Anticipation

So update about last week: Apparently the devils come out with force on Tuesday so we opted not to leave the house after we got back from our day of camp. We ordered Dominoes pizza and had it delivered. I still can't believe we got pizza delivered, I mean I am in the Peace Corps for pete's sake! So I spent the rest of my week at camp and I was amazed at how tired I got for not doing much physical activity but I guess it was just from having to deal with those kids. They started to get to me by the last day. I don't think I could have done any more than 5 days with them. On Friday we finished up with camp and just had everybody in the morning instead of having the older kids in the afternoon and the younger ones in the morning. Santa Clause made an appearance and dance for the kids. I think they enjoyed it. We went out to Xela (pronounced Shela) which is the nearest big town to hit up the bar to celebrate the end of camp. I headed back to site Saturday to accomplish some things like laundry and grocery shopping. I hit up Chimal which is a bigger city near my site, about a 40 min ride away. There is a bigger grocery store there along with a mall and a food court with Taco Bell, Dominos, McDonalds and a few others. The bus ride there and back was a killer. Both times the buses were super full and on the way back the ayudante had the people standing in the isles crouch down as we passed the police. I was thinking that was pretty much pointless because those buses are always packed to the brim and the cops know it. I also helped my sitemate move to her new place just down the road Saturday evening. Sunday was resting up and hitting up the market for a few things...less than normal as I anticipate my trip home a week from today. The time can't move fast enough! I can't wait to see everyone and catch up :)

Making time fly

So this week I am out helping a fellow volunteer with her camp for the kids that are off from school until January. Today was the first day and it will run all week. In the mornings we had kindergarten through 3rd grade and in the afternoon 4-6th. We had them rotating through three activities including art, English and sports. It was fun and it's helping the time moved a little faster as I am waiting to come home for Christmas.

Another interesting experience of this week: This week Tuesday they are celebrating Dia del Diablo or something to that nature. It isn't really celebrated very heavily in many areas but where I happen to be this week, it is a popular event. It involves jovenes (teenagers of the male sort) that dress up in a devil outfit and walk through the streets in mobs. They like to bother people and have been known to get in your face and get paint on you. They also circled a two other female volunteers and apparently grabbed their butts. Tomorrow, which is the official day of this celebration I have been told that they will be dressed in only speedos with paint covering their bodies, being even more obnoxious. We are seriously considering not going out tomorrow, but we have a place up on a roof to go sit. The only problem is getting there and back and avoiding these obnoxious people. I shall update you as my experience with this evolves.

A few updates

So I spent the Thanksgiving holiday at the Lake. It has to be one of my favorite places so far. It is quite a change in climate to go from my site to the Lake...a whole lot sunnier and warmer. The place I like to say at is also a culture change too with English speaking owners and the only Guatemalans are the women that work in the kitchen. It's such a relaxing place and eating a more substantial diet is always a welcome change. They had a Thanksgiving dinner last Thursday that was my main reason for going out there. They had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, veggies and pumpkin pie. It was all delicious, not like my mom makes but good nonetheless. I spent the weekend out there and hoped to climb the volcano in San Pedro but one of my fellow PCV's that I went with got sick and was down and out for a day so we shall be back another time to accomplish that hike. I guess it's about a 3 hour hike up....can't wait until I can check that out.

On another note, this Wednesday is World AIDS day so to celebrate, my sitemate and I are giving the HIV/AIDS workshop put together by Peace Corps Guatemala. We are heading out to one of my communities tomorrow to give it to the groups I work with there and also any others that want to join. On the official day, Wednesday, we are giving the workshop twice at the health center to whoever wants to come and I have invited the groups from my other community and my sitemate has invited most if not all of her groups. We are hoping for a good turn out so we can help get the word out about HIV/AIDS. It's very much a taboo subject here and we would like to break through that. We are planning on doing a condom demonstration too so that should be beneficial in terms of family planning and preventing the spread of sexually transmitted infections. Pray that the workshops may go well and that those in attendance may glean a lot of information.

Hope you had a great Monday!

Kelsey

Sitting in the sun

Per request of my mother I am going to try to post more blog entrys.

Right now I am sitting in the sun at the health center. I normally sit inside but it's too cold in the shade and the sun feels amazing. It's been getting cooler here but still not as cold as it is in MI. At night it's around 57 degrees and during the day if the sun is shining it can be in the high 60's or 70's. It feels a lot colder here though because I don't really have an escape from the coldness. There are no heaters here except for the wood burning cookstove. Last night when I went to bed my room was 57 degrees and it was a challenge to get to sleep in the coldness. I can't get to sleep unless I am warm and cozy in my bed, to get to this point sometimes I have to wear layers to bed including two sweatshirts and sleep in my sleeping bag rated for 30 degrees. Maybe a heated blanket will be on the list of things to bring back from the states. I like winter and coldness but my most favorite part of winter is curling up in a warm house possibly near a fire and with hot chocolate. I don't like being out in the cold too long. I am ok with being in the sun for now, bet you wish you could be here too :)

Ready to Move On/Out

So I have been living with my host family at site for about 4 months. At first I was really excited about them and was happy to have the company and someone to talk to. The excitement has since died off as time has ticked on and now the place I once thought I could stay at for the rest of my service is become the place I can't get out of soon enough. I guess this is just one of the experiences that I have to be culturally sensitive to but sometimes it's just hard. The first thing that is a challenge is how much I am paying for my room. I live in a room that is only roughly 7ft by 12ft and I am paying 600Q for this small space plus 50Q to pay for electric which I was told was included in the 600Q. From what I have heard from other volunteers 300-350 would be a better price for my room but I am getting ripped off. Another issue that has since mildly faded is our communication. Guatemalans are not direct and Americans are so that makes for a challenge. My host family also seems to be inconsistent as to how they feel about me/relate to me. A month or so ago they were inviting me to eat with them or giving me tortillas or a drink for no charge. That hasn't happened in a while and I don' t know what has changed. Sometimes I get overcharged for stuff too. It has been frustrating for me. I am not sure how to best relate with them. In my mind if someone comes to your country and gives up two years of their life and seeks to learn the language and understand the culture that maybe you could be a little more accommodating to them. I guess my host families thoughts are not the same as mine. Peace Corps told us during training that we are to be culturally sensitive and I am putting for an honest effort but would it kill my host family to be just a little more accommodating or culturally sensitive? On the side of good news, my new place should be ready for me to move in on Jan 6th after I return from the States. I am waiting on a bathroom and I was originally told that it would be done at the end of November but after checking in this week I was informed that it would still be a little while, so I am hoping that Jan 6th really happens. I plan on checking in a little more often and staying on top of them and hopefully that will help the process along.

*Special Note: I would like to dedicate this blog post to my great friend Nathan who has been getting on me for not posting as frequently as he would like me to. Hope three in a week suffices for you my friend.*

Where is the snow?

