Just a few days ago, I complained about how hot it was at our FBT site. I retract that statement.
I've spent the past 3 days visiting a volunteer in Amapala, which is an island off the southern coast. Each trainee was matched with a current volunteer to visit, and I landed the only beach spot (insert irony here). It's been a really fun trip, apart from the fact that it's blisteringly hot in the southern part of this country. Most people give up on work around 2 or 3pm, go home, and sit outside with a cold refresco until the sun sets. It's hard to do anything when it's over 100 and there's no air conditioning. Luckily I'm in a country where I can preference away from a hot site (as opposed to, say, Africa).
Anyway, I've really enjoyed chatting with the volunteer that I'm visiting. I got to meet her counterpart (Honduran work partner) and visit a couple of the places where she works. Monday we went with a group of women to a cooking charla at a restaruant on the mainland. It ended up being pretty interesting. I learned to make mango salsa and how to cook a fish! Plus, the chef who gave the presentation was from El Salvador and lived in the US for 20 years, so I could understand him. There's a really thick dialect on this island, and it's been almost impossible for me to understand people.
Aside from revisiting my fear of boats, relaxing at a gorgeous beach, and nearly dying of heat stroke, the visit spurred me to think a lot about what I want in a site / work assignment (which is the purpose of doing the visits!). We have a lot of input into our placement, so it's good to learn about a real experience and think about the pros and cons. For example, I think I'd rather have a larger site than a smaller one... and I'd rather work with a school or larger organization than with small businesses.
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