It is official!! I am now a Peace Corps volunteer. It seemed like this day would never come! The ceremony was nice and relaxed-a perfect ceremony for the Peace Corps I would say. We definitely celebrated that night-and it was really hard to say goodbye to the people that you have spent the past 3 months with. Especially when you know that you most likely will not see them until the new year (we are not allowed to stay over-night anywhere for the first 3 months). Hopefully it will go fast!
Well I have been in Victoria for approximately 3 days now and I already know that I will never run out of work here… I am already set to have my first baseball practice this Saturday and I will be giving a Domestic Violence charla or a presentation (Rompiendo el Silencio) to different groups of women in the surrounding small towns on this Saturday as well. I have not even met my other 4 counterparts but that is an endeavor for tomorrow, and we will see what awesome projects they would like to do. No worries, I am going to try not to overfill my plate-just going to be a busy bee…
As for adjusting to my new home, I definitely feel like a newcomer, with an immense amount of people staring at me whereever I go. It is a little strange, but I know it will not always be that way, just another thing to adapt to. My host family here is great—they are always trying to make me feel comfortable—will write again when I have more time!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Back in Las Cañadas with one week left!
Well, it has been a long time since I have had the chance to give an update on my complicated, busy life as a Peace Corps aspirante. I made it through FBT training and I am back in Las Cañadas for the last few weeks of training. It is crazy to think that a week from today I will an oficial PC volunteer. It will definitely feel good to get through training. I had great experiences in Talanga- I could not have asked for a better family, and I learned a lot through training. There´s still so much that I don´t know though--hopefully I can pick that up soon.
So, the big question of where I am going to be spending the next two years of my life.... I will be in Victoria in the department of Yoro. It is a town in a valley surrounded by mountains. Yes, it is beautiful- there is an awesome river that is right outside of town and there are a number of creeks that run throughout the town. When I visited last week I was able to get a ride through the mountains, wow. I am really lucky in that aspect. The people are also very nice and excited for me to be there. I am also positive that I will never run out of work. Unlike most volunteers who only have about 3 counterparts, I oficially have 7 and 2 more unoficial (counterparts are just people or organizations that I will work with).
They are:
Two elementary schools
A high school
A dentist´s officeç
The women´s office in the municipality
The youth office in the municipality
Health center
Other possible:
Ayuda en Acción (Non-government organization)
A high school teacher
To give an idea of what I will be doing, the best I can do is give a list:
-Domestic Violence Education
-Leading a pregnant woman´s club
-Teaching computers and how to use the internet
-Coaching baseball ( I will have at least two teams)
-Coaching a women´s volleyball team
-Teaching multiple English classes
-Giving life skills talks to elementary schools
-Giving talks to high schoolers about drugs, alcohol, HIV, and life skills
-Leading a parenting class (yes I know i´m not a parent)
-Giving business management classes
-Environmental Education
-Trying to get a Reicken Library put in Victoria
-etc
Those are the things I was asked by my counterparts, and they don´t include some of the ideas that I have. We´ll see what will happen. Needless to say, I am going to be very busy and there will always be work to do. Once I am in Victoria I am not allowed to travel for 3 months, but after that I will be able to travel and take a little vacation if need be. Actually the first day that I am able to travel is my birthday, the 26th of December-how appropriate. :)
People have been asking me some of the things I might need, so, here is a little list:
-art supplies (crayons, paints, colored pencils, pastels, chalk, markers (for writing on posters),etc
-magazines that can let me know what´s going on in the States
-any letter that lets me know how are you doing
-pictures
-burned cd of some music i´m missing out on
I do want to say thank you to everyone who has emailed me, send me little letters of kindness, or called me... it has helped me very much. Thank you.
So, the big question of where I am going to be spending the next two years of my life.... I will be in Victoria in the department of Yoro. It is a town in a valley surrounded by mountains. Yes, it is beautiful- there is an awesome river that is right outside of town and there are a number of creeks that run throughout the town. When I visited last week I was able to get a ride through the mountains, wow. I am really lucky in that aspect. The people are also very nice and excited for me to be there. I am also positive that I will never run out of work. Unlike most volunteers who only have about 3 counterparts, I oficially have 7 and 2 more unoficial (counterparts are just people or organizations that I will work with).
They are:
Two elementary schools
A high school
A dentist´s officeç
The women´s office in the municipality
The youth office in the municipality
Health center
Other possible:
Ayuda en Acción (Non-government organization)
A high school teacher
To give an idea of what I will be doing, the best I can do is give a list:
-Domestic Violence Education
-Leading a pregnant woman´s club
-Teaching computers and how to use the internet
-Coaching baseball ( I will have at least two teams)
-Coaching a women´s volleyball team
-Teaching multiple English classes
-Giving life skills talks to elementary schools
-Giving talks to high schoolers about drugs, alcohol, HIV, and life skills
-Leading a parenting class (yes I know i´m not a parent)
-Giving business management classes
-Environmental Education
-Trying to get a Reicken Library put in Victoria
-etc
Those are the things I was asked by my counterparts, and they don´t include some of the ideas that I have. We´ll see what will happen. Needless to say, I am going to be very busy and there will always be work to do. Once I am in Victoria I am not allowed to travel for 3 months, but after that I will be able to travel and take a little vacation if need be. Actually the first day that I am able to travel is my birthday, the 26th of December-how appropriate. :)
People have been asking me some of the things I might need, so, here is a little list:
-art supplies (crayons, paints, colored pencils, pastels, chalk, markers (for writing on posters),etc
-magazines that can let me know what´s going on in the States
-any letter that lets me know how are you doing
-pictures
-burned cd of some music i´m missing out on
I do want to say thank you to everyone who has emailed me, send me little letters of kindness, or called me... it has helped me very much. Thank you.
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