2.11.11
Hoy es Viernes! (Today is Friday!) Except not my Friday because I have class tomorrow. But tomorrow is all Spanish and culture class the whole time and; therefore, I’m excited about it! We have class from 8-12:30 every Saturday, except the weeks we come back from our site visit of a technical trip.
Training was awesome today! We had our first of ten Safety and Security (S&S) presentations. Today’s topic was regarding our EAP (Emergency Action Plan) so we know what to do if there is an emergency/problem in the country and we need to take action.
After S&S we had our 1st of a lot of health talks. Today’s topic…. DIARRHEA! Haha. Our PC Medical Officer (PCMO) gave us a 1 ½ hour presentation on diarrhea, parasites, and some other diseases that cause diarrhea. This is really disgusting, but depending on what our diarrhea looks like, she is able to narrow our symptoms down what we may be sick with She also told us how to send her a poop sample if it comes down to that. Gross, I know, but diarrhea is a reality in the Peace Corps. Actually, almost all of my group has it or had it already, including myself. The PCMO informed us that it is normal to have diarrhea for 5-7 when your body is adjusting to a new diet. Awwweesssooommmeeee!! I’m going on day 4 now, so I’m hoping my stomach gets better soon. Anyhoo, enough about diarrhea. We got our second rabies shot today after lunch. I’m not sure how many there are in the sequence.
The rest of the afternoon was run by current PC volunteers with no staff members around, only volunteers and us trainees. We broke off into small groups and had an open forum. We could ask the volunteers anything we wanted, nothing was off limits. This was really nice because the volunteers were open and honest with us about all the questions everyone is embarrassed to ask a PC employee. That lasted for a couple hours then we reunited as one group. The last part of the day was interesting… They said if anyone had anymore burning questions in the back of their mind, to write them down anonymously and the PCVs would take turns answering them. Oh man, were there some hilarious questions!!! Haha.
Some people stayed after class to play soccer on the small field we have on the training grounds. I stayed after, but didn’t play soccer; I must have missed the memo to bring my tennis shoes. Oh well, there will be plenty more opportunities to play. I did get to chat with some of the current volunteers who were here to help out for the day. They are all very nice. One girl is in her 3rd year bc she loves her site so much! Pretty awesome, huh?
When I got home, my host mother told me it was her daughter-in-laws birthday. So when her and my host brother got home from work we celebrated with cake! (Yes, I had cake even though my stomach was telling me otherwise, I just couldn’t resist!) It was delicious! Then my brother Danilo and his wife Paulina asked me if I wanted to come over and meet Paulina’s family. So of course I went! They were all very nice! Paulina’s dad actually lived in New York for 15 years so he knew English and was able to translate all the questions everyone was asking me, it was great!
Paulina’s parents own a Lodge in the Oriente/Amazon near some hotsprings (if you don’t know what a hotspring is, look them up!!) for tourists to stay at when they our vacationing. Paulina’s parents want to take me there one weekend during training. I’m soooo excited!!!!! I hope it actually happens!! J
That was pretty much my day. Oh no, I did have to come home and do Chapter 1 in my Spanish workbook for class tomorrow. But it was pretty easy.
Hasta manana,
Heather
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