Community Based Training

Hello!!!!

I am now in San Ignacio settled with my host family. So far so good. I really like where I’m staying. The family is awesome. They rent out rooms on their property so I’m in one of the ones they have so I get my own room with my own bathroom and everything! There is even a door that locks. It’s also nice to have electricity. It’s also in a pretty good location. I’m right next to a bunch of markets, the bus stop, and internet café where I plan on uploading this blog. It’s currently Sunday and I’m sitting in my room listening to my iPod, typing this up. Training is filled with very long days with very little time off. I think we get four full days off total and today is one of them. I have a bit of a cold right not now it’s not too bad, just a bit stuffed up.

My host family: My host family is great. They are all so sweet. Carlos is the dad. He is retired and can usually be found sitting on the porch swing. Marcel is the mom she is a stay at home mom and is very sweet. They have….10 children! 10! They altogether have 18 grandchildren so far. All of them but two are married and moved out except the two youngest girls. Lettie who just left for college today…. So I guess that makes one…. Suzy who is 12…

I’ll give you a typical day of training: I usually wake up at 6am. I get ready and read for a bit until breakfast is served at the host families at 7:15. I have to be at the training center at 8. It’s about a 15 walk there. The walk back is more like 25. From 8-12 we have Spanish lessons. A hour break for lunch. At 1 the other trainees learning Kriol come down the hill from their training spot to join us for our Tech sessions. It’s hard to explain what the tech sessions are. It’s just kind of learning how to do what we are going to do over the next two years of service. We get out at 5. It’s a trek home. There is a very large, long hill to get up. By the time I get to the top I’m drenched in sweat. Carlos is usually sitting in the swing waiting for me so I sit down and chat with him for a bit. I then put my stuff away, curse at my Spanish book, and then sit in front of a fan until I need to go to the house for dinner at 6:15. After dinner I watch Spanish soap operas with the girls (I never know what it’s about only that it’s very dramatic and there is a lot of sex). I got to my room at 8, take a shower, read for a bit, and then it’s asleep by 10 and do the whole thing over again.

Spanish is really frustrating. I know its only day two but It’s really hard not to get discouraged. Everyone else is so far ahead of me and most of the time I have no idea what he is saying. My host family really doesn’t speak Spanish around the house. Sometimes they try to practice with me but when they do it is very basic. For example today they were trying to teach me to count. I’m kind of stuck in between. It’s also frustrating because I have to ask a hundred times for the teacher to repeat how to say a work. It just won’t stick. Thank God we don’t have a Spanish proficiency test to pass. That does lower my stress levels. It’s not like I’m trying to learn it to pass a test, I actually want to learn the language.

I can say that currently my only anxiety about my Peace Corps training is learning the language.

It’s currently 2:33PM. My thermometer says its 96 degrees in my room (It’s not so bad as long as the fan is on me). The heat really isn’t so bad here. The humidity is what sucks. I hate sweating so much and here everyone sweats constantly unless you as sitting in front of a fan. I really like Belize. It’s beautiful and interesting. Sometimes it can be frustrating since the area we are currently in can sometimes be a tourist stop due to the Mayan ruins nearby. A lot of times we will be asked if we need a taxi ride or to go on a tour, especially if we are in a group. I can’t wait for the day that I’m not seen as a tourist.

Until we meet again…..

Christa