Volunteer Housing AKA Musical Chairs

You may remember from an earlier blog that before I came home for a visit, I had to pack up all my belongings to be moved while I was gone. I feel the need to elaborate on the theme. San Vicente (Casa Personal) was in need of some serious remodeling. All the wood had to be ripped out because it was moldy and disgusting and the roof was structurally unsound. They started work on my hallway in January. When I came back, five of us were living in Casita Buen Pastor by where the tíos live. Tiffany, Patricia, and Sona were in one bedroom with three beds, and Leila and I shared the master bedroom with one queen size bed. When Leila left, I had a room, bathroom, and closet to myself. I would have preferred to have Leila stay, but I wasn’t about to complain about having my own room. The casita has its own kitchen and common area, which made it really fun to have visitors. I loved living with those girls, the remaining ones from my original volunteer group. We were supposed to move back to San Vicente when the rooms were ready, and I was going to get to have my own room since there was one extra space (the volunteer coordinator Lauren was moving to another building) and I’m the veteran. Well, we got the call today that EVERYONE had to move…except me. We four girls wanted to stay here in the casita, but that was not to be. Lauren’s new room was taken by a nun who has come to live on the Ranch. So, Tiff, Patri, and Sona moved into the newly renovated rooms. They are quite lovely, but they lack any sort of shelving as well as a door to the bathroom because apparently the money ran out. Mmhmm. Lauren is moving in with me, and two of the new volunteers DeeDee and Micaela are moving into the other room in the casita. Supposedly the rooms in the other hallway will be done in 2-3 weeks (why do I doubt that?), and Lauren and I will move into her old room. At least I’ll have hot water, but possibly nowhere to put my things. Trying not to complain too much because the rooms are really nice. And the poor new volunteers are finally getting to move after being in the dorms at the far end of San Vicente for way too long. But it’s hard to feel settled when you have to move cada rato and things change at the drop of a hat.