So I have been trying to get over this cold that I have had for about a week now. I feel like I am more susceptible with this more stressful situation that I am in. But anyways, today I took the afternoon off to rest and try to get over this stupid cold. I took some ibuprofen and benedryl and then laid down for what turned out to be about a 3 and half hour nap, quite long but refreshing. After I got up I thought I should go for a walk to get out of my room and make myself tired enough to sleep tonight. While I was out I was able to witness the sun setting and it was gorgeous. It was pretty to see setting behind the mountains with the twilight hanging around. It felt like one of those fall evenings when it's just leaving summer and cooling off, not too cool but kindof refreshing. I really enjoyed it! On my walk I was thinking about how different the weather is here and how it really effects how I perceive the time of year. It doesn't feel like November and I was caught off guard when I was reading facebook and noticed that yesterday was opening day for rifle deer season in MI. It doesn't feel like it should be happening now but it is. Sometimes I feel like everyone else back home is experiencing the same weather as I am here because we have all experienced the same weather together for as long as I have known them. And I know it's not going to feel like Christmas until I get off the plane in MI and see the snow. I liked all the snow as a kid but once I had to start driving in it I didn't like it as much. Not having it cool off and see leaves or snow falling really makes it a challenge to transition into the season here. Even thought MI winters suck, they have been in my life for 23 years and it's just so weird not having them here. I think I might be able to get used to it though :) Hope life is going good for you!

Reconnect

Greetings,
This is for all of you who have been waiting for another post. I felt like it was time to post something for you to read.

I spent this past week at "Reconnect", an even at the Peace Corps office where everyone from our training group comes together for a week of events. Monday and Tuesday were filled with meeting up with our Program Director and the Country Director getting updated on stuff and asking questions that we had about the work that we had started or lackthereof. On Tuesday we had a Q and A with the US ambassador in Guatemala. He is very personable and provided us with some info on the work he is doing and the US's standpoint on issues that are happening in Guatemala. It was very interesting and we got some good information and guidance on how to approach and play our part in some of the issues that take place among the people here, for example, domestic violence. Wednesday to Friday were filled with language classes. I took classes in Quiche which is the Mayan Language spoken at my site. It was a good introduction but has proven itself to be a challenge to learn. I don't plan on becoming fluent but I would like to have some understanding of what people are saying when they speak it.

I got to visit my host family from training and stay with them for a few days. It was good to catch up and see them. I stayed with them unit Thursday night and spent Thursday and Friday in a hostel in Antigua with some fellow PCV's. It was great to see everyone and catch up. It was also a good break from my current host family. They are nice but I am ready to move out. I have a place up the road that I am waiting to move to. The landlord has to put in stairs and a bathroom and then it's all mine. The space is bigger with two bedroom size rooms, a third smaller space that I plan on using as a kitchen area and the whole back balcony (it's on the 2nd level). It is also on the backside of the house so it faces the mountains as opposed to the highway which make for a quieter place and a much nicer view. I will be paying the same to rent this place as I am paying for the place I am currently at. I can't wait for my own space and I plan on buying a kitten when I get there too :) I have been told it should be done by the end of November. I am not sure if it will make that deadline or not but I am hoping to get there before I come home for Christmas.

Weekend away

Hello all,
So I spent this past weekend at a hostel on Lake Atitlan. I have heard it's one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. I'll post the link to pictures at the end of the post and you can see for yourself. I stayed at a place that gives PCV's 25% off the room which is amazing! It was a really chill place with a small bar, kitchen and family style dinners. It was fun hanging out with people from all over, playing cards and watching some satellite television that comes in from LA. I learned the art of doing a whole lot of nothing and being ok with it. It was significantly warmer at the lake and I took some time to soak up some rays. It was at least in the 80's there quite possibly hotter. I spent three nights out there. On Saturday we headed out to Panajachel to check out the touristy things and grab an all American burger at the cookout that happens every Saturday...delish :) I also did a little swimming in the lake but it was rocky and there wasn't much of a beach area so I didn't stay long. It was refreshing while it lasted. Sunday was an attempted hike to San Marcos, another city on the Lake. It's a three hour hike there. We had some trouble finding the correct path and accidentally went on someone's private property. The lady was a little mad but sent us in the right direction. After we came to a fork in the path and not really knowing which way to go we opted not to take the hike. Guess we will just save it for another day. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out in the hammocks. At night while we were waiting for dinner we played a friendly game of "Bullshit" with others that were staying there. There were less people for the family style dinner on Sunday night so we finally got to sit at the main table. We had some good conversations getting to know some of the people staying there. Monday was a little bit more relaxing, reading and soaking up some rays and after lunch we headed out but not without the good news that this place has a full out Thanksgiving Day spread for around 90Q and adding in the satellite tv from the States bringing in some good old American football should make for a pleasant experience. So long for now, off for a run :)

Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2475076&id=22423429&l=5148860056

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462664&id=22423429&l=efd840bf76

Temux Mayan Artisian Co-op

Please check out the website of this Guatemalan women's co-op selling traditional handbags. Each handbag is hand woven and your money will go directly to support these women and their families. Check out the website to learn more. Each handbag has a picture with the women who made it and a little bit about their family. A fellow PCV is working with these women as part of the co-op. Check it out! It's really a great cause! If you want one I am pretty sure that I can get it to bring it home with me when I come back for Christmas to save on shipping cost. Shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in me bringing one home for you.

www.temuxmayanartisans.com

Making Friends

So this week has been filled with blossoming friendships. First of all I have been getting closer to my host family which is exciting as I found that I really have a passion for connecting with people. As most of you know I live with two sisters one is 17 and the other 23 and the 23 year old has a 5 year old daughter. We have some cultural differences which were a bit of a challenge at first but are now becoming easier. The friendship that is more in the works is with my host brother, or rather one of the four brothers of the sisters I live with. He is 22 and works for his dad, making t-shirts and screen printing them. Once I moved down to the room on the first level they moved the business upstairs where I live. So he is around a whole lot more. At first he didn't talk to me very much and I wasn't sure how to take that. Did he like me? Was he intimidated by me? Or maybe he was just a little shy? I found out the other day that it was a little of him being shy and a little of being intimidated by me but now since we have broken through that things are going nicely. He apparently wasn't sure what to say to me and wasn't sure if I would want to talk to him. I was a bit unsure of the whole situation myself being in the machismo culture of Guatemala. I was told that platonic friendships don't really exist here. I found that to not be completely true. I really miss having guy friends and I am hoping this will help fill the gap.
I am also getting closer with the health center staff I work with. I got some candy in the mail this past week and there was so much of it. I felt like a kid on Halloween. I knew that if I kept it I would just eat it all myself so I opted to share it with my host family and a few other random people and also with the health center staff. My coworkers really enjoyed the candy and I think it helped them open up to me a little more. I have taken up running with some girls I work with. They stay at the health center during the week because they live too far away to travel everyday. I need the motivation of other people because honestly if it's up to me I usually fail. I had been walking before that but I needed to step it up a little bit.
So yeah, I guess I can say life is good right now. I really enjoying building relationships with people and getting to know who they really are and what drives them as a person. It's in the works!

Much love,
Kels

More pictures posted :)

I posted a few more pictures on facebook today. Here is a public link if you don't have an account:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462664&id=22423429&l=efd840bf76

Alcholism in Guatemala

So, I have been very pensive lately on the problem of alcoholism in Guatemala. I have found that the consumption of alcohol is very different here than I have ever experienced in the States, social drinking does not really seem to exist here. I have noticed that when a lot of people drink (usually males) they drink to the extreme, becoming so inebriated that they can’t walk straight, hold a sensible conversation or even keep their eyes open. I have seen men randomly sleeping out in public, on sidewalks, on the side of the road, or in the ditch, because the have consumed so much alcohol they can’t make it home (or maybe don’t want to go home). I have also had my fair share of conversations with drunk men (for some reason talking with a white girl seems like a good idea), some of them funny and some of them annoying.

