Hey Everyone!
Well, this weekend was pretty eventful. I did alot of spanish, I got books for kids in spanish from my little sister. Its kind of embarassing that my reading level is half the age as her. I also washed my clothes. I can totally see now why volunteers always wear sandals, because washing socks suck ass! It took me forever, and my socks will never be white again. I hand wash all of my clothes, which I feel puts alot of wear and tear on them, but theres nothing to be done about it. It was definitely a learning experience, because I am pretty sure that my little sisters think I am retarded, watching me try to hang up wet clothes and to ring them out. Oh well. They must also think I'm stupid because I didnt know how to work the shower for the first 3 weeks of my being here. It turns out that you have to turn on the boiler switch for 15 MINUTES (important step), then go outside to the street where there is a ball valve for the hot water to come to the house, then take your shower in less than 15 minutes time, because the hot water runs out after that, then turn off the boiler and switch the ball valve back. It seems easy, I know, but, with my spanish level, this process did not get through to me.

In class on Saturday, the WATSAN kids did alot of masonry work. We built a worm composting bin for the center at which we learn at. Its pretty cool. I'll put pictures up once we get it finished. I have had a bit of experience in masonry, but not much. They do things differently here though, so I feel like any previous experience I have had in the US with building or tools goes right out the window. Things arent built here to last 50 years. They are built to last maybe 10. Unless its a house, then there is alot more work involved. And I have no idea how long houses last hear. My house, I think, will last a long time.

I also got to kill and skin two rabbits today. So if you dont like this topic, stop reading now. Its going to get pretty graffic. Greg, my next door neighbor volunteer, Greg's family raises rabbits, and eats them apparently. So I wanted to see this process, considering my host family in my site is probably going to do something like it. I thought it was a good cultural opportunity. So Jose, Greg's host brother, grabs this giant rabbit, the biggest rabbit I have ever seen in my life, it was the size of a small dog, the size of my parent's beagle, he grabs it, and tells me to hold the legs very strongly, because the rabbits flail around while you kill them. And he holds it by its ears, and literally saws off its head with a dull knife, which looks like a bitter knife. This was by far the hardest part for me, watching that poor rabbit wiggle around while its neck is being cut. They dont even knock it out before doing this. Its concious, waiting to die. (I really didnt like this part, and didnt expect it to happen this way) Then he cracks the neck, and drains the blood from the neck. The head is still attached at this point, by the way. Then they skin it before doing anything else, because they say it is hard to peel off the skin if the rabbit is cold, so they do this before taking out any guts. What they do is cut it down the chest, around the legs, and pull really hard down, so the hide just peels off. It was pretty cool, in a disturbing way. Then they take out the guts and all, crack the ribs, and....the heart is still beating. Pretty traumatic experience for me. But I feel it was good. I might become a vegetarian now. well...maybe only for a few days. I like meat too much. But I will definitely look at my food in a different way now. Apparently Greg's family does it all the time. So maybe next time I will have the guts (haha) to be a little more hands on. Gross. Maybe at my site, they will kill chickens. That will be my next big adventure.

Well, hope you enjoyed this awkward experience of mine!
Happy Travels,
Teigan