherine has a cutie picked out for me. They are only a month old and already twice the size of the one Josiel brought home, so I can only imagine how big they are going to be after a year. It's a good thing I'll be living in the campo and walking a ton to get to all the houses in my community. I couldn't be more excited about the puppy - now all I'm missing is my own little garden, and I'll be on cloud nine. When I came home everyone was sitting out in front of the house, so I showed Roberto pictures of the puppy while we talked, watched Josiel playing tag, and kept an eye on Diana as she wandered around and played with my bracelets. She's a cutie too, and she says my name every time she sees me and makes the funniest faces.