Day 4: Something Green

The tree in the central park of Tecpan. HUGE and Beautiful. Central meeting place for lots of people and a nice place to sit on a warm day in town.

Photo Day 3 : Clouds

Shirley, Bill and I went to Casa de Sion, an NGO located on the lake that works with a local elementary school to improve children's nutrition and education. It was a beautiful day and a very interesting organization. They provide healthy lunches, clothing donations, formula donations, and more education for the children as well as their mothers. We met the sweetest little 5 year old boy with Down's Syndrome during our visit. It was so sweet, made me miss Clay like crazy. He loved getting a little bit of attention and it was interesting to see how others reacted to him. His mother didn't know what was wrong with him just that he was slower than other children( of which she had 5). Also another mother came up curious about what was going on. Although it was sad that they didn't know exactly what was wrong. It was nice to see that they felt comfortable enough to talk to each other about him. It was sweet.

http://www.safehomesforchildren.org/ - link to the Casa de Sion for more information

We also met a group of young people volunteering their on a missions trip that takes them around the world. Going to 11 countries in 11 months volunteering for one month in each. It was very interesting. http://theworldrace.org/

Anywho as for my picture. I took a picture of the clouds in the garden at the Casa de Sion.

Photo Day 2

What I wore Today. The topics for this photo challenge could probably be addressed more artistically but I think they can offer some insight into my daily life here. Sadly my outfits are pretty boring and there isn't much variation. I usually wear something comfortable but not necessarily flattering. It is amazing how much a nice outfit can make you feel good. I do throw in a few things that remind me of how I used to dress at home and that makes me feel connected to my old life haha but enough rambling.

What I wore:

Gender and Development T-Shirt: GAD is a PC committee focused on creating awareness with Host Country Nationals about gender, women's activism, HIV/AIDS prevention and topics of that nature. The shirt is super comfy and made in Guatemala (Aunt Shirley checked). Also money spent on these items helps support this committee within the PC community.

Jeans: Pants I found at the PACA (used clothing store). They were about 6 inches too long so I took them to a tailor to get hemmed for 5q. They don't have butt pockets....

Scarf: Dad gave me this scarf from Cambodia. I love it. I love scarves. When I wear one I feel a little bit connected to life at home. Also I love scarf weather.

Sunglasses: These cost 20q from the Market in Antigua. And everyone comments on how I wear them all the time. Luckily they haven't broken yet and I hope they last.

Todos Santos- Photo a Day Challenge

Alright, so I'm getting into the home stretch. Things are going well but just winding down a bit. I've decided for the Month of November to participate in a photo a day challenge. I found it online and each day has specific goals for photos and we'll just see how it goes. Today was a great day to start the challenge because it was Todos Santos and Aunt Shirley and Bill are visiting. We had an awesome Guatemala Fall day where we went to a town near by to see their Kite Festival to celebrate today. Last year I went to the horse race in Huehuetenango and this year was kites. Such a cool day. The kites were huge and the whole field was set up like a fair. People everywhere and so many kites. KITES ARE BEAUTIFUL. We enjoyed watching them try to launch these giant beauties into the sky as well as enjoy the beautiful day. After riding a crowded bus we got home and had delicious Chicken Curry made by Aunt Shirley. YUM! It was so good and my mouth is watering again just thinking about it. It's been nice to catch up with Aunt Shirley and fun to think about how some of my Peace Corps friends will be in my life for as long as they have in my parents. Here are some fun pictures of the kites and my photo for the day!

KITES!


HUGE KITES


Kite in the Sky


Can't get enough


Me and Aunt Shirley


Photo Challenge-
Self Portrait
Me, Aunt Shirley and Bill on the Bus

Also this past weekend there was a Halloween Party. I was part of group Clue Costume. It was pretty fun. More Pictures!

