Day 2 - Sun, June 8, 2025

I have one of the nicer rooms, there's 6 in total and 2 of them have 2 people in the same size room. I built a pretend closet today that I'm super proud of.

The "dorms" are basically two little buildings built with 1/4" plywood, next to an actual one room house that is now the kitchen.  There is a 6' x 6' cinder block outhouse in the yard, half of which is the toilet and the other half the shower.  And by shower I mean pretty much a hose on a stick that somehow provides water 5 times colder than it is outside.  The good thing is there's never much of a wait for the shower. 

The Cast: 

Alli - is from Holland and is probably in her 30's.  She's the drama girl and is usually happy or sad or mad about SOMEthing.  She has a big personality but is generally nice, and is working on some biodiversity project. She has been here 2 months and will be here another month. She likes to party, hard.

Brendan and Mary - are from Canada and have been together 2 years.  They are in their 20's, going on 60. Totally nice (of course), and Brendan is in the med program with me and Mary is teaching English.  Side note - Brendan played for the Anaheim Ducks for like 5 years, and Mary went to an exclusive French school all through grade school.  They've been here a month and have a week to go. 

Erik - is from Germany and is about my age and is the OG of the group. He's been here maybe 4 months and is staying indefinitely.  It's hard to get a straight answer out of him, I'm not sure what he does here or why he's even here.  But he knows who everyone is, and how everything works, and we pretty much hang out by default.  He's also the only one that actually does anything to keep this place running smoothly. 

Imogen - is from England and just got here today.  She is only 19, but mature for her age and super sweet. She is going to be a teacher here, and is staying a month ... but she's going all over S America this trip.

Sarah - is probably Indian by descent but is from Washington DC.  She definitely has the preppy DC vibe. I think she's still in college but acts like she's 40; she seems smart and articulate and is majorly outgoing.  She's a teacher here, and has been here 6 weeks but is leaving Wednesday.  Let's just say a few people aren't going to miss her, but her and I probably hit it off the most.  She's the socialite of the group.

Angelo - is from Lima, and has been here 3 months.  He's the unofficial liason between the volunteer group and the city, and he helps us with anything we need.  He's probably in his 20s still, and doesn't speak of lick of English.

Oh, and that's the washing machine for all of us next to the shower.  And by washing machine I mean sink.