Well Readers,
A few days in to the project and I´m settled in, here in Posadas. It seems I´ve saved the best home stay until last...Christina and Julian are my age (although Christina hit 30 yesterday!) They are lovely, make me laugh (and make me dinner!) and make excellent hosts. I did a double take yesterday when Julian waltzed down wearing a Hearts top though....the last volunteer to stay was also from Auld Reekie.
I am delighted to say that now I have shipped all my winter clothes home the temperature dropped down from theoppressive 39.c which it was earlier in the week to something around 18.c, amid much thunder and lightening. woo-hoo! I am so chuffed!
I am delighted to say that now I have shipped all my winter clothes home the temperature dropped down from theoppressive 39.c which it was earlier in the week to something around 18.c, amid much thunder and lightening. woo-hoo! I am so chuffed!
As for the placement........well I´ve started at the orphanage in the mornings, butthe girls home in the afternoon hasn´t been organised yet. The orphanage is notactually an orphanage, it´s really a day care centre for children who´s parents bothhave to work and can´t fund child care. The average salary is 800 pesos (133 pounds)per month, which only covers the rental of a pokey 2 bedroom place. Most of these families are in temporary/irregular work such as agricultural labour etc so won´t earn as much as that.
My job is not the teaching English task I was prepared for, which is a disappointment because I´d prepared for it. Instead I am in the nursery with the toddlers. There are nine toddlers to one nurserynurse. During the 8am-12pm slot they are fed twice, and each one bathed. She´s a busywoman! Engaging the children in activities is less of a priority. Crayons etc are generally not brought out until there´s trouble. My first thought was if there was more stimulation perhaps there would be less trouble....easy for me to say!!!!
I am now on bath duties. Rather unfortunately the first one I changed andbathed had one almighty upset stomach. The bath in fact is a sink, and the washingequipment for the babies and toddlers is a brillo pad (Yes, a brillo pad. ouch!). So after I´dcleaned/washed Mr Toddler in the sink I dried him off etc and put him back in thenursery. I then discovered that I´d used the only cloth and towel so that all theothers in my group as well as the other 10 in the babies group got washed with thesame cloth and dried with the same towel! A complete hygiene disaster.
I am now on bath duties. Rather unfortunately the first one I changed andbathed had one almighty upset stomach. The bath in fact is a sink, and the washingequipment for the babies and toddlers is a brillo pad (Yes, a brillo pad. ouch!). So after I´dcleaned/washed Mr Toddler in the sink I dried him off etc and put him back in thenursery. I then discovered that I´d used the only cloth and towel so that all theothers in my group as well as the other 10 in the babies group got washed with thesame cloth and dried with the same towel! A complete hygiene disaster.
On Wednesday there were no children in the group.
A combined total of 2 in the centre (pictured) It wasn´t because of the stomach upset.....they are dropped off at the centre regardless of that. Instead, it was the weather. When it rains heavily people don´t go to work, so they keep their children at home. I turned up with the the other volunteer, and after sitting for a while drinking mate with the other staff, I asked if there was anything useful I could do. I could see plenty of things to be doing (like CLEAN) but thought I should ask first. There wasn´t enough disinfectant to do much more than the soft play area so after that and revamping a wall display I asked for the next thing to do. They were happily chatting before I interrupted...and the only thing they could think of to do was clean out the cupboard. Only that didn´t involve me apparently so I kept being asked to sit and relax which nearly drove me insane. I thought they would dismiss us if there was nothing to do but they didn´t. So after a while of this we asked if there was really nothing to do, could we go. Thursday I had a very dodgy stomach so I am ashamed to say I didn´t go in (either brought on by poor hygiene in the centre, or by a big night out with wine and shellfish the night before with the other volunteers). And Friday I got a call to say the centre was closed for the day. So really volunteer time has been pretty short so far. I hope I start at the girl´s home next week. Otherwise, I´ll feel a bit superfluous. Overall not quite what I had in mind, but I am sure things will pick up.
The city of Posadas has about 300,000 people and probably isn´t the kind of place you´d linger in unless you had cause to. But as with most places, with the exception of Cumbernauld and Skegness, it´s growing on me the longer I spend in it. Mum found a backpackers´blog; they clearly didn´t like Posadas but then they didn´t give it very long and their judgement was based on their hostel and a quick wander round. I am sure I have judged other towns on the same criteria, but thankfully the more I see of Posadas the better it gets. For those with cash to spend there are plenty pavement cafes (pictured here at Siesta time), a riverside promenade with restaurants and bars and a few expensive shops. But there are also a lot of people with no money. 50% of this province live below the poverty line. It´s not very visible to the tourist....there are not many beggars. Most of it is hidden in poor neighbourhoods and out of town; you see people living in decrepit vans and shacks by the side of the road.
