I know, i know-it´s been awhile. In short, i´ve been busy getting to know the town, the people, the projects.. and this last week actually helped a school with some art projects (i know, me, art....??) so i was relieved when the paper mached globes actually hardened and became paper mache! we are participating in earth day with a local school. the kids are really great, as is the teacher. and it was a nice way to get acquainted with the school where i hope to continue doing environmental education.

Also, i am fortunate to have a park nearby (like.... 3 blocks away) where we are developing a trail so i´ve been able to hike several times in thelast few weeks.

Not much else to report, just wanted to post some pictures from my town and my host family. Here we are at some pools near the pacific ocean.... They took me the first week i arrived. In the front is my host brother lemas, with Handy, who is friends with Cesi, the girl to my right. Cesi is my host sister. Everyone in the family, and friends of the family, have been so great about including me... the Guatemalan people are soo hospitable and have constantly shown it by inviting me into their homes, showing a genuine interest in who i am, where i come from, and what the helll i´m doing here in Guatemala..... most of them don´t understand why i wouldve left the states to come here. A majority of the people in town here have either gone to work in the states and come back, or have close family there working right now. I´d say a good deal of the town has been constructed with money coming from the states.... Its an interesting aspect of the culture here that i´m still digesting.

I´m getting to have a better idea of what i am going to be doing here for the next two years. One thing will be continuing with the second half of the trail that the volunteer before me started, and continuing to help with the construction of a playground-bbq area for families, birdwatching in the park, environmental interpretation for the trail... Another aspect of my work will be environmental education in the schools which i think is really important. Guatemala is a small country with big environmental issues... it might already be too late, but i think its still important to try to instill some values in the youth about caring for our earth while there is still some left.

On that same note, i will be continuing to try to do something with the garbage, countywide. One idea is to start a recycling center, continue to educate people about trash, and so on. The appalling thing here is that there is no national trash management program. The majority of the country either burns their trash or tosses it in a ravine somewhere. So here we have a truck that comes an picks up trash....only to then dump it off a cliff somewhere. The problem is that trash treatment plants are incredibly expensive...

So it looks like i´ll have my hands full here. right now am busy following the current volunteer, audrey, around like a lost puppy as she scampers trying to finish her projects here. I think i´m lucky to have her around for a little while to see how things work around here, to continue meeting important people, etc. and will be sad to see her go. I hope i can rise to the challenge of continuing with the great work she has started here. And below a couple of photos of the park, the trail and views of the surrounding area but i forgot to turn them and now i can´t find the delete key sooooo i apologize to your necks ahead of time. yikes.

its april!

geez, time flies. Ok i have arrived 'here' and haven't blogged for...a while. But I have a good reason! Its because.. well, the truth is that it was scary finishing training and becoming a Volunteer for several reasons. And, now i'm in a happy place. Why, u ask? Well thanks to my temporary site mate, i am using the internet in the comfort of my new bed, vs an internet cafe. Plus I am sunburned in places that haven't seen the sun in three long months. Relax, i'm just talking about, like, my shoulders and legs. Thanks hyper conservative Guatemala.
But today, today was different and muy alegre! My host family is awesome and have made it their mission to make me feel at home, welcome, part of the family...etc. I've actually met guatemalans my age and they actually are interested in why i'm here. BUt back to the beach... The whole family piled in the microbus (favored family vehicle here; picture the eurovan... like 15 person passenger van. oh yeah) at 7 am and drove to the beach! I saw my beloved Pacific Ocean, and guess what? The beach looks pretty much the same here. I mean, there are subtle differences... the sand is darker due to volcanic activity, the water is warm (like...bathwater warm), there are people selling all manner of things up and down the beach (but that's everywhere in Guatemala, it is a nation filled up with entrepreneurs). But... people playing in the sand and surf, enjoying the sun, pelicans. Yes. this i recognize.
So all in all, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had an awesome day in the sun, I'm hoping that cucumber jasmine lotion will have some of the same calming effects as aloe?? And, more importantly, I got the feeling (how can you not??) that i'm going to be OK here. More than OK perhaps.
Also, sampled the ocean fare. It was incredible. I got shrimp mojo de ajo.... in a garlic sauce. My host mom wanted me to try the fried fish but I have to admit-i'm still squeamish about entire pieces of meat and fish. Even picking chicken meat off the bones of various parts of the chicken still really turns me off. Yet i have no qualms about eating ribs.. go figure.
We then spent the afternoon at some public pools, which harkened back to my youth spending whole days at the municipal pool. Why we drove four hours to the beach and then paid 15Q to pass the afternoon at a pool is beyond me-but i went with it. Jumped off the high rises, sunbathed, tested out my waterproof camera... (dont get too excited, pictures to come later...i don't have my usb cable) and played in the water and sun to the point of exhaustion.
Upon returning home, my host mom asked me what I wanted to eat... frijoles y huevos, of course! with her famous flour tortillas stuffed with cheese. A great end to a Great day.