So up to this point, I have been remarkably healthy. My stomach has been strong in the face of meat way past it’s prime, juice made with water directly from the tap, and un-refrigerated homemade mayonnaise. My immune system has kept me free from the cold (gripe “gree- pay”) that constantly circulates through my host family, and I, unlike others in omnibus 99, have not cut myself with a machete, had lard rubbed all over me to cure a cough, or been attacked by a dog. No, my Peace Corps ailments were much more unforeseen, sneaking up on me when I least expected, in my sleep and while washing clothes.
My legs and stomach have fallen victim to the invisible bugs that made themselves at home in my sheets, blankets, and even sleeping bag. It’s gross, and I’ve declared war on them. I’ve tried drowning them, repeatedly washing my sheets and sleeping bag and I’ve tried fumigating them. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
My family has a washing machine. They have a high capacity, energy efficient, state of the art, LG washing machine. It’s broken. In the United States, this would be a problem in need of an immediate solution. Here, it means you wash your clothes like the other 99% of Ecuadorians… on a washing stone. I’ll admit that there is something gratifying about standing in the sun, washing your clothes and hanging them out to dry. That statement refers to CLOTHES. It is far more difficult and dare I say strenuous to wash sheets, blankets, and a sleeping bag by hand. My right wrist has given up on me after the past few days of washing, refusing to grip things when I tell it to. Temporary, I’m sure but worth mentioning.
Ok, what else? I’m still on a house hunt. Only one more month until I have the freedom to move out of family situation. My family is really sad about me leaving, and they keep asking if it’s because I’m not happy with them. It’s really hard because the truth is I am happy with them, they’re great and have gone out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I have been blaming Peace Corps, saying that it is a requirement for volunteers to live independently but I’m not a very good liar and I think they know that if I really wanted to stay, I could.
Summer vacation here starts July 4th, and it looks like I will get plenty of free time over vacations to visit other volunteers around the country…. Oh! The benefits of working in schools J
Final order of business: chickens. We had another women’s group meeting last night where once again, everyone looks at me hoping I am going to pull a million dollars out of my pocket, wave a magic wand, or something equally unlikely. Instead, I gave them my thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I made them rough estimated feasibility study and a list of materials needed to start. Once I explained for the zillionth time that I have no money to give them, we started to get somewhere. People began to offer up ideas of where they could get loans and grants. We now have a list of places to visit in the next week or so before our next meeting.
Spanish lesson learned the hard way this week: While explaining to someone how to make recycled paper, unsure of how to say “pulp” I decided to take a chance and use “pulpo”. The woman laughed hysterically and explained that “pulpo” means octopus and is also commonly used for belly button. “pulpA” is the word I wanted for pulp. Go figure.
All right, so that’s about it for today, miss you!
Love the Spanish lesson! I understand that the term "estupido," while seeming like an easy way to jokingly call someone stupid like we might do with our friends in the good old USofA, carries the negative connotation of inferring that someone is mentally retarded in most (but not all) Spanish speaking countries, so you might want to shy away from that one. Also, if someone uses the word "molestar," it does NOT mean "to molest" in the sense that we use it here...it means to bother or annoy...you can see how this could cause some problems.
Enjoy!