This is my first weekend on my own without the support of my fellow volunteers. However, being as blessed as I am during this journey, help is always at hand when you need it. (Okay that just reminded me of Dumbledore telling Harry that help is always at Hogwarts for those who ask for it) I have a volunteer nearby in a town called Eenhana. He is a wonderful man who has dedicated a lot of his life to volunteering around the world. He is 63 years old and decided to take this year long trip while he was still physically able. He left behind his wife and kids to do this. But anyway, he is just a short hitch hike away from me and I decided when I woke up on Saturday morning that I was overwhelmed with starting my life here and wanted to see a familiar face. I walked with the Head of Department here (Mr. Emmanuel) to the hitch hike point which is about a mile walk down the road from my school onto the main road (which is also dirt). We also had one of the dogs that hangs around the school follow us all the way up the road. We waited a while on the side of the road until a car came and I climbed into the back with 5 other people and set out for the town. I can now say that I am a hitch hiker! (Side note: for all of you that read that and are now worried sick…it’s totally normal here to do this and very safe)
I arrived in town and met up with Mike. We sat at a restaurant and had some lunch and then headed to the local supermarket so that I could look at what I could buy the next day for groceries. We then walked about another mile to get to his school placement. He has running water at his school so thank goodness I got to take a shower. We spent some time talking about my placement and how overwhelmed I was the first day. The next day we took some lawn chairs out and enjoyed the morning in the shade and talked about the next year and how important it is to stay and keep strong. We then walked back to the market and I filled my hikers backpack with some essentials I didn’t have when I arrived (food, pots, pans, silverware, dish soap). I then asked around for a ride back into Onambutu (harder than I thought) and again hitch hiked back to the school and trekked back the mile with all of my new things for my home.
When I got back today I unpacked my things and cooked my dinner on a hot plate that Mr. Emmanuel was kind enough to bring to me because they haven’t hooked up my gas stove just yet. To my surprise, the electricity and cell phone service then went out for several hours. Apparently this happens every so often and more so in the rainy season (which we are in right now even though I haven’t seen rain yet at my placement). I think I’ll just have to get used to it and everyone back home will have to be patient with me if we had planned to talk at a certain time.
That’s just an update of a few things that have been going on with me since I’ve reached my site. Tomorrow is my first day of school and I am nervous to meet everyone officially. The teachers go home on the weekends so I haven’t met many of them just yet. We have a morning assembly tomorrow that I will go to after I meet the principal and formally introduce myself. I should probably go to sleep now and try to rest before the big first day.
Here’s to a better day! Cheers!
Peace and Love,
Chelsea
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