Training

I survived my first sickness!!!!!!!
I shat liquid for four days and spent a great deal of time in the bathroom. This experience was even more difficult since the water in my host family's house gets shut off around 8:00 PM. But as I said before, I survived. Hopefully that's it for a few months. I've got a routine down for taking a bucket bath in the morning. I'm getting used to my life here in this small town of  'Utulau. In a few days I will be moving to Okoa, which is a small island in the island grouping of Vava'u. I'm excited to meet my new host family.  These month long stays can get a little stressful. Privacy is not something that is valued here. Maybe I will miss this all when I'm living on my own.

I've started my meetings with staff to determine my placement for the next two years.  This is a subject that is on everyone's minds. I'm living in the moment and trying to appreciate all the stages in this experience, but I can't help but jump to thoughts about my site.  I have another seven weeks before that comes, so I better learn some patients. 

Training is a daily grind of language, culture, technical skills, health, and safety/security. I waiver on my feelings from day to day. The language is the worst for me. I'm actually doing okay, but it is a struggle. My mouth is just not used to  putting so many vowels together at once. The kids in my current host family have been great.  I'm not sure how many people live in the home.  There is the main house and then there are two separate buildings outside that are each an additional bedroom.  My estimate is about 13 people plus the 5 of us peace corps trainees. The five of us share two bedrooms, which means that the living room is now full of people at night. It is so different than my life back home.

I've been...
Attending church with my family.
Watching waves crash against the shore.
Hand washing my laundry (Oh how I miss the feeling of clothes dried in a dryer).
Visiting the National Youth Congress.
Visiting the Ministry of Agriculture.
Planting cabbage.
Attending feasts.
Watching dog fights.
Eating like I didn't think was possible.
And loving life.

I miss you all and have loved hearing from everyone.
Keep the emails coming. Also feel free to write me letters.  It's nice to get stuff once in a while. My address is listed on the side.

Love,
Adrianne  ('Ateliana)