Its been a while... can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

so it has been a while since i have written a blog... and i know i said i was going to try to be better but the month of march have been pretty hectic. its our last month of training and every week it seems like they are bombarding with us with information and activities before we embark on our assignment. in the first weeks of March, which seems so long ago... we had individual site visits.. and a week later they told us our site, the place where we will be living for the next two years. im very stoked about my site. this week since tuesday and until tomorrow we are visiting our sites so we can get somewhat situated, and bring the maj0rity of our luggage...also to find a place to live, meet the mayors, and all the other auxiliary mayors... so have to behave, at least for this week..hahaha

next week is the day that we have all, 32 of us, been waiting for...our swear in day!! lots of pictures will be taken and of course will post them up. the people here in my site are so warm and welcoming. the population of the town including the "aldeas" is about 17,000 but only in the pueblo is 7,000. 98% indigenous and they all speak the native language of Quiche, a derivative of the native Mayan language. the town is popular is very popular for the church, which comes out in a lot of the guidebooks. so every now and then i catch some tourists coming into this town which is somewhat secluded and taking pictures... have to get used to this...

by the way... i already have a new nickname... el colocho!! the curly haired one!!! pictures will be up soon... all the way from my birthday... its been a while... im behind!! i know!! hope all is well... and hope to hear from everyone!

Field Based Training... and whats to come!!!

Whats happening everyone? Its been a while again.. I know. This past week we had our field based training. That is when we go out and visit different volunteers in certain departments, states, in Guatemala. We met some awesome volunteers who are COS´ing (Close of Service). Throughout the week we went to go visit certain schools and played with the kids... as you can see. That is Josh and me. Those kids were awesome. And it was Carnavál that week...so we all got ambushed with eggs filled with confetti. Thursday was a day of stress for most of us. It was the day that we all had to do a health presentation to a certain grade at this random school. My topic was teeth...since there are several dentists in the family I thought I had sufficient knowledge on that... Nailed it!! On Friday, we went to go to some hot springs, and hung out with other volunteers. Now that was awesome. Gotta love Peace Corps. haha We returned to our perspective towns on Saturday.

This coming week on the 4th we go on our individual visit training. For me it will not be individual since the 4 of us who got the job position will be visiting the other 2 volunteers in that position. Should be an enlightening experience. And the big day is near... not my birthday... the day AFTER, the 12th, they finally tell us our site... where we all will be staying for the two years here in Guate. We´ll see how it goes. Hope to hear from you guys... at least some of you...hope all is well.

picture site for field base training....

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2354283&id=3314158&l=72aea

Kennedy´s Priomise!!

"We will only send abroad Americans who are wanted by the host country- who have a real job to do- and who are qualified to do that job. Programs will be developed with care, and after full negotiation, in order to make sure that the Peace Corps is wanted and will contribute to the welfare of other people. Our Peace Corps is not designed as an instrument of diplomacy or propaganda or ideological conflict. It is designed to permit our people to exercise more fully their responsibilities in the great common cause of world development."

John F. Kennedy Jr.
March 1, 1961

its been a while....

so just to show you the picture to the right is our huge loving family... of course we are still missing some this is only about a quarter of the group.

Its been a while since I have written a blog and so many things have happened.

First of all, I interviewed for this position, Municipal Coordinator, which is a pilot project, to hopefully make things more sustainable. Which is that is the Peace Corps, sustainability!! The responsibilities include:

Training of Teachers and Directors

Monitoring and Evaluating:

healthy habits

healthy attitudes

infrastructure projects

Overall fulfillment of the perfil

rincones de salud

health classes

cleanliness of school and kids

Technical Assistance:

always available for consultation, and provide extra teaching resources, ideas, etc

Extras: coordinating with CTA (principal), participating in district events, and helping the Centro de Salud with workshops

and most important SUSTAINABILITY!!

then there was the Mayan Ceremony. It was very insightful on how the indigenous people have their outlook on life. Some brief beliefs of theirs, which I think everyone should think to make this a better world: The basis of the relationship between man and nature is one of harmonious.

Visualiza que el equilibrio entre los elementos del cosmos hace posible la vida en general.

Existe una sola unidad entre Hombre y Naturaleza. En la naturaleza está presente el Creador y por eso hay un profundo respecto hacia ella.

The ceremony was given by two Mayan priests which the pictures can be found on facebook. I will be putting the website here for those that dont have facebook...

On Sunday, we, the trainees of Health, will be heading to our Field Base Training for a week. This is when we go around to different parts of the country and visit other volunteers and have interviews with our ´boss´so he knows which is the best site to send us. We will be staying in hotels for the whole week...WOOO!! paid for of course.

heres the website for the pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2349862&id=3314158&l=f8192Publicidad

new pics

so there are new pics up... some are on the prior addresses... if anyone has any problems let me know...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2347192&l=1754e&id=3314158

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2341039&l=72703&id=3314158

hope everyone is well... this past wednesday the group here in Santo Domingo Xenacoj finally went to visit our site in San Antonio..a little aldea about an hour hike from our town. There are a total of 33 students ranging from 1st grade to 6th grade, with only one teacher...how he does it, is an awesome thing to see. We are just volunteers and we will be going to our own sites in late March but it is his 4th year teaching these students...and mind you he is only 22... The children are awesome very outgoing although there are some timid ones in the bunch..and who wouldnt be when 4 gringos show up out of nowhere. We will be working with the teacher hand in hand to improve so many things in the school. Although, the school is lacking in so many things, running water is one of them, the kids spirits are very lifted and warm. Makes you appreciate things more back home... hope all is well with everyone...

new pics

here are some new pics of the volcano PACAYA

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2346079&l=25bae&id=3314158

The heart of the people...

To answer most of your questions about wondering how things are going here and how the people of Guatemalan are...

The people here are very warm with big hearts. Which is very surprising once you get to know the history of Guatemala, and its people. The people of the Aldeas, which make up of 95% of Mayan, have been living in an hierarchal society since the arrival of the conquistadors. With about 500 years of suffrage they still continue to be a people of good faith in strangers. The only way I can explain and in order for you all to get an idea of what they have endured and what I see everyday since most of their brutal history finally came to a peace 10-12 years ago. There is a movie that we watched today, more of a documentary you can call it, Precarious War: God and Guatemala. I definitely recommend it for everyone who wants to know what we see and experience on a daily basis. I know most will take this with a grain a salt, but there is a handful of you that will actually look into this movie, and you will understand the culture and people that I am living with, since I am staying with a Mayan family in Santo Domingo Xenacoj which is an aldea, and 10 miles south of Chimaltenango.