Grettings everyone! Finally I have gotten back to the internet to be able to post this. Let me say first and foremost that everything is getting better. I am not sure what all of you have heard/read/seen on the news but the landslides here the past week have been very devastating and have claimed numerous lives. With that being said, most of the training projects we are doing and are going to be altered a little bit. We were supposed to have a Mayan ceremony in Tecpan, at Ixenche where there are fantastic Mayan ruins of temples and pyramids but unfortunately that is where the landslides have destroyed most of the roads including the Inter-American highway. It was a quick awakening to the strength that Mother Nature can unleash at her will.

Spanish classes continue with little cultural exchanges and learning about anything and everything Guatemalan. It has been very fun and rewarding. Yesterday we had all the mothers from our Spanish class come to our class and did a fun activity. For our icebreaker we were supposed to make a single file line according to our birthday month starting with January and descending in order, but the catch was without words or hand gestures. Soon we were allowed hand gestures and finally made it work after much amusement and laughter. The goal was to provide a language barrier and a problem and means to do our best to work our way through it. This still happened between us trainees and the host familys as we integrate into the Guatemalan communities as sayings, diction and tone all can play a part in the meaning of something said. Hand gestures are a whole other conversation but fun to know and use as well in accordance to verbal communication. After that we talked about perceptions that our American culture had of the Guatemalans and vice versa. That was fun to talk about them after we addressed some key issues and could talk about. We Americans walk way to fast, are too punctual, and read a lot were some of the stereotypes.

This past week we went to a coffee farm, say the process of how coffee is grown, harvested, dried, and roasted and eventually sold. It is very interesting and a quick note for all the coffee drinkers, a coffee tree produces about 40 cups of coffee a year. On that tour, I had an opportunity to take some pictures of flowers and the buildings of the coffee farm. Some are included as I have a little passion for photography that I hope to develop (no pun intended) in some free time down here.

As far as work related training goes, I have paired up with another trainee to work with a youth group within the municipality. We will be doing some ‘charlas’ which are presentations and informational/educational workshops that can range from sexual education, domestic violence, sports playing, geography and identifying needs of the community. We have the opportunity to really get our feet wet and be in front of participating individuals who are looking to be a part of something. It will be fun and interesting to see how we do in the upcoming weeks. Times are busy with packed days of Spanish, cultural and technical training, intensive but fun and rewarding nonetheless.

Next week on September 15th Independence Day and festivities and parades will take place all day and will be a fun cultural experience. I can’t wait. Other than that to report, all is well and each day brings new opportunities and learning experiences and lately (the past 3 days NO RAIN!) decent weather once and a while.