My first parasites, welcome to La Esperanza.

We have moved from lovely Santa Lucia to La Esperanza to continue our training. This month will consist of language classes and Field Base Training, which basically means trying to manage a project that we would likely attempt at our official sites into the three weeks that we have here. We are motivated and eager and completely aware our plans will most likely never come to fruition. But we are aspirantes, soon to be volunteers in Cuerpo de Paz, and as such we are to look beyond the obvious pitfalls and see only the possibilities in our assignments…or something like that.

La Esperanza is a larger city in the middle of the country, much different from the small mountain community I grew up in, Santa Lucia. The streets are littered with trash and bolos (drunks), I can’t leave my house without someone stopping to ask me to marry them in broken English, and I have gone from a family member to a renter in an upscale neighborhood (with maids mind you). I have also contracted my first parasite from dirty vegetables…around here it’s a lucky day to get any vegetables and now I am forced to tell my host mother that if she insists on feeding them to me, she must clean them better. And to top it all off, I broke my Jesus bracelet. I have been warned by my friends that I need to get over this attitude and I am considering doing that in my own time.

But wait, there is good news. I hate to jump the gun on these things, but I have been given a few hints regarding my permanente site. There are a few towns right around Santa Lucia, close to the capital, Tegus, which have very active tourist communities, and active artisan life. I have been told that I will be placed in a small, artisan community, working with the tourist office to help build rural tourism, and serve as a link for the local artists and the artists in the surrounding communities. Also, as a side project (as I am coming to find out are very important seeing as how work can often be scarce) the Oficina de la Mujer (the local women’s office) is wanting some support also in organizing women’s groups. None of this is official, and as vague as it all is, I could be completely off, but I am excited for the site assignment and counting down the days until the end of training.

So, typical life lessons are being learned every day here. Take the good with the bad. People who have nothing and still give, give everything. Sometimes we loose our privacy, and our doors because of the culture and not because we’ve done anything wrong, Dad. And my personal favorite, another one for my old man, don’t start something you’re not prepared to finish. So, I know no more than I did six weeks ago, but I know all the same things in ways I never could have imagined.

I am a little less confused that I would have imagined I would be at this point, and I am slightly happier that this letter is letting on…but that’s just to keep everyone guessing, and I am missing you all more than you are probably missing me, and I hope I’m just kidding on that one.

Thanks for all the letters and pictures and thoughts, it really means so much over here. And be sure to keep the gossip coming, you know how it feeds my soul!
xoxo