End of the Month

So August is ending and I've almost been in country for 8 months. I can't believe it. I'll be in the teens... as in 19 months left! That's crazy. Time has been going fast but I've hit a little slump. The past week has been crazy. A lot of things have made me super emotional but I've been busy which is good. Lots of school visits and presentations to fill the time. We also met with a local NGO and will be giving a workshop on HIV/AIDS prevention to teenagers in the next two weeks. I'm nervous about it but excited. It is such an important topic and I'm sure after the first one I will feel more confident to keep spreading the word. Also I've been thinking a lot about my parents who still continue to do great things with their lives. I'm looking into my future after PC already. Also, thinking good thoughts for my mom as she spends the next 10 days in Haiti doing medical relief work. I love hearing about everyone from home's adventures. It keeps me motivated and looking for new and exciting things to do.

This past week we had a group of new trainees come and visit Tecpan. It was cool to show them around and to remember how crazy life was during training. They have only been here for about two weeks. I got to show them my apartment which was fun because I remember seeing other people's places during training. It was just exciting to hear their questions and to remember how much of a whirlwind training was and how glad I am to now be in site and working. Also, the next training group to arrive will be HEALTHY SCHOOLS! Not until January but I'm excited at the prospect of meeting new people and helping a lot with the training of the HS program. One trainee is living with my "old" host family. I've done a horrible job of keeping in touch with them but tomorrow I'm heading over to their house for lunch. YUM! Also, I'm really excited to see them. I've missed them a lot and it's hard to remember what life used to be like in Guatemala during training, let alone in the US. Things are changing so much... it doesn't feel weird to not flush my toilet paper! Although right now lots of people have been traveling home and I have been feeling more homesick. I'm just reminding myself to get through everything and soon enough people will be visiting and it will be 1 year in country before I know it.

So buy those plane tickets and know that I'm thinking of you all and missing you dearly. love love love

I've got beans

So tonight was tamale dinner at our friend Brenda's house. Brenda is 22 and not married. I.E. We need to be friends. She is really sweet and a teacher at one of our schools. She is also my neighbor and Don Pedro is her Uncle. Sadly, they do not have a very good relationship related to some rumors about Brenda having dated a married man last year... when she was 21 but you know it was totally her fault and thus she shouldn't be trusted or talked to. It's a little hard actually because I want to respect Don Pedro and Dona Mercedes with their choice to talk to someone or not but it is hard when they turn their nose down at me when they know I have spent time with Brenda and I'm sure this dinner will hurt their feelings but I mean at some point I have to make decisions on my own and having a 22 year old friend seems pretty good right now. Anyway, her mom made us delicious tamales and gave us beans. Ha sometimes pity tastes so good. Now I've got beans in my fridge and I'll be able to heat them up on my new stove. Well, that would be the case if I had gas. Next month. Hopefully we can keep this friendship alive to keep sharing food. We also have set up a movie night complete with popcorn. I guess we will just see what happens.

I bet you are thinking it's pretty sad that you have a stove with no gas but I mean it's not so bad. Gas is EXPENSIVE. I eat dinner with DP and DM pretty much every night. So I only have to worry about breakfast and lunch which surprisingly I can scrounge around enough to have something pretty good. Also, Betty and I together can pull off a pretty good lunch pretty cheaply and totally culturally sensitive. Beans, Eggs, and some type of salad (usually cucumber, tomato, onion and then lime and salt! YUM)So slowly but surely I will be a great little chef... haha Seeing as right now I can't get my huge water jug open, I'd say my skills are not in the kitchen. I also don't know which is more embarrassing a stove with no gas or a water jug that you can't open? You tell me.

In other news, Manchitas is really fat. She is getting so big. Also she loves to leave presents on my bed when I leave. This is really testing my patience. A)because it is really gross B) because it is a huge pain. I do love her though I'm worried she might have fleas and I don't have enough money to get her fixed until next month so I'm terrified she's going to get pregnant, keeping pooing on my bed, and get so fat that she won't be able to move. Any cat advice welcome.