CLUE


Wilson and Heidi from Home Improvement


Black Swan, Mrs. Peacock and Heidi

What a difference a border makes

Well my trip to Mexico came and went and I'll say it was more eventful than I thought it would be. I know many were nervous with reason about a trip to Mexico due to all of the crazy things that happen there but We managed a quick and relatively uneventful trip in San Cristobal de Las Casas Mexico. What a beautiful city. It felt like Europe with all the restaurants, tourists, and clean streets. It was very well organized and we stayed at a very nice hostel that was clean,had hot showers and breakfast included YUM! Our diet consisted of mainly tacos and XX beer which I had no problem with. We only found Corona once the whole time even though it is advertised everywhere. We also had a pizza and sushi meal(random) but all the food settled well on our Guatemalan stomachs. The trip started off Monday morning leaving from Huehuetengango, we were only about 2 hours from the border. Then going through immigration was pretty easy, this was the first time I had done it on my own (meaning not included with a shuttle; which is what I have taken to El Salvador and Honduras). Changing money to the peso proved to be confusing, amazingly the quetzal fares a little better so that was a nice relief. (11 pesos= 1$USD) Then we boarded public transport, where we had to purchase a ticket! Mind blowing to have paper proof of a seat. Then when the micro had sold all the seats, we left. Everyone had a seat and we traveled about 2 hours to Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico. It was so nice and such a change from Guatemala. Although the camioneta feels normal now, sitting in our own seat on an air conditioned bus felt amazing! In viewing the countryside, I noticed little trash and things just seemed a little more organized and clean. I was so surprised. We changed buses in Comitan and headed another 2 hours towards San Cristobal. There we found our hostal and then ate some delish tacos, nachos and beer. We booked a tour for the next morning to go to Palenque (Mayan ruins that are located nearby.) So Monday night we had a few margaritas, which were not as delicious as we expected, and then hit the hay to get up early for our tour on Tuesday.

Welcome to Mexico

Tuesday morning was off to a rough start as we overslept because there is a time change between Guatemala and Mexico. That was not the way we wanted to start the day, running out of the hostel at 6:30... 30 minutes late. Our driver was not pleased. Then we spent what felt like an eternity in a car to get to Aguas Azules, the first stop of the trip. In the non rainy season this place is supposed to be a beautiful scenic waterfall area where you can swim and relax. Lucky for us in rainy season it floods over with brown water and was actually hilarious to tour. As we walked through flooded paths to the top of the cascades all of the nearby restaurants were closed due to flooding and we couldn't swim because the water was too dirty and dangerous. We had also spent about 4 hours in a micro at that point... a little disappointing but adding to our adventure. After about an hour there we boarded the bus to head to another waterfall. Misol Ha is huge, the biggest I've ever seen. There Betty and Mary braved the water to swim and we just enjoyed the majestic beauty of the waterfall. Then back in the car to head to Palenque. Palenque ruins were delayed for an enchilada lunch and then we walked around this huge ruin area. It was really neat. These ruins were much larger than those of Copan, Honduras but equally as interesting. After about 2 hours we boarded the micro again, hoping to get to San Cris by 9 pm for a late dinner and early night as we had booked another tour for the next day.


Girls at Agua Azul


Me and the agua azul


Misol Ha Waterfall

After an hour and a half of driving we come to dead stopped traffic. Our driver stops the car and tells us people are protesting but the passage should open at 8 pm. It was 6:30. Annoyed that we had to wait an hour and a half before we even continued on our 3 more hours of journey, we sat in the car. Walked around a bit, and were entertained by our one year old friend who was also on this tour with his parents. At 8pm our driver comes by and says, well now the passage won't be opening until 11... Ok Now we won't be returning to San Cristobal until 1 am but there is nothing we can do. A house nearby was selling coffee and tamalitos, so we went and spent a few pesos on now "dinner". At around 11pm, the traffic jam has no sign of letting up and our driver informs us that there probably will not be passage until 8am the next day. Yes we are going to have to spend the night in a micro. Surprisingly we all took it well and just planned to sleep in the bus. Locals walked by selling bread and coffee. We turned off the van lights and fell asleep. Luckily our driver was watching our bus and he told us to stay inside, a little alarming but we all remained calm. Then at 1:30am, the passage opened and we were taken home. We arrived back in San Cristobal at 4:30 in the morning exhausted having spent almost 24 hours on a tour. Getting back to the hostel we zombie walked to bed and slept amazingly.


