Since my last lengthy post, and since my parents came to visit, life in Suriname has been busy. And I am so thankful. In the last two months we held three leadership camps for students, one for boys and two for girls. The curriculums and strategies were the same as the previous camps. It was such a joy to come to know the kids that were able to attend. It is such a neat experience to see them come out of their shells and make new friends from different villages. The students learned so much. I truly believe they are among the generation that is going to move their villages and Suriname forward. I am honored to be a part of an experience that I know changed their lives. I am grateful and humbled because of how much they changed mine.
After the last Camp GLOW, a fellow volunteer came to visit my site. Jessica is in a Saramaccan site as well, but she lives much closer to the city. I am so glad she came upriver for a couple of days to see where I live. Getting back to site and opening the door to my house is always a crap shoot. I just never know what I'm opening it to find. So far, I have been very lucky. When Jessica and I returned to my house after camp, I had a dead rat in my floor. Fine. I have had to deal with a few dead rats since I moved to site, no big deal. This one was different. Templeton looked as though he had been attacked. There was a stain on my floor a few inches behind the rat and there was hair scattered around it. Not knowing what would attack a rat and leave it, but concerned as to what else might be in my house, I called a neighbor over and asked her what she thought happened. She informed me that everything was fine. The rat died and stuck to my floor. After a couple of days, the maggots probably moved it. It was disgusting. I threw the rat away and scrubbed my floor with bleach. I couldn't get all of the stain removed. Lesson learned. I will no longer leave rat poison out when I am going to be away. It's fine if the rats run around my house while I'm not in it. They're just so darn loud and disturb my sleep when I am home. Sometimes I cannot believe that I can totally believe the things I say and do. Peace Corps problems.
In the past couple of weeks I had to say goodbye to lots of the friends I have made since being in Suriname. The SUR 16s have completed their service, and it's their time to go. Giving hugs and saying goodbyes was not the easiest thing, but I am so excited for them and their lives back in America. I am comforted that they finished out their service happy with their experience, and I am so proud of their accomplishments. This is a tough gig, and it takes certain folks to do the job and make it through. I am so happy I was able to share a year of my service with them.
At the most recent camp, I said goodbye to my closest volunteer neighbor, Shannon. I was fine letting her go. We'll both be in America one day. The hard part was watching her play with a child from her village minutes before she got on that dugout canoe for the last time. I lost it. I could not stop thinking about my kids in Malobi. I cannot imagine hugging them for the last time. If I think about it for more than ten seconds, I cry. I only have one year to go, and then I'll leave too. Sure, maybe I'll come back in ten years, but I'll come back to different people. My kids will not be kids anymore. They'll be teenagers with interests far beyond looking at books in my floor. I know it has to happen, but sometimes I hate it.
Tomorrow I am going to celebrate the Fourth a couple days late at the Ambassador's house. Monday I am going back to site for just a week. I have to be back in the city for meetings on the 18th and 19th. On the 22nd I am leaving for a week-long, island vacation. I cannot wait. It's going to be great! When I return I am headed back to site until mid-September. I have to say, as hard as it can be most days, I am really looking forward to being at site for a while. I have been busy and away a lot in the last few months. It will be good to get back to village routine. I also have some life skills and HIV/AIDS lessons that I am hoping to get the teachers on board with and implement with the fifth and sixth grade classes. I am excited about upcoming projects and feel really good about where my Peace Corps service is, both for myself and my village.
