ch-ch-ch-changes

Changes are a good thing. I have had to keep telling myself that with every change that has come up in the last couple of months. Obviously leaving the states and coming down here was the greatest change I had to undergo, but I lived through that and, i think, transitioned with ease. Yesterday, I left what I had called home for the last month, and the wonderful family I had gotten to know, and moved to a much smaller, rural site.

I was very nervous at first. I had absolutely loved my family in the last city I was in, and the mother was an especially good cook. I was also just starting to get comfortable with all the other volunteers, and even enjoying my spanish classes! But against my wishes, and most of the other volunteers, we had to pack up only after a few short weeks and split up into our 3 separate project areas (youth development, municipal development, and protected areas management) and go to separate towns for more project-specific training.

When I arrived in the town yesterday, I quickly realized that my nervousness was unnecessary. Although the town was more rural, and my famiy had never taken in an American into their house before, I was welcomed with open arms as their own `hija` as they told me. This family has two boys, one 12 and one 13. They both speak a little English, and enjoy practicing with me. There are also 5 other volunteers in the small town with me (the other half of the people in our project area were placed in a neighboring town). For lunch, all of the families of the town had a huge welcoming lunch for us all, which was delicious and so wonderful for all of us. We felt very welcomed and appreciated because of that!

That evening, we all wandered around the town, and came across the soccer field, which of course, was the center of all activity in the town that night. There was actually a game of volleyball going on when we arrived, which me and another volunteer quickly ran to participate in. We lost our first game, but won the second one! We were a team of girls against boys, and I think the boys were especially upset after we beat them. All the games of volleyball ended right after we beat the boys, and I still wonder if it was a coincidence. After the volleyball game, all of us girls were invited to play a game of soccer against all the younger boys (we of course weren't good enough to play against the men). It was a lot of fun, and we might go with them on Sunday to play in an actual game against another team of girls in a neighboring town!

The first night in my new town was, as you can see, a blast. I love my new town and situation. Although changes can sometimes be hard, they are always a good thing.