I spent the month of November with a great family that made my transition very easy. They wanted me to stay with them for more than a month; so badly, in fact, that they told me bad things about my future host family. I decided to switch host families for December anyways, and I definitely made the right choice. We will probably be building my house on my first host family's land.
It was strange leaving my first host family on December 1 because I felt like I should have been sad. When I left my host families in Japan, Turkey, and in Panama, I knew that I might not see them again. In this case though, I didn't stay sad for too long, because I walked back the 10 minutes the next day to retrieve my forgotten cell phone and soap.
The new host family is more of a family compound 6 small houses. My host mom is the grandmother. I stay in one of her son's houses which was vacant because he is working in Panama City. There is another son and his wife and 5 kids, and a daughter and her husband and 3 kids. Overall there are 8 kids under the age of 11, and 5 boys. The kids love to watch me while I eat, read, write, talk on the phone, brush my teeth and wash my face. One of the girls tells her grandma every time I throw a piece of food to the dog or the cat, which is a little unfortunate. However I really enjoy having all of the kids around to keep me entertained.
What is a normal day like for me? I wake up at 6:20, hang out with my host mom while she is cooking, and walk down the ravine to the spring to bathe by dumping water on myself while wearing a shirt and shorts. I usually wash the previous day's dirty clothes at the same time. Then I eat breakfast (plantain, yuca, or rice) and leave the house to go visit other houses. I walk to a house in the community (there are around 20), tell them I'm visiting, we talk, and they eventually give me coffee and food if it is already prepared. The visits usually last 2-3 hours. If I can handle more food, I go visit a 2nd household. On other days, I have visited the school, health center, church, or local politician. I usually get back to the house between 3 and 5 pm, play with the kids and try to help around the house, eat dinner at dusk (6 pm), and go to bed at 8pm. Then I read for a few hours. I have been enjoying getting back into reading as a hobby.
In general, life is not terribly exciting but it is rewarding. I am really only indoors while sleeping, and the weather is like New England summer when it's not raining. The people are completely gracious, and the children are absolutely charming. Oftentimes I am sent away from a house visit with some fresh produce from the family's land. The kids at my house have no toys and will play with their marbles for hours. House visits are worth it especially because women are a lot less shy inside their own houses.
This house visiting is part of "Project of Friendship" which is what we do for our first 3 months while staying with host families. It is supposed to be a time to get to know the community, and to let the community know me before jumping into work projects. After that, I will push forward with starting a water committee and sanitation committee to hopefully follow through with aqueduct and latrine projects. There is extreme need!
I apologize again for my sparse posting history these last few months, but really, I have been posting every time I have seen internet. It's been almost 3 weeks, and to be honest, every time I get on the internet now I dislike it more. I do enjoy thinking of posting subjects in site though and will continue with that. Emails are another story. I may reply in letter form!
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