Solitude

I've been reflecting on the need for 'alone-time' and the virtues of choosing to enjoy solitude rather than avoid it. Early on in my job, I noticed that I was spending way more social time with the volunteers than I'm used to, going to the gym, eating meals together, spending evenings hanging out in the living room. I wondered to myself for how long I could keep this up, since I thought I was a pretty hardcore introvert, so at a certain point I expected to 'over-extrovert' myself and need to withdraw.

My first four months on the job were very special because there were volunteers around that were nice and low-energy (just like me), thoughtful, intelligent... just super compatible, so it was very easy to get along with them. This month there hasn't been an instant best friend just yet, so I've had the opportunity to get back to enjoying solitary pursuits (reading, journaling, dabbling in creative writing, doing sudoku, reading some more).

And solitude is a peculiar thing, because there are times when I start writing and I look up an hour and a half later wondering where the time went. Then other times it's like I'm just trying to figure out a creative way to fill the hours until going to work the next day. That's when loneliness crops up.

This month I've chosen to be more guarded and made much less of an effort to get to know the volunteers in the interest in self-protection, since it's harder to say goodbye to volunteers if they've basically become the brother/sister I've never had, than if I maintain a respectable emotional distance. But the consequence of that is not always having someone in the house to just hang out with whenever I'm craving the ease of companionship.

So loneliness, that ugly thing. Ugh. It makes me think upon Henri Nouwen, and his writings about confronting his own emotional neediness. I know it's natural to have moments of feeling lonely and isolated, but it makes me wonder about how best to address them when they occur, rather than deny or ignore. It is not as if my goal would ever be to 'never need anyone.' That's ridiculous and also impossible. But I'm toying with the idea that in lonely moments, it might behoove me to use them as opportunities to spend some extra time in God's company in prayer and devotion, rather than trying to distract myself from the negative feelings by covering them over with the happy endings of books, movies and television shows.

One of the moms at the daycare chatted with me this morning while making copies in the office for one of the teachers, and I mentioned that I was going back to Seattle in May to be in a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding. She smiled and asked, "And you, are you married?" To which I immediately replied, "No!! I'm single. I'm single," laughing. "That's best. That's best," she replied, also laughing. As she walked out of the office I added, "[I'll get married] When God wants, but for now, I'm very satisfied to be single." :)

I think the gift of this season of my life is that I just have so much free time to pursue learning and self-discovery. Although I'm not enrolled in a formal educational system anymore, I just crave knowledge. "I love learning things!" I exclaimed to Adi one day and he just chuckled. You know, being on my own is kind of great, and though I may have periods of acute loneliness, the loneliness always seem to dissipate, giving way to another new and exciting experience meeting new people, going to new places, learning new things.

So I'm going to do my best to enjoy the time, to enjoy this time specifically in my life, with its solitude, and all the blessings that come with it.

Four-month Retrospective

For the past five years, in the first week of December, I log into my email account and find an email from myself, written exactly one year earlier (thanks to the online application FutureMe.org). This year was no different. On December 3, 2013, I was delighted to find a several paragraphs-long email that I had written in 2012, detailing my day to day life (I was working full-time with the King County Department of Community and Human Services) and making speculations as to what the future may hold. At the time, I was toying with the idea of graduate school at the University of Washington, but get this, towards the end of the letter I wrote "I MISS MEXICO. Lord, when will you take me abroad again?" God must have been laughing to himself when I wrote this, knowing full well that a year later I'd be three and a half months into working as the Volunteer Coordinator with Casa de los Angeles.

I am starting to 'get a hang' of things and reaching an equilibrium work-wise. I realized when talking to Laura, one of the Danish volunteers, that the reason I had such a deep crisis with the run of less-than-savory volunteers is that, as with most things in my life, I came into this job with some naive notions of what things were going to be like. Mainly, I assumed that because volunteers were coming to give their time to a charity, spending their own money to travel abroad, that they'd all more or less be 'decent' people. I hadn't accounted for the fact that some of them could possibly be immature, passive aggressive, neurotic, self-important or entitled. Just because these are volunteers, doesn't mean that the Volunteer House is exempt from the shitty-ness inherent in humanity as a whole. This isn't a utopian haven of only generous-hearted saints.

