10 Step Process

I have now been in site for 2 weeks!!  After our first day of work we were told that the teachers were going on strike.  They have been on strike since.  We are trying to keep ourselves busy but there is not much to do.  We have introduced ourselves to everyone in town, even though they didn´t really want to meet us.  We introduced ourselves to the workers at the mini clinic and they litterally just looked at us and continued to watch TV.  We are the first volunteers in San Miguel Chicaj for about 20 years.  The men never stop yelling at us and continue to say ¨i love you¨ in horrible, creepy accents. The women are starting to come around.  Some of the women even say ¨buenos tardes¨ first! Which is a huge improvement.  I learned that the Indiginous women are more timid, but they are the kindest women.

I just want things to get easier.  I want the strike to be over.  And I want to take a shower, without mosquitos. Yesterday, Kata and I went out to grab coffee with my host dad.  Which was kind of weird because Guatemalans don´t grab coffee.  My family is a bit more modern and young.  My host mom (this word is used lightly considering she just turned 26) went down to protest in Guatemala City, without her husband.  Crazyness.  So my ¨dad¨ took us to a HUGE store where they had everything.  Kata and I were so excited becuase we didn´t know that these kinds of things existed in small town Guate.  I bought a green fan that I could not wait to plug in. Roney´s friend carried it to the bus terminal for me.  Kata said, ´Im so jealous of your fan maggie!  Its going to be so cool in your room!¨.  Right as she said that the guy dropped my fan and it broke.  This is just one example of how Kata and I have had no luck, whatsoever. Everything we do seems to either fail, break, or it creates another problem.  I never imagined PC to be this hard.  I know it will all change once we start working, but Kata and I could really use some luck.

Last week I found out that my host mom is 3 months pregnant! I`m so excited to see the baby. I have gotten extremely close with this family in the last two weeks.  If it weren´t for them I think I would be back in the states, sitting on your couch mom and dad. Today I hung out with them in the backyard, ate fruit from the trees, and sat with their daughter in the blow up pool.  (This sounds like paradise but don´t forget where I am).  They are really good people and I´m pretty sure they adore me.

I´m moving to my own place sometime in June.  I love my family but I can´t be around when there is a new born baby on the other side of my wall.  I found the house already, its beautiful.  It has two big rooms, a little patio area, a small dirt backyard, and a pilla/latrine. You guys will have to come visit!

I´m sorry if this was a depressing blog.  Things will get better, hopefully soon.  My site is beautiful, there is great food, and I love my family.  Once work starts things will get better.

I love you all,

Margarita