Palenque


Palenque

I awoke early to go to the travel agency to cancel our tour for Wednesday and got us almost a full refund. Some tears were shed and I had to make two trips but the cheapskate in me won out over the desire for sleep. I asked the travel guy if this was normal and he said that people protest in order to get a response from the government. He said sadly this is how they have to act in order to seek justice for petty crimes or to gain benefits for their small towns. These actions are common occurrences in the state of Chiapas Mexico. Wednesday all the local agencies had to cancel all of their tours to Palenque because the road block was still going on. Also, when I say roadblock, the townspeople had organized almost 30 dump trucks to block the road. So there really was no way to pass. And they stayed all through the night and the next day. Passage was only opened for about an hour and luckily we scooted by. I really felt bad for our driver who not only had to do the same trip as us but he had to stay awake the whole time. He did his job so efficiently and got us home safely.

Wednesday was spent walking around, eating more tacos and some market shopping. We had some great chats and our delish sushi dinner. At dinner I was shorted out of change which was disappointing and kind of put a damper on our last night. Although I know the waiter could probably use the 30 pesos more than me (i mean it's 3 dollars) it was just the principal but I guess that's what it's all about. Being here has made me realize that I'm learning a lot about life and living on a lower level. But luckily for me, I'll be able to go home to the states and have lots of opportunities and hopefully live on a higher level than I do now. I just try to remember this at those times I get frustrated when I get cheated because really I'm lucky to have this experience and be able to spare a few pesos, or quetzales for those who really have less than I.

Thursday was departure day and we headed home around lunchtime and were back in the Guate by late afternoon. The trip was a whirlwind and I can't believe it came and went. I really would like to go back to Mexico as it is rich with Culture and even after traveling as much as we did on that trip, I hardly scratched the surface of what there is to see there. And although they are more developed than Guatemala and have more advanced systems in transport, tourism, environmental care, I didn't feel the same way I do in Guatemala. Immediately back on a camioneta I felt comfortable, even though it was loud and crowded, I felt home. The people in Guatemala are so friendly and willing to have a conversation with a gringo; it's nice. With this trip and the recent departure of friends I've been able to realize how much I love Guate and care about it. It feels like home even when I'm not in Tecpan. Being able to leave makes me appreciate what I have here and I'm sure I'll carry these memories and feelings with me for a long time.


Home again

September

Well things are going well. It feels like the big September events have already come and gone. This past weekend was the election for all local authorities and the president. Although the presidential election is going to be decided in a run off in November, the local elections went off pretty well. Although we were put on PC lock down in our sites, all turned out well. Don Pedro had been working on a campaign for a man for mayor and he won. So hopefully next year DP will have a job working in the mayor's office. There were some tensions on the rise on Monday morning just because they weren't exactly sure who won (the decision came down to like 100 votes) but luckily dp's guy pulled though. We just stayed clear of all the hubub and cooked lots of delicious meals. I think the one I'm most proud of is the Homemade Falafel, Hummus and Pita bread. I think we are getting some skills. We also made sweet potato black bean burritos, baked potato casserole and of course chocolate chip banana pancakes. There was also some fort building and a lot of daily show watching. Man do I miss the daily show. Jon Stewart is so entertaining.

Kata in the Fort


Manchitas watching the Daily Show


Pita bread and Falafel

Also this week was Guatemala's Independence day ( along with Mom's Birthday). 190 years! It was fun. Such a gorgeous day and we spent the morning watching the local parade with Don Pedro. The local high schools did some awesome performances including the 80s classic I've had the time of my life. They were actually pretty good and it was entertaining.

Now this weekend it's time to say goodbye to one of my friends who is leaving at the end of this month. Amanda Baker is one of my closest friends here and I'm really sad to see her go but so excited for this new chapter in her life to start. I wish her the best of luck and know we'll meet again. She came to country the group before me and I've really enjoyed our time together.

Amanda and Me

In order to get over this sadness I planned a short trip to Mexico with three of my other friends. I'm really excited to jump out of the country for a bit and think that it will be a much needed break. Anywho, that's the update for now. Stay safe and I'll let you know about Mexico.

Love love love.

7 Months to Go!

So I'm getting into the home stretch. I've been in Guatemala for 20 months. I can't believe it. It feels like time has flown. I've still been trying to keep things on track. With studying and working. I had a nice interruption to every day life on my trip with Jessica. We had a great time going to the lake, Antigua, and spending a few days here. We were also able to go to Honduras for a few days. It was so fun and relaxing. Although there wasn't a lot to do in the town we went to; the Mayan ruins there are amazing. We played around the park for about 4 hours. Just looking at all cool old stuff. It was a really nice break and a great trip. Now it's almost September and things are really going to start moving quickly. With only 2 months left of school and the Guatemalan elections quickly approaching time is in a crunch. We are trying to get work done while waiting for this turn of events. The elections are causing a lot of increased tensions all over Guatemala which is hard to handle but I guess all part of the experience.