So I'm learning to embrace the ambiguity and lack of resolution in the fact that the Volunteer House will at any one time contain exemplary volunteers (conscientious, kind, go above and beyond), odd volunteers (enigmatic, tough to figure out), rude volunteers (openly selfish, prickly, uncooperative, complaining)--it's basically going to be a macrocosm of the world, morally/character-wise. So for me now, my only hope and expectation is to at any one time have just one, at least one, decent volunteer that will remind me that yes, there are actually altruistic people there... that are sincerely and genuinely altruistic, not just faking it (and are actually kind of nasty deep down, ugh, just terrible).

Another thing I'm learning is that some of the volunteers just aren't going to like me. No matter how much I may try and start conversations, try and be inviting, check-in regarding their experience at the daycare, there will just be something about me that fundamentally turns them off. And I've learned to let that go. I'm done with self-doubt and bending over backwards to please people. If they want to talk poorly about me to other volunteers and be surly toward me, that's whatever, man. Not my problem. I have enough people around me that are 'in my corner,' telling me that I'm doing a good job, that I'm just not going to worry about not being 'everything to everyone.'

I think a really neat part about my work is that through it I gain friends. I was struck today how nice it is to be able to get to know long-term volunteers well enough to the point that it's apparent in our conversations that we genuinely care about each other. You know how in some relationships there's quite a bit of superficiality, in the sense that if you ask a person, 'How are you doing?' and neither the question-asker or the question-answerer care about the answer?--neither person's heart is in it and it's more of a formality, a charade, 'going through the motions.' There's such a stark difference between stilted acquaintances and when there is genuine friendship, as in both parties are actually truly interested in what the other person has to say...

At first it can be hard to meet new volunteers, go through the small talk, and try and intuit whether the volunteer could be a potential friend, or just another person that I'll live with for a few months, they'll leave, and I won't really think about them much again. However, to get to the depth of actual friendship, that's something quite special... to be able to have real conversations about personal observations, reflections, family, friends, growing up... it actually reminds me of when I'm with my cousins, and we can just talk about anything and everything, and it's just so easy! I'm so glad to have met and spent time with Andreas (Denmark), Alice (U.K.), Adi (Israel) and Laura (Denmark). A+ people, all of them.

Thankful to have the opportunity to 'connect' with such outstanding volunteers and human beings. Yes, this job is pretty great. :)

Counting Down

The weather here in San Miguel de Allende has kept me in a strange warped vertigo when it comes to time orientation... I swear to myself it's got to still be August but no, today is the 8th of December, and it's in the low 70s and sunny. Truly amazing.

In less that two weeks I'll be back in Seattle. It's kind of strange! I was walking home from church this afternoon thinking, 'Wow, this is my life now. I'm in the middle of Mexico and this is my life now.' I go to the market to get fruits and vegetables and the guy working there recognizes me now. If I need something, I more or less know where to go to get it, and when I can get it (instead of arriving to a store only to find it closed). I have a weekly routine now; for example, Sundays afternoons are for tidying up my room and cooking a gigantic meal that I'll chip away at all week long until it's gone.

It's just kind of surreal. Mari was right when she told me in September, te acostumbras.

It feels a bit odd to not be with my family in December as everything is ramping up for Christmas. We have our traditions of decorating the house, watching our favorite Christmas films, etc. I asked my mom to send a picture of Fifth Avenue all decked out in lights downtown, because I missed it. Nevertheless, it's good to be here with the volunteers, where we're developing traditions of our own. Myself and another volunteer have put up twinkly lights in our room that blink on and off somewhat haphazardly (what more can you expect for 20 pesos?). I bought some pewter candle holders and cheap tapers (they literally smell like crayons) to serve as an Advent wreath (my Christ candle is currently a tea light--definitely need to work on that). I miraculously found some candy canes at the dollar store in Queretaro, perfect for making peppermint hot chocolate, and my red Glade apple-cinnamon candle smells like Christmas enough...

A bit of ludicrous American commercialism to get into the Christmas spirit.

Tonight is 'cake and ice cream night,' our second in the past month, where we as a group go to the grocery store, pick out a giant cake and a 4 liter tub of ice cream, and bring it home to eat while watching a movie of our choice. Last time it was Mean Girls but we're hoping Elf or Love Actually will be on so that we can really get into the Christmas spirit. If not, though, I'm always down to watch Pacific Rim. ;)

All this to say, life is good. Thanks for reading along.

