Christmas is coming right up, it will be interesting to see what actually happens here. Some people say gifts are given, but I’m not sure. Everyone tells me that there will be more fireworks than normal (great) and asks me if I will drink beer with them. Although drinking here in my site has a certain appeal and may help me bond with my host brothers, word of it would inevitably get out and may cause some of the more conservative people in the community to think less of me and therefore lower my effectiveness as a volunteer. The big day here is Christmas Eve instead of Christmas day, I’m not really sure why. I may stay here for New Years Eve or I may leave to party with other volunteers.
I’m excited to say I’m coming back for a nine day visit to visit my mom and sister back in Arcata. Although part of me wants to be the bad ass traveler that doesn’t come home for two years, I am looking forward to some family time and all the comforts of home. I also think it will give me a chance to step back and look at the big picture of what I am doing and give me some perspective. When I stayed in Ghana for ten months without coming home I started going a little loco by the end, so maybe this will take some of the pressure off. I will be back the Jan 18th thru the 27th, if anyone is around during that time in Humboldt, hit me up!
I got to do two really fun things this past weekend, the first was releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean at a beach call Barra de Santiago. Me and 4 friends stayed in a hotel on the beach and got to “help” (actually watch) as about 80 one day old sea turtles were placed on the beach to scurry their way to the water. A local NGO collects the eggs that the sea turtles lay on the beach and hatches them since leaving them on the beach makes them vulnerable to predators (including hungry humans). After they hatch, it is important to place the turtles on the beach so they somehow can get a sense enough of it to come back to the same spot to lay their eggs. It was really special event to be present for.
The other fun thing was the Peace Corps Volunteers played a series a soccer games against the JIKA team. JIKA is the Japanese equivalent of the Peace Corps, with Volunteers serving for two years in various sites in the country and doing development work. There are only about 40 or so of them, but rumor has it they are much better funded. Our men’s teams lost a close 1-2 game, but our women crushed in 10-0 blowout. Afterword we got to meet them over snacks and drinks and find out which of them worked near our sites. Most of them spoke good Spanish, so we were able to communicate, albeit in neither of our native tongues. That was definitely something new.
On the work front, I’ve started selling the cooking stoves that use less wood and produce less smoke. I made up some flyers and scheduled for the company to come out to demonstrate how the stoves work. I’ve been going door to door telling people about the stoves and the demonstration. A lot of people seem interested, so I end up taking a lot of orders. This is a little intimidating since for every order I take I have to find $22 in a timely manner to subsidize cost. It will be time to try my hand at grant writing.