I have been getting to know the groups of people I work with and have discovered that three of my five groups have alcoholics in them. My most recent discovery has really challenged my thoughts about the culture. I gave a charla and noticed that one of the men in my group (who’s home we happened to have the charla at) was not there. Afterwards, he met me outside to inform me that he did not come to the charla because he was drinking (this was at around 4 in the afternoon). He did not have shoes on, his hair was messed up and his eyes were bloodshot. He was one of the first people that I met from this community, a respected leader and a man involved in his community. I was just so surprised to find out a respected leader drinking so heavily midday. I don’t want to be too quick to judge, but it’s just so hard when the culture of the US is so different from this (and plus being a nurse it’s hard to turn a blind eye to this issue/sickness). I have heard stories in the US from friends about having an alcoholic parent, it tears families apart. So I guess I have a couple questions in order to get a better understanding of this issue. Does it not have the same effect on families here as it does in the States? It seems like people here just turn a blind eye to it but maybe they just don’t know how to deal with it or feel like they can’t? Do the men that drink feel so stressed out with their lives that they need alcohol as an outlet? Do those that drink remain open about it because they don’t want you to find out someway else but straight from the source? Do those that have the problem feel ashamed? Do the people here consider it to be a problem?

Please keep in mind that by no means do I want to point fingers or assume myself and my culture to be better than the one here, I am just seeking to understand. I really hope that with my time here I can answer some of these questions and can get a better grasp of the view of alcohol and alcoholism in the Guatemalan culture. I also hope that as my understanding increases that I can offer my support and knowledge to those that may seek it. I write this out of love and not judgment, because I care about the people here and I understand the effects that alcohol can have on individuals and families both physically and emotionally. Please pray that I may be able to get a better understanding of this issue and what role (if any) that I may have here in working against it and that every thing I do here may be driven by love.

Any questions or thoughts please feel free to comment.

The Work Continues

I am working with my five groups of individuals. I meet with each group every other week, so on the other week I don't have much to do. I am working on ideas of what else I can do. I have gotten in touch with an NGO that is working in one of my communities. They are called ASDECO. Not exactly sure what it stands for but they are based in Chichicastenago and work within the 80 so communities that are covered in its municipality. They have pretty much the same goals as Peace Corps, seeking to create sustainable development in the communities they work in and empower individuals to help themselves. I am going out to meet with them on Thursday and hopefully get a better idea of what exactly their work entails. I have met a few people that work there and they are all super nice. I was excited to find out that there is a group of locals seeking development in their own country.

I have also been able to build relationships with those I work with. There seems to be more down time at the health center during the afternoons. I try to spend most of my work days at the health center, working on charlas, studying Spanish, or sometime just hanging out with those that work here. One of the educators invited me to a party her family was having for her grandpa this past weekend, put Peace Corps prohibited travel because of the rain, so I couldn't go. Most of the people that work here are around my age or younger, so we get along really well and can communicate pretty easily. They are all so nice here, the older women that work here have been motherly to me and I really appreciate it with how difficult it is to be away from my family and friends back home. I there are two educators that work here. Both of them are girls around my age and I really enjoy working with them. They come along with me when I give my charlas and translate for those that don't speak much Spanish. I look forward to continuing my work with them in the future and sharing some new ways of educating the people they work with.

Pictures can be view at the following links:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2440155&id=22423429&l=14792e41eb

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462664&id=22423429&l=efd840bf76

Visit to the Lake

I made a trip out to Lake Atitlan this weekend. It is about an hour ride to get there and well worth the trip. I visited a friend who has her site out there, working as a Youth Development volunteer. I went out on Friday to visit their market. I was told they sold beads there so I wanted to check it out and sure enough I was able to find some nice ones, not as eccentric as I was thinking but quality nonetheless. My friend’s town is a fifteen minute ride from the lake so we headed out there Friday night after the market. The town I visited is called Panajachel or Pana for short. It is a big tourist town with lots of shops and restaurants and souvenirs to purchase. I wasn’t too crowded on Friday and was a peaceful walk through the town slowly checking out the stuff for sale along the street. I noticed a lot of cool stuff and I think I am going to have to pick up my Christmas presents here. Sitting out by the lake made me think of home and being out by Lake Michigan, feeling the breeze coming off the lake and seeing the reflection of the sun on the water. The mountains in the distance were a beautiful backdrop to the picturesque lake. We went out for a few drinks with some of her friends there and spent the night at a friends apartment. Saturday might have been the highlight of my trip out there when we went to a barbecue. They had amazing burgers along with ribs, smoked chicken, pork and many other tasty options along with the typical cook out sides like potatoe salad, corn on the cob and many other favorites. It was great to have an all American burger with all the fixings and it happens every week and another cool thing is that it's an Australian man with a sweet accent. I think I am going to have to make visiting the lake a regular thing.

I hit up the market today like every other Sunday. Today I felt like I was finally getting into the hang of things and it felt like more of a natural experience going to the market, a large improvement from my first time there. I really enjoy going and seeing familiar faces and people watching and being able to get super fresh produce and know that I am supporting families with my purchases. But of course the experience of Guatemalan culture would not be complete with out being whistled at by local men. On the way to the market, there is a part of the highway that is getting fixed. It has been “getting fixed” for almost the whole time I have been at site (almost 2 months). There are a group of men working and they always like to try to get my attention. While walking today I waved my pointer finger at them as a way to say no. They seemed to think it was pretty funny and on the way back said ‘hoy si” (today yes). I just kept walking, laughing at them in my head. Do they really think they can pick up girls like that? I used to be more offended by this act but now it’s easier to brush it off and it usually makes for a good laugh.

I am looking forward to a decent work week. Tomorrow I will be heading out to one of my communities to help with vaccinations and weighing children. It’s a way to get my face out in the community and get more associated with the health center. The rest of the week I have my second charlas with four of my five groups. I am excited to see them all again and continue in our building of relationships. Some topics that I am going to cover are Diabetes, Family Planning (ie Birth Control methods), Parasites and Hepatitis A. I asked the groups what they were interested in hearing about as I don’t want to just throw my agenda of charlas and these are the topics that they picked so hopefully they will have listening ears and be interested in what I have to say and also participate. My next plan of action is to seek out more groups to work with, ones that already exist in the community. Work is out there, I just need to find it! I am slowly on my way to feeling like a real Peace Corps volunteer.