Jessica at the Lake


Tecpan Ruins


Map of Mayan Empire (pointing to Tecpan!)


My favorite little mayan dude


cool staircase

meals I've been cooking

So the past few weeks I've been cooking more. They've turned out pretty delicious. Tuesday we made spinach pasta bake with a cream sauce. It turned out really well, considering I have followed a recipe and just went with what sounded good.

Thursday we made some chocolate chip cookies. They were pretty alright. Some a little crispy and the lack of brown sugar made them more like sugar cookies with chocolate chips.

Saturday morning was chocolate chip and banana pancakes. Pretty good. I'm not a huge pancake person but these topped with some peanut butter, hit the b-fast spot.


Chocolate Chip and Banana Pancakes


Saturday dinner is my most proud dish yet. I made Eggplant Parmesan. It was so delish. I also added spinach and zucchini. I fried the eggplant in a rosemary, oregano, garlic and onion mix. Then topped it all with the spinach and parm cheese. YUM. It is definitely the dish I'm most proud of thus far. We'll see what the next week brings. YUM-O!

Eggplant Parmesan

10 Reasons why I'm in Love with Guate lately

1)Last week, Kata and I started a tradition that we are calling Eat, Pray, Wine... Based off of Eat, Pray, Love but I mean who needs the love part when you can have a glass of wine and maybe do Yoga a bit tipsy for the pray part? Last Thursday was the first of many Eat, Pray, Wines. We made garlic honey biscuits, curry lentils, deep fried green beans, and rosemary green beans. It was delicious. And a lot of fun. And very random but I mean we needed to mix up our tortilla diets somehow, so we combined all the random foods we had in our kitchens. We ended the night doing some Yoga in giggle fits, it was pretty great. I think laughing is great therapy and so is Yoga; therefore together they are even better. (This my friends is a conclusion to my argument; yes I'm studying for the LSAT and it's going ok but I'll tell you what those logic questions can be confusing. Oh well, I've got 4 months til my test date and a pretty intense study schedule.)


Eat, Pray, Wine FEAST


2) My LSAT studying is another reason I'm feeling pretty good. I've made a schedule and I'm sticking to it. Studying every day is a way for me to feel more accomplished and happy with how things are going. I'm nervous about the test so any study tips are welcome. Also just bits of encouragement :)

3) I cooked a new meal this week. Spinach Pasta Bake with a cheese sauce. YUM. Cooking is actually really fun and I'm getting into looking for ingredients and recipes. Funny story is that I cook like you do mom; in that I make things up. I read the recipe and then add my own stuff in. I feel like I'll be making lots of dishes that never come out the same way twice, but hopefully are always delicious. Also, today we made cookies. They turned out pretty good considering we didn't have brown sugar. (Only the first batch was a little crispy.)


Downfall to cooking is that I have to wash dishes in this hand-washing sink :)


4) Today we inaugurated a water project at our other school. It was really nice. Everything was decorated. We received a plaque that thanks Escuelas Saludables for their work in the project. We got lunch. They also put on some really cute dances. I'm posting a video of the cutest Guatemalan boy I have ever seen. Such a nice morning. The moments when we have ceremonies like this make time here feel worth it. Seeing how thankful people are and how much they want us to have a good time, really makes you feel good. Also the cheeseball in me almost always tears up during these events. They play the national anthem and have things so formally organized; it's emotional for me. Makes me happy to be an American and proud of our country but sad to see so many wonderful, good people living in a situation that is far from fair. The fact that we celebrated that a school now has water, is still mind blowing. We wouldn't even build a school, or anything at home and use it without connecting water.

Betty and Kata at the ceremony


Me and Kata with the water tank of 2000L and 8 faucets


Cutting the ribbon to "inaugurate" the project
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5) Today I found TOMs shoes in the PACA for 20q. That's like 2 bucks. Pretty sweet. Betty got some too. And Kata had some. Seems like Team Tecpan is pretty trendy :) check out toms shoes online- www.toms.com pretty cool idea. Also fun fact is I've heard of PC volunteers being in the towns where they do a shoe drop and they get a free pair as well. I'm happy to have gotten one for 20q.