The city of Posadas has about 300,000 people and probably isn´t the kind of place you´d linger in unless you had cause to. But as with most places, with the exception of Cumbernauld and Skegness, it´s growing on me the longer I spend in it. Mum found a backpackers´blog; they clearly didn´t like Posadas but then they didn´t give it very long and their judgement was based on their hostel and a quick wander round. I am sure I have judged other towns on the same criteria, but thankfully the more I see of Posadas the better it gets. For those with cash to spend there are plenty pavement cafes (pictured here at Siesta time), a riverside promenade with restaurants and bars and a few expensive shops. But there are also a lot of people with no money. 50% of this province live below the poverty line. It´s not very visible to the tourist....there are not many beggars. Most of it is hidden in poor neighbourhoods and out of town; you see people living in decrepit vans and shacks by the side of the road. So, with all this free time the other 4 volunteers and I have been meeting quite a lot. 3 of them are 19, and the other is 34. It´s good to spend time together but I also crave time alo
ne so I am trying to get a balance at the moment. It´s a great program if you are on a post A level gap year. You arrive here, are placed in a friendly family home in a different culture, you have an instant group of friends (other volunteers) to hang out with, and there is a group of locals who watch out for new volunteers in the cafes/bars....in a good way (!). There´s also the project coordinators on hand who organise the both the conservation and community elements. I am glad I didn´t sign up for the Conservation project; so far they´ve carried a lot of supermarket reject meat and fed it to the animals. I don´t fancy throwing horses´ heads to the big cats myself though. The last volunteer on the community project I am doing was a 75 year old man who was here just before me. So there´s a mixture of people.
The thing I have still to master is the body clock....to get to the day care centre on the bus I have to leave at 7.10am (taxi it´s 7.50am and 90p, but I am not keen to roll up in a taxi). So I can cope with a 6.30am start under normal circumstances, but here, bedtime is never before midnight. Dinner is around 9 or 10pm, and drinks don´t really start until 11.30pm. For example last Saturday the volunteers were meeting for drinks at 10.30pm which I declined as it was late, and I am a long way from town. However, as it transpired my homestay´s parents were coming for dinner and then despite being in their late 60s were meeting their friends sometime around midnight in the town. After his parents cleared off, Julian suggested we went for a drive round the town and an ice cream. It was only midnight after all. As a result of this, the siesta is strictly observed between 12.30pm and 4.30pm. So the high street is completely dead on a Saturday afternoon. As it gets dark though, at 6pm the shops open up again and people are out in force.
Last night was a good example of standard form...I´d been to Corrientes*, the neighbouring town for the day. It´s only 4.5 hours away on the express bus. So I´d been out the house from 9am and when I got back at nearly midnight not all the guests for Christina´s 30th birthday bash had arrived. After the food and drink, dancing started at 2am (which is when the Bailandarios...aka traditional "dance hall" and the discos begin to open). I joined in, but after 2 hours of dancing tuition from the Argentines who really can throw some shapes (that´s a Mr Cree phrase), I thought I could make my escape at 4am before I disgraced my country any further on 
the dancefloor.
*More on Corrientes and other excursions, and a map next time.
Anyway, time for a much needed SIESTA !
Chao
The thing I have still to master is the body clock....to get to the day care centre on the bus I have to leave at 7.10am (taxi it´s 7.50am and 90p, but I am not keen to roll up in a taxi). So I can cope with a 6.30am start under normal circumstances, but here, bedtime is never before midnight. Dinner is around 9 or 10pm, and drinks don´t really start until 11.30pm. For example last Saturday the volunteers were meeting for drinks at 10.30pm which I declined as it was late, and I am a long way from town. However, as it transpired my homestay´s parents were coming for dinner and then despite being in their late 60s were meeting their friends sometime around midnight in the town. After his parents cleared off, Julian suggested we went for a drive round the town and an ice cream. It was only midnight after all. As a result of this, the siesta is strictly observed between 12.30pm and 4.30pm. So the high street is completely dead on a Saturday afternoon. As it gets dark though, at 6pm the shops open up again and people are out in force.
Last night was a good example of standard form...I´d been to Corrientes*, the neighbouring town for the day. It´s only 4.5 hours away on the express bus. So I´d been out the house from 9am and when I got back at nearly midnight not all the guests for Christina´s 30th birthday bash had arrived. After the food and drink, dancing started at 2am (which is when the Bailandarios...aka traditional "dance hall" and the discos begin to open). I joined in, but after 2 hours of dancing tuition from the Argentines who really can throw some shapes (that´s a Mr Cree phrase), I thought I could make my escape at 4am before I disgraced my country any further on 
the dancefloor.*More on Corrientes and other excursions, and a map next time.
Anyway, time for a much needed SIESTA !
Chao
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