Me at the lake

Magen and I at the lake
pictures have been posted from the Independence Day celebration and more from my trip to the lake here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2440155&id=22423429&l=14792e41eb and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462664&id=22423429&l=efd840bf76

Following God's calling

I have been growing so much in my faith, and the Lord has provided some great experiences and materials to do so. I have had more time to read down here as most of you know and this has been a great blessing to me. My latest read is the Irresistable Revolution. This book has put a lot of thoughts into my head and it has been great! The author has been talking a lot about getting back to the fundamentals of Christianity, pretty much loving your neighbor as yourself and what that means in this contemporary world. I tried reading this book a few years back but it just did catch my interest at that point in time. I think God was waiting to give me the message here, where I will received with a much more open heart and mind. The book talks about how we should be considering how the commandment of loving thy neighbor is reflected in our day to day actions, like the things we buy, the causes we support, how we spend our free time and much more. It talks about putting a face to the issues in this world. Realizing that turning a blind eye to the troubles in this world is the same as if we ourselves were inflicting harm to those affected by the bad things of this world. We should be standing up for the rights of others, but this shouldn’t be through yelling, commotion and violence but out of love, be that still small voice that says “hey, maybe this isn‘t right, why should it have to be like this?” It is so much easier to hate and fight wars then it is to see the face behind all of the issues and realize that people on both sides of the issue are lost in this world doomed for destruction unless we cling to the love of God shown forth in the sacrifice of Christ and even though we may be redeemed by love we are still sinners and we still make mistakes. Realizing that none of us are perfect and that forgiveness should be at the root of all our relationships is a great start to living out the Christian faith in this contemporary world.

A quote from the book that I have really come to appreciate in my time here: “ I have come to see that we Christians are not called to safety, but we are promised that God will be with us when we are in danger, and there is no better place to be than in the hands of God.’ Perhaps the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is in safety and comfort.” I am for sure not in a place of comfort but one of change and uncomfortable situations. The cool thing is though is that I feel at peace. I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be at this point in time. Although humanly speaking sometimes I wish I could be back home where it were easier and I could be around things that I know and am comfortable with. I take those feelings as they come and really try to look beyond them, see the deep value of this amazing experience here.

I am so excited about all that God has shown me so far and I look forward to where the next two years here will take me.

Rain rain go away.....oh and don't come back for a while, we are pretty set, thanks!

Working on the third day of rain, it is the rainy season and apparently it still feels the need to share it’s wrath. Made it to the market and back dry this morning, the rain started about 1:30ish this afternoon and continues steadily as I write this. I used to be more fond of rainy days. I guess when they didn’t come so often and cause so much trouble. The three days of rain is not good for Guatemala. The interamerian highway (the main drag through Guatemala) has been affected significantly. To create the highway, they cut through the mountains so every where you drive on the highway, there are steep embankments on at least one side. These embankments are not reinforced by anything, so when rain comes, down they come, or at least pieces of them. The highway consists of two lanes heading in each direction with a small median. Many times when landslides take a fall into part of the highway, traffic is redirected to the other side forcing the open side to become two way traffic, but with the excessive amount of rain that has fallen, the ground has become more and more unstable causing bigger and bigger blockages and longer delays in traveling. With today being day three of the rain, Peace Corps has notified us (via text message) that travel is prohibited and that we are in what is called a “Standfast“, meaning that we should stay where we are until further notice.
I guess this is now a good of a time as any to get used to the slow pace of life and the little amount of entertainment that exists. I feel like as soon as I get comfortable in this slow pace I am going to be done here, picking up and heading back to the fast paced US and probably back to school, which would mean jam packed days and little free time. I should learn to enjoy it while I am here. I have tried to think of the things that I have always wanted to do but never felt like I had the time in the States. One thing I thought of was knitting. I tried it once but didn’t stick with it long enough to get good at it. I think that might be possible here, so if you are reading this and thinking of sending me a package, maybe you could add some yarn to it or an instruction booklet on how to knit, maybe knitting needles. I can get some stuff here but I have been told that the yarn here isn’t the greatest.
Another thing, I found out today how much I missed cooking. I just recently purchased my own table top gas range and a small gas tank to go with it. I had been eating out of my host sister’s comedor (or a small restaurant) and realized that it was going to be expensive and I wasn’t too excited about the limited options they had for food. I bought some chicken breasts at the store the other day and decided that I would pick up some fresh vegetables at the market today to make some chicken soup. While making it I realized how much I missed creating food and how much joy it brings me. I was so relaxed and at ease after I created the soup and to top it off I shared it with my site mate along with some fresh bread from the market and a nice conversation. I think my heart is really into the baking though and that won’t be possible until I move to my new place sometime at the end of October. My host family says that a toaster oven would pull too much electricity from an already challenged circuit. There is a way to bake over the gas range, placing the pan of whatever it is you want to bake over a pot of water that is boiling and then covering all this with a large pot creating an oven. Maybe this contraption will be in my near future.

Until next time con mucho amor,
Kelsey

Pictures from my second charla

Here are some pictures of me giving my second charla about nutrition (forgot to take pictures of the first one). Those that came enjoyed it and I look forward to continuing my work with them.


Women participating in an activity of placing picture of different foods into their corresponding groups.
Going over the different groups.

Getting a better attitude :)

I am surprise how much I have grown while being here. I mean I expected to grow but not so much in the first 4 months here. Through the time of being here, I have really begun to feel that this is where God wants me to be. I have followed His calling to get here. I was a little freaked out about the whole experience but not following God's calling can be a whole lot more freaky (just think of Jonah!). I haven't had the privilege of joining a church, but I feel like I have really had the opportunity to make my faith my own. I think going to church in the states became such a habit and it lost some of it's significance. I have been keeping up with sermons from my church back home and I feel like I can glean so much more from the message. I really feel in step with God being here and I feel like He is showing me a lot.

On a slightly different note, I have recently started reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. This is a second attempt at finishing the book (I am not good at sticking with books long enough to finish them and this time I plan on reading the whole thing in a short amount of time. I also take a long time to read books and then forget some of what I have read earlier on, making it hard to get the idea that the book is trying to get out. I am hoping that both of my bad habits in reading books will be changed while I am in the Peace Corps. I guess it was just that I always felt like I had other things that I should be doing instead of reading, not so much the case here :) ) The book is about living as an "ordinary radical" which pretty much boils down to living how Jesus lived, befriending the not so good people of this world and being in community with them, living out faith in every aspect of life. In the book Shane talks about how we have to go where we are called (everyone is different, called to different things according to their passions and gifts) and where ever we are called we must live out our faith there. So I guess tying this back to the first paragraph, this is my calling here and I shall live out my faith in the situation that I am in, not thinking that there shall be another time for it, but knowing the time is now. Getting on track with this thought and idea, has helped me to be more content in my time here. I have been through a lot of difficult times here and to be honest haven't really had the best attitude but now that I have this information in my head, about how it's really supposed to be, I think it's going to make this experience a whole lot better.

Work Update

I gave my first charla (or health talk) yesterday. It was with a group from my first community and was with about 20 people, mostly women. I gave my charla on nutrition and talked about the three food groups Guatemala has. Grupo de crecemiento, grupo de proteccion and grupo de energia (growth, protection and energy) Growth is the group that contains proteins, energy is carbohydrates and protection contains fruits and vegetables. I discussed the importance of eating foods from each group and what each group's purpose was. In Guatemala, the diet doesn't contain much fresh fruits and vegetables (which baffles me a little considering how plentiful they are here), so I tried to emphasis this point as much as I could. I think the meeting went well, we had a few laughs and those present seemed interested in my topic and were willing to participate in my activities. I am excited to continue working with them and to build relationships with them. I have a passion for building relationships and I think once that starts to happen more, I will really start loving what I do, not that I don't now, it's just starting to get good :) I have a meeting tomorrow in the same community and will be going over the same topic with the other group I have there.
Today I finished up my home visits in my second community. It was the second day I was covering the 3rd sector because there were too many to get them all in in one day. We hiked uphill a lot on some rather difficult terrain. We got to once ladies house and I almost couldn't make it up to the latrine and all I can say is if I lived there I probably wouldn't be drinking much water so I wouldn't have to make that many trips to the bathroom. But the view was amazing! Should have taken a picture of it but wasn't thinking I guess. This picture is a view from our walk down the mountain. After we finished our day of home visits around 12:30, we were invited to have lunch at one of the ladies house. It was a simple meal of beans and eggs with tortillas, but the hospitality was amazing and I am truly thankful for it. The picture below is a guisquil that was boiled and to eat it you just have to remove the skin. It taste similar to a potato but was a bit smoother.
Here is a picture of where they grow.


