I left off my last blog waiting for the arrival of my cousin and one of my best friends. She showed up with a surplus of s’mores supplies. It is quite the toss up who enjoyed it more, my host family or me. We had plenty of fixins so we let them eat as much as they wanted and my youngest host brother crushed at least 6, fairly impressive. Although as my host mom told me, “we [ngäbes] never get full”. My stoke level was super high since the host family essentially cooks on a campfire everyday, naturally all I could think about everyday was roasting some smellows and eating s’mores. Zoe dressed in a Nagua and did a pretty killer job of introducing herself in the indigenous language. I think she is going to need to return for a longer stay because my people want to know when she is coming back.
As Zoe was leaving I had some other visitors come who are sure to come visit again, parasites. This is something that would have been quite frightening in the past but now is just a bond between the other Peace Corps volunteers. Hiked out of sight to come to the doctors for a few days to take care of that and then off to Ngäbere language training. Had several days of language training with other other volunteers at another volunteer’s site in the Comarca, taught by language professors of Peace Corps. Great experience to not only have a better grasp on the language but also to hang out with other volunteers.
Back in site I have been busy hunting down the wood guy with the chainsaw to build my house. He doesn’t live in my community so it has been interesting getting him to commit to do it. However, once this guy started working he cruised right through it. It is a pretty special experience getting to being a part of building your house from square one. I got to watch him cut down the trees, and then saw the wood into boards. We then gathered a bunch of community members to carry the wood on our shoulders to my plot. I got to pick how big my pith was and where the windows go and how many benches to build. The whole process has been tough but is now so rewarding, I have my first house! To me it’s the most perfect little peace corps house. I have stayed in my house just one night because I had to leave site to do some post thanksgiving food gorging with my fellow peace corps volunteers. However, my first night already had a surprise.
I am all cuddled up in my sleeping bag liner and fuzzy blanket in my canopy of mosquito netting. It is 5 am and I hear thump, thump. I shine my light in that direction and see nothing. I crawl out of my mosquito net and place my soap and chloro back on the shelf. I crawl back into bed again and hear another thump. This time I know it’s got to be an animal. So this time I investigate a bit more before leaving the comfort of my “princess tent”. I am scanning with my light and make it to the roof where the crossbeam is right below the zinc. Who do I find there? My new friend Ratatouille is staring at me with glowing eyes not moving a muscle. I grab my broom and stand up on my bed and try to swat her out of the house. That couldn’t have backfired more and she crawled down into the house and his behind and extra board I had. I finally chase her back up with my broom but she then turns and runs along the cross beam into my room! I open my door in case she chooses that route. I swatting her with my broom and she come falling down nearly on the top of my head! I yell probably waking up my neighbors and run her out onto my porch. I have a feeling that’s not the last I have seen of Ratatouille. I then left sight the next day for several days so I think Ratatouille has been throwing a fiesta in my house for several days. I want to give a thanks to the McBees who smuggled baby rats on an airplane from Seattle, WA to Columbus,OH for my 6th birthday. I then had 7 pet female rights over the course of about the next ten years. I think I would have had a lot more fear without of my pet rat background and was also able to tell that Ratatouille was a girl. I am bringing a kitty back into site with me tomorrow so this could be the last we see of Ratatouille….
Erin Storck 