Today's the Day!

By the way, I uploaded a very few pictures onto my picasa site. Enjoy.

ALSO, check out the episode of Bizarre Foods, Suriname. For all intents and purposes, the village you see in the show could be my own. The girl who is translating in the show is actually Amber, a volunteer that has just completed her two years as a PCV, and she speaks the language that I will be attempting to master too. Watch it!!! You will get a very good idea of what my home on the Upper Suriname River is like.

Today I officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer. I take the oath that every government worker takes (from what I hear.) I am sitting in the Peace Corps office, which is the only reason I have access to a computer at all. As you know, I managed to break mine, and now I have only 2 days to try to remedy the situation. Maybe I can get a keyboard that is USB connected. If I cannot buy this here, I will give a shout out to my friends in the US with all the connections. Keep your ears peeled.

I also have an announcement to make. The volunteer that was previously in my site has left one of her projects unfinished. She is trying to get my village some pour-flush toilets. My village is on a river, and is surrounded on all sides by another, larger village. As of now, the villagers have no real waste disposal system. People either find a spot in the jungle to poop in, or use the river. This is not a feasible method of waste disposal since the river is also the main source of drinking water and is used for cleaning dishes and clothes too. Pour-flush toilets are a more sanitary solution. Effectively, we are hoping to promote a change in behavior with the addition of the toilets.
My predecessor has worked hard to realize the whole thing. She has been seeking funding for months now with no luck from any of the organizations that would be able to fund the whole thing. So now she has taken the matter into her own hands and asked friends and family at home for some help. As my predecessor is now officially passing her village on to me, I have agreed to take on her project as well. I will seek the funding and hopefully witness the creation and use of the pour flush-toilets.
As an official volunteer now, I am making a first request for donations from you, my family and friends. Your money will be directly applied to the cost of wood, nails, cement, and the like. The blood, sweat and tears will be provided for free by the people in the village. They have agreed to contribute not only by pulling sand from the river bottom for cement, but also by building the toilets themselves. Everything else we have to buy.

If you would like to help me out with my first project, I would be incredibly grateful. Here's how to do it:
- Go to www.peacecorps.gov
-Click on Donate to Volunteer Projects
-Search for project number: 568-123 (The project will still appear under the last name of the previous volunteer, Cook.)
-Enter how much you are interested in donating!

I would love to see my village enjoy the benefits of this project. I hope you feel the same!

Whew

Hello everyone. A lot has happened since I last updated this blog! I am now in my last week in the city before I get sent out to my new site! It sounds like I will have to stay at site for 3 solid months, since that is Peace Corps policy. Since I have last updated this blog:
1. My computer broke. I have hope that it's just a loose wire and that my fellow Sur 17 friend can do some surgery to fix it.
2. I have decided to get a cat when I go to my site.
3. I was on stage at the US Ambassador's house with Suriname's President Bouterse, and subsequently saw myself on tv the next day. (They were celebrating the PC's 50th anniversary.)
4. I got to celebrate Keti Koti (Emancipation of the Slaves) on July 1st with my host family. They got all dressed up to go to church, and would have done some extensive partying if it had not been for their mourning. Hairdo's become a focal point of a woman's outfit on these occasions, and I wish I had taken some pictures of the elaborate hairdo's I saw on that day.
5. I took my language proficiency test and have officially passed. I am all set to get sworn in on July 13th! I have to buy everything I will need in the next three months between then and when I leave for my new site on the 16th.

I hope all is well on the home front.
Peace Out! Hope to see you all again in 3 months!