A Gringa No Brasil

I've got company. Last Sunday, a group of 19 Peace Corps trainees showed up in Cantarranas. They had already been in the country for about three weeks, but they've come to my town for Field Based Training (FBT - Peace Corps is all about acronyms). FBT is a seven week long program where the trainees receive language classes and technical sessions to prepare them for work as a Municipal Development volunteer. Other projects (Health, Youth Development, etc.) have their FBT in other sites.

Since I was the one that was lucky enough to get placed in Cantarranas after my FBT last year, I'm now the lucky volunteer that gets to help with training activities for the newbies. (There may be a hint of sarcasm in there...) Lately I feel like I'm a member of the Peace Corps staff since my boss has practically taken me on as his assistant for prepping the FBT activities. If only I got paid like him.

It's a little odd going to visit my old host family and seeing another gringa there, or washing my dishes and hearing English being spoken by trainees passing my house. But what's even weirder is the fact that for them I'm one of the "experienced" volunteers. I feel like I just finished training not too long ago, but I'm already coming up on my 1-year mark in site. The time here has definitely gone by quickly so far. But anyway, I love having the new guys here. Aside from getting to pretend like I know all there is to know about Peace Corps, it's a great change of pace and definitely breaks up the small town monotony. Plus, they're coming over for a small housewarming party at my new casa this weekend :)