1 month down, 5 books read in site.
My first month is Comte has been new, exciting, scary, and great. Right now I feel like I am in a weird, transition stage. I´ve just come out of training, where it´s constantly "go, go, go" and now that I am finally enjoying some time to relax I feel conflicted as in, "why aren´t I working yet?" "what am I doing here?"
In reality, the first few months are supposed to be this way. Which I have to keep reminding myself on a daily basis. We have our first 3 months at site to get to know the town really well, get to know everyone that lives in town and complete our CAT, which is a diagnostic of the community. So now that I am starting to know people in town, I´ve been able to ask for interviews and am starting to gather a lot of information. So far I have about 8 pages of typed information, and an additional 5 of graphs, tables and interview notes. It might not sound like a lot, but doing everything in Spanish isn´t exactly a quick task. But am I´m going through all the parts I am realizing how helpful it is as more projects are becoming evident to me. My counterpart and I decided that once I complete it we will have a community wide meeting to discuss the results and potential projects. That´s when the real work begins.
But I´ve enjoyed my first month in town. I´m really enjoying getting to know everyone that lives here, and enjoying the little moments throughout the day. I like that a productive day can involve typing a page of my diagnostic, playing soccer with kids from the school, sitting on a neighbors porch drinking coffee, and sitting in a rocking chair reading a few chapters from a novel. Ps I am always the worst one on the soccer field, and my competition is 12. Pura vida.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Soccer Tournament
Today teams from 6 different schools came to Comte to compete in a soccer tournament. It´s a national tournament, where the winners advance to the next level until there are only 2 teams left in the country.
I first have to note that kids are amazing. All of the kids from the school were at the tournament, and everyone was nothing but hugs and kisses.. I received so many that I even forgive those that lovingly refer to me as Hannah Montana. But really, kids are awesome. They are so uninhibited in all aspects; the way they meet new people, the way they ask questions, the way they play. For instance, I was asked by a little girl today if I was 35. That´s a new one. There´s a little girl named Male that´s especially sweet, who loves hugs and sitting on my lap. My favorite part was where she came and asked me if I wanted a coke, I said, "that´s very sweet of you, I´d love one!" Then she went and asked her mom for $.50 to buy me a coke. Somehow, I didn´t see that coming.
But back to the day... I arrived at the school at 8 am this morning. I spent the day being in charge of money at the food stand, playing with kids, talking to parents, and watching soccer. By the way, these kids are good! Maybe it´s because I was never a soccer player, but I was incredibly impressed. I´m not ashamed to say that pretty much all of them play better soccer than I do... and they´re all younger than 13. The day was a lot of fun, and I can´t believe that the evening has already come. The kids played really hard, and really well. The boys team of Comte made it to the final match, and lost in a shoot-off that took place after a tied game. It had been raining on and off througout the day, and it really started to pour in the final shoot-off. After the game, everyone finished up the day by playing soccer in the rain and mud. It was a good day.
Tomorrow I´m heading to San Vito to have lunch and meet some other volunteers in the area. By area I mean the size of Ohio more or less because to get to San Vito I have to travel about 2 hours east.. and there are volunteers coming from east of San Vito. Besides that, I was invited to a town member´s house to learn how to milk cows. Everyone here gets a kick out of the fact that I´ve never milked a cow, planted crops, or rode a horse. A family that I´ve been hanging out with told me they are making me a list of things that I have to do here. I think dancing is on that list. Pura vida.
I first have to note that kids are amazing. All of the kids from the school were at the tournament, and everyone was nothing but hugs and kisses.. I received so many that I even forgive those that lovingly refer to me as Hannah Montana. But really, kids are awesome. They are so uninhibited in all aspects; the way they meet new people, the way they ask questions, the way they play. For instance, I was asked by a little girl today if I was 35. That´s a new one. There´s a little girl named Male that´s especially sweet, who loves hugs and sitting on my lap. My favorite part was where she came and asked me if I wanted a coke, I said, "that´s very sweet of you, I´d love one!" Then she went and asked her mom for $.50 to buy me a coke. Somehow, I didn´t see that coming.
But back to the day... I arrived at the school at 8 am this morning. I spent the day being in charge of money at the food stand, playing with kids, talking to parents, and watching soccer. By the way, these kids are good! Maybe it´s because I was never a soccer player, but I was incredibly impressed. I´m not ashamed to say that pretty much all of them play better soccer than I do... and they´re all younger than 13. The day was a lot of fun, and I can´t believe that the evening has already come. The kids played really hard, and really well. The boys team of Comte made it to the final match, and lost in a shoot-off that took place after a tied game. It had been raining on and off througout the day, and it really started to pour in the final shoot-off. After the game, everyone finished up the day by playing soccer in the rain and mud. It was a good day.
Tomorrow I´m heading to San Vito to have lunch and meet some other volunteers in the area. By area I mean the size of Ohio more or less because to get to San Vito I have to travel about 2 hours east.. and there are volunteers coming from east of San Vito. Besides that, I was invited to a town member´s house to learn how to milk cows. Everyone here gets a kick out of the fact that I´ve never milked a cow, planted crops, or rode a horse. A family that I´ve been hanging out with told me they are making me a list of things that I have to do here. I think dancing is on that list. Pura vida.
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