Week One: Six good days, one not so good

Well, it has been a whole week since I have been living with my host family and holy crap has it been interesting. You can read about my family members and first night in previous posts, but there is much more to tell. Most days I get up around 7:15 and have breakfast with the girls of my household. Usually a piece of bread with jelly ("Could ya' please pass the jelly?") and hot chocolate. The weather here is crazy. During the day the sun is really strong and it's about 75 degrees and sometimes too hot, but in the mornings and evenings, it's pretty chilly. When I leave my room, I have to walk outside to get to the rest of the house so it's quite an experience. I can usually see my breath while I'm washing my face. We have a real bathroom with a toilet and everything, and water that runs all day and night. This would prove to be a godsend...I'll get to that.

After breakfast and getting dressed, I head off to class. We are all living with families in a fairly rural community, but in pretty close proximity. I walk on a road paved with stones that is pretty dusty, past pastures and cows and sheep and any kind of animal poop you could possibly want. The incredible view of the Andes mountains makes up for the nasty smells that surround the community. Below is the view from my house:




Jealous? You should be.

We have all been placed in Spanish classes with people of the same speaking level as us, and I am in a class with two other guys, Mike (from Alabama) and Josh (from Maine). We have four hours of Spanish class every morning in one of our houses, after which we return home for lunch with our family. Most of my family works during the day or goes to school, so usually lunch is left for me and the little girls. After lunch we have four hours of Technical Sessions or some sort of community integration activity, or a medical session, depending on the day. The tech sessions are by far my favorite so far...we are learning about all the cool stuff we're going to build once we're out at our sites, and current volunteers who are serving in the field come back to do the teaching. I have been very impressed with the staff so far, everyone seems really informed and on top of their game.

After the afternoon session, I return home for dinner, then either do homework, read, journal, or hang out with the family. Last night I spent about two hours teaching my two youngest sisters how to say all the colors in English. They are quick to learn and excited too...but it kind of wiped me out...I was tired afterwards!

They say we're all going to get sick...well for me it didn't take too long. Tuesday night consisted of little sleep and about 6 trips to the bathroom...like I said I was very happy I had a flushing toilet. Wednesdays we ride about an hour on a Truffi (Bolivian for: Toyota death van into which they pack about 22 people...not exaggerating...that serves as a taxi) to our training center to have classes there...well my stomach was not happy and about halfway through the Truffi ride, when it stopped to let some folks out, luckily I was close to the door cause I hopped out and threw up like a champ right on the side of the road. Man, it was damn funny. I got some weird looks from the Bolivians on the Truffi after I got back in...thankfully the thing didn't drive away. Mike and Josh thankfully made the guy wait until I was through, then gave me a little victory reassurance by saying "Geez man, I thought you were done halfway through, way to barf like a champ!"

It didn't' help my stomach any that when we got to training, that day's medical topic was "diarrhea and dysentery: How to get it and how to prevent it." Certainly a memorable day. I felt awful all day...Definitely a low point. It's times like these when I'd do anything to come back. But then a few hours later, we went out for dinner and I had a really incredible conversation with a few of the other Trainees and I remembered why I am here and how good the good can feel. It was a pretty crazy feeling to go from so high to so low in such a short amount of time. Luckily by the end of the day whatever was in my system had run it's course and I've been good to go since. Rock and roll!

All for now, check back Wednesdays and on the weekends for updates.

Current Health Status: Good to go. The red thing on my face is still hanging around a bit. Any dermatologists in the house?
Current Hygiene Status: Showers twice a week, wash my face once a day, wash my hands about a million times a day.
Days Since Last Shave: 9
Current Book: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, recommended by Michael J. Ranz - a great and inspiring story of a Harvard educated doctor who spends all his time and money in Haiti. Check it out, fellow world savers.