Pikin Slee is traditional enough and big enough to be a pretty cool place to visit - and of course has yours truly hanging out in it. So now that people are getting comfortable on the river and in their homesites, they are starting to explore - I know I want to start doing so soon myself!
So my 3 closest neighbors came to visit and one other girl who is a good friend but a bit farther away. Jonathan is my closest closest neighbor and I see him about once a week but we don't see the others that often since they are a boat ride away instead of walkable.
Jonathan didn't spend the night, but the 3 girls did - and man was it crowded! Or, I suppose, woman was it crowded! 3 hammocks, one cot, and a whole lot of junk. We went through an insane amount of food - fortunately I am well stocked. They ate an ENTIRE JAR of Nutella. Much of it with a spoon. People get crazy out here. I go through a fair amount of peanut butter (because it's good on everything and sometimes you need the protein, fat, and salt if I've only been eating my own cooking for a while straight), but other people can't keep it in the house or they just destroy it.
Thanks to those of you who are helping me stay supplied with other yummy snackables so I can steer clear of spooning my staples to death. I miss spooning.
So anyway, it was pretty cool. I got to show off my village to some friends and that was really fun! It made me realize how many people I know and how much I have settled into the community. Also, showing people around was better and worse than I thought - we got mobbed and (relatively pleasantly) harassed quite a bit. People were friendly and not too aggressive (with a few exceptions), but the mobbing is going to be worse when Ariel comes to visit. I think the aggressiveness - in terms of people hitting on the girls anyway - should be better. So hopefully it will balance out and be good. A bit nervous
But yeah - having visitors is really fun. It helps you see your daily life through new eyes. This was my second time seeing the ceremony but it was still very cool for me. Evil spirits (people in masks), traditional drumming and dancing, and lots of food and drink. I had 4 shots of rum before 10am that day. Rough, but fun. 3 of those were poured from the bottle into my mouth by grandmothers. That's just kinda how it goes...
So it was pretty cool to be out and about in the village with people. It was also cool to hang out around my house. It made me appreciate my set up quite a bit - both the work I've done (shelves, organizational stuff, other small improvements) and what the people did before I came (building stuff, garden, garden again). Apparently I have a pretty nice place, relatively speaking - I was pretty sure of that anyway but always nice to get re-affirmed. All said, I feel really lucky to be in my village.
The other thing that made it fun was just hanging out with some new(ish) people. Jonathan came for one day, but the girls stayed for 2 nights so it was a lot of girl talk but we all know I'm ok with that. Really, it was very cool to share perspectives on Peace Corps and life and you know boys and clothes and all that. In some ways Peace Corps does occasionally feel like all the best (and occasionally the worst) parts of summer camp - that goes on for 2 years.
This was definitely one of the best though. Deepening friendships, realizing what you have and have made for yourself is good, and generally having fun while broadening your experience of life.
Not a bad way to roll into a week in the city, though definitely feeling a small step behind on some stuff! Still, there is time. But time to focus on work will come soon.
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