Waiting for the Holidays

One thing that we learned in training was to always look forward to something, anything. It could be as small as a trip into town to eat Taco Bell, but just have something on the horizon to look toward. Now that school is all but over for the year and I have some time to plan for next year (I mean procrastinate), I find myself needing things to look forward to.
Things I am looking forward to…

1. The Rockies winning the World Series

2. Having healthy bowels again

3. Dave coming to visit

4. Having too much fun in Antigua

5. Mom coming to visit

6. Thanksgiving in Guatemala

7. My next pay check (I am getting really hungry)

8. Someone to call from home

9. Seeing bolos asleep in the gutters

10. Going to Belize and being warm again

11. Christmas in a hut on the beach

12. School starting again

13. Riding my new bike around Salcajcá -- Thanks Uncle Sam

I would love to hear what people back home are looking forward to.

Best Day Ever

A few days ago I went to bed feeling like hell. Apparently, when I get a fever I start acting strange and shivering speaking gibberishy Spanglish in my sleep. After a day of being kind of unconscious Kelly convinced me to go to the hospital to have a… well a poop sample analyzed.

Aside from having cramps, a head ache, fever and a mean case of the boom booms I was feeling fantastic! To make matters even better the microbus that we got on to go back home was jammed packed with people. Now for the average Guatemalan standing in a micro is no problem, but for giant gringos such as myself you have to be an armature contortion artist to fit. So there I was smushed between the huddle masses with my head crammed up against a handrail holding on to the sides of the seats trying not to fall over onto the other passengers.

I would like to say that I had my guard up and that security was the first thing on my mind, but it wasn’t. My true thoughts were probably closer to “Oh my god please stomach… Please cooperate!... Who smells like tamales… Please god let me find a restroom soon!!” So in all the hustle and bustle I barely noticed the group of guys get on the bus cramming in behind me. At the next stop the guys all got off the bus and I dove into a newly empty seat.

Then it dawned on me. Wallet! Crap! After checking I found I was right, the guys who got off lifted my wallet. Then the passenger next to me added insult to injury by saying “Those guys stole your wallet”. She said it like she was saying “Hey, can you pass the salt”? If I had the strength and the language ability I would have said something, but all that came out of my mouth was “yes they stole my wallet”.

Kelly was good enough to jump right up and cancel the bank cards and inform the officials. I made it home with an aching belly and a wounded ego excited to get back in bed, when the phone rang. The medical office informed me that I was feeling bad because I had a bacterial infection and not one but two types of amebas. So it was pretty much the best day ever.

First 45 Days

Sorry for the delay with the new posts. We have been “Adjusting” to life here in the Peace Corps. With so many new things surrounding our lives we have found it hard to find time to post.

We have been in site now for about 45 days. In this time we have been consolidated twice for Hurricane Dean and Felix. I would have written about them if they had been more exciting, but they did not really affect us up here in the Altoplano. These events turned into social gatherings where we had a great opportunity to meet our fellow Volunteers and spend some real quality time doing all the things that Volunteers love to do (I’ll leave that to your imagination).

In between consolidations we had an opportunity to go to Panajachel and see Lago Atitlan. It is one of the most breathtaking places that I have seen here in Guatemala. We meet up with casi everyone from our training group to celebrate Marissa Lopez’s birthday. For all those who want to come visit the Lake will have to be on your itinerary.
We have also started working in our jobs. Kelly is working for Coop San Luis. She has started with an inventory project and is working to help them improve their computer skills and systems. Kelly also has a secondary project. She along with the infamous Marissa (our casi site-mate/hija) are working with a women’s group and are going to start a medicinal garden project.

I have been working in INEBOA or National Basic (middle school) Institute with an Orientation in Agriculture. I have started to teach a class here and there, but I am trying to figure out how I can best help the school. I am also working in the administration trying to build a database. If anyone has ideas about projects, let me know.

Hopefully as we get to know more people and how things work around here we will have more to report. We will also post more photos soon.

More Photos

Last Days of Training

Well training is winding down and we have finally had sometime to breathe. Actually, I find myself bored now that I do not have every moment scheduled for me. We had our last day at the center and we are glad to report that we both passed our Spanish exams and are all ready to go out to our sites after swearing in on Thursday. The strange thing about swearing in is that it is surprisingly similar to the oath that the army takes. I suppose it makes sense, but it is very easy to forget that we are working for the US Government.

