Life Update

Its raining tonight, a reminder of the upcoming rainy season that I wish could come a little less intense than the last one I experienced here.

I thought I would give you all a general update on life here in Guatemala. Today we celebrated the day of San Valentin or Valentines day. It isn't as much of a lovey dovey holiday here but more of a celebration of friendship which I really like. We had a small party at work and exchanged small gifts amongst the group of people I work with. They gave words like Guatemalans always do. They give a mini speech, thanking others for what they do and saying how much they appreciate everyone. This goes on as all of the others reiterate the same points and it can get very time consuming and boring from my American perspective. Marlaine and I went to the closest town and picked up pizza for our lunch. It was a lot of work to get there and back with the pizzas but I think it was worth it for the taste of American food.

On Saturday, I traveled to the capital of my department which is a two hour ride. I met up with another PCV to get some workout DVD's in hopes to get into better shape. I spent the rest of the afternoon with the only two girls left from my training town. We started out as five and are now just three, but the three of us that are left aren't going anywhere. I took my laundry along with me and dropped it off at a place to get washed. I am over the "cultural experience" of washing clothes by hand in the pila and then hanging it on the line and waiting 2-3 days for something to dry (or more during rainy season). My jeans haven't been through a dryer in a while so I figured it was time to get them back close to their original size and jeans can be difficult to wash in the pila. I also got my sheets washed there too. Because of their size they are just awkward to wash in the pila. I am thinking that I would like to make this a more frequent experience in my life here in the Peace Corps, especially when rainy season comes along. There is a spot closer to me that I can get my clothes washed and it's near the lake. I am thinking a Saturday trip there will be much better than to the capital.

I have figured out how easy it has been for me to slip in to the mentality of "do the minimum you need to to get by" way of thinking. Things happen a whole lot slower here in Guatemala and so it's easy not to feel the need to push myself when I am working on my own plans and ideas. I don't want it to be like this. I am hoping to take more inititive instead of just spending my day sitting around the health center conversing with fellow workers. It will be a challenge, but I am starting at the beginning of March with my Mayan Language classes. I also want to start doing monthly charlas at the high school. After doing the HIV/AIDS workshops and seeing how receptive the students where, I think this is a good place that I can play my part in the prevention of alcoholism and domestic violence. I hope to cover topics like: making choices, respecting yourself, setting goals and others. These are topics that the Youth Development volunteers work in and I was able to get some materials from a YD volunteer. I am looking forward to my potential work in the schools.

Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day. Feliz dia del carino!

Kels