This week starts more meetings. Tomorrow we are meeting with a local NGO to share what our project is and hopefully brainstorm ways we can work together. Should be exciting. Well that's the brief update for now... Love and miss you all. Let me know you are still reading.

Market Day

The month of July has flown by and tomorrow makes 7 months! I really can't believe it. We had so many conferences this month and Betty's parents visited for the last week as well. So things were busy busy busy and it keeps on being busy. With lots of school visits to make this month, Betty and I are trying to stay on our toes. Going to school, fixing up our apartments and keeping up with our pets... Ok it sounds a lot more busy than it actually is. We have adapted to the lifestyle of not being able to multi-task or work for long hours. It just makes you so tired. Anyway, things are falling back onto normal schedule because we don't have any more meetings at the center for a while and we are just able to focus on life at home in Tecpan.

I'm trying to get the house cleaned up after I returned to a DISASTER. Who knew a small kitten could do so much damage. It was disgusting and awfully messy when I returned after 3 nights away from home. This little kitten is so needy. She wakes me up everyday for feeding at 6ish... Then constantly has to be with me and cries when I don't give her every ounce of my attention but I guess that is ok because she loves me and even though sometimes when I go to sleep I'm alone, she's always with me and for the moment without Fleas.

In other news, Today I went to the market and did some serious shopping. I bought Veggies which are currently sitting in Chlorine in order to be edible. I bought 2 knives, a pineapple and some HONEY! However, I'm not so sure about the honey. It tastes like syrup... processed syrup. But maybe that was just because it isn't as good as Woodland Ave Honey. I don't know. I'm pretty sure it's not syrup. It looks like Honey. and Syrup would be more expensive than Honey and I only paid 10Q for the bottle... So we'll see. I'll try again. I really am going to try to start a Honey project with my friend who is working on a Tea Farm in Alta Verapaz. That could be really fun and a nice chance to perfect my bee skills. They are definitely rusty.

I guess things are moving along slowly but surely and I'll try to keep you guys updated on my happenings but I mean not a lot happens. Anyway, love and miss.


HONEY


My widdle baby that drives me crazy


Little Manchitas loves to Cholorinate veggies

LIfe Update

Let's hit the highlights...

-Manchitas, the cat formerly known as Lady Sadie Pickles is doing very well. she's growing a lot and learning that not all humans were put on this planet to terrorize her. In fact whenever I'm home she enjoys spending most of her time at my side, perching on my shoulder or on top of the computer and getting her paws on anything she shouldn't. It's really cute if I do say so myself. She does have a strange fascination with the toilet... It's gross. Betty suggested I litter train her to use it. vamos a ver?

-The other day I accidentally put the chair on Maria's foot. She squawked like crazy and still can't put weight on it. I think this happened Sunday. Now her poor foot is all black and disgusting. I feel bad but she still tries to attack my toesies so I guess now she knows how it feels to have an injured foot. DP and DM have assured me that they have done this many times themselves and that I shouldn't feel bad.

-This upcoming Friday the new volunteers swear in. It's pretty exciting. First of 6 groups to pass through before I COS (close of service). I can't believe that much time has passed already and I find myself feeling like such a vet when it comes to the life of a PCV in Guatemala. Still got lots to learn and more to see/do. Next week our training group will be reunited for RECONNECT, which is after the first 3 months of service and we all come back together for more training and language classes. Fun times!