On our way out of the community, we saw one of the women who I had worked with before to visit homes weaving a huiple or the tops that the women wear. She said this was for a 10 year old little girl and she also told me that it takes about three weeks from start to finish.

Just thought I would leave you with this view, it's on my walk to the health center. I have been meaning to capture it for a while and just got it today.

Oh! P.S. more pictures posted here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2414575&id=22423429&l=c9baad8481

Guatemalan Hospitality....warms my heart :)

Yesterday I went out into my second community to do home visits. I covered one section on Thursday and another on Friday. I have one more left to cover that will get spread over two days next week because of the great number of people/houses to visit. This community is a lot more spread out than my other one. It was a test of endurance both days, walking uphill a lot and through corn fields and down steep slippery paths. I have slipped many a times, catching myself many and avoiding any bad spills, and have the constant anxiety that with each step down the steep downhill trails my feet may come out from under me and leave me painfully on the ground. I follow the Guatemalan women accompanying us through these trails, carrying small children on their back, wearing simple plastic shoes that have little purpose other than to cover their feet, and maintaining complete and perfect balance. I wonder how they can do it, jealous of their ease of step. There are some paths we walk up that I have to push myself through and then when we get to a house or a point of flat land I silently cheer in my head and struggle to grab my breath as I don’t want the others with me to hear how out of shape I am. On the positive side, it’s been great exercise and I am happily tired by the end of the day feeling like I have made the day count. I talked with my sitemate yesterday about the fact that this is my work and I totally could have spread out these home visits over more days, oh well, I guess they are done now. Hopefully my visits next week will turn out to be a little bit easier, or not, I guess that’s supposed to be part of the experience here.

On another note, I have been wondering how the people here perceive me as an American and a guest, in particular the ones that I will be working with. The meeting last week with my first community (of interested individuals) left me wondering how the people felt. The majority of the meeting was carried out in the traditional Mayan language and I had little understanding of what the conversations entailed, but trusted my counterpart, who speaks the language and facilitated the meeting, with the matters at hand. I tried to pay attention to the emotion of the conversation and the non-verbal clues and also a few Spanish words that are thrown in as the conversation runs on (many times it is a mix of the Mayan Language and a few Spanish words as the Mayan language is simple and lacks the means for clearly expressing modern day thoughts), in order to best determine the topic of discussion. It is also a challenge to understand because Guatemalans are not very direct in what they say but they like to walk around and around a point and hope the receiver of their words can pick up what they are really trying to say. My counterpart is really good at this. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy working with him but sometimes I have some mild frustration in him not saying exactly what he means and leaving the interpretation up to me (which can be a challenge due to my lack of proficiency in Spanish and lack of cultural competency). I think I will just have to leave it to time and see how it all carries out with them. Then we have my second community. After having the initial meeting there, I had a better feeling and was excited to get starting working with them. I was really touched on the second day of home visits with them (yesterday) and had a moment that really made me feel that I was glad to be here (that has been a challenge for me, trying to find my purpose here when I didn’t feel very productive, but things are picking up) and that they really appreciated it. There were three women from the second sector that went out with my counterpart and I to help us locate the houses. We followed them to 17 different houses that were spread far and wide throughout the country side of this town. It was a lot of work and I am truly thankful for their time and dedication to my work, especially because they don’t even really know me or what exactly my work entails here, though they have a very basic understanding.

The part of the day that got me the most was when we tried to figure out what to do for lunch. It was around 1pm and my counterpart was asking me what I would like to do (we still had houses yet to visit) and I told him that I was ready to eat and would love to get lunch somewhere, and the women that had accompanied us were also lacking in the department of having food with them for lunch. One of the women called a nearby friend and had them start preparing food for us. I was really excited for this as I had worked up a good hunger from hiking to all the different houses and this would give me a chance to spend some more time with the women. We arrived and after a short wait for fresh warm tortillas that were being made on the stove and the preparation of the rest of our food, we were served a fried egg with a simple tomato sauce, tortillas and a glass of Pepsi. Guatemalan hospitality is something that I have been taking for granted, but now I am getting a better grasp of what it means for them and also for me. After we were done eating, which I was the first to do (I really need to work on slowing down, because it can get awkward sitting there waiting for others to finish), we inquired as to how much lunch would cost. There was some conversation in the Mayan Language and then my counterpart gave me the answer translated into Spanish which ended up being that we didn’t have to pay, but that this was a gift to us for the work we would be doing. I was really touched and I got a little teary eyed. I also noticed the women my counterpart was talking to was tearing up a little too. At this moment I felt like I was really getting to know these women and got excited for my opportunity to work with them and help to improve their quality of life and also that of their families.

So I guess I can say things are looking up, slowly but surely this is becoming the “toughest job that I will ever love.” Thank you everyone that has kept me in their thoughts and prayers, it keeps me going :)

Love to all,
Kelsey

The Work Begins!

Great News! I have a sitemate, she is from the same program as me. We went through training together only she was at a lower level Spanish and had to stay back for some extra help. She is here with me now in the place of my other sitemate who decided to go home. Peace Corps isn’t for everyone. We will be covering four communities that are within the 36 communities that the Health Center covers. I have begun work in my communities, though it has taken a little while to happen. My work starts with a community meeting that gets organized via talking with community leaders, my counterpart was able to help me with this as I have little knowledge as to who these people are. I met with one community during my site visit in mid July and met with the second one this week Monday. The meeting is a means of presenting my work and how I can be of resource to the community. After this meeting, those that were interested in participating in what I am going to do singed up and from that list I can start my meetings. In an effort to get to know how the people live and to meet the interested individuals on a more personal basis, I have conducted home visits in one community and have plans to cover the next in the coming days. Home visits are a bit more challenging to carry out in rural Guatemala as compared to a community in the states. Communities are divided into sectors usually around 2 or 3 depending on the size of the town. Each sector contains houses scattered throughout the countryside. Some are easy to get to just of the main road, but others require taking the path through the cornfield up and down hills shooing away angry dogs that protect many of the house, it’s not an easy job, but more of an adventure :). I was accompanied by a couple women from the community to help us locate the houses of those on the list and also by a staff member from the health center as I don’t speak the Mayan language spoken here (it’s a work in progress, a very slow progress) and many of the women don’t speak very much Spanish (Spanish is taught in the schools and many attend for only a few if any years of school). After finishing home visits, I will starting working with groups of interested community members, giving charlas or talks and working on health promotion activities.

