Bitter Sweet

As you may have noticed I haven't really been writing about the Culture Center and the progress of that. Well today is the day that it finally comes out. That wonderful building that we had the offer in for had several problems. We kept figuring them out, slowly, until finally in the end it was proven impossible to purchase. But to make it even worse, we found out that every building in this city is impossible to purchase. Why? Because Xerem is not a known city. As in no land is registered. I went to the government building to find out how we can register the land here and they said it will take 5 years from the time that they begin registering Xerem. I then asked when they might start and the reply was, "Only God knows." Really comforting.

Basically what happened is since this city is full of rivers it was meant to be a park full of flowers and trees. However people found the land and decided to live here. They claimed land, bought and sold it, and now live on it. This city is huge, but completely illegal. They can purchase amongst themselves, but a foreign investor can't prove the building that he is buying, therefore he can buy it. Nice to know after 4 months of being here...

However the title of this post is labeled Bitter Sweet for a reason. Although the Culture Center will not be opened (by me, nor at this time- there are thoughts of building a building on the one piece of land that is legal, but we'll see) that doesn't mean that I can't accomplish the very thing that I came here to do. I came here to play with the cute kids and show them that they are important. So last Tuesday at 9:30 am we started our "class". There was about 7 kids and we just played. We don't have a location, we just play in the streets. But that works for me and the kids aren't complaining! We will have it 2 times per day 3 days a week. So far it has been really nice. I finally feel like I am doing what I came to do. I finally feel like I am accomplishing something. I finally feel good.

Here are a few pictures from our first day.