It´s hard to believe that training is over. I feel like the time has flown by since I was eating Imo's and mashed potato pizza for the last time and being scared to death about just getting to Guatemala. Now, I'm sitting here at the hostel in Antigua having the same sort of nerves all over again about getting settled in at Cantel.
Yesterday we swore in as official Peace Corps volunteers. There was a ceremony at the US ambassador's house that all of our host families came to. We took the same oath that Joe Biden took at the inauguration, except that we pledged to serve as Peace Corps volunteers instead of VP. Then we listened to some speeches, and ate some tasty snacks, and took a whole lot of pictures.
Then it was back to Magdalena to say goodbye. I'm really going to miss eating chocobananos (frozen bananas covered in chocolate and peanuts) at my favorite ice cream/ chicken store, the views from the park we were working at, Spanish classes with my Magda crew, and of course my host family. My host family says they'll come visit me, though, and I'm sure I'll be back to go the PC training center soon enough.
After a quick stop at the center, I headed to Antigua for the weekend with just about everyone from our training group. So far, it's been a really fun weekend while we try not to think about goodbyes or how we have to make it on our own starting tomorrow. Last night, I went out for Indian food and then dancing with a big group. This afternoon we went on a tour of a Jade factory and took advantage of free internet and tv at our hostel. I even got to watch the Mizzou/UConn basketball game with a friend who went to UConn. We came so close! Tonight we're thinking about sushi, and then tomorrow morning I leave for Cantel.
Hope everyone had a good spring break last week and has a very happy Easter. Dye some eggs for me and eat lots of ham, potato salad, baked beans, and chocolate-- if that's what you do on Easter like my family does.
Wish me luck as I set out on two years of service as a Peace Corps volunteer!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A Few More Pictures
I thought I'd share a few more pictures of my site visit and life in Magdalena.
The central plaza in Xela.
This is Don Abraham, Don Juan, and Lobo the dog after our 7 hour hike up to the protected area of the forest.
Deforestation is a pretty severe problem in our area.
The pool which is filled by a hot spring that the town is interested in having me work on developing further as a tourist attraction. They want to build a restaurant and develop an interpretive trail in the woods behind the pool.
I went to the city of Xela on my way back to Magdalena. This is the main cathedral.
The central plaza in Xela.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Site Visit
I think this week of visiting Cantel has been full of more highs and lows than any other week since I've been in Guatemala and is probably only a foreshadowing of more to come.
On Monday, everyone's Guatemalan counterparts came to the Peace Corps training Center in Santa Lucia for a day of training together. Counterparts are the people we are most going to work with during our Peace Corps service. Two people came for me-- my actual counterpart, who is the Director of the Department of Protected Areas in Cantel, and one of the men on the Muncipal Council. They left at 4am to get to Santa Lucia by 8 and they both seem great. However, I'm still slightly unclear as to exactly what they want me to do here, seeing as the protected area that they told me they were interested in developing for tourism is approximately a 3 hour hike from the town. Then on Tuesday we all left with our counterparts for a four day visit to our respective towns.
Here are some of the ups and downs of my week:
-Saying goodbye to people from my training group, making me realize how much I'm going to miss everyone when we go our separate ways.
-Meeting a cat who won't eat cat food, but loves tortillas. I don't think you can get any more Guatemalan than that.
-Hiking all morning to see the protected area of the pinabete, a tree very important to Guatemala that is in danger of extinction.
-Learning how to make tortillas. I'm really awful at it, but the family I'm staying with was very encouraging.
-Finally finding a place to live. This was by far the most stressful part of my week.
-Introducing myself to various shop owners, ladies at the market, and kids on the street.
-Sitting around watching women embroider traditional blouses and chatting about life.
-Feeling lonely when everyone starts speaking Quiche. I am definitely going to have to work on this.
I think this is going to be a very interesting two years.
On Monday, everyone's Guatemalan counterparts came to the Peace Corps training Center in Santa Lucia for a day of training together. Counterparts are the people we are most going to work with during our Peace Corps service. Two people came for me-- my actual counterpart, who is the Director of the Department of Protected Areas in Cantel, and one of the men on the Muncipal Council. They left at 4am to get to Santa Lucia by 8 and they both seem great. However, I'm still slightly unclear as to exactly what they want me to do here, seeing as the protected area that they told me they were interested in developing for tourism is approximately a 3 hour hike from the town. Then on Tuesday we all left with our counterparts for a four day visit to our respective towns.
Here are some of the ups and downs of my week:
-Saying goodbye to people from my training group, making me realize how much I'm going to miss everyone when we go our separate ways.
-Meeting a cat who won't eat cat food, but loves tortillas. I don't think you can get any more Guatemalan than that.
-Hiking all morning to see the protected area of the pinabete, a tree very important to Guatemala that is in danger of extinction.
-Learning how to make tortillas. I'm really awful at it, but the family I'm staying with was very encouraging.
-Finally finding a place to live. This was by far the most stressful part of my week.
-Introducing myself to various shop owners, ladies at the market, and kids on the street.
-Sitting around watching women embroider traditional blouses and chatting about life.
-Feeling lonely when everyone starts speaking Quiche. I am definitely going to have to work on this.
I think this is going to be a very interesting two years.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
My Site
So today was the day we found out our sites. They made us wait all morning and finally at 2 o'clock they lead us all outside to a giant map they had made of Guatemala. Then we were all blindfolded and lead individually to our sites. When everyone was there, we were allowed to open our eyes and see where we were. And my site is............
