Happy Christmas!

Hello All!

I just had a lovely weekend with my mum in Antigua and have a few friends coming to spend Christmas with me, so things are bright and sunny in my world. I hope you all have a lovely and peaceful Christmas surrounded by family and friends. Thanks to everyone who sent me Christmas cards and packages- you made my first Guatemalan Christmas extra fabulous!

Well, Im off to pick up my friends at the bus station and prepare for a night filled with tamale eating, gift exchanging, and fireworks!!!

Long awaited pictures of my new home...

Crazy kiddies in my town

Our basketball/ soccer court with a beautiful sunset


My office, one of my coworkers and her son


Town center- park and church




The municipal building- my office is the second window from the left on the top floor


View of my street from my house (and my index finger in case you´d forgotten what that looks like)


My house! Rose bushes to the left


My pila in my secret garden behind the house- this is where I was clothes, dishes, veggies, etc.


My bed with my cool PACA (used market) blanket


My kitchen


Other side of my room with my homemade shelves

Thanksgiving on the Lake

RJ, Me, and Katie shopping in Panajachel


Scott, David, and Katie lounging at the hostel



The view from my hostel in the morning



Thanksgiving 2008 marked my first major holiday away from home. I was in London for Thanksgiving a few years ago, but the fam came to visit, (you should ask me about trekking a 25 pound Turkey around London via the Tube sometime) so this officially was my first.

I spent it at Lake Atitlan with my training group. We went to this fabulously rustic little hostel called Iguana Perdida in the town of Santa Cruz La Laguna, Solola, where our dorm room was actually a bungalow on stilts without walls! We arrived on Thursday afternoon and took a launch from one side of the lake, Panajachel, to Santa Cruz on the other. The weather was amazing so we swam in the lake until a) we were kicked out for swimming off the dock of the fancy restaurant down the street and b) it was time for Thanksgiving dinner! The hostel cooked the meal, which in the absence of mom food and grandma’s rolls, was pretty much as good as it gets. We then proceeded to lounge around in hammocks in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. Not a bad day, if you ask me.

In true Peace Corps fashion we stretched our Thanksgiving holiday into 4 days of lounging, swimming, kayaking, playing games, and Christmas shopping in the local artisan market. All in all, the weekend was a pretty wonderful, and a much needed break. It was really therapeutic to get together with others in my training group and share experiences from our first few weeks. I know it comforted me to realize that the loneliness and emotional roller-coaster-ness of the last month was a pretty standard experience.

Coming back to the reality of life at site was tough, but as my bus got closer and closer to my house I realized that I actually felt like I was going home. I suppose that means I’m starting to settle in here. Hogar, dulce hogar.

This is the part where I get sappy...

I’m well into week 4 in my site and starting to realize all of the things I miss about home. It probably has a lot to do with the lack of a lot of the relative comforts I had during training (i.e. speaking English) that I’m just now beginning to notice these things. But, without further ado, here they are, in no particular order…
· Libraries
· Peanut Butter
· Coffee shops (and good coffee!)
· Cheese
· My family (and Annie too!)
· Speaking English
· Movies
· Dance parties (Jess, Josh, Paul…you three are most definitely included in that)
· Talking about international development with Houghton friends…man, living it is WAY harder!

But I have to say, that the thing I miss most of all of this is the amazing communities of people that I left behind in the U.S. I miss having late night conversations about important stuff and trivial stuff. I miss cooking meals together and sitting around the dinner table long after the plates are empty. I miss going on walks and hikes with people I love. I miss picnics and Frisbee games after church. I miss church! I miss game nights. I miss trips into DC with lunches on Saturdays. I miss concerts and plays. So, to those of you who live in New Hampshire, Houghton, and DC- this blog is dedicated to you!

However, you have a way of making my life full even from afar. I love the memories and pictures I brought with me to Guatemala, and the knowledge that we will make more soon. Knowing that you continue to dance your heads off, play Bang, talk about international development, and cook lots of yummy food makes me SO happy! Miss you!

This is Life

So, I must apologize for my serious lack of posting lately. Ive settled into my new life here in my site and everything seems a whole lot like normal life now. I suppose Ive felt that since nothing has changed and nothing monumental has happened that I dont have anything to blog about. I think thats just a reflection on the fact that this is now my home (wow...weird!) and things are going to be pretty normal from here on out. So, with that in mind, let me fill you in on my normal everyday life in Huehuetenango.

Ive been here for 3 weeks now. I have a cute house on one of the main streets in town and on market days my house is full of noise and smells from the vendors that are parked less than a block from my front door. Im beginning to make friends; the wonderful thing about small rural towns is that everyone knows everyone else and because Im new people notice and invite me in for coffee! So Ive meet some pretty cool people that way. There are several families in town that I think Ill be hanging out with pretty frequently. In one family a baby was born a week before I arrived. We were talking the other day about how she will kind of be the marker of my time here. Ill get to see two of her birthdays, see her learn to walk and talk, get to teach her my name even! I like the sound of that kind of consistency.

Job stuff is going pretty well. Its a slow start, to be sure. Any job takes a lot of orientation and learning and throwing in cultural and language barriers only makes that harder. But my counterparts (the two local women who I work with) are very gracious and are teaching me lots. Im beginning to learn the local Mayan language: so far I can say whats up and safe travels! Next week we are beginning the process of creating our operating plan and budget for next year. Im excited to begin the process with them and to be here to see it through next year.

So yep, thats my life now. I speak a lot of Spanish:)

Obamania

Barb, me, and Alana at the election party


The man of the hour!


Though I was out of the country for the elections, thanks to Democrats abroad, I was able to view the results as they came in. It was pretty exciting to be surrounded by 250 other people- Americans and others as our country selected our first ever African-American president! It looks like our country is in for a pretty big change, with Obama has Head of State! Hopefully he keeps his word and ups the Peace Corps! I´m excited to see what the next few years bring for the US and countries like Guatemala who are really affected by our policies.

It´s Official!

Esperanza and I in the garden of the Embassador´s house


So excited to be volunteers!



The gang looking super fresh in our swearing-in best


Well folks, it´s official, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV)! After 3 months of training we all descended upon Ambassador McFarland´s house last Friday to take our oaths as volunteers. The ceremony was really cool- the ambassador, our country director, and one of our group spoke, reminding us what we´re here for and what our mission is as volunteers.

The day was also bittersweet, as I had the difficult task of saying goodbye to the Carillo family who have taken me in as one of their own. We had a going away party where I cooked them all dinner and we all said words (Guatemalan tradition where everyone present thanks everyone and says nice things about the guest of honor) about how much we enjoyed our time together. Then they gave me lovely presents for my house, which was totally unexpected and very sweet.

It´s hard to believe that I´ve been here for 3 months already, and even harder to believe that soon I´ll be living ALL ON MY OWN, speaking only Spanish!