So I guess you can see by reading all this that things are slowly picking up for me. It still continues to be a slow go, but that’s how things work here. It’s been a challenge to feel productive considering the fact that I used to be busy with school and work. It’s been nice to slow down, though it has been a challenge.

More pictures posted :)

Just wanted to let you know that I posted more pictures. They can be found at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2414575&id=22423429&l=c9baad8481

Guatemalan Transportation

Hello all,

I had a great weekend meeting up with other volunteers at the Welcome Party in the department of Huehuetenango. Met volunteers from Huehuetenango and Quiche, a joint Welcome party. Not only was the party a memorable experience, but also was my ride out there on Friday and then returning on Sunday. It takes about three hours to get out to where the party was but for me it took a little longer.

As some of you know the main means of transportation for most Guatemalans and myself included are “Chicken Buses” or in Spanish, they are called camionetas. These are old retired US school buses, painted and stooped to Guatemalan standards. These buses travel all throughout Guatemala and can get you pretty close to where you need to go. Each bus has a driver or “chofer” and a helper or “ayudante” that collects the fare for the bus. Buses here carry many more people than you could ever imagine. It is standard that seats are filled with three people. This works for small school children, as I can remember in my bus riding days in elementary school, but it is a bit more difficult for grownups, though Guatemalans are much shorter than Americans. In addition to this, people can fill in the isles. Drivers fill their buses to the max in order to make the most money off of their trips. With so many people on the bus it makes it a little difficult to get off and you may end up getting closer to some people than you really wanted to. I am slowly getting accustomed to this but I feel it will take a little more time for me to be ok with someone that far into my personal space.

My ride out to Huehuetenango began first with catching a camioneta to the capital of my department. This has been a challenge for me because catching one involves me determining if it’s a bus that’s going to the capital and then waving my hand to alert the drive that I desire to get on. All of the buses have their destinations posted above the windshield. So I have to read the location quickly and wave my hand in enough time for the bus, that is usually barreling down the highway, to notice and stop. I have waved a few times without having the driver stop and I know the saw me. This can be a little frustrating because I know it’s probably because I am a gringa but such is the life of a PCV. I finally caught one to my desired destination and was in a bit of rush in order to catch the last bus for the day out to Huehuetenango from the capital of my department. The route to the capital involves some “curvas peligrosos” or dangerous curves but this doesn’t always phase the drivers. These are curves that turn back on themselves and are going uphill or down. Drivers of camionetas like to go fast so when they get stuck behind slower moving vehicles they are very apt to pass which is sometimes done blind. Blind passing is a very common thing and most drivers pay enough attention to avoid accidents of this fashion, but that’s a little more difficult on the curvas peligrosos. On my way out to the capital, when I was in a but of a rush, we come to a line up of cars within the area of dangerous curves. We sat there for a little while and people started getting off the bus to gawk (Guatemalans love to do this) and then the driver killed the engine and we ended up sitting there for about a half an hour. It turns out that a couple of blind passings had happened on the curves causing not one but two separate accidents. From my times traveling through this area on previous trips it seemed that it was only a matter of time before something like this were to happen. It was a relief that we started moving and I was able to catch the last bus out to Huehuetenango.

The ride to get from the capital of my department to the capital of Huehuetenango is on a microbus. These are about the size of a van and seat about 15 people plus the driver. The ride there was pretty uneventful with some beautiful scenery and the sun setting but the ride back was a different story. I was able to experience how full those micros can really get. Just when one would think that there is no more room, the driver stops to pick up more people. I was happy that we had gotten on at the beginning of the route and were able to secure a seat of our choice. Another interesting thing about Guatemalan transportation is what people transport. Anything and everything that people want to carry with them comes in or on top of the buses. A lady getting on the microbus was carrying two geese wrapped in a gunnysack with one head sticking out of one side and one from the other. I have seen many interesting things carried on the bus, mostly animals. I have seen a lady with live chickens in her apron, a lady with a puppy in a basket, and some guy with a woodworker. I am sure this is only the beginning of the crazy things I will see on the bus.

Until next time,
Kelsey

Sights and sounds of market day

Today is market day in my town. Every town has at least one maybe two days that they have their market. Every one comes out to sell their products, offering everything from live animals to fresh produce, clothing, and DVD's. Anything your Guatemalan heart desires can be found in the market. I myself was excited to check out the wide array of fresh produce as this is something that has been lacking in my diet here (I am not sure why Guatemalans don't eat more fresh fruits and veggies because they are so plentiful here). Even though we headed out early to begin our shopping trip to the market (6:30am), the market was well filled with shoppers. There were men carrying their products to sell into the market, many times it seemed, carrying more then they weighed themselves. The large packs are carried on their back and are attached via a rope that is placed on their forehead and goes down around close to the bottom. I am flabbergasted as to how they carry so much stuff, many of them are well along in years appearing to be around 70 years old. This is how much of the stuff is brought into the market and carried in day to day life, not having the luxury of vehicles, Guatemalans seem used to the hard labor of carrying such heavy things (I will try to get some pictures of all this the next time I head to the market, so you can get a better idea of what it looks like). After I left the produce section of the market, we walked past the section where vendors were selling meat. I believe the set up they have here in Guatemala would utterly fail the USDA standards. Carcasses are hung from a hook in the open air and as buyers come for their purchases the meat is cut off. There is also chicken for sale along with many other parts of the animal that I am not sure should be eaten. I don't like walking through this part of the market, the smell is overwhelming and makes me sick to my stomach. I don't think I will ever purchase meat in this fashion, it just doesn't seem right. I made it out of the market without getting sick and with some pretty good steals, by American standards. The experience was intimidating but I anticipate it to get better with time. Hopefully it will be a little easier to navigate once I learn the ins and outs and improve in my Spanish, and maybe pick up a little of the Mayan language spoken here.

These are a few of my favorite things

My favorite things in Guatemala so far (as in I hope the list grows over the next two years):

-Fresh tomatoes-they always have that summertime taste of fresh picked tomatoes

-Fresh, sweet pineapple-always so expensive in the states and never quite that sweet

-Hospitality of Guatemalans-I have been offered so many food items and beverages by those that have a lot less than I do. They are also great about opening up their houses to foreigners

-The amazing scenery- God's hand was definitely in it all, it's breath-taking

-Pop or soda is called agua (spanish for water)-makes me feel like what I am drinking isn't that bad for me

-the colorful traditional dress of the Guatemalan women (pictures to come)

I have posted more pictures and you can find them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2414575&id=22423429&l=c9baad8481

What exactly am I doing here?

Greetings fellow readers!

Working on my second week at site. It continues to be a challenge to find work to fill up my days but it has picked up a little. I guess now would be as good of a time as any to give a better description of what exactly I am doing here in Guatemala. First of all, I am working in a program that is called Healthy Homes. The goal of my program as well as that of the Peace Corps is to create sustainable development or another term they like to use is "capacity building", helping people help themselves specifically in the area of health. I work out of a health center in my community and have been given the title Technician in Preventative Health (it has a better ring when you say it in Spanish). Right now I am working at integrating myself into my community to gain the confidence of those that I will be working with and to be know as something more than 'that gringa that lives in our community." The first year of our service is focused on health education with a focus on the prevention of illnesses that are common to the people of Guatemala (diarrhea, pneumonia, and acute respiratory infections). I will be working within four communities that my health center covers and within each community I will form groups of interested individuals that I will give charlas (or educational talks) to these groups about various topics in the realm of health, focusing on topics that they have interest in. I will also work with groups that already exist in the community like woman's groups, midwives (they are a common occurrence here as part of Mayan medicine), health promoters, and men's groups as part of the municipality. My goal with each one of these groups in sticking with the goal of sustainable development is to create health promoters or individuals that can work within their communities giving the same kindof talks that I will be giving so that when I complete my two years of service the education will still be able to be carried on. I will also be working with individuals from the health center in order to train them in more effective ways of working in the communities.