6) One of our teachers invited us to dinner at her house tonight. It was so nice. Seno Alma is 27, has two kids, and we chatted her up for about 2 hours. She made us Pepian (a meat dish with a reddish, spicy sauce). It was the best Pepian I've had in country thus far. It's a dish made for special occasions. She is the cutest little teacher ever and really wants to be friends. So I hope we will be. It was nice to have a conversation with someone our age, who is really interested in learning, talking, and just spending time together. She really treated us well and reminded me again of why I'm here and what's really important to me.

7)Jessica is coming next week and I'm really excited to have another visitor. It's just so fun and will be a nice break from everything. (even though things have been so great recently)I also just really love showing people what my life is like here. It helps me to see what is special about my life.

8) Work is going well. We are having fun showing Kata the ropes. Checking up on all of our schools. Seeing Rincones de Salud, kids brushing their teeth and washing their hands. Pretty much great stuff.


TEETH BRUSHING


Rincon de Salud


Betty Spying on the school :)

9) I've been doing Yoga for 2 weeks now. Just 20-30 minutes at least every other day. It's really relaxing. I like doing it right before bed because it calms my mind and is just giving my day more of a routine. I'm finally learning how much I need a routine and how to make it work for me. It's a nice feeling. And fitting Yoga into my day is some time I can just give to myself to make me feel better and more relaxed with all I have accomplished in one day.

10) I'm doing things for me and trying to make the best out of the next 8 months. I make a list every night of what I want to do the next day in order to feel accomplished and then I (usually) do all the things on my list. It's such a good feeling to be at this place and getting things done. I hope it just stays with me and makes these next months fly by but in a fulfilling way.

Apparently I can make Crepes

So tonight the sitemates and I got together to make crepes. None of us really knowing how to do so but figuring between the three of us we can make something edible. After following a relatively simple recipe from our PC cookbook and adding some slight modifications; dinner was a success. I eventually was able to make the crepes the actual size of the pan and then we cooked up some tomatoes, onions, garlic, peppers and a sprinkle of basil to fill up our tiny pancakes with. Oh and don't forget some salty, dried out cheese. They turned out pretty good and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with myself (as I was the main one behind the frying pan; although shout out to Betty and Kata who prepared the ingredients!) We meant to take a picture of our delish creation but we were so hungry we forgot. Anywho, I think this means I should try to cook more. I always enjoy doing it but I'm going to be honest and say a lot of the time I'm too lazy. So starting this week, I'm hopefully turning over a new leaf and will try to cook one new thing a week. Maybe since I've posted on my blog I will be more driven to complete this mission. So look for a new recipe creation coming your way from my kitchen... Once I buy a tank of gas so I can use my stove... alright one step at a time.

Sorry, Sorry

Well, it's been a while since my last update and a lot has happened. Let's hit the highlights.

-The projects were finished in the end of May. It was awesome. We had another ceremony and it is just so exciting to see running water. YAY. One of our schools said multiple times how thankful they were for the project because we were able to help so many people. Pictures to follow of the final project. Betty and I both forgot our cameras on inauguration day. I can assure you that both school projects are complete and up and running.

- My sailing trip to Belize was amazing. My good friend Sara from Camp Cheerio came down and we sailed from Rio Dulce, Guatemala to Belize islands. We saw dolphins, sting rays, a lobster, lots of fish and the 2nd largest barrier reef. It was so wonderfully relaxing. Complete with sunburn, new friends, and a grand case of land-sickness. I was worried that I would get sea sick, thankfully no but those first two days back on solid ground were a little difficult.






-I have gotten my haircut twice by a new friend in town for 20 quetzales. That's like 2.50 USD. It's pretty great. Hugo, knows what's up. I was a little nervous the first time but my hair really needed a shape up so I figured he couldn't make it worse and I was right. I'm pretty sure I'll be visiting him on the regular until I COS.

-About two weeks ago we had our All Volunteer Conference and July 4th party. It was fun. I was on the planning committee which was a little more stressful than fun but it seems that everyone had a good time. Face-painting and tons of food, it was a very patriotic weekend.




