Hello friends! It’s been longer than I had planned to get another post up, but here goes. To begin, I want to inform you all that life in the Peace Corps has a lot of ups and downs! Between culturally integrating, learning new languages, and having not so supportive people assigned to work with you, it’s an emotional rollercoaster. I would prefer to keep my blog on the lighter side, though, so if you have any questions about the other stuff feel free to send an e-mail!
October flew by – had meetings with my committees that I’m on in Peace Corps, had a couple women’s groups presentations, more Mam class, more hanging out with my awesome host brother (4 year old Junior), lots of time to read, and not so much rain. At the end of the month, a group of friends and I went to Copán, Honduras, to celebrate Halloween. Peace Corps Honduras has a get together this time every year, and we were invited to partake. We went zip-lining (where you’re harnessed up and strapped to a cable to fly down a mountain), played beach volleyball, and went to the Copán Ruins. It was beautiful and HOT there! As I’ve stated, I live in the highlands of Guatemala and it is cold, so sweating and getting sun burnt were nice for a weekend! I dressed as Chunk from the Goonies, by far my best costume yet.
As we’re nearing the end of November it looks like I’ve been in Cajolá for about half the month and other places for the other half. After 3 months of being a volunteer, my training group and I had to attend a ‘reconnect’ conference where we share what we’ve done and receive more training. It was really great to see everyone I hadn’t seen in 3 months, and catch up about our lives. It was also an opportunity for us to load up on everything we needed from the medical office! This is also the week I learned I’m integrating more than I thought: my friend Audra and I went to a vendor for some food and ordered burritos. They were honestly the best we’ve had since being in Guatemala, and we were so excited to have found this place. Well, I looked down and saw a cooked bug in my meal, which turned out to be a cockroach. We looked at each other and weighed our options: ask for our money back- that would never happened, ask for a new meal, which most likely would also have cockroaches, or look harder because food is expensive. So, we shrugged our shoulders, looked harder, finished our burritos, and walked home fat and happy.
My women’s groups are moving along, not going in exactly the direction I was hoping, but moving along nonetheless. I started working with teens last week and I have to say that the presentation I had with them on Friday was by far the best I’ve had in Guatemala. This teen group is going to be focused on sex, family planning, abstinence, STI’s, HIV/AIDS, and everything that goes along in that category. I have two more teen groups Monday afternoon, so hopefully they go as well as the first one.
Thanksgiving is coming up, and I’ll be spending it with my good friends at the beach! It’s about 5 hours away from Cajolá and not nearly as cold, so I’ll bring my swimsuit and see what I can get away with. I have my first visitor arriving on the 28th of November, so I’m excited to get a little taste of home. Not quite sure what my plans are for Christmas – I’m hoping to spend it with Aura, my Mam teacher, and her family.
Not too much else that I can think of right now. As always thanks so much for those of you who keep in touch – I really appreciate it! To the Gokeys out there reading this, you will be jealous when I tell you that Gram just sent me the 1980’s version of the Snuggie. It’s called “Warm Wrap” and the tag line is “The blanket you wear like a robe!” It is awesome, looks like Mexico, and of course she sent the original wrapping. Ahh it’s hard being the favorite grandchild = ) Thanks Gram – I’m wearing it as I type (I actually decided what to have for dinner based on what I could cook and eat while still wearing it!)!!!!

A HUGE shout out to Ms. Smith’s 8th grade Geography class in Napoleon, ND! I received your awesome package and letters, and I’ll be sending my reply soon = )

Happy Turkey Day to all, and a very happy birthday to my sweet Mom!!!

Oh yes, and to update you on books recently read:

Enrique’s Journey
Sand County Almanac (okay I skimmed it… It was way too boring to read the whole thing)
The Garden of Eating
The Virgin Suicides
The Autobiography of Santa Claus (currently reading)
Let the Great World Spin (currently reading)