January 15 and 22

Sat. January 15

This morning was really fun- we walked around San Miguel, which is part of Ciudad Vieja and where Hurricane Agatha hit really bad.  A lot of houses were destroyed, but my family ran a project with the church where they collected recycled materials to sell in order to buy materials to help build new houses for people.  Then we walked to San Pedro

It’s such a beautiful day!  From Wednesday on this week, it has been pretty chilly because it’s been cloudy, but today the sun is out and it’s pretty hot!  Feels like spring.  There are always colorful fruits and vegetables around, and the tangerines right now are so yummy!  When I bought some (5 for 4 quetzales!), they all came with long stems and when I took the stem off, the peel almost came off in one piece!

Today (Sunday) I walked around some more now that I know the city a little better.  My host family is again, really Catholic, so I’m trying to get to know them and the community better by going to church events with them.  Today was the procession of Esquipulas and also when members of the church gathered sick people in the community for a special service.  It was a very moving service to see how all members of the community went out of their way to take care of the sick and elderly in the community.

January 22 (I think!)

This week was very crazy but very fun!  On Monday, we went to San Vicente de Pacaya to visit two volunteers currently working in that site with the Volcan de Pacaya.  We got to see their living situations, which was very interesting.  One girl chose to live with her host family for the rest of her service, so instead of moving out after 3 months, she just continues to pay rent.  The other guy lives in part of a family compound, so he has his own kitchen, bathroom, and room but it is attached to another family’s house.  I liked his set up a lot better I think because he made it feel more like home.  We didn’t get to go up the volcano but hopefully sometime during training we will!

On Tuesday we had training where we learned how to clean our fruits and veggies well (wash with soap and water, soak in bleach water for 15 minutes, then rinse with purified water).  We also learned how to change the behavior of adults and that it’s really hard but there are certain techniques to use.  I’m getting more and more comfortable riding the chicken buses now, and it doesn’t surprise me as much to see people hanging out the door or the emergency exit!  On Thursday we had a special talk from a volunteer who’s just ended her service about water.  It’s really sad because Guatemala has really poor waste management and water treatment centers.  The water is really contaminated, and that same water is going straight to the taps of peoples’ houses.  Trash just gets burned or thrown in the street or river.  There is a river that flows right near our house and on a windy day, it smells really bad at the house because the odor from the river gets carried around.  There are sewage pipes that empty directly into the river and even into Lake Atitlan.  So you have to be really careful about what you eat and you have to be sure to wash your hands really well a lot!

Today, Saturday, we finally got to go to Antigua!  I was really excited, but to be honest, I wasn’t as impressed with it as I am with the rest of Guatemala.  It’s a really touristy city, very expensive with some beautiful sites but people are always asking you to buy things.  I am kind of biased too, because everyone is always talking about Antigua being the first Spanish capital of Guatemala but it was actually Ciudad Vieja!  They moved the capital to Antigua when Ciudad Vieja was destroyed in a landslide I think from an eruption of the Volcan de Agua.    

Today, Sunday the 23, I’ve just been catching up on a lot of work.  We have homework for Spanish class, technical training, and the Peace Corps office!  I also washed my clothes today, which takes up a lot of time since it is all by hand.  Every house here has a pila, which is a concrete structure in which there is one basin which holds tap water and then a shallower basin with ridges and a drain to put dirty dishes if it’s in the kitchen or to wash clothes on.  Washing clothes uses up a lot of water!  First you soak the clothes, then soap them up, scrub on the pila, and then rinse off each piece of clothing.