"Still Raining, Still Dreaming"

I'm sorry that it has been so long since my last post.  July was probably one of the longest months of my life.  I'm not even really sure where to begin.  So much has happened but at the same time nothing has happened.  I said goodbye to my family in Baja.  It was heartbreaking.  I went back after a few weeks to get the rest of my things and my host dad said that I am part of the family and in late September I will be "tia Margarita".  My host mom was more like a sister and she will be giving birth, to a little boy, on September 27th.  I can't wait to see this little baby!  Guatemalan children are so frickin'cute.

                     This is a picture right before I left.  Me, Hedy, and Gabey.  

So I left Baja and traveled around for about 3 weeks before I landed in my new home:  Aguacatán, Huehuetenango.  It is on the opposite side of the country but I love it.  It is a beautiful town and there are lots of hiking trails.  I have a great site mate, Alicia, who has been helping me through this hard transition.

                                                     Aguacatán
So Alicia and I have 13 new schools.  Right now we are visiting the schools and doing diagnostics of each school...sound familiar?  Yup.  I started all over.  I think I'm okay with it, finally.  We have some really good schools and we have schools that have potential for great projects.  We will be giving our first workshop this month and next.  We will be giving different examples of health lessons they can give to the students (one criteria to certify a school is each teacher has to give two 20 minute health lessons each week) and other fun things!  The school year ends in the middle of October so we will start our secondary projects during the scohol break (oct-jan).  Alicia and I are going to try and start a water project for one of our bigger schools that has only six water faucets for over 600 students. 

Mom, dad, and Em are coming in October and I am sooooo excited!!  We will be going up to Tikal, Antigua, over to Lago Atitlan, and then to the Pacific cost for some sun time.  I can't believe I have already been here for 7 months...and I haven't really done any work.  I think its time that I stop focusing on that and just enjoy living in the now.  Part of the Peace Corps experience is learning how to cope with nothing to do.  It sounds kinda funny and strange, but it is true.  For me, the biggest struggle/opsticle is figuring out what to do with all my free time.  I may be moving again so I will be able to have a roof with a garden, compost pile, hammock, and room to do much more...possibly some chickens?

I love you all and I would love to hear from you!

~Margarita~