The Little Things...

We've been here for awhile, so things that may have at first been new and different are now just "life." But then every once in awhile you see something that reminds you, "this isn't typical for most people." I've had a few of those moments lately, and they've been fun.

I was waiting in line at the corner store to buy a soda, but I was waiting next to a horse that belonged to the guy in front of me. I thought, I've never been standing next to a horse at a 7-11. The guy was actually buying minutes for his cell phone, and he proceeded to jump on the horse and make a call as he rode off.

Sticking with the horse theme, I was walking Vago (the dog) down to the river so he could splash around when I passed three of the 4th graders all riding on the back of one horse. It was an odd site to see three little kids on a horse together, with no adult in site, and of course they knew how to handle that thing.

I was at the park playing basketball with some of the grade schoolers when they had to make a decision about who would be on my team. Instead of flipping a coin the little girl picks up a leaf and spits on it, then tells the boy to choose "dry or wet." Just one of those things that is so normal to them and so interesting to others (me).

That's it for now. It's the hot dry season so there's lots of dust and we're struggling through the 80 degree weather. Wish us luck with that.

ps. the picture is just a panorama I took from a friends farm.

happenings...

A lot has happened since I last wrote. I was fortunate enough to go with a medical brigade into a small town in the mountains as a translator. They were a group of about 15, including doctors, nurses, construction workers, and people to play with kids. Because they were more or less in our area, 7 of us Peace Corps volunteers were able to go. It was a lot of fun and great to see some people get help when they are so far away from everything. It was sobering though, because people with more serious conditions here are just out of luck.
One woman carried her 3 year old daughter for 2 and 1/2 hours just to get to our "clinic." She said the girl had just hadn't been wanting to walk for the last month, that it hurt. It was decided that she has muscular dystrophy, and her muscles will only be going downhill. I wonder what's in store for her, the land where she lives isn't very conducive to wheelchairs. One thing she will get a lot of is love.
We saw a lot of body aches and pains, as well as a few bot flies (very gross). A few of the older people that came in (80's) that complained of pains, had surely been working hard physical labor in the hot sun for the last 65 years. The work ethic here always amazes me. The little 3 wheeled "moto-taxis" are often driven by teenagers or young men in their 20's. I had the opportunity to talk with one of them during my ride and found out that he works from 6am to 9pm, EVERYDAY. That is 105 hours per week! I'm sure there is a lunch break and a few bathroom breaks in there but when does he have time to do anything? Oh, and if you're wondering how much he makes, it is $10 a day. That is $300 dollars a month. It's not horrible for down here but it isn't great either. $300 dollars a month! I could make that in 3 days with the crappy job of substitute teaching!
Changing gears now...Emily and I had a week of "reconnect" in the capital with all the other youth volunteers. It turned out to be a really good chance to see other projects that people are doing and how we could successfully implement them in our site. Speaking of which, school is starting next week and it looks like we are going to be super busy with all sorts of different things.
Got to watch the Super Bowl last weekend. We got together with a few volunteers who borrowed a projector from work and had a blast. I thought maybe we were some test audience and in real life the Giants hadn't actually won. Crazy.

Oh, I almost forgot, I'm a cowboy now. Life is just better that way.