Settling In

Today marks the end of the first two weeks in site. Pretty low key, and as it turns out I´m not even close to rushing into things because the water and sanitation volunteer I will be working with is on vacation until the 15th. I got to see the proposed site for the represa (dam) and the distribution tank so I´m not completely lost. I also had the opportunity to participate in my first Patronato (town council) meeting which was interesting. Some things were probably lost in translation but there seemed to be a lot of people not willing to accept responsibility for their actions, for example complaining that they weren´t included in the water study (because they failed to get permission for the study to cross private property, not belonging to them, to reach their houses) etc. I´ve got my work cut out for me, not including the need to fill my gap in spanish. It was a humbling experience to hear my resume read aloud to the group in spanish wondering what they think of me and at the same time hoping I had translated it correctly.

The small town is starting to feel a bit like home although I´m a bit ashamed that I still haven´t met all of the limited number of town members yet. I´ve been playing a fair amount of soccer, which is helping my integration, and really regretting that I haven´t kept in shape. Not all picture perfect though. I thought at first that I could tough out the sketchy water and I got sick (I´ll spare you the details) but it´s boiled now. Unfortunatly it now has a strong taste of smoke (and is still far from my definition of clear) so I´m debaiting on whether or not to go soft and look into the possibility 5 gal jugs of purified water reaching my site or at least looking into filter options.

I´ve been practicing my cow milking skills as well. Poco a poco (little by little), or Poquito a poco as my host dad says, I´ve graduated from nothing to a few drops, and even to a few weak streams. It feels like a great sense of accomplishment until I watch the others and how easy it looks. In comparison, it´s like I have a water pistol compared to a fire hose.

The town near my community was in feria this week, kind of like a county fair, complete with the usual rigged games and some 50 year old (at least) rides, like the Ferris Wheel, that look like death traps, as well as the main event, the Corridos de Toros. Hard to describe but it´s kind of like a cross between bull riding and bull fighting. The bull springs from the gate with a rider and if it doesn´t buck enough the Toreo comes out to agitate it. If the rider makes the 8 seconds or falls off first the Toreo continues to make passes with the bull until it loses interest. Then the bull is lassoed and returned to the gates. A little less thrilling than I thought it would be, but I imagine it is because the bulls aren´t bred for this; they have other full time jobs and aren´t bred to be bravo (although some were).

Well I have a lot to get done today, hasta luego