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

In the past few weeks, having a few somewhat difficult volunteers that were not here for the right reasons left me a bit disheartened and discouraged about my job. I just could not believe that people would come all the way here to Mexico, and make the whole experience about them, and serving their own needs and expectations, rather than genuinely trying to be of service at the daycare. Too self-absorbed by their own discontent and unhappiness, these volunteers were blind to what a blessing it is to be with the kids, teachers and moms. It was truly disappointing to me.

However, a few bad apples cannot and will not spoil the bunch. I was thoroughly reminded of this yesterday, and it actually almost made me cry... Yesterday was Alice's last day at the daycare, and she's been here almost three months. Long-term volunteers like Alice are able to make deeper and stronger connections with the teachers and kids, really get to know how each of the children act, and start helping intuitively, just jumping in wherever there is a need.

It makes such a difference when volunteers arrive with an open mind, willingness to learn and a generous spirit. Although Alice arrived without knowing any Spanish, she enrolled in hour-long lessons Monday through Friday... Rather than complain about the teachers 'not speaking slowly or clearly' enough for her to understand, or giving up completely in ever being able to communicate and thus be of help in the daycare, she said her lack of language skills just pushed her to 'work harder' to learn Spanish so that she could be more helpful! She even put Post-It notes labeling things in her room in Spanish to expand her vocabulary.

Teachers can really tell a good volunteer from a poor volunteer, especially since over the years nearly 1,500 volunteers have passed on through. And in my short time here, it's the good volunteers that, on their last day, receive cards full of kind words from the teacher they worked closely with. This happened when Andreas left and now with Alice. She had spent the most time in Maestra Diana's class of 2+ year-olds. When I stopped by in the afternoon to snap any last-minute photos of her with the children, she showed me a card from Diana with the kids' hand outlines and a very long, sweet note from Diana, thanking Alice for all her help--that she did a 'noble' work and was great with the kids.

The kicker was when each of the kids got picked up by their mothers and Diana said, 'Go hug Alice; she's going back home now!' The kids immediately responded, running straight towards Alice with their arms wide open and a smile on their face. I could tell how much affection they had for her and she for them.

This was a reminder of the worth and value of this work. When the volunteers have good will and a good heart, it is a true blessing to witness the love shared between them and the staff/children.

"And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

-Linus Van Pelt, A Charlie Brown Christmas

Convivencia

Although only a couple of months have passed for me in San Miguel de Allende, I've been surprised at the many opportunities I've had to spend quality time with the people around me. It's been really nice.

This past Thursday one of the teachers, Vero, celebrated her birthday at her house, inviting all of the staff at the daycare and a few of the moms. Each person brought what they could: fried pig skin, raw pig skin, pretzel-like sticks, doritos, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, pop, beer, and cake. While the women worked together to prepare the food, chatting the whole time, the young children played in the yard, running around and screaming with delight. It reminded me so much of the house parties I attended growing up, full of laughter and good food and good conversation. I felt so honored to be a part of the celebration, because besides Carolyn (the former Volunteer Coordinator), I was the only non-Mexican there! It was so fun to spend time with the teachers and moms outside of the daycare setting, and the atmosphere was so happy and bright.

There have also been some good times of convivencia with the volunteers as well. I'm amazed at how thoughtful, inquisitive and intelligent they all seem to be. I suppose it's because they are all international travelers, but they have a perspective of the world that isn't quite so insulated and ignorant as the average American's, so it's quite refreshing. Whether sitting around the living room talking about different countries' university entrance requirements or sun bathing on the roof chatting about the true meaning of happiness (and its connection to wealth, access to health care and education, etc.), I get really excited thinking that this is part of my 'job.'

Even at the gym I'm starting to feel more at home. While Andreas was here I started going with him six times a week, and now feel welcome and a gusto there. The owner, Beto, greets me by name and since Andreas left has had to help spot me or correct me so I don't injure myself. While I'm resting we chat about the weather and other random stuff. And otherwise, since it's such a small gym, I see the same six or seven people whenever I go and they all seem pretty nice.

It's so different living in such a relatively 'small' town (population 70,000 versus 3.26 million in Seattle). When I'm at the market I'll see Sai (one of the two-year olds in Maestra Diana's class) walking with his Dad hand in hand. Or yesterday after the gym Laura (a volunteer from Denmark) and I went to buy some miniature ofrendas made of sugar and walking by a cake shop I saw Alexa (another two-year old in Diana's class) sitting on a stool, and said hello. "Look who it is!" she yelled to her mom, who came out to chat for a bit. When I was working in Seattle, I thought it was a lot to be in the street and see someone I knew once, maybe twice a month. Here, I barely go out, but I almost always see someone I know! It's definitely different from what I'm used to, but I think it's really cute and something that I could learn to appreciate.