At this point in time, I am just trying to get my face out there so I am accompanying people from my health center as they go out into the communities to do work (like vaccinate and weight children or go to schools to give out the H1N1 vaccination). I am working with a health technician at my health center and plan various activities with his assistance like meeting community members, speaking with community leaders about what I am here to do, meeting the police, firefighters and military presence that are within my community (having the authorities know me is an important thing, considering the civil unrest that was present in Guatemala's history, I don't want them to think I am here to cause any trouble), and organizing groups to work with within the communities.

I hope this give you a better idea of what I am doing and if you have any questions feel free to post a comment or e-mail me at krdemull@gmail.com.

Ask the Lord to give you Mountians

Hello fellow readers,
I thought I would blow your mind and give yet another update for this week....whoa! I know

Anyways I just finished a book that I started on the flight down here (about dang time I guess). It's called "The Me I Want to be" by John Ortberg. It is a great book and I highly recommend it. In the last chapter it talks about how challenges are a necessary part of life and an opportunity for growth. The author speaks of Caleb and the other scouts that were sent out to check out the Promise Land in the time of Moses to see if it was worth it or not to go there. All but two of the twelve scouts thought it was too much of a risk to go but Caleb and Joshua trusted the Lord and though it wouldn't be easy thought that taking on the Promise Land was worth it. They were willing to accept the challenge knowing that it would all work out in the end because, this is what God had in store for them. Taking up a challenge is a gift from God because it is an opportunity to grow and become closer to the person He created you to be, therefore we should be asking for God to give us these mountains in order that we may prosper and grow. Here is a quote that was mentioned near the end of the book that I really liked:
"When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on any man, it will exercise his mind with suffering...place obstacles in the path of his deeds, so as to stimulate his mind, harden his nature, and improve wherever he is competent." -Meng Tzu (a Chinese sage from 3rd Century BC)

I am trying to keep this all in mind as I work on making the transition of being here. I am not going to lie and pretend to be strong because I am not. This has been and continues to be the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. There are many days that I wake up and just wish that I could have everything back the way it was before I left and that I could be back home with my friends and family enjoying the Michigan summer at the lake, but this is not how it is supposed to be for me. I have been called to a challenge and so shall I accept it. Every time that I have a moment when I wish that I could just throw all this out the window and head back to the states, I will try my best to remember that this is my mountain, this is my challenge and this is a necessary time for me to grow and learn more about the me I am supposed to be,the me God created me to be.

It's a slow go

Here I am again,
It's another day at the Health Post and things continue to be a slow go. I feel like there is something I could be doing to better fill my time and be more productive but it seems to be a challenge as I don't really know the communities well yet or what the exact role is of many of the people that work here in the health post. Things seemed to run at a slower pace anyways here and I have been told that the first three months as a volunteer are going to be a slow start, so I guess I have from now until mid October to get used to the pace and figure things out. I mean it took me about that long to feel like I was fitting in in my training community and then I have to leave to move out to my site.So I am figuring out how to post pictures on my blog or rather I have a good enough internet connection to do it along with the patience. I have posted some pictures of my room where I will be living probably for the next two years. I really like the set up and the family is really nice and hospitable.
This was my first major purchase, a bed,which I am extremely thankful to have as before I was sleeping on the floor with my sleeping mat and sleeping bag.
This is one of the doors to my room that goes out to a balcony in front.

This is the view from my balcony, zoomed in a little to cut out the highway that is between my and this amazing few, a sunset.

This is the same door that is featured in the photo above, only with my pile of stuff on my table.

I still need to get more furniture and things for my room. It doesn't feel like home quite yet but I hope it will sometime soon.
Here are a few pictures from our swear in which took place on Friday July 15th.

A shot with the US ambassador and my training group (we all lived in the same town for training with different families)

This is my program director, a great man to say the least, he definitely has his heart in what he is doing.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and hopefully I will be posting more soon :)

Kelsey

Volunteer work

Greetings from an official Peace Corps Volunteer,
After three months it has finally happened. Training was rough and had a lot of restrictions and I am glad to be out of that routine. I feel so free now and I would like to think I am ready for it.

I started working at my health center today, still getting to know communities and community leaders. Today I accompanied some health center staff out to a community to weight and vaccinated children, just trying to get my face out there and get the people used to seeing a gringa (that's what white people are referred to here). I noticed a lot of need for education in the communities where we were weighing children. It's almost a consistent finding that children start to fall on the growth chart after they are 6 months old, when they are no longer strictly breast fed. This is a great opportunity for me to educated and empower the people to be able to live healthier lives.

I have to admit that I have felt overwhelmed a fair number of times since really taking on my site. Development work is a slow process but the end results are worth their weight in gold. I am just a grain of sand in all the things that Peace Corps has done and for me to become that contribution of a grain of sand it will take me two years of working with community members and empowering them. I think I have my work cut out for me!

The first three months at site promise to bring their difficulties. There is so much that I have to go through to adapt to my community which also includes getting a basic understanding of the mayan language that is spoken here. It looks to be like a good challenge but helpful nonetheless in helping me integrate into my community. I will also have to get to know the community, it's people, resources, common health issues and much more information. I imagine that to be a significant challenge in itself. And of course in all of this I will still be working on perfecting my Spanish.

This experience promises to be one of significant growth. In many ways I will be challenged and in many ways I already have been. I only hope that I can reach my full potential here and not settle for less than my best.

I have an internet connection at my site but it is less than reliable and I am working on getting a better connection. When that comes, I hope to be more consistent in my updates and in putting up pictures.

Until next time,
Kelsey

Pictures Posted

check out this link for a posting of more pictures (and no you don´t need a facebook account to see them):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2402086&id=22423429&l=4cf6e686dd

if you can´t click on this link just copy and paste it into the address bar

happy viewing!!

A different voice

Hello fellow blog readers,
I spent the second half of this last week visiting another volunteer. This time there were two other trainees and I visiting a volunteer and getting a better idea of what the day to day experience of being a volunteer is like. I was able to come up with a topic and prepare a charla (spanish for a talk) on the cycle of contamination, that is the flow of fecal matter from it's original point of deposition to being consumed by humans and thus causing diarrhea and other sicknesses. I touched on ways that this cycle could be stopped and contamination prevented by things like washing your hands or cleaning your fruits and veggies before you eat them. It was a relaxing experience with a pace that was a lot more relaxed than training. It gave me a heads up about the adjustment I will have to make once I get to my site, living life a little slower, which I am pretty sure right now I am ok with.
Stemming from the experience of this past week, I have realized how much different I am from the average PC volunteer. I have realized that the typical volunteer is a whole lot more liberal than I am. Many of the people have come in contact have lived lives so different from mine. Growing up in West Michigan was almost like living in a box of conservativeness (for lack of a better term). Before coming here I have had little contact with people who have such drastically different views of the world than I do. A lot of times I just sit and listen to conversations that are happening around me without opening my mouth for fear that I will be targeted or belittled. After talking with individuals from my training group I have found out that even though there is a drastic difference between our views of the world they are respectful of differences. Some of them have encouraged me to put my opinions out there and let people know what I think. I have come to realize that maybe God has called me here to be a different voice among the crowd of liberal individuals and I pray that I may have the strength and courage to voice what I believe and stand up for my opinions.

