Nightlife as a PCV

Listening to: Willie Nelson

Ok, I realize that "it's cold" isn't news anymore. I really really need to stop writing it, saying it, starting conversations by complaining about it....But there's no escape from it until i crawl in between the flannel sheets Mom sent last November, and since I can't get in bed at 5 pm without feeling.........guilty? totally lame? lazy? I cope. Sort of. Just now I sat down to write and realized I've been cold ALL DAY, except for a period of about 30 seconds when the sun peeked out as I was getting home from work and I ran straight to the hammock to bask, then it went away =(

I'm bundled up in two pairs of pants and my fleece lined hoodie zipped up to my chin, sipping green tea and considering an invitation to go see the beauty queens do, well something -I'm not entirely sure to be honest, in the Muni Salon. This events starts at 8-which in Guatemala means between 8:30 and 9. Anyone want to place a bet on whether I'll go?

Before you jump to the conclusion that I'm not 'doing my part' to 'integrate' into my community, consider: my alarm went off at 5:30 am. This is early for me-not a morning person and the 40-something degrees and foggy weather isn't helping this condition. I pushed the snooze button twice, got out of bed at 5:48 am and was out the door, sans coffee, at 6:10 am, heading up to the park. Why the crazy middle-of-the-night awakening?

Turns out the interpretive signs for the trail that have been in process since last year around this time finally got finished =) and the NGO who funded the project decided we needed to start putting them up this morning. At 6 AM =(. Now I (correctly) interpreted 6 am to mean between 6:30 and 7 am (go cultural adaptation!) but still hate having people wait on me, and have found that the one time I come at the hour experience dictates to be the actual meeting time, everyone else is there on time and calling me 10 times in a row wondering where I am. Yup, this happens.

Anyways, so I get there at 6:20 am and sit patiently in the park entrance until about 6:45 am at which time everyone looks to me for 'the plan' as I am the only one who knows where all the signs go. We ended up getting 6 out of 10 stations installed today. They look great, and I hope they give park visitors some food for thought about their forest, and that they don't get vandalized or broken. The next step will be inviting teachers and classes to walk the trail, and use the signs to fuel lesson plassons of their own in the future. Until the people in the community connect with their park on a level where they realize the importance of preserving it, it won't be sustainable. This is a goal for the following months, to begin to plant seeds that will hopefully grow into a community wide investment in the park project.

To return to the point of not wanting to get out of my sweats and watch the beauty queens do whatever they do under flourescent lights with everyone alternately gawking and making conversation with me.... I've got soup on the stove, the last 3 episodes of season 7 of Grey's Anatomy or Pirates of the Caribbean 4 to watch, hot tea to sip...

As the Magic 8 Ball would say, "Outlook not good."

Feliz noche