sleepless in sija....

New photos, in no particular order.............

Which one is it??

Birdwatching......

Thirsty and adorable....and recycling.

Emerald green Sceloporus smaragdinus out enjoying the sun

Been doing a lot of this lately.

My summer camp group...reached the top!

ok more like restless, but i couldnt resist. And, not me restless, but my puppy (and yes, i think im just going to be one of these people that talks about her pet constantly in her blog...at least until the novelty wears off). And there is nothing worse than a restless puppy. Restless puppies try to hurl themselves up onto the kitchen table to get at the toaster oven baking your sweet potato fries, knock over all your clean dishes and the french press with old coffee grounds in it....

I have now been trying to start writing for about an hour and a half, after taking her for a short walk around town. But now, after her second dinner, she seems to have calmed down so its possible that she was just hungry. And now she's sleeping...phew.

Last week was the first meeting of the summer camp I started with some local kids. My idea was to offer an informal education/hiking activity weekly during their school vacation that will culminate with a campout on the last day of the camp. So far we've covered 'observation' and today birdwatching! They learned what a Townsend's Warbler and a Tufted flycatcher look like, how to find birds in the binoculars, and why we wear the strap around our neck when using the binoculars (mine got dropped and kind of broken...but i guess thats what i get for not pointing out the obvious....). I learned that 10-year-olds dont have the patience or stamina for a hardcore four hour long morning of birding...which is what i envisioned for some reason. But thats ok, i know when to throw in the towel so at some point i conceded the birding lecture and we hauled ass to the top of the hill to arrive at the letters of chivaretto, which are these giant metal letters, a la hollywood, that overlook the next county. All in all, a successful day, and a successful activity that I am really enjoying. Ideally another (guatemalan) adult would be collaborating with me so that i can pass the torch when i leave, but that can be a goal for next year. The park is such a great resource, so close to town, that it would be great to establish a program like this here and that is what i will work toward for the next year.

My challenge now is trying to scrounge up camping equipment for a group of 10-20 people (probably more) and put together that logistical nightmare, coordinating 10-12 kids and their respective parents/guardians and making sure everyone brings what they need for a night out in the woods. Am I ready for this, or just overly optimistic and blissfully unaware of what im getting myself into as usual?

A Week in Review

This week absolutely flew by, due to a few (kinda) big events.





On Tuesday had more than 100 visitors from a school in the county that me, my Guatemalan counterpart and his brother tried to herd in an orderly fashion along the trail and up to the top of the mountain. This of course turned out to be impossible because of widely varying fitness levels, our lack of communication (no radios) which led to the kids charging up ahead of us while I waited to make sure the older folk and young children were not going to collapse along the way-this resulted in said older folk left with the burden of carrying lunch (jumbo sized cans of beans, a large box full of fried chicken, several 3 liter bottles of soda) past where the car could no longer go. This all amounted in no small amount of chaos but with some effort (I helped by carrying one said gigantic can of beans) and a little luck all arrived safely at our destination where soccer games, tug of war, and even a little reptile education commenced. Unfortunately in all the chaos Bella decided to peace out, and once I realized she was gone I spent the remainder of the outing picturing various horrible scenarios involving my poor little lost dog. Of course when I finally got home there she was, in my yard, safe and sound...*phew* The good news is-she knows where she lives! All in all, a successful if slightly chaotic and stressful day up on the mountain.



The next day I went out to check on the (slowly) progressing bottle school. Last week I got very frustrated when I went out to visit only to see that barely any progress had been made in the last month. I was starting to wonder whether or not this project would ever get done.... but when I arrived on Wednesday, our contractor along with two fathers from the school were working away, and they seem confident now that they will finish by the end of this month, and that we might actually make it within our budget!



Lastly, our assistant country director came out to visit and wanted to talk to both me and the volunteer that arrived a few months ago to Agua Caliente, Emily. Emily came the night before and gave us a chance to catch up, cook some food, etc. Our director Wendy arrived on Thursday and we showed her the trail, I explained a little bit about what I've been working on in the park. She seemed to really enjoy the park and enthusiastic about my ideas for it. After we worked up an appetite, we had a really good lunch in a local comedor, then she went on her way. Emily and I took advantage of the sunny afternoon to continue trading music and movies and sitting in the sunshine on my patio while the computers did their thing-ended up taking too long and Emily was forced to spend another night in Sija-we enjoyed Mexican tortas and too much beer, and she made the journey home the next morning. I however got to sleep in ;)

And now to share some photos from the week....