I have wanted to share this entry from my journal that I wrote when Agatha was coming thru so here goes it:

5/29
Its raining today, I've heard its a storm thats coming thru. It's been heavy since around 2am and it is now close to 10am. Just sitting outside thinking and pondering on why I am here, not in a negative sense, there is nothing troubling, simply a welcomed pause in my training to ponder. From my perspective I couldn't have told I was going to do this as I went thru college, such an "easy" way of taking care of the next two years of my life. The physical process was easy but the emotional is another story. To be here stretches every part of me sometimes to the point of wanting nothing but to return back to the way things were, easy and comfortable, but I know why I am here, at least to a certian extent. I am here to grow and discover things that I never knew about myself, to have experiences that will challenge my thoughts and cause me to evaluate my life. Realizing that maybe I didn't have everything figured out, maybe life is ment to be lived to such a deeper extent than any American had ever lived. This is a big leap of faith, bigger than I realize. Me being here and following the calling makes my faith all the more real. If I am willing to take up an action for my faith how much more reald does my faith become. I am someone who chose to follow a calling in my life. I don't see myself as courageous just as one who is following her directed path in life. If only I could know where it will all lead and what adventures it will hold. But this experience isn't ment to be totally unrolled at the beginning but slowly laid out. Its a journey and it's not just about the destination. So I say to myself and also to you: May your always grab life by the horns and never settle for less than the best. Always leave your hands open so that when you give you may also receive.

A week in field based training

Hello all fellow blog readers,
I returned Saturday from a week of field based training which entailed a group of 6 of us staying and working with a current volunteer. We were able to put into practice the techinical skills we have been learning. It was great to get a taste of life on the other side of training. Days in training can be intense and full of technical training and language classes so it was nice to get out of that. We gave talks to food vendors on proper hygiene, to those working at the health center about how to work best as a team and a nutrition talk to a group of health promoters in a mayan village. It was great practice and interesting to be able to learn a little bit more about the mayan culture. The city where I am currently living isn´t really mayan but mostly ladinos which are a mix of mayans with europeans. It´s all been a great experience and I am looking forward to finding out my site on July first. I will post it when I find out. Sorry this has to be short but I need to do some research for a project.

Much love,
Kelsey

check out new pictures here.
http://s898.photobucket.com/albums/ac188/demullk/Tropical%20Storm/Second%20Month%20in%20Guatemala/
http://s898.photobucket.com/albums/ac188/demullk/Tropical%20Storm/

Rain storm and then some

I was able to experience my first tropical storm last week Saturday. It rained pretty for around 20 hours. We lost power for a couple days and didn´t have water for a few days and had to carry it from a nearby source. We were supposed to attend a Mayan ceremony but that got cancled because of the excessive rain, so we had three days of rest because Monday´s activities were also cancled. I got in some good quality time with my host family especially my two host brothers who are 8 and 11.

I have sucessfuly made it to the spanish level required but the Peace Corps to be sworn in as a Volunteer but I still have a long ways to go. It´s a good feeling to have that down but I still wish I could be a lot further along. As they say here I will get there "poco a poco" or little by little.

We are heading out on Field Based Training which entails a group of 6 or so training working at a current volunteers site. We will be putting into practice a lot of the technical skills we have been learning for the past month. I am excited to get to the point of working hands on doing things that I could potentially be doing at my site.

Feeling like home

hello all time for another update....

So I have been here for little less than a month. It is starting to feel like home. It's been a really slow process but it's getting easier. I am finally starting to feel a part of my host family, laughing with my 8 and 11 year old host brothers and sharing laughter at the dinner table. They are a little crazy like my family back home, but I like it :) The rain is picking up and our power flashed on Friday during the thunder storms. It's pretty amazing watching the storms come in over the mountains. Life is so different here but I like it :)

One Day at a time

Hello again everone,

I have made it to an internet cafe inorder to update my blog,. Life is going well, weather is 80 and sunny most days with a few days of rain mixed in. This experience is about as challenging as I thougth it would be. So many times I wish I could back out and then it would be so much easier and I could be with my friends and family but I have to remind myself why I am doing it. I have come here to grow, to learn about myself, to learn another culture and language and to help people. I am still in the phase of transition and time will make the adjustment easier.

My host family is great but it´s been a challenge to converse with them. I am lacking some confidence in speaking spanish. I don´t want to mess up but I know I have to so I just need to work on putting myself out there. Conversations are about superficial things right now like the weather and how their day went but I hope with time to broaden our topics.

We went out on Thursday to visit a volunteer that is just finishing up her service. It was nice to see what life is like on the other side of training. It helps make my long days of classes bearable when I know what is coming on the other side. She is working about 2 hrs from where I am now. She lives in the city but hikes up in the mountains to work with people. It´s beautiful out there and hopefully I can post some pictures sometime soon.

I added more picutres to the link above, check it out!

1 Week in country

sorry, I 've been here for a little over a week and I have yet to update this so here it goes. It has been a challenging experience that I have needed to be take a day at a time. It's getting easier to be here.

I am living with a host family now and have been since last Saturday. They are very welcoming and have a lot of patience with me learning spanish as I stumble through my communications with them. We have spanish class everyday in our communities and we also have some techinical training. There is a group of 5 of us that are about the same level. We all live with host families in the same community. We have class until about 4:30 or 6 depending on the day. After that and on the weekends we hang out at the soccer field or go to the basketball courts. There is definately less to do here than in the states. I have gotten some good reading in with more of the free time :) Sorry this is so short but hopefully I can get into more of a routine.

Check out this link for pictures
http://s898.photobucket.com/albums/ac188/demullk/

Turning 23

So apparently turning 23 was the icing on the cake to this experience. The whole adulthood aspect just hit me probably beacuse of the fact that my upcoming experiences will require me to be adult in more ways than I have ever had to in my life. It's not bad but I think we all wish we could live the carefree life of a kid forever. So on Tuesday the experience as a whole just hit me and I was overwhelmed with all of the details of the experience. I am way too much of a big picture person and am constantly putting in an honest effort to break it down and not get overwhelmed again.

Anyways the getting ready continues, lots of paperwork left and a few more supplies to gather (of which ebay will be a potiental source) and many decisions about random things concerning this experience will no longer be able to be put off.

19 days and counting!

This is it.....

In less than a month (22 days to be exact) I will be beginning my great adventure. I called to make flight arrangements yesterday and now all I can think about is how close it's getting. I am thankful for the time I have had to get ready, I never imagined how much prep I would have to do, all the stuff to buy and arrangements to be made and to think I decided to do this as a way to simplify my life, ahh the wonders we all go through. This shall be the first of many updates on my future adventures.