Two-Month Mark

Guanajuato Take II

This past Saturday was the first weekend of the international music festival in Guanajuato, El Cervantino. I went with two of the volunteers to see Los Hermanos Carrillo, a group playing traditional music from the region of Veracruz, Mexico (sones jarochos). The group leader was very personable, and their encore song was a stylized version of "La Bamba."

In the evening, went to see Amon Tobin, an artist from Rio de Janiero, Brazil, for a free outdoor electronica concert that started at 9:00pm. It was packed out with young people--I would say at least 95% were Mexican. Throughout the concert, it never stopped smelling of cigarette smoke. Since the 'concert' is basically him pressing different buttons, they made it more interesting by projecting animated images and designs onto an array of white cubes that were synchronized with the music. The crowd was more or less subdued at the beginning, but by the end almost everyone was bobbing their head and screaming for a triple encore.

Fundraising

Sometimes life is pleasantly surprising. When I came to work yesterday morning, Donna informed me that a volunteer who came nine years ago had sent a check to our office in the States for $10,000. Miguel was over the moon, letting me know that $10,000 covers all of our operating costs (teachers' salaries, food, office supplies, maintenance, Volunteer House expenses) for two entire months. It's incredible to me that someone who was here so long ago still thinks about his time at the daycare and was so touched by his experience that he donated so generously almost a decade after the fact. Amazing.

The idea of fundraising makes me squirm a bit because I feel uncomfortable asking people for money. However, I take comfort in the fact that actually there are a lot of people out there that are just looking for worthy causes to donate to, but haven't found something yet that's a good fit. Wednesday we had a fundraising event at a nearby bed and breakfast/mask museum, Casa de la Cuesta.

Zelina, Alice, me, Maria and Colleen

Surprisingly enough, around 90% of the attendees had never heard of Casa de los Angeles before, so it was a good opportunity to share about the work that we do. One of our volunteers, Eimear, has a background in sales, and used her skills to talk us up at every opportunity. She shared with one of the attendees that the Casa de los Angeles documentary brought her to tears. She is a keeper.

Despite my discomfort with talking to strangers, I managed to speak with four or five people and share my journey of having been a volunteer three years ago and of returning to work as the Volunteer Coordinator. Most of the attendees were older adult Americans who spend part of their time here in San Miguel de Allende and another part either back in the United States or in another part of Mexico (usually a beach). We'll be having events like these every month through March, so hopefully with each successive month we'll build momentum as participants tell their friends about the amazing time they had talking with young volunteers from around the world, listening to live music and drinking margaritas.

So thankfully, due to the combined earnings of the September Global Giving campaign, the Chicago Marathon, the generous $10,000 check from the former volunteer and the Casa de la Cuesta event, we should be okay at least for the next short while at Casa de los Angeles.

Transitions

It's been interesting getting accustomed to living in the Volunteer House with all of the other volunteers. It feels a bit like college yet with a lot more change, as some volunteers are in and out within a week while others stay for 11 weeks at a time. Today marks a significant transition for me. The only volunteer that has been here since I've started the position of Volunteer Coordinator left early this morning! He's probably the one I've gotten along with and gotten to know best so far, so it'll be strange not having him around. We've been going to the gym six times a week together (he's basically been my personal trainer) and usually in the evenings we watch a movie while doing Sudoku or working on solving a rubik's cube. I even realized that I had been spending so much time with him that I had started to talk like him--inflection and emphasis and all. He's like the brother I never had.

My job is kind of remarkable because I get to spend a lot of quality time with the volunteers by living and working with them. I start to understand the way that they think, where they're coming from, their idiosyncrasies...and then they head on to continue with their lives as I continue mine. In a way, my background in social work has prepared me well for this because in my past internship experiences, despite getting attached to many of my clients, I had to say goodbye to them at one point or the other.

It's all quite cyclical. Andreas left today, then two volunteers from Denmark arrive on Sunday and will be here for two months. So I get to start all over again getting to know new volunteers as they get to know me. At this point I can only be thankful for the time I've had with each of the volunteers I have met so far. They've all definitely been unique and for the most part fascinating in their own way.

