I am Alive

Sooooooooooo, long time no blog. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update but I'm hoping to get you caught up on the exciting things I have been doing for the past few months.

So, October 30,31, and November 1: November 1st is All Saints day which is a huge holiday here in Guatemala. It is a day where many people go to cemeteries with their families to pay their respects to deceased family members. There are two very different traditions that take place on this day in different parts of the country along with this cemetery visit. In a small town in Huehuetenango, they have a town fair, that also includes the event of local men getting very drunk and riding horses back and forth all day for certain "teams." The objective is to not fall off and as the day goes on, it gets scarier and scarier. The neat thing about this town is that there is a very large indigenous population; meaning many of the people wear the typical traditional clothing' including the men which I do not really see in my part of the country. I loved seeing this because all the men from the young to the old wear traje but they all put their own spin on the look. Some young dudes have crazy hair and leave their shirts unbuttoned but it is still holding on to the tradition. So with that being said, this year I went to Todos Santos and enjoyed the "horse race." We also had a very fun PC Halloween party complete with costumes. I found a Superman Jumpsuit (pictures to follow). The tradition I hope to see next year is the flying of kites. In some towns the people build huge kites that they fly on All Saints day to connect our physical world with the spiritual world. The kites are huge and very beautiful and I'm hoping to see them next year.

November 11-17: Sabrina and Madeleine, two of my very good friends from high school came to visit. We spent some time in my house sleeping 3 to my full bed with Little Manchitas. We went to Antigua, hiked a volcano, and spent 2 full days relaxing at the beach. It was a much needed vacation and really nice to show some people from home what life is like here. Also, it was a good relief for me to see how easily we could fall back into touch like nothing had changed since we graduated high school. It was a really nice trip and I loved having them here, hope to see them again soon.

November 21: Thanksgiving dinner at Eduardo's house. Eduardo is a 70+ year old man who owns a farm outside of Tecpan and has been friends with volunteers for years. His house is full of treats like wheat thins and cheese that he buys from the capital and we have had dinner at his house a few times since we arrived in site. He is a genuinely sweet old man who loves our company and we enjoy his. Anyway, we asked if we could use his house to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with some fellow PCVS this year and it was delicious. We had it all, Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, homemade bread, carrot cake, pumpkin cheese cake. IT WAS SO GOOD. We were literally stuffed to the brim. I had to lay down. I hadn't had such good home-cooked US food in a long time. It was nice to spend time together and give thanks and eat a delicious meal so far away from home.

November 23-27 EL SALVADOR! Me, Betty, Carrie, Javi, and Damian made the 5 hour trek from Antigua to El Salvador for a few days and it was wonderful. We stayed in a hostel by the beach and were truly able to relax. It was such a great trip. We became a little family, for better or worse and have so many good memories of our time spent at the beach. On Thanksgiving day we at dinner for $3 each at a little beach restaurant. The owner gave us each a firecracker to shoot off and it was our own unique Thanksgiving tradition. We all got really tan and really relaxed. We were not ready to return to Guatemala but I guess that means we'll just have to plan another trip next year.

December 1-12: Mom and Dad came to visit. This was so much fun. We had our first trip together just the 3 of us, since they took me to see Mt. Rushmore when I was 3 years old. We relaxed in Antigua and ate delicious food. We spent time with Don Pedro and Dona Mercedes exchanging family stories. We went to Semuc Champey. This beautiful natural pool park in Guatemala that was worth the 7 hour bus trip! We relaxed and just caught up. A year is far too long to go without seeing people that you love so much. It was so nice to have the family here but it just made me miss them more and all of you guys too!

December 24- 25: It was very hard to spend Christmas away from home this year even though I really enjoyed partaking in all of the new traditions... some I plan on bringing home. We made tamales (around 150) which are cornmeal masses cooked with red sauce a little piece of meat in a banana leaf. That was a process on Christmas Eve morning. Then I ran out to market to finish my shopping just like everyone else. Wrapped some presents and then 2 other volunteers came to visit Betty and I. So we ate Christmas Eve chicken with salad at 8 pm. Then talked, played cards, set off fireworks, and played with sparklers waiting for midnight. Just before midnight, we all sat down to eat our tamales, and when the clock struck 12 we all hugged everyone to wish them a Merry Christmas and tell each other how much we loved them. Then we ran outside to see 4th of July style fireworks. There was so much smoke you could barely see the street. Then we exchanged gifts and went to bed around 130am. The next morning we made a huge breakfast. Biscuits, Gravy, Bacon, Eggs, Grits, Potatoes, Coffee... It was so Delcious. Then early to bed from staying up so late the night before, but also about 3 more tamales.

That leads us to now. I'm getting ready to head to Antigua to ring in the new year and I really can't believe that it is 2011. This time last year I was freaking out and running around getting ready to come to Guatemala. I can't believe it has been a year. I'm hoping to keep this blog more updated in the new year and hope that you all will keep reading.

Happy New Year!

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