In Site!!

Hola todos y todas!

Sorry for the delay on keeping up with my blog.  This last week has been absolutely crazy with ups and downs.  We found out our Peace Corps sites (or homes) last tuesday.  We were blind folded and taken a part in Guatemala that was chalked onto the ground. I started to freak out and squeeze my partners hand because I realized we weren´t anywhere near the other volunteers and we were in the tropics, AKA Baja Verapaz, my new home.  Before I continue with this story I must start another one.  Last sunday I bought the cutest dog in the entire world.  She is a brown siberian huskey and I fell in love with her the second I picked her up.  She cost me 1,000 Q which is about $120, which justified me buying her.  It took me a few days to name her but I then decided the only name that fit her perfectly was Bear.  Or in Spanish, Osa.  Anyway, so I´m standing on this map of Guatemala realizing that I am moving to the tropics and have a huskey puppy that has to live in 90 degree weather and I may not be able to bring her.  This is when I began to cry. I realized how much I was relying on this dog to be my sidekick for the next to years and help me get through these hard times, and now I may not see her grow.  Thankfully, PCVs are the nicest people and a volunteer that lives in Baja offered to take her until I got settled. 

We swore in as Peace Corps Volunteers on Friday, March 25th 2011.  It was the fifth aniversary of Peace Corps so it was a big ceremony.  There were over 400 people and we got to meet the other volunteers in Guate. It was the moment I had been waiting for for a long time.  Its funny because I had been waiting for that moment for so long, but I had no idea what was coming.  Last weekend we stayed in Antigua and celebrated with our new group of volunteers.  It was a good and relaxing weekend that was greatly needed.

Sunday we packed up our stuff and said goodbye to most of our group.  They went to the mountains in West Guatemala and us 6 drove off to Baja.  Sunday night we stayed in a beautiful hotel and got to swim in the pool.  It was so amazing.  The next day we were in our sites and back to reality.  I live in San Miguel Chicaj, Baja Verapaz.  It is absolutely beautiful.  Its tropical and hot.  I live with a young couple and their unbelievably cute daughter.  I have my own room and I use their kitchen for cooking (for myself!).  We have a huge backyard with 6 different types of fruit trees.  We have two chickens and one rooster.  I don´t think I will ever get away from roosters for the next two years.  I asked my family if it was okay to put a hammock up in the backyard and they, of course, said yes.  They are such a sweet and generous family, I feel right at home (or as much as a could in a strangers house in Guate).  We don´t have much water so I take bucket baths now.  I don´t mind though because its so hot that cold water from a bucket feels good.  GL its almost like the turkish baths in Turkey, but Guatemalan style.  You will have to try it when you come to visit!

Getting to site has been the experience to remember.  Training helps us prepare for our jobs, but I don´t think anything could prepare us for where we are.  Kata (my site partner) and I are the very first volunteers in this site.  People look at us like we are crazy and we get more attention from guys than every before. Were trying very hard to become part of the community but its def gonna take some time.  Kata is living in a hotel room right now because PC couldn´t find anything. We are back to living one day at a time.  PC is harder than I ever expected and most of the new volunteers are struggling right now.  Kata and I keep telling eachother if we can make it through this, we can do anything.

So today we went to a meeting and introduced ourselves to all of our school´s directors. It felt good to start work, slowly. Next week we are going to start visiting all 26 of our schools, which should take about 2 months. 

I don´t have access to internet like I did in Parramos but I will try my hardest to keep in touch. I love you all very much and having your support means the world to me. 

Miss you all lots!  I will try and put pics up (on FB) soon

Two More Weeks of Training...Gracias A Dios

I cannot wait to be done with training.  About a month ago, I was freaking out because I realized once training was over, we were going to be in a new town with no one telling us what to do.  For some reason I did not like the idea of this...now I can't wait.  Training has been great and very helpful but I'm ready to be done.  Last week we got our sitemates!  We will be working together within the schools and living in the same town.  Everyone was freaking out and I don't think many people got much sleep the night before.  My sitemate is Kata.  She's from North Carolina and I couldn't be happier.  I think we'll work really well together and we'll have some fun.  I'm ready to cook my own food and have my own home!

What else is new... We find out our sites the day before we swear-in as Peace Corps Volunteers.  They tell us where we will be living by drawing a huge map of Guate on the ground, they blind fold us, place us in our towns in the drawing, hand us a folder with all the information about our sites, and then we take off our blindfolds.  The other group (Eco-Tourism) got their sites last Thursday, so Healthy Schools is a bit jealous. 

I guess I haven't really explained what my job is, while here in Guate.  My group is in the second level of Healthy Schools.  There are three levels (and different phases) and this is about a 15 year project.  Kata and I will be given around 30 schools to work with.  We will be giving workshops and trainings to teachers and CTA's about healthy habits, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, and self confidence.  We are training the teachers because it is more sustainable than telling the children how to be healthy. The goal of Healthy Schools is to certify as many schools as possible in Guatemala.  It may take many years to certify a school, depending on what their school has and doesn't have.  Some (many) schools don't have water so that will be the first step, to build a water system for the school. 

Its weird that after only two months, I'm used to the life style here.  Last week I got pretty home sick, though.  I'm over it now but it made me realize how hard this was going to be.  I got fleas and had bites all over my body.  I did everything to fucking get rid of them but nothing worked.  Mi madre and I cleaned my entire room, washed everything, sprayed the room, but nothing seemed to work.  Finally, I just gave up because theres not much you can do about it.   Just two more weeks...

I wish I could explain my life here better.  I don't think anyone can really understand until they come visit.  So come visit!   The other day we went to a pool in another town and it was beautiful.  The water was freezing cold but I forced myself to get in.  I was actually the first one to get in, if you can believe that.  We were gonna go to the beach yesterday, but because of the horrible earthquake in Japan, the Pacific Ocean was off limits due to tsunami warnings in Guate.  

Love you all and please send me some love (email)!! I miss you all very much and encouraging words are always helpful. 

~margarita~