BIG WEEKEND

It was a full weekend, that's for sure. Get ready for a long post with lots of pictures.

Friday: Grito de la Independencia at the daycare

Some of the cuteness. Marichul and her little bro, Father Hidalgo (we had three dressed up), and Aldo

 

Posing with the teachers. (L to R) Mari, Cinthia, Flor, Donna, Sofi, Diana, Erika, Ana, me

Rina (volunteer), Nesvi, little Ignacio Allende (Alan), and Vero

 

Volunteers. Rina, me, Andreas, Alice, Gabriel. "This is the first time volunteers have ever dressed up for El Grito!" Donna remarked in passing.

To celebrate El Grito de la Independencia (the shout which marked the beginning for Mexican independence from Spanish colonial rule), we all gathered in the main square to shout Viva Mexico! among other things (view the video here). Many of the children didn't quite get what exactly was going on, but it was fun all the same, because after shouting we had snacks of all kinds (pork skin two ways, pretzel-like sticks, potato chips, jello) with horchata.

In the evening we had another celebration of El Grito for church. It was a potluck with everyone bringing something to share, and everyone showed up in some version of Mexican dress or the colors of the flag (red, white and green).

Some pictures snapped by Rebeca. We played musical chairs.

 

Rebeca, me, Megan, Ana

 

Saturday: Guanajuato

On Saturday the volunteers and I left the house at 6:30am to walk to the bus station in the drizzling rain for an 1+ ride to the town of Guanajuato.

 

Snapshots of the city.

 



Guanajuato is much larger than San Miguel de Allende, and actually, there are a lot less Americans there, which is kind of a relief. It's a bit less tourist-y. Not every store sells the same overpriced "authentic" Mexican artisan wares. As Laurita would say, Guanajuato has much more variedad.

Don Quixote. Guanajuato has a theater dedicated to Don Quixote! Posing with Andreas and Alice.

La Pipila. We took a tram on rails up to this lookout, and right after taking this photo it started down-pouring. Gabriel, me, Andreas.

 

Since it was Gabriel's last weekend, we definitely made the most of the 10+ hours we had in Guanajuato! We visited the main Teatro (built in the 1900s and restored in 2004/2005), went to the Diego Rivera Museum (where he was born and lived seven years), went up to see the statue of La Pipila (legend and hero), walked all the way to the Mummy Museum (almost gave up half way there because there were so many stairs and hills), found the callejon de besos (where a small crowd gathered to cheer couples on who were kissing there?) and finally, exhausted, ate dinner at a restaurant famous for their enchiladas. Apparently it used to be an aquifer for the rainwater runoff, so you feel like you're in a bomb shelter. But the enchiladas rojas were delicious!

 



 

Alice, Andreas and I will be returning to Guanajuato in October for the international arts festival, el Cervatino. We have tickets to see a group of musicians from Veracruz that play traditional jarocho music. Since we've seen basically everything there is to see in Guanajuato, we'll probably take it much easier this time around.

 

Sunday: Grito de la Independencia

Sunday was the "big show" in the jardin (the main square in San Miguel de Allende). In the Volunteer House we had a potluck, with each person cooking something to contribute to dinner. Gabriel made mojitos two ways with chile relleno. Alice and I made nopales (cactus) and arroz rojo. Andreas made potato pancakes and beef. It was a feast! And Donna was so nice as to make us cinnamon buns for dessert.

 

At 9:00pm we left the house hoping the downpour would subside, but it just kept raining. None of us had rain jackets and Alice only had an umbrella for one. The jardin was crowded with lots of young people, although there was an older man that was so drunk he couldn't even stand up. It reminded me of my days working in Pioneer Square. We ended up ducking into a Thai restaurant/bar of all places and popped back out to watch the fireworks. It felt so dangerous because they let them off literally in the middle of the entire crowd. It looked spectacular, though! The rain really killed it. The bartenders blamed it on the hurricanes. Ugh.

 

Monday: Desfile

Monday was the parade to commemorate the Mexican independence movement. Students from schools in the area participated, wearing their uniforms and marching behind their banda de guerra (the drum lines were so cute! And there were a lot of female percussionists!).

 

 

The parade lasted for more than an hour, concluding with a tour of the firemen, police and national guard.