There has been a lot of emotion with our families surrounding swearing in. My family (Mosiah) was good enough to throw us a pizza going away party. It was complete with gifts and followed by a tour of the local fair. After, we were told how grateful they were for our service and how they know that we will go on to do great things for Guatemala. Wow! Talk about pressure. I guess it really put things into perspective for me. Not only do we have a chance to have a great experience with our jobs, but we also have an obligation to try to find some way to improve the lives of people around us. How…? Who knows, but I suppose we have some time to figure it out.

Thinking of Leaving Magdalena

We are sitting at the training site awaiting our site assignments. In some ways I am very excited and in others I am a little sad. I know that I have not mentioned this before, but I have grown attached to my host family and I think that I am really going to miss being in their home. I am especially going to miss my best Guatemalan friend, Marvin. Sure he is 4 but I it helps that we have about the same Spanish language ability.
Everyday when I get home from work he has some activity planned for us. Some days we draw, other days we color, but more than anything he loves to play soccer. Now only if I can get my future students to make me laugh as much as he does.
The rest of my host family is amazing. They are so kind and generous that sometimes I feel like they are getting a raw deal. Not only do they provide me a space to live, food, and laundry; but they also provide laughter, conversation and truly care for Kelly and me. All I can really do is hope that our next family is as wonderful and hospitable as the Martinez family has been.

More Photos

Matt and Sean are the Best!!!

I would just like to take a moment to thank Matt and Sean for their wonderful and super thoughtful carepackage. We are more than open to letters, packages, and responses to our blogs.

Kelly and I have just returned from a week in and around Xela. We had the opportunity to teach a weeks worth of classes to 6th graders in the beautiful town of Cantel. The kids were so generous and fun to work with. It gives me hope that I (Mosiah) may have the strength to survive the next two years. We will post pictures as soon as we have more than a few moments of free time. Hope eveyone is well and we hope to hear from people soon.

hasta luego

One more day in beautiful Colorado. We can't believe the time has finally come. Everything has been packed, sold and stored. We'll miss everyone greatly and hope to see many of you in Guatemala. Thanks to everyone for your help and encouragement. With much excitement, hope and anticipation we take this next step. Please feel free to email, write, send cookies and above all keep in touch.

much love,
k&m

Word of the Day: Flexible

We received a call last week from the Latin America Desk, telling us that they forgot to inform us that we would be unable to live together during the training portion of our service (3 months). Kelly and I were immediately concerned with this. From day one we were told that we would not be away from each other for more than a three week time period.
Our first reaction was to ask what concessions could be made on our behalf due to the situation. In our mind we thought that since they waited until the last moment to tell us, that they could be flexible. WRONG! The staff of the Peace Corps have my utmost respect, but when they told me that there was just this minor change a month before departure, I have to admit that I over reacted a little. Sorry… The truth is I know realize that while they did make a mistake, they need to be consistent for all of their volunteers married or not.
It all boiled down to this. How flexible are we? We thought and thought about it. It is not a question that we have to answer all that much. I think that perhaps we are too familiar with getting our way, too accustomed to demanding what we know is right, and overall not challenged to do things that we do not want to do. After a lot of deliberation and discussion we came to the conclusion: We have to be as flexible as the demand us to be and not the other way around.
I hope to think that this is one out of many lessons that we will learn being Peace Corps Volunteers. Are we flexible? Yes. Maybe not as much as we thought, but I think we are on our way to learning how to be more so.

Step 1. Freak out a little

Okay, here it goes. A little while back Kelly and I started talking about the Peace Corps. It had been a dream of hers to join the Peace Corps since she was young and I had toyed with the idea myself since getting out of the military. So we thought what the hell, lets see where an application will lead us.
We passed the application and health checks and waited and waited. We did some more volunteering and waited and waited. We took some Spanish classes and waited and waited. Then… BANG here is your assignment and your projects be ready to leave the country by the 30th of April.
That was probably a little dramatic, but it feels really really soon. So we are getting ready to start the marathon. Step 1. Freak out a little. Step 2. We need to develop a plan as to what to do with our stuff. Step 3. We need to find out what it is we have to pack for a two year adventure. Step 4. Dive in head first and see where this takes us.
So far we are just at step one and I feel the clock ticking. Hopefully we will be able to get all of this done and not stress out too much right before we go. I suppose overall we are just so excited that this is happening.
PS. Does anyone have a backpack that they could recommend for an adventure like this?

First Post

Since we will no longer be able to update our website we thought that we would create this blog to keep in touch with our family and friends. I hope that people will read our updates over the next few years and comment on the things that we are doing. We will be sure to update K&M Guatemala as much as possible. Thanks to all those who have supported us and this new adventure that we are embarking upon