First of all, if you have been keeping up with me you know I had deleted my two posts as well as some of the photos. I will be putting back all the photos and even adding some new ones. Since I first started this blog I was unsure about it for several reasons, one being that I usually don’t write and share, but I guess the intention was to let my family and closest friends know how I am doing and what my days consist of. My brother posted the link on facebook without consulting me (you can tell me he doesn’t know me very well). My mom shared it with her friends, and whatever… it’s out in public now. Oh well, everyone meant well, it’s ok. It makes sense that people are interested in reading about someone who is volunteering in Haiti.
So, welcome. Hopefully I will be posting a lot and sharing pictures. I have already gotten some feedback from people and they are enjoying my posts. This will be an experiment for me and a little bit of a sacrifice.. I’m used to writing very personal things (I usually keep a journal) and although this might sound personal, and it is of course, it will not cross a limit. There are things I just simply can’t share and bla bla.. but that’s what my conversations with family and friends are for. I hope I have some time to write in my journal as well.
Another reason why I was unsure about starting a blog is because I am volunteering for an organization, and it’s well-known non-governmental organization which I am just starting to know. I was unsure about what I could write, what I couldn’t say, what people would think, if I could post photos of places I visit (the UN base here, for example). After some conversations I got to the understanding that since I am not an official part of the organization and since I am writing for my own personal reasons and not for them, that I am free to write and post photos. I will have to change some names, especially of the children, but that doesn’t matter.
It’s Friday and it’s 12:25pm, almost lunch time. I haven’t been getting hungry during lunch time the last few days. I guess because when I think of going to our “dining room” I just get a bit down. Yesterday it was 1:30 and I just didn’t want to face going to eat. But, I’m keeping positive. I’m getting excited about little things- like yesterday we had “pancakes” (basically they could be the weirdest pancakes you could ever have but here they are a luxury)- just some thin, flour-tasting pancakes made which whatever ingredients we have (there is no butter here). Right now I’m drinking a Tampico Island Punch juice box- I noticed several boxes of juices which expired two weeks ago, so now I am telling everyone we should be drinking this. This might be the closest to a fruit I’ll get so I’ll enjoy it.
I didn’t really eat dinner yesterday because all the volunteers went to the gas station and had sandwiches and “crepes” – I had two bites from one of the Spanish volunteers, I’m still scared of getting sick and nauseous and whatever. I keep having images of the millions and millions of amazing meals I’ve had in my life but at the same time I’m also trying to force those thoughts away. They do me no good. This will pass, and in my long life, it will be a short period. I need to think of others who are in these conditions, like others here, other volunteers, or soldiers around the world. It must get really boring to eat those ready-to-eat packages.
Since I haven’t written about what has been going on lately, let me give you some updates. Niklas, one of the two german volunteers (or should I saw x-volunteers) left on Wednesday. He was training me also, he explained some things to me, others not so thoroughly … I will understand it little by little. Nadine says a lot of things don’t really get explained to people here. You just figure it out. So, I’ll figure it out. I know I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Niklas and Louis, but I wish they were still here.
Today is Good Friday- a holiday for my family.. this week actually, while I’ve been here making a big effort to dedicate most of my time to being productive at the village, my friends are probably on vacation at the beach. I haven’t thought too much about this being Semana Santa. I’d love to go to mass on Sunday, but I really doubt I will get the chance. I don’t think any of the other volunteers are planning on going and we are very limited on cars right now. I think we might go visit a beach on Sunday.
Today in the morning we picked up two volunteers from Nicaragua and one left to El Salvador. We went to the hospital to see Marevie. She is doing well. I got to see her smile- or as much of as smile she is capable of. Last time I went to see her she began crying when I left, but this time I was with the three others and there was a girl from the village taking care of her, so leaving wasn’t as dramatic.
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