26 de enero, Tina

In my mosquitero, with my headlamp on, working on a paper, with 3 cornrows in my hair. I tried to play it off like I have three little French braids in the side of my head, but when my friend who had braided my hair greased the rest of my hair and put it in a side ponytail, there was no denying the three little corn rowed braids. The mental picture I am conjuring is not a letdown. They look that hideous. If I ever get more (God forbid a whole head) I’ll be sure to post a picture). We have a house! After over 5 months apart and living with other people, we found a cute block house in our community, and it even has a bathroom inside! It is tiny, i.e. a king-sized bed would not fit inside the house, but it is cute. If all goes as planned, which it never does, we should be in within a few weeks. Wish us luck.

Dominic and I are still in the midst of completing our 3 month diagnostic, which is what we have been working on for the past 3 months. It will be good to finally start some activities instead of just talking about it every day with people. In our 3 months, we started literacy projects with a local teacher, and we started our Club de Madres! This was a huge success, and the whole community, ourselves included, are quite proud. We held elections last week, and then the elected president and I went to the city hall to process the paperwork. By registering our club, we get some $$$$, which will go toward 15 chairs, a table, and a fan (these are the actual items predetermined by the government). Thirty- three Americans were in town last week doing a medical mission. They all stayed at the organization where we are living, which was pretty crazy. I was able to go with them on some of their daily missions and helped with the translating. We went to the local prison, to nursing home of sorts, and to a batey nearby. I present my diagnostic next week, and I am looking forward to presenting the fruit of my labor as well as to see all the volunteers. Wish me luck!