First Week

So, where to begin? These days have just flown by and so much has happened!

We arrived in Guatemala City and then took a bus to Santa Lucia Milpas Altas near Antigua. We were then assigned a family for three days while we did orientation at la oficina del Cuerpo del Paz (peace corps). Everyone is so nice- Peace Corps staff, los profesores, my fellow trainees, and los Guatemaltecos!

My first night my host mom took us for a walk around town and we got to help make tortillas in a tortilleria! Mine were terrible, of course, but it was fun because the other ladies just laughed at us gringas. Also fresh tortillas are SOOO good. My host family in Santa Lucia was very quiet but very friendly and accommodating- I stayed with another girl from the Peace Corps as well. Our house was like a treehouse! It had a ladder leading up to the roof where we could see the three volcanes near us, one of which is active and smokes a lot! Everyone is a lot more conscious about conserving electricity and water here, but so far neither of my families seem to be considered poor.

Today (Saturday the 8) we moved to host communities where we will spend the rest of the 11 weeks of training. We live in different communities in groups of up to 8 people according to our program and language skills, and we each live with a separate host family. I think I live in a mansion! My family’s house has two floors and they are also hosting two girls from Canada until next week who are here learning Spanish. I live with Dona Gladis, o Chiqui, and Don Hugo with their son, Andres, and their daughter, Fernanda. Andres is 19 and travels to and from Guatemala city to go to the university to be a veterinarian. Fernanda is 21 and is a teacher. They also have a dog, Chofi, who is the cutest thing ever (besides Major of course)! The house is very nice and it has a patio, which currently has coffee beans drying on it! Hugo works at a coffee plantation, or finca, when he is not driving a school bus. Right now kids are on vacation, so he is working at the finca.

The climate here is wonderful! It gets pretty cold at night and I have to wear warm pijamas, but during the day it’s warm enough for a t-shirt and jeans. I apologize for lots of grammatical errors but it is difficult switching back and forth!

So far no parasites or anything, but the medical crew definitely scared us with long talks about how to treat diarrhea, worms, and dehydration. So far from the sessions at the office I think our whole group is terrified that we’re going to get robbed or get rabies (there are dogs in the street everywhere here! (It’s very sad) but we are all still very excited! I feel very safe here in Ciudad Vieja- we met the police and mayor and are getting to know the city pretty well.

kids here are so cute but so tiny! I think Guatemala has a very high rate of malnourished children which might be part of the reason why they are so small.

My Spanish teacher, Eduardo, is really awesome and so far our Spanish classes are very fun- we just talk about Guatemala! It’s so beautiful and green here as well AND it’s avocado season!

I am feeling a lot better, and I really like training except for the fact that a lot of the sessions are meant to scare us, but really Peace Corps just has to cover all the possibilities of what can happen. Also we get to do a project in our host sites during training so we are going to do some project to help bring tourists to Ciudad Vieja so the community can preserve their historical sites as well as bring in money. I was so happy to see a real live avocado tree outside the Peace Corps office! I think everyone will love it when you come visit!!!