Last Training Post

Greetings everyone!

This will be my last entry as a trainee as tomorrow is our swearing in ceremony.  We will have the privilege to be sworn in at the Ambassador’s house by the Ambassador himself.  I am sure it will be a fun filled event.  After that we will all get together in Antigua for our last farewell together as a training group and enjoy a last night together.  On Saturday we will then all have to travel to our respective sites spreading out all over the country from the eastern part to the western part.  From out group I will be the only one going to Huehuetenango (Way-way-tah-nan-go).  I have two site mates that are in the program of healthy schools and have been there since March. 

For the most part training was an incredible experience for me being here in country already since August!  Time has really flown by for the most part but there have been days that just seem to crawl as well.  I know that I will really miss my host family as we are incredibly close and have bonded really well.  They have already invited me back for Christmas and have told me to consider their door always open.  I feel incredibly lucky because most other volunteers often do not have this type of relationship with their host families.  This transition has been one I can look back on with great admiration and joy.  I know I will be in touch with them and see them from time to time. 

Yesterday we had a Spanish exit exam and I have move up a few levels which is fun to see some progress.  I will be anxious to see what the next 3 month will be like as most RPCVs(returned volunteers) and current PCVs (current volunteers) say is the toughest in the whole service.  This is the time when you are moving into your community where you will be in for the next 2 years, and the first 3 months are integral into your integration into that community.  It’s going to be some tough work, some lonely nights and hard circumstances but one I am willing to take on.  Only time will tell.  I am also excited to start working with my agency in the municipality (I will write a little more about this coming up in future posts of what exactly it is I will be doing (I have to figure that out as well)).  It could range from a lot but mostly working with the planning office and aiding in project design and management. 

Lastly, thanks for all the support stateside! It means a lot to have all you guys rooting for me over here!

Thank you all!

Frank

Trips etc

Hey all!

Just got back from a great trip to Malacatancito Huehuetenango! It took only about five hours in a jammed packed comioneta to reach our destination.  I was there to visit another volunteer who is closing his service and to get a feel of what site living might be like.  I enjoyed my time to be able to talk candidly with another volunteer and get the ins and outs of living, working, and being a volunteer in Guatemala. 

 The journey getting there was quite the experience as going through the hills of the western part of the country was something else.  It was very scenic, refreshing and enjoyable to have the ability to see the volcanoes, the crops carved into the mountainsides and just the Guatemalan country.  That made up for everything that was happening internally on the bus.  How can I describe the atmosphere in the bus…..hmm….ok.  Imagine you are on a rollercoaster that should have been decommissioned only 25 years earlier but is still going at full speed.  The curves, climbs and types of roads we took were breathtaking for their scenery but as well as their sheer dangerousness.  There were countless times where I was white knuckling the seat in front of me to make sure I did not fall out of my seat, to keep the other guy from falling on top of me, and just to hold on for dear life.  The roads were just as treacherous and hair-raising as there were times that we went to pass cars in our lane and dodge cars left and right, (which means going onto oncoming traffic, which means regardless if it is a car, a horse, or 18 wheeler truck we are going to try to pass as many cars as possible, which means we did not have room to go back into our lane when this truck was coming head on at us with us both going in excess of 60 miles per hour, meaning we then had to go farther left where there was no road and had to skirt the trouble on the dirt road with bumps for a little bit until we got back into our lane.) 

The roads going through the hills all have been damaged more or less from landslides and poor management.  Any semi-educated civil engineer would have been in amazement of the regulations that the construction projects left out as they literally carved out mountainsides with sheer cliffs on both sides.  Think about Grand Canyon steepness if you can.  Anyways, with the cliffs and landslides some of the roads as we passed had missing ground underneath them where there was no way that a mouse could walk across the road without it crumbling from the lack of support underneath.  Yet somehow I have the ability to write about these experiences.  Oh yeah and the girl three rows in front of us lost her lunch about 20 minutes into the ride of a good 3 hour segment. The buses don’t stop for anything unless there is something in the road.  ¡Que rico!

On Sunday, I ran in a 10k road race which was a great thing to do.  Why? Because I haven’t exercised exercised in a while and thought I would take advantage of a nice day out and subject myself to 5k of straight uphill followed by another 5k or straight downhill.  I finished the race and I got FIRST PLACE!  I don’t like to bring attention but I totally did not expect this but I ran my heart out and did the best that I could do.  I did not care about placement as I just was hoping to enjoy the day which I did as the sky was cloudless and warm.  The course took us through the only road in our town as we are part of the municipality that put on the race, and it was fun to partake in this event.  What surprised me more than anything else was on the return coming back through the town was the amount of people who were cheering for me.  Peace Corps has been right in respects to how much of an impact that we have in our places that we stay even though we do not readily see it.  Just by saying hi and chatting people up at the local corner store or passing by on the street , I have gotten to know them and they have gotten to know the ‘gringo’ extranjero’ or the ‘conchito’ who has been walking the streets of them.  That warmed my heart and put a smile on my face for the rest of the run and made my week.

Oh I might want to clarify one thing as well.  The first place I got was the first place for the gringos.  I think I may have come in 40^th place or something around there with a time of 47:24.  Peace Corps also told us it is all about our perspective on how we look at things.  So I am going to say 1^st place. J

Hope all is well with everyone everywhere.  I find out my site placement and where I will be living for the next 2 years on tomorrow! Cant wait as I am ready to get living and see what I can do.  Hope everyone enjoyed a fun Columbus Day.