The Peace Corps thus far...

"Dude, your ass was sticking out like two feet..."--David

Greetings from Suriname. It took quite a while to make it here, but I have finally arrived and begun my training. For those of you who need a re-cap, I left the bay area on Thursday and flew to Miami to meet the rest of my Peace Corps group and go through orientation. I, as well as the rest of the volunteers who reside on the West Coast of the United States, arrived one day before orientation due to the length of our flights. After being delayed for over two hours, I arrived with Amber, another volunteer in Miami, around 11:30. At about midnight, I checked into my hotel, and by 12:15, to my surprise, my phone rang. "Hello, this is Chris." "Dude, this is Adam from Peace Corps, you need to come hangout in my room." Needless to say, we were off to a fun start. Anyways, Friday was spent doing Peace Corps paperwork during our orientation, nothing too exciting until the Peace Corps gave us an allowance to spend in Miami for our last American dinner. We made the most of it while kicking back at a sports pub eating burgers and watching the Dodgers lose; it was glorious.

The next day, Saturday, was one of the longest I have ever had. I was up nearly 24 hours straight. It started with a 3:30 AM EST wake up call and off to the airport by 5 AM to catch a plane. During our four hours at the airport I ate my last American meal which was an egg, cheese and sausage croissant from a Chinese restaurant--not my dream meal, but it got the job done. We finally made our way to Trinidad and Tobago in the afternoon but we were stuck in the airport for another 8 hours until our flight left for Suriname. On Trinidad, I decided to add another shot glass to my country collection since I was stuck in the airport for so long and because I got to fly over the island at least twice. I also tried what seemed to be the most popular cuisine in the airport: Kentucky Friend Chicken.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we arrived in Suriname at about midnight local time. We were picked up in an old Peace Corps VW-esque wagon and all 24 of us new volunteers rode across Suriname to our training camp. Upon arrival, we could see quite a few rowdy people waiting for us. As we pulled into our parking lot, our van was immediately surrounded by cheering and ecstatic volunteers already serving in Peace Corps. As we stepped out of the van, the volunteers gave us all pongies which are Surinamese clothing--I turned mine into a headband. Around 3:30 AM local Suriname time, I finally fell asleep.

Most of Sunday afternoon was spent in an orientation. We also took our first walk through the town we are staying in. This place is much different than I pictured it. I am staying off a dirt road, less than a quarter mile near a main, paved road which has tons of traffic from cars and mopeds. There is even a Shell station in the town. Throughout the town, there are tiny grocery stores or markets like you might find in San Francisco--I have not seen any big retail or supermarket type stores, yet. In these stores the selection is very interesting, they have anything from toys and soccer balls to food like Pillsbury cake mix, soy sauce or noodles to my personal favorite, Parbo. Parbo is the local beer in Suriname.

Finally, on Sunday night, the Peace Corps staff put on an event for us. They invited members from the Aucan tribe to do a traditional dance and music display for us. After the first set, the dancers started pulling the Peace Corps Volunteers on stage to do the traditional dances. Near the end of the night, I was pulled on stage by one of the Aucan women and that should explain the quote at the top of this post. I was shakin' the booty crazy. And apparently, the cameras were flashing like crazy during my dance so there should be pictures. Afterwards, my volunteer class and I enjoyed sometime with the currently serving volunteers and I had my first bami and nasi, which was delicious!

Needless to say, we are having a great time. I was pretty nervous before I left the States, but when the bus pulled up and the other volunteers were waiting for us, cheering us on, I knew right then I had made the right decision. There will be more good times, as well as tough times, but you've got to take them in stride. I can not wait to see how the rest of this adventure begins to unfold itself. Hopefully, by my next blog, I will know the site I will be working at for the next two years. Til next time....