To New Beginnings

Last Thursday night I received a Text message that informed me I had to find a new host family to live with because four new priests were going to be moving into, what is now my old, house.  If it wasn’t bad enough that I received this information via text, it wasn’t even sent from the Padre, but rather a Peace Corps employee.  Quite frankly it felt like I was broken up with through a text message sent by a friend of my girlfriend, who I had been seeing for 5 months.  To make matters worse, I still had to live in the same house with her for the next week.  I guess the Padre was only obeying Costeño commandment 10, thou shalt avoid conflict as all means.  

On Friday morning I met with one of my community connections, a mother of a student, and told her all about what had happened.  Together we went and explained what went down to La Hermana.  It turns out she can express frustration in Spanish a hell of a lot better than I can so I’m glad I called her!  Although La Hermana told us not to worry, after the meeting my community connection/friend and I decided it was better to start doing some investigating on our own.  I knew it was going to be difficult to find a house in La Boquilla that met all the Peace Corps standards because when the Peace Corps had months find a house here before I initially started my service, it was thrown together last minute.         

For a week straight we walked around La Boquilla looking for possible host families and the majority of the time realizing that things were not going to work out for one reason or another or that the family simply didn’t have enough room to take me in.  Although it was quite frustrating walking around in mid 90s heat and humidity, that can only be described as having the density of a brick wall, all week I remained hopeful.  This is in large part due to the wise words of a Peace Corps Colombia Response Volunteer, Erich.  He told me the only way to survive is to, “Just go with the flow.”  And this living situation was the flow so I was trying my best to just go with it.  To this day I think this is the best advise I have received since in Colombia.  

Exactly one week from talking to La Hermana about the housing situation, some of the Peace Corps staff came down to La Boquilla to help me with my search.  With the PC staff, I went back to her office  to share the news of the unfruitful house hunt with her.  As we entered the office, she was sitting behind her desk with her usual warm smile.  The first words that came from her moth were, “I FOUND A HOUSE (in Spanish obviously)”!  This news brought a collective sigh of relief from myself and all of the PC staff.  Together, the whole gang of us approached the new house and there were greeted by my new host mom, Janeth (Tidbit: Janeth has died red hair).  After asking her a few questions about her family and seeing the room I already started to feel at home.  

Saturday I said good bye to the Direct TV and the bachelor lifestyle at the Padre’s house and moved all my stuff four houses down to my new residence.  I was greeted my new host mother (Janeth), my two host sisters (Irina and Julie, both in their 20s), Irina’s  daughter (Valeria, 2) my host brother (Delys, 19), his son (Delys, 3 months), his girlfriend (Fiama) and a bunch of cousins.  For the next two hours instead of unpacking my stuff, I got to know a little bit more about the family while two girl cousins combed my hair, put it in braids and then in a pony tail.  I do have to say I really did miss this family aspect when living with the priest.  So all in all, I am happily moved into a new house and still going with the flow of Costeño life.  Also if you figure that 50% (generous number) of La Boquilla go to the Catholic church, now each 300 people have their own priest.