What Happened?

For those that are interested in what transpired in my meeting with my counterparts and my program director, things worked out alright I think. As far as I can tell they were a bit concerned that I am not doing as much of the kind of work they were expecting coupled with the fact that the rumor mill has been working over time in my area and somehow they go word that I have been saying less than flattering things about the local government. My response was basically to ignore the complaints about my work and just present some ideas I had already had. With regards to the rumors, I just assured them that I am not supposed to enter into politics and that I think they were just that, rumors. I also assured them that I would be a little more conscious of what I said and who I said it to. My program director thinks I handled the situation well and thinks things will work out just fine. I have my fingers crossed.

The rainy season has officially begun and so has my task of sweeping my house every hour or so. This may sound strange because nobody in the US thinks of it, but I have to sweep water out of my house. Yes, you read that correctly, SWEEPING WATER. Basically my roof leaks during heavy rains making a mini lake by my front door and window. There is just too much water to soak up with a towel and quite frankly if I tried that it would never dry. So I sweep the water out under the space under my doors. You would be surprised how well this actually works.

Yesterday in and of itself was a strange adventure. It all started early in the morning with my friend Erin getting a call from one of her counterparts asking if she could round up a few Peace Corps friends to bring into El Imposible for some sort of event for SalvaNatura, the NGO that runs the park. I agreed to tag along and it turns out it was a hike to some pretty spots in the park for a photo shoot which will eventually be used for an insert about SalvaNatura in one of the newspapers here. It was a nice hike and all but I felt super awkward. They had insisted on Peace Corps volunteers because they wanted white "tourists" for their photos. So I spent the day feeling a little self conscious and posing for really strange photos. Maybe I'll be famous, we'll see. If I can get my hands on some of the inserts and I'm in it I will try to send some copies out to people.