Juramentacion & first week...

July 19th we became official peace corps volunteers. The ceremony was at a posh hotel in Antigua and the undersecretary of state for the western hemisphere was there to lead us through the oath. The following day we moved to Salcaja. The first week was a little rough getting settled. It´s interesting going through the readjustment and settling in process all over again. However, it is great to be living together again like a real married couple. We´re temporarily living in a house owned by a widow who lives with her 19 year old muchacha. The Dona has been in the United States visiting family since we´ve been living there so we´ve just been hanging out . There is also another very young Guatemalan couple living in the house with a baby on the way. The living situation is good, but we´re looking forward to having an apartment of our own.

We had a busy first week of work. I (kelly) spent most of my time in the co-operative´s pharmacy trying to figure out how we are going to organize and start taking inventory as that is my first order of business. The co-op opened a pharmacy 2 years ago as part of it´s agenda to help the community by providing low-cost medicine. Mosiah spent the first week in his schools in Cantel and had the opportunity to sub in a few classes... We also joined the municipality of Salcaja´s commission for youth development. We´re lucky to be living in such a progressive town that is activally wroking to imporve the lives of it´s citizens. We met the alcalde (mayor) and staff, however as elections are in September we might be working with a different set of officials, ¿saber? On Thursday Mosiah invited me and another PCV in the area to join his school in re-forrestation project. About a hundred 7th graders, teachers and the American trio climbed up an increadibly steep mountainside, trees in hand, to a clearing half way up the mountain to plant the trees. I have to mention that some of the kids were wearing corte and heels and many we´re carring machaties and not one kid got hurt (and they all made it up and down the mountain before us...) On Saturday my pharmacy had their 40th anniversay party. It was a very guatemalian party with many speaches, marimba (national music) and a lunch that followed. They also had caldo de fruta the locally made fruit liqior... interesting to say the least.

Overall we´re doing well. We think about everyone at home lots and love and miss you all very much!

Whole training group

Youth Development group

Small Business group

Dona Rafa (mo-host mom), Dona Lupe (kel-host mom), Carlitos, Kelly, Mosiah, Don Jose

View from our roof in Salcaja

Kids & Mosiah planting trees