Every day I have been getting up at 6am to go to the Municplaity before the council members head off to the fields. The progress on my room has come to a standstill because I have not recieved the materials needed. Every day I go I am told to come back in the evening when the person I need to talk to will be there. Every evening I am told to come again in the morning. All Peace Corps volunteers have been warned of the "manana" syndrome in Peruvian culture, so I have not been shocked by it. This has only come to one challenge: I promised myself I would not start my work until I was moved into my room. Perhaps a silly promise, but with the "manana" mentality I fear I wouldn't get there for months, and personally, I need to be. I need to be with a family that wants to protect me, keep me safe, and teach me. I need a home. This suitcase lifestyle isn't the worse thing in the world, but not having a kitchen kind of is. I bought a water boiler so that at least I can make tea and instant soup, but the raw vegetables and fruit diet never really gives you that full feeling a warm meal does, no matter how any pieces of bread you eat. And I feel like I am procrastinating from my work here. While it is probably a wise decision to push the municipality a little, "I won't do what you brought me here to do unless you give me a place to live up to Peace Corps standards as you promised", I still have felt from time-to-time kind of worthless. So, as the days pass I read, help kids with homework here and there, and walk among the fields when I can.
My delightful host family has offered me soup here and there which I gobble up appreciatively. But yesterday, I tried 'mote' with them, boiled corn kernels, a slice of fresh cheese from the local cows, and dried alpaca jerky. A salty little snack combination that awoke me last night with an upset stomach that persisted until morning when the sun brought a headache along. I feared not showing up at the municipality this morning might mean prolonging my search for materials so I pulled myself from my sweaty sheets and spashed cold water on my face at 6am. Miraculously, I did catch a councilman that was able to get me some of the wood needed. I carried three slabs for my roof, one at a time, to the house. I need one more to cover the whole roof, but they don't have any, I don't where I am going to get the last slab I need, but I didn't have the energy to worry about it. I stopped by the health post for a scheduled "Healthy Families" meeting only to discover the nurse in charge has been reassigned to another city, and the meeting is canceled indefinitely. For today, this was a blessing, and I returned to bed until 3pm when I awoke and began serious work on designing my curriculum.
The rest palliated my physical discomfort, the work my emotional dissatisfaction, and now I must rise again to go to the municipality with my house father to ask about the window. They offered a window that won't open, and I am going back and forth on my brattiness for requesting one that does. I fear that the dark adobe room will need ventilation, and I will feel uncomfortable with only door ventilation. Perhaps it is bratty, but I think I need it, especially sense I will be cooking in there. Perhaps I should just be appreciative, but I fear I cannot be the support this town wants/needs if I can't have at least a few pleasures, like yummy food and fresh air. I don't know, and now I am rationalizing in circles... we will find out more manana.
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