I got up a bit late today, took my time getting going. I washed my hair in the sink, which was absurdly easier given how much shorter my hair is these days. I brushed my teeth and made a plan for the day. I cut up the tomato and cucumber I had and put some lemon juice and a little salt on it (that’s how they make dressing here, just salt and lemon juice), put it in a tupper, and headed down to the health post.
I have felt like I am a bit shy here in a less obvious way. I always greet everyone I see on the road or near the road, but I could stop for a second and have a chat with them, even if I don’t know them. I could make more of an effort that way than I have been, and I know it’s a bit of a weakness of mine. To become integrated into the community, people have to feel like I’m part of it, and that means being a bit uncomfortable sometimes. When I got to the bottom of my hill, there were three people drinking some coke and sitting on the back bumper of a car. A guy got up, and when I called out a greeting, he asked me if I wanted some. I didn’t, but I decided to say yes. He handed me a full cup of coke, and while I stood there started asking me questions. I responded and we had a nice little chat. He finally asked me my name, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Usually, kisses on the cheek are just cheek-to-cheek with the kiss sound. I got a legit kiss on the cheek, and had to fight the urge to wipe it off, it felt a little too intimate for my liking. I told myself not to be stupid. He offered me another cup of coke and I declined. He then told me it was nice to meet me, but called me “beautiful” instead of the name I had just told him, and gave me the same slightly too intimate kiss on the cheek again. I gave Gustavo, (yes, that’s his name) a polite smile and headed off back down the road. I was proud of myself for stopping like I had been telling myself I should, slightly uncomfortable with the fact that I started to feel like prey by the end of our interaction, impressed with how well I had answered his questions, and a little pleased from a work perspective that I had met someone new in my community.
As I was walking down the road, I caught up with a guy who was walking in the same direction. He asked if I was walking to Chota and I told him I was just going to the health post. He said we should walk that far together, and feeling pretty confident in my Spanish, I said sure. He asked me what I was doing there, and I explained to him what Cuerpo de Paz/Peace Corps is and what I was going to be doing in the community. I was doing great understanding him and answering his questions, and we were having a really positive interaction. It turned out he wasn’t from my community, but I still felt really great about it. I hadn’t said anything to indicate I couldn’t speak Spanish really well. As we got to the health post, I told him it was nice to him, and when I held my hand out to shake his, he took it, but then turned my hand and lifted it to his lips. He actually kissed my hand. I was completely bewildered. He’s some forty-something year-old man with a dirty beard, and he kissed my hand! Do people actually do that? I have never had anyone kiss my hand like that in my entire life, and what seemed so strange was that I was wearing jeans, black rainboots, and a tshirt, and this grubby guy looked about the same…he wasn’t in a tux or a suit or knight’s armor, and I wasn’t in some gown, and he wasn’t my age or even close! For a second I wondered if I’d been reading too much historical fiction and I was hallucinating. What was worse, was when I turned around and there was a whole family from my town just staring at me. I had no idea what to do, and I felt the blood rise to my cheeks.
I hung out at the health post for a while with Natalia, who, as I had suspected, told me I should definitely come Friday to get my encuestas done and that she would make room for me, and help me out. Gotta love her.
I ended up doing a FODA analysis with her, which is basically a structured interview where you ask about the “fortalezas”, or strengths within the community, “oportunidades”, or strengths outside the community that can be of use, “debilidades”, or weaknesses within the community, and “amenazas”, or things external to the community which cause problems. Doing a FODA analysis is part of the community diagnostic process and was also one of my goals for this month. I also managed to do two encuestas with people who came to visit the health post.
I really feel like I have my work cut out for me when I do these encuestas, and I discover that people have absolutely no idea what the word “prevent” or “prevention” means. One of the questions on the encuesta is to ask: “How can you prevent diarrhea?” There are plenty of answers to these questions related to hygiene, and everytime, these moms either don’t answer me or they shrug and say something like, “I make them this special kind of food”, or “with pills?” I had an encuesta with a woman today who didn’t know what “nutrition” meant. I wasn’t sure how to simplify nutrition, and Natalia helped me out. I think I was mostly just shocked that this woman has two small children and is pregnant with a third, and she doesn’t know what nutrition is. I suppose I should be happy that there is plenty of work for me to do, but the lack of knowledge about basics like nutrition is an incredibly daunting thing to try to overcome. We’ll see what happens.
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