Village Living

I cannot believe that another week has already come and gone! Time is flying!!  

This past week was our second full week in the village, and things are moving right along.  As part of our program, the trainees have implemented a few programs for the kids here.  We host story hour on Thursday at the library, movie nights at the school on Saturday, and games on the field on Sunday.  Each week has a theme, and this week’s was teamwork.  The kids that have attended so far are mostly our host brothers and sisters, but hopefully, word will spread and others start to show up.  Everyone seems to love the diversion because there are not many organized activities for youth during the summer.  This is great practice for some of the activities we will be implementing once we get to site.

We also got the opportunity to perform a community needs assessment.  My group hosted a community forum, and, although only four community members showed up, we completed an exercise in which they prioritized resources the community lacks.  Again, it was great practice for something we will definitely have to do when we get to our site…and it was all in Spanish! 

On a less positive note, I had my first bout of gastrointestinal illness, common to most Peace Corps Volunteers.  Thankfully, I have a well-stocked medical kit with several helpful over-the-counter medicines and oral rehydration salts.  I was also able to check in with the nurse the next day.  All is well!

I’m still adjusting to living with a family that has four kids.  They are very protective of me.  In many ways, it’s reassuring—I feel very safe here.  At the same time, it’s a little bit difficult to give up my autonomy since I’ve been living on my own for a while.  It gets dark pretty early here, so my host grandmother gets a little nervous when I’m not back by 8:30, even if it’s for an official meeting.  

One of the best parts of community based training is that all the other volunteers are in the same village, and you get to make some great friends before you are all spread through the country.  On Saturday, I went cave-tubing with five of my new friends.  We were led by one of the volunteers already in Belize and her host dad, who is a tour guide.  We went to Caves Branch and hiked in to the cave system.  We got to swim around in a lagoon then leisurely float through the cave.  We had to wear headlamps because it was completely dark.  There were breathtaking rock formations and waterfalls.  I really enjoyed the chance to get to see a little more of this beautiful country!

Love always, 

Jess

Cavetubing!