Unpacking in a new land

Today I moved in with my host family for the next three months. It was part exhilarating and only slightly nerve racking. I don’t really have a basis for comparison, but I think I’ve lucked out in some ways and not in others. I’m in the town of Santo Domingo de Xenajoc (Shin-A-Coh). It’s a village with a largely Mayan population, although Spanish is spoken throughout. My host family consists of Dona Dina and Don Jose Louis and their three children Dennis, Rici, and Dina (Jr). The parents are about my age, the kids 10, 8, and 4. There are two other Peace Corps Trainees in my town and we will meet up for a Spanish class a few days a week (and a support network as required). My two new best friends are Reina and Kay. Reina has just finished two years with her husband as a Peace Corps volunteer in Jamaica. Sounds like a wonderful experience. They’ll meet up after the three months of training (and see each other with some frequency throughout). Kay has just finished up the course work for a Masters with a program that is in conjunction with the Peace Corps. Now she does her two year assignment as a sort of internship. The house that I’m staying in is of cinder-block construction. There is a small court yard in the middle, a kitchen and bedroom on one side, and a bedroom/living room on the other. The Peace Corps requires that the family give me my own room with a lock. I think I’m lucky because I actually have a room on the 2nd floor. It’s an entrance through the courtyard past some posts with rebar sticking out. Gives me a little more privacy, although sitting in here right now it kind of feels like a prison cell. I was met by Dina and the kids and then Jose Louis came home from work and we had lunch. Lunch was a pork chop in a fairly hot sauce with cucumber salad and (of course) corn tortillas. I’m still trying to figure out what the deal was with dinner, but I ate only with the kids and we had black bean soup and fried chicken. After lunch Jose Louis and I took a walk through town. We made a stop first at the house where his mother lives. There were a number of his siblings there and a handful of nieces and nephews. I’m not sure his family tree, but I do know he has 9 living siblings. We also walked to the houses where the two other volunteers are staying. It was good to see where they were laying their heads. We also stopped at the Catholic Church in the middle of town. The parish has been in existence since the 16th century in some form or another, although I’m not clear on how long the building has been standing. I got the mass schedule. There was one at 7 on Saturday evening, although tonight was a wedding so not really intended for the public. Sunday masses are at 7 and 10 am. I probably won’t be able to make it since the family is going on a 2-hour bust trip to go to a pool. I went to the “Evangelical” service with my family this evening. It was a nice service, although not exactly what I’m used to in a Catholic mass. I’m a bit unclear on my house dad’s role in the church, but he seemed to be a minister of some sort or at the very least a canter. The service was about 2-hours which I understand is pretty short for around here. The lack of hot water will present an uncomfort, but I’ll deal with it. All and all I’m happy to be here and I finally feel like I’m having the Peace Corps experience!