Sorry for the delay!

Hello Everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated. I’ve had a busy few months.

The last time I wrote I was getting excited for a trip back home to the states for the holidays. The trip was filled with friends, family, food and lots of snow! It was nice to get away from the heat and humidity of Suriname, but I have to admit after being snowed in for nearly 3 days I was getting a bit tired of all the white stuff. It was so nice being able to spend time with everyone, even though I was unable to meet up with a few of you, but I will be sure to see you when I return- less than 5 months now!

I was out of my site for nearly 5 weeks so I was a bit nervous to go back and get accustomed to the village lifestyle. It amazing how even after being back in America for only a few weeks, there were times I felt like I’d never even left home. Of course, there were plenty of times I got a bit overwhelmed- like stepping into the Atlanta airport and being surrounded by so many other travelers. Or going Christmas shopping and being in the midst of so many crazy shoppers- of course I got over that quickly and spent plenty of time shopping while I was home!

When I showed up at the village, my close friends greeted me with big hugs and yelling their excitement. It was a nice welcome back! The first day back I went down to the river and was surprised to be by myself. Usually there are a handful of women washing things there, but this time I was solo. So I washed and tried to take it all in again- back on the Suriname River instead of in the Show Me State. After about 30 minutes of floating around, 2 little girls ran down to the river and charged at me for my shampoo-they say it smells better than theirs. I had brought back a gigantic bag of Werther’s candies that my grandpa had sent with me, handing them out to the villagers and saying they were sent from home. Of course I gave extra to Teddy’s mom since they were sent by his namesake. I was amazed once again at how big Teddy had gotten even after only 5 weeks away. His mom and I spent a few days trying to help him learn to walk-he’s getting there. And now he is saying Dada. It was a little strange at first to be dressing in kosus and sports bras again every day, but I got used to it. I spent some time making casaba bread with a neighbor. I felt like I was crying nonstop for 3 hours- it’s cooked over a wood fire so the smoke really stings your eyes. The best part was when she made a dessert- it’s thin layers of the bread filled with a mix of sugar and shredded coconut. After it’s done, you put butter on it. I’m not a coconut fan- but it has so much sugar it’s just sweet and chewy. It made the day worth all the smoke!

I was anxious to see how the Durotank project had come along. The village did purchase the second round of tanks- another 41 were brought to the village and installed. There is a bit of a hold up in building some of the stands, bc some of the villagers don’t have the sand needed to mix with the cement. Granted, there is a river filled with sand in it, so I’m assuming this problem will be solved quickly. But then again, things don’t get resolved very quickly in this country. So the Durotank project is basically done. The second project, a welcome sign sponsored by WWF was installed. My third smaller project, getting soccer equipment for the kids of the village is also completed. I worked with an organization in the states and initiated the project this past spring. The kids of the village were begging me to find them new equipment, as theirs gets worn pretty quickly. The equipment arrived in a huge box filled w/ 40 jerseys, balls and other items. Unfortunately, a lot of the kids who requested the equipment are now in school in the capital, so they won’t be there to use it. But, the good news is they are continuing going to school in the city!

The village is trying to do a latrine project in the time I have left. Currently, in a village of 200 people, there are 6 latrines. And 2 are on my ‘property’: the one I use and my old one, which is full but still used by my neighbors. Everyone else uses the river or jungle. It’s gross, but twice when I’ve been at the big stones in the river with other PCV’s, kids have come over and told us to go somewhere else bc we’re on the kaka (or poop) rocks. (I amazed that writing about this doesn’t seem like such a weird thing to me. I’ve gotten used to some different ways of life!) And when we do, we always see kids scurrying to and from the rocks to do their business. We’ve put together a proposal- for about SRD 10K or about $3500. I’m not sure if this is going to be possible to accomplish while I’m here. It takes a lot of time to even hear back from organizations here. You can submit a proposal and they won’t even respond to tell you they even received it or a definite ‘no’. So, there is a lot of time just tracking people down who say ‘maybe’ or ‘call us in 3 months’, let alone getting them to say yes. It gets a bit frustrating, but I’m going to see what we can do. I’ll be leaving my site mid-June, so it’s not that much time to try and get funding and completed, but we’ll try!

Everything else is going well for me personally, which it feels really good to say. A few others from my group have left recently, which makes me realize what amazing friendships I have made here. I am very lucky to have such amazing people I get along with so well! I can positively say I will always be in touch with them. Since now I’m really realizing the time is ticking down I am trying to figure out what to do with myself when I return to America. I’m starting to get a bit anxious, nervous, and definitely excited. I’m trying to figure out what to do and where to go, and already planning trips to visit the coasts when I get back. I’m toying with the idea of moving somewhere else for a while. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t really have any strings attached, (aside from friends and family who will always be there for me! Love you!) so I am thinking of heading either out east or west, of course depending on a job. The idea does make me a tad nervous- but if I came to Peace Corps and lived in the jungle for 27 months, I can certainly handle anything in the states, right? We’ll see how it goes. I know the job market is a bit rough, but at least now I should have some interesting stories to tell in interviews!

Anywho, I hope everyone is well back home. Nic – I still haven’t gotten your package- but you know I will keep asking about it! And thank you for it! Elgin, Em and Sharon, hope you guys all have/had good birthdays this month! Erica- hope the wedding planning is going well (and Brea for you to MOH!)- I can’t wait to be back for it! Grandma – I’m glad I was able to spend so much time with you when I was home – and thanks for taking care of me when I was a bit under the weather! And everyone- thank you so much for all your support over this crazy experience. I couldn’t have done it without you! Oh Mom- can’t wait to see you in April-bring beef jerky!