-We are getting a new sitemate to help us with the HS program here. She just swore-in in March and will be coming to work with us for the rest of the year. Her COS date is in 2013, so our hope is that the transition from when Betty and I leave will now be pretty much none-existent because Kata will have worked with us and will be here until 2013. The thought is she will get one partner next march from the new group of volunteers.

Busy, Contenta y Feliz

Ok. So I know it has been way too long since my last entry but I swear I have good excuses. The past few months have been crazy with the 50th anniversary swear-in celebration I have continued to be going non-stop and I actually don't know when I'm going to stop which is probably the best news I can tell myself. First of all the swear in/50th anniversary celebration was really fun and interesting. We got to see the group that swore-in's ceremony, it was kinda like going to your friends graduation, a year after you graduated. It was such a fun time and a great way to reunite with everyone. Plus we all dressed up and looked really cute. It was nice.

Me, Betty, and Kristin: ONE YEAR LATER

Then it was April. We had our official mid-service conference, our last training session until we COS (Close of Service Conference in Jan 2012). How exciting we all got together and shared our experiences and really celebrated how we have been here for over a year and our now the "Senior Volunteers" or leaders in our program. It was really nice because the first three months of this year drug on but once we hit April time has been flying. Also, I've really enjoyed being a mentor to new volunteers. After this conference, we've just been continuing to go to work and trying to get things organized for our new work plan of this year. We are focusing on completing 4 projects and applying for 4 more during our service, As well as working with other schools to reach our healthy school metas but more on that later.


View of one of our schools

By Mid-April Shannan my dear friend from Camp Cheerio came to visit and we had such a great time. We went to Semuc Champey and went on cave tours and swimming. We made fun new friends at the hostel we stayed in from Japan and Spain. We went to Antigua for the Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter) Processions and just caught up. She also was able to see my site, meet my host fam, and just hopefully relax and enjoy the Guate.

Shannan and I in Semuc Champey


Procession in Antigua


Shannan and I at the ruins in Tecpan

After Shannan left. I went to the lake to celebrate the end of Semana Santa and relax with some volunteers and celebrate my friend Damian's Birthday. It was really fun but I was like enough already I need a break. Finally things have slowed down a bit in terms of visiting other volunteers and traveling but the work situation has really started flying and I'm so excited about it.

Today marks the day that we started two water projects in two of our schools. We are building three 2000L tanks that will have 8 faucets on them and One wall of 8 faucets at these two schools. It has been a process to organize this event and it was difficult at times to get all the support we needed to complete the project from the community as well as the local authorities. 2 weeks ago we weren't sure when we would be completing our projects when our APCD (boss) came to Tecpan and helped us to meet with the mayor asking for him to supply some money in support of these very necessary projects. After a 30 minute rant on how there wasn't the money, He agreed to give us the money we needed to complete our projects. That got the ball rolling. In the past two weeks, we bought materials and met with masons to finalize the plans for our projects. Today we broke ground. One of the schools invited us to a ground breaking ceremony and it was so awesome. We also had new trainees visiting us today so they got to see a real treat. We got to school and were "honored" with a musical event where all the local authorities, kids, and teachers took turns thanking us for this project and the little kindergarteners did a dance and gave us candy. It was so nice to see all of this year process coming together. Then it was my turn to "Give words" in front of everyone. I was thanking them and saying how excited we were to be starting this process and that we appreciated all they had done in this past year... and then I started to cry. It was one of the most beautiful days of my service thus far. Seeing everyone together was so wonderful and feeling like we actually were doing something made me so happy. I cried. Then the school principal got up and told everyone how wonderful it was to see that I was so happy I was crying and that he couldn't wait for the project to be over so we could all cry together in celebration. It's amazing how overcome with emotion I got but it was so beautiful and exciting. I couldn't help it. Today really was one of the best days of my service and I love that we got to share that with the new trainees that have only been in country for 2 weeks. It was so nice. Then we had an event with all of the trainees and they had to share their experiences with each other. Mine and Betty's group said that they really admired what we had done and were honored to have been a part of that celebration and that they hoped to someday be as successful as Betty and I....I could go on but let's just say today was an ultimate high point in service and I can't wait for 2 weeks from now when the projects are finished and we can see those kids washing their hands and brushing their teeth.

Betty and I with the School Director

The official start of the project