Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Hello all! Well, I've been in the city since Wednesday- hopefully you all had a good Thanksgiving! It was definitely a lot different being in 90 degree weather instead of the Missouri cold! The Ambassador had the PC staff and volunteers over for dinner-turkey and mashed potatoes, a few other sides and pie. Unfortunately there were no party potatoes, ham or green bean casserole! Luckily my mom sent the ingredients for the casserole- it really is a must for the holidays!-so the following night when our group of volunteers made Mexican- it only seemed appropriate to have some green beans! Getting through the first major holiday was rough- talking to family when they are all sitting around the table back home and knowing what (and who) we were missing was difficult for a lot of the volunteers. Unfortunately some of the volunteers were unable to come in for the holiday bc of their site location and the cost of coming in (Joe and some others) and they were missed (one in particular by me!). I did sent a box full of treats, veggies and a bottle of red down to Joe's site via the airline that travels there- so hopefully those helped him a bit!

The past three weeks at site have been somewhat eventful project-wise. After coming back from the city the last time, I had hoped to finally have a new latrine built and plywood put under my zinc roof (it helps a bit with the heat- it's a sauna inside during the day!), but was disappointed to see that nothing had been done. Luckily the PC doctor can get things moving and talked to my counterpart- so hopefully THIS time when I get back there will be more progress! I also tried to have my first official meeting when I first returned from the city. Joe was there so I had some moral support, we told a lot of the villagers when/where, and attempted to make 'no bake cookies' (which basically turned into balls of sugar-it’s hard to bake with no oven!) for the meeting. Needless to say, when not one person showed, I was a bit upset. Two weeks later, I was able to work a meeting into a funeral type meeting called a broko day. (Whenever someone from the village dies, they get together and dance, sing and eat at certain time intervals (1 week, 6 weeks, 6 months and so on) to remember that person. Sometimes they last a few hours, sometimes they go until 6 am.) My counterpart and I took advantage of that and tried to talk to the villagers about what they wanted me to help them do (Caroline was there with me this time- it's very nerve racking to speak in Saramaccan to a few people, let alone 50!) So, the village decided they wanted running water, durotanks, and machines to help with the rice and casaba, and a pre-school. Next, I'll try and have a meeting to see who is going to help me with what projects and decide what organizations I can hopefully work with to get some of these goals accomplished. There are various ones here in Suriname, including UNICEF, PAHO and their National Women’s Movement, that I will more than likely work with. There is also a small tourist lodge- 3 huts and a meeting house of sorts- that is being worked on by a villager (for the past 9 years) and hopefully I will be able to help him generate some clients with some basic marketing, etc.

There's a lot of other possibilities for projects running through my head, but the big problem is getting people motivated to do things. That is the main obstacle we face here – motivation. The Surinamese culture prefers to be polite and basically tell you what you would like to hear, instead of what they really feel. This is challenging when you are trying to get people to commit to things, and they tell you 'ok, sure' but really they mean 'no way'. This is something that PC tried to help the volunteers understand and work around, but I am not sure exactly how to do that, yet am hoping with time I will be able to do so. I think it is going to take a lot of trial and error. Most of the villages are used to NGOs and other groups visiting for a few days and then providing the villages with items, such as rice, materials, etc., so they are often used to 'handouts', which is discouraging. Wanting people to accomplish things and help better their community is exasperating when they are used to saying 'give me' and 'what did you bring me' and are indeed given what they ask for. I know this is one of the most tiring things for PCVs here- being told 'da me ___'. (Give me ___). At first I think we were all shocked at how blunt people are with that, but you do get used to it at time and it is easier to say no.

I have not begun teaching English yet, as I wanted to wait and talk to the village about what they wanted me to help them with first. I will probably begin the first of the year, as I'll be back to the city for the holidays where I will also trying to meet with various organizations to get an idea of what can be done to help get my projects moving. It can take a very long time to obtain funding for things, so I am interested to see what I will be able to do during my time here.

I miss you all and love you- it is so difficult being away, especially this time of year! I was sad to miss Black Friday for the first time in years! Shopping in Suriname really isn’t the same- and oh yeah, there’s also the factor of not really having an income! Nic – I got the Halloween box and absolutely love everything! Tell ‘the boys’ thanks too! Mom the casserole was delicious! Brea I got your card – you look very teacherly/ high school senior like in your school photo (thanks for the handwriting paper- I really will try and work on my writing here guys- I know you have been having to skip some words in my letters!) Frank Happy Late Birthday! Everyone – enjoy the cold bc I am very jealous of it! Frani and Elizabeth- thank you for the cards- what a nice surprise! Hello Ronda! I hope that you had a good holiday as well- I really wish Joe would have been able to come in- but he said he was making pumpkin bread, so I guess he was trying for his own Thanksgiving dinner of sorts! Hopefully you will like reading about what we are up to here!

Also- there are new pictures up!