Catching up!!!!!

I have purposely not written in a while, not to lose contact, but so that my fundraising blogs would stay on top! So I’m back, with a lot of updates. You better be reading this with a full glass of coffee (I’ll also allow a good microbrew) because it’s going to be long! The last real post was June 12, and I’ve been a busy girl since then. First, and most importantly, because of you all (pending one more big check) I reached my fundraising goal of $8,000!!!!!!! WOOOHOOO! I’ve been working on fundraising since I went home in April, and I’m happy to say that construction will be starting at the beginning of January. I have a lot of logistical things to figure out, and I’m really excited to get moving. I’m hoping my counterpart will be into helping me with at least this stage of planning, since she has already done it with the previous volunteer. If not, I’ve got some great Peace Corps coworkers that I’m sure will pitch in.
SO! June flew by. After I posted, my good friend Anna visited. She’s a Spanish teacher, so it was really cool to have her here, and for her to correct me on my Spanish = ) After that, I had packed week finishing up planning for the 4th of July party and All Volunteer Conference. I was able to give a workshop on washable/reusable sanitary napkins that went very well. Immediately after that, I went to the beach for a couple days, then had a few more very packed days of dental work. I had to get 6 replacement fillings, a root canal, and a crown. I won’t go into detail, but they don’t have funny gas here, so I was VERY happy when it was over! The rest of July was spent in site working and doing women’s groups. I taught them how to make an oral rehydration drink from limes, salt, sugar, and water.
In August, we had a 5 day conference on designing our projects as well as how to construct. I can proudly say I can mix and lay cement, as well as make stoves. I might not trust myself to do a whole job, but I get the jist of it! I had planned for my women’s group to give ME talks and presentations, but the week I had it planned for I was puking like crazy, so obviously I cancelled!
Moving on, in September, I focused on doing house visits for my women. This might not seem like a big job, but I had over 80 families to visit, spread out all over the place, with no mode of transportation other than my feet. It is necessary to continually do house visits to make sure the women are putting into practice what we’ve talked about in the group meetings. Things I check while I’m at their houses include: making sure their kitchens are clean, there isn’t food laying around, they try to keep the flies out, they are practicing drinking pure water, they and their kids are wearing shoes and have clean hands, etc. On these visits I usually am gifted either a beverage or some kind of food at every house, and the eating is just about as tiring as the walking! Since I couldn’t do it in August, in September I had the women give me charlas on any topic we had covered. It was really cool to see them take charge and explain to me how to purify water, make the oral rehydration drink, etc. I felt very proud during those meetings, and hoped that they were teaching their friends and families everything that they have learned so far.
In October, I did some translating for two US women’s soccer players (Shannon MacMillan and Tracy Noonan) in Xela. The first thing we did for them was a press conference, and it was pretty intimidating. The few days we spent with them were super fun, and since I really didn’t know anything about soccer, they were able to teach me! Also this month, my friend Blake came to visit, and since he’s been here already we pretty much stayed in my site so I could get work done. I continued house visits, and did women’s group. This month, I taught them how to make toothpaste with salt and baking soda. I am not sure how successful that was, since the toothpaste doesn’t taste like Crest, but I’m hoping to save money they might start making their own instead of buying the expensive stuff from the stores. Blake and I also visited Fuentes Georginas, which are these natural hot springs outside of the city. It was nice and relaxing, and I hope I can get there again before I end my service.
All of the visits from friends in the US I’ve had have been great, and I’m happy to say that Mom and Dad’s visit went very smoothly – they are both troopers. They arrived at about 10pm on October 31, and we hit the ground running from the moment they they got here. We were in Antigua, we went to a kite festival on November 1 in Sumpango (google it – so cool), they stayed at my site for 2 nights, we were at Lake Atitlán for 4 nights, then back to Antigua the night before we flew out. It’s nice for all of us that they were finally able to meet my host family, friends, and coworkers, and to see how I live my day-to-day life.
November will be spent with women’s groups this week, followed by Thanksgiving at the beach. I’ll be contacting some NGOs in Guatemala to see if they are interested in doing construction of some of the water tanks for free. I’ll be finished with my women’s groups, since I learned the hard way last year that thinking that I will get any work done in December is wishful thinking. Jordan will arrive on December 8 and stay for a week, and I think we’ll be staying at my site, and then heading to the lake for a couple days, maybe doing some zip-lining = )
I should mention a couple things: first, since June, three of my friends have headed home and I miss them dearly. However, Kyle and Lizzy are expecting, so although I was sad to see them go, I think their kid will be pretty darn cool, so I’m looking forward to meeting him or her in May! I also should mention that I am very lucky to be using my computer right now, since I spilled half a bottle of water on it yesterday. Due to my quick thinking, as well as putting it in 20lbs of rice for 24 hours, it is good as new. I didn’t have it backed up, but the instant it turned on today, I backed up all my documents and music. Disaster avoided!
The last thing I’ll mention is sad, but I think it is worth telling people about. In August, one of my health promoters, Angélica was murdered by her son’s dad. He took her to a cornfield and strangled her and their 8 month old son to death. I have a lot of things to say about domestic violence and women’s rights in general in Guatemala, but I’ll save it for another blog post. I will say though, that Angelica’s funeral was one of the saddest things I’ve ever experienced. She was 19. While I was giving her mom my condolences, she lost it, yelling “Megan, they took my Angelica and my grandson.” It made me reflect on how precious life is, and how much we take it for granted.
To keep everyone updated, it’s not official yet, but I should be ending my service around the end of March. My projects will be done, and I’ll have enough time to do follow up, so I think the amount of time spent here is/was perfect. It’s weird to think that I’m very close to being done, but then I panic thinking of everything that needs to get done in the next 4 months!
Now, for the most important part of my blog, the book list. These are books that I've read since my lost post:

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
The Art of Racing in the Rain
The Final Testament of the Holy Bible – *this is probably my favorite book that I’ve read so far in Guatemala - READ IT!*
Nectar in a Sieve
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Lucky
The Tender Bar
Sophie’s World
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Escape
Little Bee

I hope all is well with you all in the US – as always, feel free to email me!