VACATION

VACATION TIME!!!!! Well not really but for the next week there is no school in our district. So it's pretty much vacation even though it feels like there is lots to do. Last week we had our big meeting and it went surprisingly well. YAY! We found out that we really have a lot of support from our schools and our superintendent. That is really exciting and motivating. Although it is still hard trying to adjust to our crazy schedule (meaning no school, then we have miscellaneous Peace Corps things when there is school) but I guess that's why the first year really is all about adjustment. I'm getting used to the schedule but it is going to be even weirder during "summer vacations" at the end of the year but that's a long ways a way, no need to worry yet. I've been painting these last few days and recruiting the help of any unsuspecting PCV neighbors. It is moving along well. Just that I'm too cheap to buy painters tape; which is causing a few splotches here and there but I mean it's not supposed to be perfect right? I like places with a little character. Hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning I will be finishing and then pictures will be up soon of my really cute apartamento. Next week is the 4th of July, which is a big (Peace Corps) holiday! I'm excited because I feel like I haven't really celebrated the 4th in a long time, always been working at camp but this year should be fun to celebrate our nation's birth with a bunch of other Americans in Guatemala. More on that later.

Also in about 1 week, I will have been living in Guatemala for 1/2 a year! I can't believe it! So exciting and crazy! I've never been away from home for this long but things are starting to look up here and I've found that my homesickness comes in waves. Like when I receive letters or packages from home! or when I look at all the "work" I'm putting into making this apartment my own and remember that within 21 months, I'll be gone and someone else will be here to change it. It's kinda sad to think about but exciting too! I'm really learning a lot about the passage of time and hopefully coming to a conclusion about what I want to do and who I want to be.

Some other sad news is that Don Pedro's mother passed away this week. It is very sad and although it was rather unexpected the family seems to be doing well. It was very hard for me to see Don Pedro so upset. Today he was cutting up an onion for lunch and I asked him if it was going to make him cry and he said "Ya no hay lagrimas, Lauren..." Which means there are not any more tears. It is so heartbreaking. But it was also very interesting to see how the funeral process works here. She died on Tuesday and Tuesday night there was a wake. At a Guatemalan wake everyone is invited over to the house of the deceased. The family of the deceased prepares food and then all of the guests pray almost all night long. Then on Wednesday we went to a special mass at the Catholic Church. It was really neat because everyone walks from the house and they carry the coffin to the Church. Then after mass, the walk to the cemetery. This funeral was very moving because there were a lot of people and the tradition of walking to the cemetery was very beautiful. The people that didn't come but were passed in the street still paused as a sign of respect. It made me think about funerals in the US and how we always hate getting stuck behind a funeral procession and those are in cars, Imagine if everyone in town walked down all the streets for funerals? It made me wonder how and why traditions change?

Anywho, that has been the majority of the excitement the past few days. Trying to be supportive of Don Pedro and Dona Mercedes while trying to get my own life in order; ready for the adventures of the upcoming week. love love love and send good thoughts for Don Pedro and Dona Mercedes.