Last Weekend

Hello to all!

So last Thursday we headed south to Bernales, a small town outside of the larger city of Pisco. It is the site of a current volunteer, where we were planning on building several latrines. As usual, things didn’t go quite as planned. We arrived several hours behind schedule, and none of the materials had arrived either. We had planned on getting started soon after we got there, at least getting a little jump on our project while there was still a little sun left. However, it didn’t happen that way, and we just had enough sunlight to get our materials to our respective places. I wasn’t feeling great, so how it all went down was fine with me. We all slept in a local building. Very camp/mission-trip esq. But it was fun, and actually pretty comfortable on the cots we were given. Before I went to bed a couple of my friends and I got in on a game of soccer with some local kids. We kicked some major ass…and no it doesn’t matter that were pre-teens :s

The next morning came quickly, and we started our work by about 7:15. Most of the morning consisted of making cement and mortar to lay the bricks for our dry bathroom. It was overcast, but the signs of the coming fierce sun were all but written for us to see. Even without the sun it was pretty warm. But by the time the sun hit the temp had risen even more, which was bad for on several levels: 1.) because the cement was drying almost as fast as we could lay the bricks and 2.) because I am very an Oregonian and therefore basically have an allergy to the sun. We really weren’t getting far, and the project wasn’t looking great. None of us, even one of the current volunteers that was there to help us, had ever built a dry-bathroom.

After lunch, which consisted of a bowl of soup with an entire chicken leg and foot emerging out of the broth, we returned to the worksite to find the owner of the house had built a make-shift canopy for us to work under. This was greatly appreciated!!!! And eventhough the cement was still drying really fast, it wasn’t quite so bad. My skin certainly was thankful.

We gained some more help from our Third-year WatSan guy, John, who’s job is basically to lend tech support and to have a good time with us. He just got down with two years of service in the Dominican Republic, and was therefore very knowledgeable in the construction of such things. We didn’t however get to the place we were hoping to by the time the sunset, but it was better than nothing. Bret and I played more soccer that night, and then were surrounded by a group of kids who said we were taking them to dinner after we told them we had to stop playing in order to go get dinner.

Most people stayed up late and had some fun, but I was exhausted, and conked out while laying on my bed. Unfortunately, the next morning one of my group mates and friend, Lexie, awoke to some pretty bad flu symptoms. After talking to her today, it seems that she has pretty much the exact same symptoms that I had a week ago. It’s going around! So we were out one person, but that spot was filled quickly by other volunteers that had already finished their project.

By the end of the day we had finished all that we had set out to do. It wasn’t easy, and at times (like when we were pouring concrete on top of some wood that resembles wafer) we weren’t sure if things would work, but it all turned out well.

After lunch it was time to leave. WatSan separated into two groups, one that went directly back to Lima, and the other (which I joined by default because I was in the bathroom while the Lima group left) went to checkout a lagoon/oasis that was only a few miles away from the site. It was the best decision for sure. Basically the area is a dessert that resembles something like that of Satan’s pooper, but amidst all of the sand dunes and sun, there was a small paradise…that smelt a little funny. But this place was amazing, and the water was fine (but I wouldn’t be surprised if I have some crazy Peruvian parasite). We swam out a ways into the lake, and enjoyed a treat that only comes around so often.

Unfortunately the day was not all amazing. During our work, one of my teammates broke my leatherman tool. That is sad in general, but it was also a graduation present, making it a worse. I also had to say goodbye to my favorite sunglasses, which disappeared after our bus ride back to Lima. I think they fell out of a pocket…ot they were stolen. Either way it was kind of a big day for material losses.

That night (Halloween) my older brother, Carlos, took me to this huge Halloween dance party. I really wasn’t that up for it, and didn’t have a costume, but that turned out to not be a problem. We met his cousin and her friends there, and didn’t stop until the early morning hours. Sunday was spent recovering from the entire trip, and to be honest I’m still a bit drained. I suppose that is one thing I can look forward to in my new site, and that is that I can take a few days to just rest and of course get accustomed to the new living situation. We find out our site locations on Friday!!!! I’m both nervous and excited.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Being Tuesday that means that it is soccer day, but also it means that we are teaching an English class across the street at the local school. It is only for 45 minutes, but it also means that we get to sleep in and I only have to cross the street. Today was a day for learning about different ways to teach English in our sites. I am actually looking forward to doing it, which is the opposite to a surprisingly large portion of the group. This morning I saw the remains of a pretty horrible accident not too far down the road from my community. I guess a small car was trying to cross the road at the wrong time, and a combi (small bus) collided into the driver’s side door. I asked a combi worker later that day what had happened, and he told me pretty much exactly what I could have deduced myself, but also that two passengers in the small car had died.

On a happier note (kinda), last night I was sitting in the living room, just watching some tv with Chris when I felt a slight movement under my bare foot. I didn’t think it was anything, but then it got more obvious. I looked down and saw the largest grasshopper/cricket I’ve ever seen. Obviously nothing dangerous, but it did confirm my fear that every little movement of even a single hair is some giant bug or something about to bit me!