In which Tim goes to school...

After our first night in the country, sleeping in a nunnery, we were packed into buses and vans for our first day at the Peace Corps training center on the outskirts of the city. This is where we'll be spending much of the next several weeks, practicing Spanish and learning the technical skills we'll need before we can be assigned volunteer projects. During the half hour trip I got my first real look at the country that will be my home for the next 27 months. There was much that one would expect to see in a developing country. Crowds of people, pollution, stray dogs, and traffic that makes the typical Illinois driver seem qualified to teach a driving class. Yet these things seemed like a foot note against all the beautiful and interesting things accosting my eyes and ears. There is tropical vegetation everywhere. All sorts of trees that I do not yet know the names of, and flowers too. The buildings are almost all painted in loud and exciting colors that shine brightly in the morning sun. And on every street corner there seems to be a little store with loud and exciting dance music playing. I felt like I had just begun to drink in the sights and sounds when our bus suddenly stopped in front of a gate with "Cuerpo de Paz" painted across it. We had arrived at our destination.

Now when you hear the words "training center" your mind probably conjures up an image similar to what mine did. That is, a picture of a building full of class rooms and offices with maps on the walls and notices on the bulletin boards. It's a place that serves it's purpose, but isn't particularly interesting in and of itself. And boy was I in for a surprise. As the gates opened we found our bus pulling into a green oasis in the middle of the city. The training center is almost completely out doors. It is a large, well kept garden with lots of fruit trees and flowers everywhere. Classes are held in small gazeboes that are scattered around the grounds. It is quiet, and the air is quite a bit cooler than on the outside of the gate. I can't imagine a more pleasant place (except for possibly cedar campus) to learn challenging concepts. I've found that when I am in close proximity to the natural world, it is much easier to calm down and take life as it comes. I think the same is true for a lot of other people as well. And for people who are getting used to a country and culture that are totally new to them, it's important to have a place of safety to calm the nerves and process what is going on. Collective tension had been building in our group for a little while. I think we were tired of hotels, airports, airplanes, and being treated not a little bit like cattle, herded from one place to the next. I felt the tension subside a little bit as we stepped off the bus into what felt like a Garden of Eden. I am glad we get to spend every day here for the next little while.