-I've recently had some "breakthroughs" at work. It really is amazing how going to a school and seeing some little 4th graders wash their hands will really turn around your day. The same difference when you are sitting outside the school bathroom and the kids come out to wash their hands but there isn't any water. It's pretty heartbreaking. All for the sake of washing your hands a habit that I think even lots of Americans are lacking. Today I also made about 20 new friends. Man do I miss the 4th grade. They all keep asking me words in English which is usually pretty annoying but for some reason it was so precious. Cause I would say a word and then they would try to repeat it with completely the wrong emphasis. It was interesting to hear the English words how they heard them. They also loved my hair which has gotten kind of long and pretty blondeish... I made the mistake of wearing my hair down so I was getting lots of great hair dos... Hopefully my next blog won't be about lice infestation but it actually felt worth it. Feeling a connection to these kids even for like an hour was really nice but it made me have second thoughts about how my job is supposed to work. I love the hands on interaction with children but I really don't get that now. But it's all still beginning and we'll see how many more friends I make.

-LOVE THE MAIL!!!! I have been receiving lots of mail recently and it really makes my day. So sweet of everyone to send me anything. It is so nice to walk into the post office and have Don Luis tell me there is something for me. So I just want to say thanks and that slowly my confidence in the mail system is growing and I'll try to send some snail mail home.

Anywho, I think that is the highlight for now. Love and miss you all so much and love hearing from you. love love love

Happy 4th

Obviously the best dressed award goes to me and Evan


Alrighty, so it has finally come and gone... the 4th of July passed with a big bang and was probably one of my favorite memories so far here in Guate. The build up was pretty huge. A big party with 220+ of your closest "american" friends, how could you not be excited? It was a weekend of reuniting and it helped me realize how much my life has changed these first 3 months of service. I've been feeling like things are going well and life seemed pretty normal. I had forgotten about the tourist haven that is Antigua and how much fun it is to go there with 220+ of your closest friends. It made me realize how much I love a lot of my training group and how much I miss them. We will be reunited again soon but until then it's back to work. I've moved upstairs into my apartment so it's time to organize and get that taken care of. Also this little kitten of mine goes through separation anxiety every time I leave hence right now she is sitting on my lap. Overall things are good. I feel like I really celebrated the 4th well this year and I'm excited for the upcoming weeks.

Also Happy 6 months in country!!!

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.

Uncle Steve told me to

So Uncle Steve told me to update and I guess it's about time I do so. Things are moving along ok. We are still recovering from the storm, with the changes in schedules, the crazy traffic when traveling, and the continuing rain of the rainy season ; but overall things are ok. I was really starting to get a schedule going and that just crumbled but hopefully things will start to shape up again. June and July are going to be pretty busy. I'm at about 5 and 1/2 months! Can't believe it. Betty went home for the weekend for her brother's high school graduation. It was hard for me to be here without her. It's kinda of funny because we are very close but I mean we don't spend every waking moment together but there was something about the fact that I couldn't spend every waking moment with her that made this weekend so odd. Anywho, today she's back and I'm glad. Hopefully now we will be able to return to some type of system and schedule and normal life... for Guatemala that is.

My host family is telling me that by the end of the week they will be done with the apartment. I'll believe that when I see it but I'm getting pretty excited. We are going to get some paint tomorrow(how fun!) I think I'm going to have a blue room, a yellow room, and a turquoise green room. I know that sounds like a lot of rooms but once I get everything painted I'll take some pictures and then it will make sense. I'm excited to finally have my own space and to get to play with my cat and just not have to think about every action I make all the time. For example right now my room is right across from the kitchen so every morning when I get up... I can't just go to the bathroom. I have to greet everyone... I bet you are like "Wow, that doesn't sound so annoying." But it is. It is just nice to know you can get up go to the bathroom and go back to bed without worry. Without having to make small talk, which Guatemalans are good at and I normally don't like but have fallen into the habit. It makes me feel less awkward.

This week we have a big meeting with all of our directors as well as our program director and project specialist. I'm pretty nervous. It will be 4 hours long with lots of talking, food, and just stress. Hopefully, it will be helpful and a good way to get our program information out there right before the mid-year vacations. Anywho, not much is happening in my life right now but I'm thinking this week things are really going to start picking up and before I know it, 6 months will be here. Thanks for all the support and love from home. It's making it's way here and helping me through the days. love love love

PS SKYPE ME!