 

Lots of celebration, don't you think? Well, back to work now! Viva Mexico!



Old Friends and New

I had just left the house and was walking to the daycare with five of the other volunteers when all of a sudden I heard a little voice shout out "¡ABRIL!" I looked to the left and there was a small girl, wearing a uniform beneath a checkered apron, as all kindergarteners do. Her hair was in pigtails and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how in the world she knew my name.
 
Then I saw her mom and it all clicked for me. "No sé si te acuerdas de.." ("I'm not sure if you remember..") she started to say to me as I broke out into a grin. "¡Martita!" I exclaimed, "¡Ya eres muy grande!" ("You're so big!") Marta was in Male’s class when I was interning back in the day. Her mom would tell me that when they were on the bus to go home together, she’d see me walking in the street and tried to yell out to get my attention. In this picture taken in 2010 she is the furthest to the right.
 
It was so nice to see a familiar face and to be greeted after all this time; it just warmed my heart. "¡Adios!" she cried as she ran off with her mother and younger sibling following behind.
 
With small interactions like that I begin to feel that even though I have been away for three years, not everything has changed. Last Sunday I went visited the Vega family’s (Evangelina, Alberto and Laura) church which is called “Amistad Cristiana.” It’s an evangelical protestant church, and was packed out with at least 300 people. After church they invited me to their home in Manlanquín and while Laura (~14 years old) and I talked about our favorite books and movies and how we get annoyed by the frivolity of youth group meetings, Evangelina made salad and enchiladas verdes. As we ate we talked about the culture of Catholicism in San Miguel de Allende, the adoration of saints, and the reason Evangelina and Alberto chose to change churches.  

Andreas, Melanie, Sheila, me, Rina and Zelina at La Posadita restaurant.

On the work front, it’s been a pleasure spending time with and getting to know the volunteers. Some I really get along well with, and it’s sad to say goodbye. But I appreciate whatever time I have with them. It is energizing being around such big-hearted people.

Sometimes I get worried about my job because I’m afraid that we won’t be able to raise enough money through volunteers and donors to remain operationally viable. We rely completely on both to stay afloat. I just need to trust.

Happy Friday, Everyone!

Back

Whew! First week of work and life is very, very good. So far it's been enjoyable and pretty effortless. As Volunteer Coordinator, I get to interact with lots of different kinds of people: the volunteers (duh), the teachers, the children--it's definitely not boring. It's a challenge to have to switch gears between English and Spanish constantly, but thankfully the staff are really forgiving when I stutter out simple phrases that may not even be grammatically correct.

 

On Monday, Vero (one of the mom's-turned-teachers) was so kind as to invite me to her house, which is actually quite close to the daycare, and we chatted about the past few years while her children Marta, Juan Pablo and Richie watched "Bob Esponja" (SpongeBob Squarepants). Marta and Pablo come to the daycare after school (around 1:30pm) and hang out. Richie is still very young and is in Maestra Diana's class.

 

It's so different being a part of the staff at the daycare versus being a volunteer. We had a staff meeting on Monday and most of it was talking shop about very detailed issues (such as installing curtains on all of the doors and feedback on the cooking). I've met all of the other teachers before except for one, and they've all been welcoming as I figure out my job. It was good to catch up with them and ask about their kids, who are now much bigger than when I saw them three years ago!

 

I've also been able to reconnect with families at the church that I knew back in the day. The Vega family has invited me over to their house tomorrow afternoon. If you recall, Laura is the young girl (she's probably, like 16 now!) I went to see Despicable Me with at the mall three years ago. I bought her a sticker book of minions as omiyage; I hope she likes it.

 

Living in the Volunteer House has been very good! We only have six in the house right now, with two leaving in the next few days and another four arriving next week. There is a sense of camaraderie among us. Many of the short-term (one-week) volunteers want to jump right in and explore the city every single night, while the more long-term volunteers come home and lie in their beds in silence, building up stamina for the weeks ahead. One thing is for sure: at the Volunteer House, there's always someone to do something with!

 

Me, Sheila, Melanie and Laura

It's kind of a miracle but I haven't had stomach spasms yet! Maybe the bacteria from three years ago is still alive? Anyway, it's definitely a relief.

Was washing my clothes by hand yesterday in the sink and got a bit nostalgic just by the smell of the detergent, and the act of squeezing shirts dry to hang them. It just feels good to be back!