Festina Lente

Irony sets in as I had what could potentially be my best Peace Corps day ever after writing that whiny and depressing blog entry yesterday. First I had some good visits with some of my favorite families in town. Even if it has only been a few days since my last visit, they always say: “Daniela! What a miracle that you have remembered us!” Something I used to find irksome, but now just find endearing. Then I headed out to the museum and while I was waiting to print out my english lessons for the day, I had a really candid and informative conversation with one of the artisans about some of the problems the association is having. Only recently have I felt like I was really being ‘let in’ so to speak, and these types of conversations really help me direct my work and my efforts. The rest of the morning I put together a mini-proposal, and when I want back in the afternoon for my classes, I spoke with some of the artisans about my ideas which would be revolutionary for the artisans and their business, and I think some of them are finally understanding where I’m coming from and how they can benefit. I’m not sure if I can get into it just yet online, but eventually I’ll elaborate on this big secret revolutionary project that I’m working on (besides the one where I use exciting adjectives to make my life sound more action-packed than it really is).

Also, last night I finally had a successful meeting with this group of mothers who I have been trying to get organized with since March. They have lots of ideas for projects in town which eventually fizzle and are never brought to fruition which has been so. frustrating. However, they do finally seem to be on board for this micronegocio (microbusiness) that they want to start, where they will try to sell homemade cleaning products and natural foods like yogurt and wine. We are going to submit a proposal for a competition that the municipality is holding, and right now I have these little old ladies out and about summing up costs and competitive pricing. Hooray! The best part about working with this group is that I can say something that to me seems mundane or obvious, and they will all start to nod their heads and clap their hands as if I had said the most insightful thing in the world. In all honesty, I don’t know if we can squeeze a winning business plan out of their ideas in the short amount of time we have (I think their idea is good, but I mean, literally a plan that will win the competition), but it is still definitely worth it to go through the motions, and there are plenty of places to look for other start up money.

In Peace Corps training they draw a chart for you that is essentially a line graph with lots of mountains and valleys and tell you that this is what your emotional and sometimes mental state will be like during your two years of service. Sometimes I wonder if I actually kept a daily chart like that with a one-to-ten-how-good-am-I-feeling-today measurement, what it would look like. Yesterday was a 1, and today was a 10.