Volunteers

This past week has been another crazy one. It has been really good though. We have had several volunteer teams out and I have been doing a lot with them. One of the groups has six college students and we have been showing them around and taking them out to villages with us. I’m a fan of having groups come out. I know a lot of people argue that money could be better spent by just sending it to people who are living in other countries instead of paying for travel, but I disagree. I think it is great for people to go on short-term trips because it helps them to catch a vision for what all goes on; plus a lot of people who end up overseas do it because of an experience they had while on a short-term trip. And from this end of things, it is really nice to have a break from the day-to-day routine. I know that everyone thinks it is exciting and different over here, and to some extent it is, but just like everywhere else there becomes a daily routine. So it has been a nice break to get to get to know new people and play tour guide. We have traveled out to some villages and done a lot of walking through areas. The group has also been great in that every time we go out to eat or do something they pay. I mean, I’ve been eating very well this week and have gotten two massages, so I can’t complain.

Other than that it has been a pretty typical week out here. I have been studying language quite a bit and am finally getting to where I can understand a little bit of what people are saying. Being able to speak is a little bit trickier though. I’ve basically gotten to where I can get the point of what people are saying then give out short one word answers that can usually get my point across. It is better than nothing though.