Friday, September 19, 2008

A Month In

So I have been in Guatemala for a month now. It feels like its been years. My town feels pretty safe, and I feel like I can travel without problems. I have taken a few field trips to visit other volunteers and haven't run into any problems. My housing situation is great, I have a really nice house with my own bedroom with a door and its own bathroom, which is alot more than I can say for some of the other volunteers. The walk uphill sucks to go into town, or to catch the bus, but its getting better.

My host mom's dog doesn't bite me much anymore, but now has turned on her, which is kind of funny. It was also her birthday (host mom, not the dog) last week, and she totally did not mention anything at all about it. I found out about 6pm because her daughter came in with a birthday cake. I was on my way out, so I wasn't even there to sing happy birthday. She did however get a washing machine, which is awesome because now when she washes clothes, it dries alot quicker.

I did my first charla, or talk, to a group yesterday. I talked to about 15 high schoolers about citizen participation. It was awesome. When I asked why it is important to be a part of your community, they answered almost exactly what I had in mind to tell them. Also, they really got into the activities, and participated alot. If anything, I didn't give them enough chances to speak their minds. I also talked a little about the importance of going to college.

I am going to another town tomorrow to see some ruins, and its supposedly really impressive. I am really excited to just travel around, since during training we are so limited in our freedom. That has probably been the toughest part of this whole thing so far, not being able to move about freely, stay anywhere overnight, go too far. But I guess that this trip I am taking this week will ease that concern a bit. We are going out west for a weeklong training session. We are going to give a presentation to a community group about leadership. We are also staying at a luxurious hotel where we will be paying about 4 dollars a night for, so I am super curious to see what that will be all about. I am all packed already (no se rian mom and vali) and just not looking forward to the long ride in the bus. It sure beats getting on a camioneta with our luggage though.