A new cell phone and an anniversay

So, I’ll do a quick take on what’s been going on down here.

I guess I’ll start with last week when my cell phone decided it didn’t want to work anymore. Since I didn’t feel like having to scream into the phone to have people hear me, I went and bought a new one. It wound up being twice as much as I thought it would be since I wanted to keep my own number. I was pretty mad about it for a while, mostly cause it was so expensive, is an ugly phone and I didn’t even get a free umbrella out of the deal. What is that about!

So, we’ll now cut to when I was home the following day. I decided that making cookies would be awesome. I made the dough just in time for the power to go out….my oven is electric powered. I thus took it as a sign from God that I should eat the aforementioned cookie dough. I felt pretty nauseous for the rest of the night but I think it was well worth it. Though, I’ll tell ya, it’s pretty spooky down here when there isn’t any power.

There still wasn’t any power Monday morning – so I had to cancel the eye campaign I had scheduled for that day. Since I had the day free, I decided to head into Sonsonate to translate for another eye campaign – some docs who came down from the US to check out eyes. I got there just in time to find out that translating started on Tuesday.

I went on Tuesday, but only because my pueblo still didn’t have electricity and because Luis gave me a ride. I really wasn’t gonna go by bus – was feelin a little ill.

Wednesday brought on my great escape! I’ve been getting a little snappy in my site and I think it was because I hadn’t been out of my site and chillin with out volunteers in a long time….so I fled! I got to head into the capital for my mid-service medical. Peace Corps checks you out medically at the beginning of your service, at the middle and at the end. It turns out I had a cavity and two wisdom teeth that should be pulled. They filled the cavity (which I’ll have Dr. Levy check out when possible) and denied the yanking of my wisdom teeth - apparently I have to be in pain for that to happen….

I got to stay at the new hotels the Peace Corps is using. Apparently, the place we’re using now has a neighborhood that is getting a little shady. The only problem with the new places are that they are so far away from everything. They’ve also started using three places – so there is no central meeting spot. So, I think we’ll continue to use the current place but with just a little more caution. Though, I will admit that the free breakfast at the new place was nice but the cold shower was harsh.

That night, my group and the new group had dinner – to welcome the newbies. We gave out superlatives and had Mexican….I enjoyed getting a beer. That night I met my new neighbor – Monica. So far, so good.

Thursday ( I know, I’m just blowing through everything) was their actual swearing in…which meant it was my one year anniversary as a volunteer! How insane is that! Anyway, it was overall decided that our swearing in was better then theirs…but we tried not to rub it in. The ambassador came and spoke – we thus had camera crews filming the event. That was a first – since the crews aren’t allowed into the embassy where swearing in usually takes place.

Afterward – it was time for pizza (from the Hut – cause that’s high class…seriously) and a little relaxing before the party. The party took place at a club located in one of the nicer malls. Overall it was great to get out, drink a little and get dancing. A few people didn’t recognize me right off the bat – apparently I look way different in contacts and nice clothes. All good.

That was pretty much it for the festivities and the weekend. I spent one extra night in the capital before heading back to my site. I just needed to tie up a few details and have one more hot shower. You’d be surprised how many ails a hot shower can cure.

Then came Saturday morning and I got on a bus back to the pueblo