Cantel, Quetzaltenango!
It's a 90% Quiche Mayan town very close to the city of Quetzaltenango (Xela for short). I'll be working with the Municipal park in the office of Protected Areas and the Environment. I have an entire packet to read so I'll post more information once I've read that, but for now, if you google "Cantel Quetzaltenango Guatemala" you'll find the town's website and some pictures that make it look really pretty. I'm pretty excited about it all, except for the fact that its climate is just described as "cold". I think I will be investing in some warm clothes very soon.
Cantel, Quetzaltenango!
It's a 90% Quiche Mayan town very close to the city of Quetzaltenango (Xela for short). I'll be working with the Municipal park in the office of Protected Areas and the Environment. I have an entire packet to read so I'll post more information once I've read that, but for now, if you google "Cantel Quetzaltenango Guatemala" you'll find the town's website and some pictures that make it look really pretty. I'm pretty excited about it all, except for the fact that its climate is just described as "cold". I think I will be investing in some warm clothes very soon.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Pictures!
Here are some long awaited pictures! I'm so excited to finally be able to show you visually a little bit more about what my life is like here in Guatemala.
The view from one of the lookouts at the park we're working with in Magdalena.
Kyle, Erin, and Mark who live in Magdalena with me at our park.
My house! Taken from the terrace upstairs. My room is on the right, right next to the stairs, which lead to where we hang laundry to dry and have a blind dog named Brownie.
I'm pretty sure this is Volcan de Fuego.... honestly I'm not positive. I took it when we were hiking Pacaya and now can't remember for sure.
I hope you like them!
This is my room.
A group of Peace Corps people hiking Volcan Pacaya.
The view from one of the lookouts at the park we're working with in Magdalena.
Kyle, Erin, and Mark who live in Magdalena with me at our park.
My house! Taken from the terrace upstairs. My room is on the right, right next to the stairs, which lead to where we hang laundry to dry and have a blind dog named Brownie.
This is my Spanish class and Magdalena crew with our first Spanish teacher Mirsa eating banana bread cake for my birthday. We're at my house on the terrace.
The Mayan ceremony our training group went to a couple of weeks ago. My favorite part was when the woman stopped the ceremony to answer her cell phone, which I thought showed the mix of traditional and modern pretty perfectly.
I'm pretty sure this is Volcan de Fuego.... honestly I'm not positive. I took it when we were hiking Pacaya and now can't remember for sure.
Some macademia nuts growing on a tree at the organic farm we went to. Yum.
I hope you like them!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
What's been happening lately
It's been a while since I've written so I thought I'd just try and write a quick catch-up of what life has been like here lately.
Last Friday, we took a group of about 45 ten and eleven year olds up to the park we've been working with for a morning of environmental education/ just time to run around in the park. We were actually just planning on hanging out around the entrance because it is a steep hike up to the top, but the teachers were determined that we should make it all the way up to where the lookout points, playground equipment, and picnic shelters are. They even brought a pinata because it was someone's birthday. So, after learning all about why we should protect the forests and not throw our trash there, we broke a pinata and got paper absolutely everywhere. Oh well, a good time was had by all.
This past Saturday I went with a group of about 25 trainees to Monterrico, which is a small town on the Pacific coast. We rented two buses and spent the day enjoying the sun on the beach. The sand there is black which means that it is HOT but it was a lot of fun and a great way to get away for a little while and feel like we were somewhere completely different.
On Monday, the U.S. ambassador came and we got to have pizza for lunch with him and ask questions about the political situation in Guatemala and about U.S./Guatemala relations. He was pretty interesting and pizza was a really nice treat.
This week, my Magdalena crew has been busy working on finishing up the Annual Operating Plan and budget we've been writing for our park and making a promotional brochure and an interpretive brochure that guides visitors through the trails. I am definitely not a graphic designer and got slightly frustrated with making brochures, but I actually think they turned out really well. The mayor and the people we've been working with at the Municipal building seemed to like them, so I would say it was a success.
Now, just a couple more days until I find out where I'll be living for the next two years.... March 11 cannot come quickly enough.
Last Friday, we took a group of about 45 ten and eleven year olds up to the park we've been working with for a morning of environmental education/ just time to run around in the park. We were actually just planning on hanging out around the entrance because it is a steep hike up to the top, but the teachers were determined that we should make it all the way up to where the lookout points, playground equipment, and picnic shelters are. They even brought a pinata because it was someone's birthday. So, after learning all about why we should protect the forests and not throw our trash there, we broke a pinata and got paper absolutely everywhere. Oh well, a good time was had by all.
This past Saturday I went with a group of about 25 trainees to Monterrico, which is a small town on the Pacific coast. We rented two buses and spent the day enjoying the sun on the beach. The sand there is black which means that it is HOT but it was a lot of fun and a great way to get away for a little while and feel like we were somewhere completely different.
On Monday, the U.S. ambassador came and we got to have pizza for lunch with him and ask questions about the political situation in Guatemala and about U.S./Guatemala relations. He was pretty interesting and pizza was a really nice treat.
This week, my Magdalena crew has been busy working on finishing up the Annual Operating Plan and budget we've been writing for our park and making a promotional brochure and an interpretive brochure that guides visitors through the trails. I am definitely not a graphic designer and got slightly frustrated with making brochures, but I actually think they turned out really well. The mayor and the people we've been working with at the Municipal building seemed to like them, so I would say it was a success.
Now, just a couple more days until I find out where I'll be living for the next two years.... March 11 cannot come quickly enough.
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