A Busy Week

Peace Corps volunteers generally read a lot, even if they rarely read before their service, because the pace of life in many other countries is slower than it is in States. There was one recent volunteer in Suriname that read over three hundred books during his time in country. That’s at least three a week!

I am a reader, yet the only time I find to read is either in the early afternoons, when it is too hot to do anything else, or in the last hour before bed. Perhaps this is because there is always something to do in my village or because I just take a long time with the ordinary things of life, cooking for instance. My colleagues usually complain about having too much free time. I would almost like a little more.

Because of warden training and the Peace Corps Director’s visit to Suriname, I had only one week at site in between trips to the city. During the week, however, I had even less time than usual. On Sunday I helped a group of men clear rainforest for a building. I learned useful information about wasps and ants and how to cut Makah palms by using a forked stick to direct the thorny falling branches away for one’s head. It is actually quite impressive how quickly four people with machetes can bushwhack. I love it, and I had to be told twice when to take a break out of the afternoon sun because I go so involved hacking away. On Monday I went with one of my neighbors for a forty-five minute boat ride into the jungle to where he cuts and mills lumber. I really enjoy being on the river. In a sense, the jungle is all the same, yet there are always new things to see wherever I go. I helped carry some planks and posts with my neighbor and his sons, and he gave me a few to use on my house. All day Wednesday and Thursday, the Inter-American Development Bank hosted a seminar on Decentralization and Local Government Strengthening. It was taught in a mixture of Aucan and Dutch, which became very difficult to follow towards the ends of the days. Nevertheless, seventeen local leaders, one of them being myself, are now certified trainers in Civic Participation. While I’m in the city, I’m going to try to find an English version of the training manual, so I can help explain a few things.

Fortunately, I had all day Friday to clean and prepare for my city trip. Maybe in the city I’ll get a chance to read.