Livin' it up! slowly...

We are back at our Peace Corps HQ... after spending the weekend with our host families. We arrived there on Saturday, this is where we will be spending the rest of the 3 months. In this small en los cerros de Guatemala, the mountainous terrains of Guatemala, 30 minutes from the HQ, there are 3 other volunteers with me- Sarah, Amanda, and Travis. Coincidentally enough we are all staying at different houses but part of the same family. I am fortunate to be staying with the parents, while the others are staying with their kids.. all over than 30. My host parents are exactly, or less, the same age as my own parents. Yesterday, Amanda's host dad took us up on a hike to the "aldeas" and up there we ran into this older couple, mind you this it was cold... cloudy and raining. The man asked us for a light, thinking he wanted it for a cigarrette, which he didn't. He wanted to build a fire for his and him. Since, like i said it was COLD. We told them we didn't have anything so we continued down the mountain... about 1 km down, do the conversion...haha Travis realized he did have a lighter, so we hiked up the mountain and tried our best to build a fire for him. It was awesome... we all sprung into Peace Corps volunteers haha... Travis and Amanda went to look for wood while Sarah and I starting to build the proper shape so the fire can catch. At first, all the wood was too wet so it seemed we were going to fail. Then we realized we had some paper in our bags, so we tore out some sheets rolled them up and stuck them under the wood. Sure enough we got it going...thanks to Sarah blocking the wind. Then we realized that the older couple was practically standing on the fire because they had no shoes... all in all we hiked down with a small sense of making someone's day a little bit better. As they say one day at a time. I have some pictures which are on my computer and ill put them up later. Today, more classes on health, on sanitation, so we know what to with food once we get sworn in and live alone. oh yeah, started my pre- exposure vaccinations for rabies today...woo!! The country itself is awesome. Forests, volcanos everywhere you look, and the people are so welcoming to foreigners. Stay tuned for pictures and more info....