you say goodbye, we say hello (hello, goodbye)

After 27 months in site the volunteer who we are following up in Boqueron has left for the states.   J was an awesome volunteer and his loss will definitely be felt in the community. Of course we hope that our being there helps soften the blow a little bit, but he was a very busy and very successful volunteer and the community has had no qualms with telling us that we have big shoes to fill.

Not only will the community miss him, but we will miss him too! During the last few months he has shown us the ropes,  gave us the low down on things it took him months/years to learn and supported our beginning efforts within the community. It has been an amazing (and very unique to Peace Corps) experience to have him in site during our adjustment period. I think it also has benefits on his end as well, as he can leave knowing that the projects he began will continue...and that he is leaving the community in good hands.  It was also a very interesting juxtaposition being in site and having all of these 'new-volunteer, new-site' emotions and listening to his 'almost-leaving, 'old time volunteer' emotions. In some ways very similar, and in most ways very different. We are just in two very very different stages and it was crazy seeing where we will be int wo years- though it seems like a lifetime away. We have definitely become friends over the last three months and will be keeping in touch as he goes on to whatever next adventure life has in store!

Though we are sad to see him (and his fabulous dog) go, we are very happy to have pruchased his mattress, wooden bench-like thing, pots, pans, spices, shelving and other random things that have made our lives better. I cannot possibly explain how amazing it is to have a mattress again after having slept on a sleeping pad for the last three months. It is nice for him ot not have to worry about getting rid of things when he is trying to get out of site, and definitely nice for us to get some much needed things for our house without having to worry about transportation or cost...

Speaking of which, we obviously have a house. It is our first home :) maybe a little small for a first home, but we love it. It is all one big room and we put up a giant sheet to seperate our bed/clothes from the 'kitchen and living room' area. Our main seating is provided by 5 gallon buckets which also double as rat-proof food containers. Another 5 gallon bucket serves as our sink outside...and during the day as the water collection system for the leak in our roof. Sean connected our house to the water system in town, connecting all the tubes and making one faucet for the kitchen sink and another for a shower. He also made us a beautiful stone floor shower outside. Pretty handy! The showeri s great, though sudden bursts of wind make the covering unreliable enough that I definitely still have to shower in my bathing suit. Still feel cleaner doing that then bathing in the river though!  Our stove is a three burner stove that is connected a gas tank that we just change out whenever we empty.  This means we can cook rice and beans at the same time! Or lentils and beans, you know, depending on the day.

Everything else is going well for us. Things are really starting to get underway and any of the nerves we had at the beginning have been replaced by energy and excitement- almost an overwhelming excitement for all of the things we are hoping to have a chance to do during our two years. Two years feels like such a long time but to realize three months of it has already gone by...it just makes it obvious that to accomplish a tenth of the things we want to it is time to get moving.

We have introduced a Logo and Slogan Competition keep the community excited about the trash project while Sean continues to wait for some of the agency approval needed to get started. We have announced it to the students and a good number of community members and are hoping for a good number of entrants for the big day (end of October). 

My classes continue to go well. I have a soft spot for my adult classes and really like the location of Bowueron Arriba for two reasons: 1) that is where our house is so the walk home is a lot shorter and 2) during class Sean plays baseball with the kids in the community. It is amazing- these kids really have nothing else to do during their time after school and they LOVE playing baseball with Sean. They spend the days in between classes talking about the last, and the next, game. It has gotten to the point where kids whose parents are not in the class are playing and a local dad has stepped up to help coach...obviously we are going to see if we can organize this energy a little bit, but right now it is pure music to my ears when I am teaching. And the parents love it too!

OK, a lot for right now, especially since I can't provide pictures (camera broke about 2 weeks after we got to site)..miss you all a lot! Hope you are all doing well....sending much love from here