(Saturday, June 19)

“The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”

(Saturday, June 19, Day ?, Morning)

Phrase of the day: Lo siento, no hablo Espanol mucho… Sorry, I don’t speak much Spanish

Unfortunately, that just may be the phrase of the month… AND it’s probably not even proper spanish ;)

Just kidding. The Spanish is coming along. At the moment, the words don’t really come to me when I try to speak; however, I do at least understand when others are talking... kinda like me with Bengali.

We are off to Cayambe to join our host families, all 68 of us (27 in Youth & Families and the rest in Health Education & HIV). Most of us will be in communities 15-30min away from the main city, with 5 other trainees (so there are like 13 communities around the main city). There, we will each have our own host family; but thankfully have another 4 volunteers nearby. We will see about the internet café situation when I get there. Hopefully I can find a place with phones/phone cards too!

Everyone is very excited…

(Saturday, June 19, Day ?, Evening)

Phrase of the hour: Mucho gusto!... Pleased to meet you!

We are with our host families. And to my luck, I am in the actual city of Cayambe. Mostly “to my luck” because that means things are more developed (aka telephones and internet is somewhat nearby)… sadly that also means there is more crime. Early bedtimes here I come!

My host mother tells me (that’s right, I understood her) that they go to bed around 8pm and get up around 4pm. This should be interesting. So far I am up at 10pm writing this blog, ha.

Back to my host family… I am staying with what seems to be a middle class family. A father, mother, 10year old daughter, and 22year old daughter who is in college. I am their 5^th volunteer! They are very kind to me, and seem to live a simple life. Minus the fact that the kids love watching television when nothing else is happening… which is a decent amount of the time. I guess that has to do with the possibility of crime, though. Just as in most developing countries, there is a huge divide between the rich and the poor. Where is Robin Hood when you need him?

Their home is really nice. Much nicer than I had expected. I definitely lucked out. It’s kind of like a condo(?). My host family lives on the 2^nd floor, and has a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms. I walk outside, up the stairs, and live on the 3^rd floor and have a room with a desk, bedroom, and bathroom…

yeah, pretty ridiculous… and definitely very different than how my real 2 years here will be. But no complaints for sure. It is pretty lonely though… I’m used to only going to my bedroom when it’s time to sleep. But the best part of it is that there is electricity! (Right now I am listening to music, looking at pictures, and writing this post). There is some kind of water “heater”… but it is definitely just as cold as a shower in India. I’m taking 2 minute showers… amazing, I know! Wow, this is long… and too much info again… better stories to come next time!

Peace

… just kidding. That’s kinda lame. ;) Hope to talk to you all soon! Miss you!