From Bed Sharing to Queen Sized Bed

Sooooo I´m here. In Morazan. The past 5 days have been hectic and a blur...kinda. Some vivid moments. Such as my first experience in an outdoor latrine without toilet paper. Or sleeping on what is best known as a cardboard box bed in a dirt floor house. But nonetheless, it has all been amazing.

I arrived here Saturday evening after a very long night and goodbye party with all the volunteers, a sad morning of goodbyes and a very very very long 5 hour bus ride from the capital to my small rural town in Morazan.

I met my 2 counterparts, amazing ladies who I will be working along side for the next 2 years. Nina Dora is this little but extremely independent and strong lady who owns a store in front of her house. I crashed at her place the first 2 nights. I was welcomed by a group of men playing guitars out front, singing to me. I even sang along to Guantanamera. It was pretty awesome. ... Until they all got drunk. Being a drunk, or bolo, as they would say here, is kinda common. You either are a drunk. Or you dont drink. Hence, I won´t be drinking for the next 2 years. One beer can quickly tarnish your reputation. And even so, chambre, or gossip, spreads very quickly here. Anyway, I love my first counterpart because when the bolos say something inappropriate to me she gives them the dirtiest looks. Or if I say ¨buenas¨to someone and they dont respond she says ¨SHE SAID buenas¨. shes awesome.

Those nights I shared the house with my counter part, her daugher, her grand daughters and 2 friends. The little girl even climbed into bed with me. Thats called having confianza. It means you have a good relationships pretty much. I guess thats a good thing, but I wouldnt have minded sleeping alone.... if you don´t count the giant cockroaches next to my head. Although I did wake up to the girl gone and just her diaper on my pillow.........

The next night I stayed with my other counterpart. Its a run for the money which one I like more. This lady is just adorable. Shes a little older and also very strong but a little gentler. She has outlived 2 husbands and 4 children. Many of whom died in the war. Please read about it.

Nina Otinia is very poor and lives in a mud hut dirt floor tiny house with her daughter and grand son. She is STILL fighting to get me to live with her even though I have my own house. She LOVES volunteers, company and sharing her awesomeness with people. She´s not happy I moved into a house thats a little farther away, but she told me that whatever makes me happy. She even got upset when I slept at my other counterparts house. She said ¨nina dora has more money and better food, but I have a lot of heart to give¨. I love her already. There is a voluteer in the town nearby who is finishing his 2 years of service next week so we had a goodbye lunch for him at her house. She borrowed plates and a table from the neighbor and even made us chicken. I felt bad eating it because she usually just has beans and eggs and that food is precious to her. But she was so happy to share. She is really amazing. It would be more offensive not to eat it.

Sooo finally, I moved into my own house. Its a cute little cement block tin roof 2 room house on a little hill. It has complementary orange borders and green grouting... bars on windows and metal doors so I feel safe. No window panes, but I think only spiders, rats and bats can get through. I spent a good 4 hours sweeping it today, since the polvo, or dust i guess, is sooooooo dominant in this town. But besides for that, its absolutely beautiful. As I round the corner, I have an amazing view of the mountains. I´m a 2 foot walk from the futbol field and 20 mins from a lovely little waterfall. Of which I bathed in on Sunday.

My house has an outdoor latrine, but its never been used so its pretty nice still. I even have a plastic seat and urinal in there. Unfortunately, the cell service is bad and I have no bathing area...but My landlord is awesome and he said he will bulid me one outside soon. He also brought me a queen sized bed, fridge and table my first day. Kinda sweet. Kinda not peace corps... but hey, I pee outside.

My next goals are: get dog. buy bird. and fix up house. I have lots of shopping to do and desperately need somewhere to put my clothes. and clean them. I wore the same outfit for 2 days and Nina Dora was like ¨are you gonna change¨. i felt bad. The reason was, I was meeting her circulo.

She works with an NGO called Intervida. She teaches classes to illiterate adults, she works with children, environmental classes, sports groups, etc. shes pretty awesome and I´m excited I´ll get to work with them and her.

The next 2 months are all about getting confianza with the town. Everyone has been really excited to meet me for the most part so I´m excited. Building relationships is the most important part to having a successful service here. Plus, the better I know the people, the better I´ll know they´re needs and wants and so I can work with them to achieve them. I´m excited.

Right now I´m tired and kinda excited to get back to my place and relax a little. I had a long day thinking in spanish, but I actually got most of my words out today. Some days are better than others...

Tomorrow we have our Morazan Mafia meeting. All the volunteers in the deparment of Morazan will get together for lunch, to discuss ideas and relax a little. I´m excited for it. I get to reunite with my buddies Daniel and KC from training, my new fried Brian who has been a big help in the transition, David who is leaving my site but has also been amazing, and lots of others.

I love and miss everyone from home! If there´s anything you want to hear about, post a comment or email me or facebook.