Wild berries ripening in the sun

Mossy rock

More cool fungi

I caught an alligator lizard on tuesday and let it bite me to prove that no, they are NOT venomous....I love the kid's concerned look in the background.

Show and tell with the local herpetofauna

Latest photos of the bottle school-with cement on the walls it will look like just a normal building.

View of the countryside I walk through to get to the school-I'm excited to see the conclusion of that project but I will miss this walk!

Another view from the walk to the school-the mountain you see is the Park where I do most of my work, "parque cerro sija"

Just another landscape..wildflower season is starting i hear

September has come and gone-its October already! The common saying here in Peace Corps is that the days are long, but the months fly by-and boy is it true. Things are moving along with my park project-I have three weeks now to prepare for a summer camp i'm offering to the school kids during their vacation. The school year in Guatemala begins in January and ends in mid-October.

I'm fairly excited about this summer camp program i'm trying to organize. My goal is to get a group of 10 kids together, and take them up to the park to learn about various aspects of the ecology and biology of their park. If it goes well, I would like to continue offering guided hikes on saturdays once or twice a week. I like this idea because for me, the information that has stuck with me has always been the lessons learned outside of the classroom, and I want to pass that on here.

It has been cold and rainy here for at least a week. As a result, I've been feeling especially restless, bored, and I always get a little depressed not seeing the sun for extended periods of time-What can I say, I'm a California girl. I received a package yesterday from Mom with flannel sheets and a nice wool blanket-Thanks mom-I was snug as a bug in a rug last night. It's funny-when I was packing I think my fuzzy Ugg boots were one of the last items I was debating on, but (thank God) they made the cut. I also made a very last minute decision at the airport to take my heavy fleece lined hoodie with me-another lucky decision.

I have turned to comfort foods in all the cold rainy dreariness-I made a sublime tomato dumpling soup Wednesday night and right now am making a vegetable soup-more beets than anything else. i've always been a big fan of beets-but always bought them canned. They intimidated me at first, but i've successfully cooked them a couple different ways now. Tonight I peeled and sliced them and tossed them in my soup-they turn the broth red but the beet taste isn't too overwhelming-just the color. It is also alarming when you go to the bathroom the day after eating beets and see blood red urine or...the other... Until you remember what you ate for dinner the day before. I also indulged and bought some of the famous Sija cheese-fresh cheese probably made that day from fresh milk... This goes good on tortillas, bread, or just eating it in chunks-I don't indulge very often but when i do... Yumm.

For those of you who don't realize-being so close to the equator means 12 hours of darkness, or possibly more right now. Being a light sleeper, I find myself with a lot of down time indoors after work. Miraculously, high speed internet started working a few days ago and I got to talk to a few friends on Skype, which was awesome. Technology makes this whole experience easier, although at times I question whether the ease of connectivity I have with everyone back home really makes it easier or just makes me miss everyone more. Its a bittersweet/catch 22 type of thing. But i am grateful to be able to stay in touch with family and friends while down here. Can you imagine writing letters back and forth? Now that seems ludicrous, but for Volunteers of old (and many in other parts of the world i'm sure) thats how it was. So, long story short, my newfound skype capabilities may make at least some of my nights go by faster... one can only internet surf/watch movies/read so many hours. IT results in me trying lots of new complicated recipes, including a lot more baking than i used to do. That was going to get me introuble, but now I have a puppy who helps me eat what I make so I dont eat, like, a whole pan of lemon bars for example.

Speaking of the puppy-she now knows how to sit, lay down, shake hands, and roll over! who'd have thought I could train a dog?! I think I have to give credit where credit is due though-she's a smart cookie. So the dog-owning thing is going well and I think keeping her was a good decision.

As most of you know, I have an Awesome boyfriend who is still studying his master's at Cal Poly. He also works seasonally on an island off the coast of Honduras studying the Boa Constrictors there and has been trying to get me to go there with him since we met practically. Well I received the go-ahead from our safety coordinator this week and finally the time and place have come for me to be able to make that journey-the week of thanksgiving I will be accompanying him and other colleagues, including my adviser, from Cal Poly to the island for a week of jungle trekking, boa hunting and at least a little drinking rum out of coconuts ;) Be jealous...be very jealous.

This post is starting to ramble. Now that October is here, I officially have a year and a half left and have to ask:what do i want my legacy here to be? Its kind of a heavy question. I have some ideas that I think will take up the rest of my time here....I ask my fellow Volunteers-what will your legacy be??

peace and love,
amber