I can't believe it's December tomorrow!

Well, it’s the end of November and I’ll be officially making 3 months outside of the land of amazing next week. Isn’t that pretty darn crazy?! Fuck yeah it is!

Well, I can say I’ve only been about a week in my community and it’s already been intense. I’m still not too sure of my exact role but I’ m slowly working on establishing one. Since I have time today, I’ll give you a mental picture of my location exactly. I’ve probably said something about this but it doesn’t get old. I LITERALLY live on the mountain. So, it takes about 30 minutes from the bottom of my “town” to get to my house. I walk because there is no road that goes up there; there is barely even a path for me to walk on. I’ve surrendered to my situation and it doesn’t feel like defeat. I’m living with a family of 5, a grandma, her son and his wife with 2 kiddos (9month and 3 years). It’s a good family; they are slowly getting accustomed to me and vice versa. I am technically supposed to figure out a rent and food situation but I won’t be doing that for a while. I do not want them to see me as a money sign but instead to treat me as a part of their family; I think my plan is working.

Side note: I’m sitting in a room at my house and a cock fight is pretty much happening in front of me. Unofficial, of course. It’s quite funny. I would like to attend a real one soon…and it WILL happen. Haha.

What else can I blog about? Oh, maybe about what I’m actually doing or going to be doing? Yea, well I am health promoter. Now, I kinda have a better idea of what I’ll be doing and who I’ll be working with but now it’s becoming more overwhelming. Fo’ realz! I pretty much have the freedom to work on anything that will make my community a better place to live. My program is Community Health and that’s what I’ll try to focus on but no promises. While I’ve been here, there is a huge need to place attention on the Environment. Burning trash, throwing trash in rivers, or anywhere for that sake is super common and it KILLS ME. I remember when I was younger I never used to be so conscious about the environment but now I understand the importance. I want all the people I encounter to understand because I do believe it’s everyone’s responsibility. I think it’s great how the campo life really fosters this idea to actually work. By this I mean, the people here all have animals and live off the food that they plant and therefore use organics for compost and don’t produce much garbage. The problem is the little they do is not disposed of properly and it’s simply because of a lack of knowledge. We’ll see if I can aid in bringing more knowledge to at least some people. Should be fun.

Well, I guess environment work is related to health but there are more focused areas I would also like to work with like child stimulation, washing your hands campaigns, boiling water, and simply emphasizing on healthy practices. For the beginning months I have to conduct a community diagnostic which pretty much means I have to make surveys and gather lots of information about my town. I’ve looked through what my diagnostic is supposed to be and it is definitely intimidating. It’s like a college senior thesis assignment. Intimidating but I guess it could be fun. I can compile different studies on any health issues I want to address including domestic violence, teenage pregnancy and malnutrition. Isn’t that kinda cool? There is a lot of work ahead of me and I think I can do it.

Work hard, play harder! That’s pretty much how I’m going to be thinking about my PC experience. I think in order to work as hard as I’m thinking about working; I will definitely be having just as much fun. I can’t wait for the few that want to and will visit as well as simply going to visit all my fellow volunteers. Our experiences are all going to be so different and I’m excited to get a glimpse of everyone’s journey. Two years will be interestingly challenging in so many ways that I could never even have imagined.

I miss home a bunch but I know this is for the betterment of all parties involved.
Just before I end this super long blog, there are a few things that are happening that I need to share (more like two things). First of all, my English is suffering greatly. I think the only thing that will save it is to read and read – which I plan on doing! I can’t spell for shit anymore. UGH! Secondly, I’m walking a shit load. Just the other day, I walked oh about 6 fucking hours. It’s painful but I think I got it. Just saying…

Internet isn’t too accessible but I can’t live without it so I’ll find the way to keep it in my life!

Hasta luego amores!!! <3