Sweeti Sranan (beloved Suriname)

Hello All!

It's been a week now since I arrived in Suriname. Plans have changed just a little bit. I was originally told that most of my training would be spent living in a host family. Instead of that, now they have decided to have us stay mostly at the training center. We are in a little town called Lelydorp, south of Paramaribo, but not far away. There is only really one street that all the shops are on. We walk from the training center to the shops in about 10 minutes. After 4 weeks of language training (my language will be Saramaccan), we will spend a week in a host family, then return to the training center. After one more week of language, we all get to spend a week in the actual jungle, half with a current volunteer to learn the ways, and half in our future site to introduce ourselves. Then back to the training center, one more week of host family stay, and then we get sworn in. It's all very complicated.

As it turns out, the internet situation is also a bit complicated. The Peace Corps has set up 3 laptops for us to use, but the internet is so slow, I have so far been unsuccessful at loading any of my 70 pictures to my blog. You guys will have to do without them until I can figure out what to do about that. I do, however, have a cell phone! Calls are very expensive to and from the US, but I can at least keep in touch on occasion. Email me for the number.

My mailing address is:
my name here
c/o U.S. Peace Corps
P.O.B. 9500
Paramaribo-Zuid
Suriname
South America

Feel free to mail me pacakages of love. It turns out it would be awesome to have a little flash drive, so that's the first thing on my wish list.

Training so far has been what I've expected. Lots of information sessions. We were introduced to the rules of peace corps, how to stay healthy in country, how to use phones, where to go for food, how to prepare mentally for the challenge of cultural adaptation, even how to wash our laundry. We are definitely being prepared as well as possible for our big adventure. Monday we start language courses, and that will take most of our day. There are 5 groups of language classes (ca. 5 people each), learning either Aucan, Sranan Tongo, or Saramaccan. Three of the groups are learning Saramaccan, and since most villages that speak Saramaccan live along the Suriname River, I assume most of us will be placed into villages along there.

The weather here is pretty crazy. We have just started the "long rainy season" so every day I've been in country, I have experienced at least one heavy downpour in the afternoon. I have started showering at least twice a day, as you can't help but be sweaty throughout most of the day. At the training center I do have a bed and a shower. It sounds like most volunteers also buy themselves beds for their villages instead of hammocks. I am disappointed to hear that, as I thought hammocks were a part of the experience. I think I'll buy one to take naps in anyways. Speaking of buying things, we have already gone out to purchase laundry necessities. Yes, I am doing my own laundry by hand now. I own a bucket, a brush, and a bar of soap, with which I am attempting to cleanse the sweat out of my clothes. So far I've done it once and the clothes are still drying. I'll report back on my effectiveness. I will probably start doing my laundry three times a week, since doing a week's worth of laundry is an absurd amount of work.

We spent some time earlier this week getting to know the earlier generations of volunteers. That was one of the most fulfilling experiences, as they were able to give us perspectives on things like getting heckled by the males when walking in the city, and learning to accept that Surinamese people will constantly tell us we are washing our clothes incorrectly. I have also learned that there are a lot of dogs here. They are mostly strays and stare lovingly at you from a distance but are unwilling to get very close, since they are used to having things thrown at them. My plan is to woo one of them and make it my pet. I hear that the people of Suriname will think that I'm crazy. But there are a few volunteers that have had pets (not actually sanctioned by the PC). They have had dogs, cats, birds and even monkeys! The latter sounds lame, since you usually have to tie them up and put them in diapers. A dog sounds more fun.

I will write more later, as time permits.

Alissa