Busier Life, New House, 23rd Year…what??

I might officially suck at writing a blog.  At least at updating it anyway.  The thing is, as unlikely as it might seem, not much excitement happens here!  I think I’m finally at the point where, although I continue to count monthly anniversaries of being here, I’m pretty settled and life here is normal.  Not New-York- or really America-at-large-normal, of course, but I’m no longer shocked by almost everything.

Except cows.  I will never get the image out of my mind of a cow drinking out of a pila…within Cunen’s “urban” limits!  I still can’t believe I didn’t have my camera for that.  Another time we saw a cow scratching its head with its hind leg, like a dog.  I didn’t even know cows had that much mobility!  Animals here in general fascinate me: pigs on leashes, bulls roaming down the town’s main street, turkeys and chickens running about, escaped dogs eating baby chicks, rooftop dogs…I’m always reminded of the oddity of such everyday sightings when people come to visit.  Melissa’s mom taking photos of everything kind of weird in Cunen yesterday brought this to mind!

But anyway, back to non-ramblings.  Life is finally getting busier and more productive!  I finally met the 3rd farmer’s group assigned to me, so capacity trainings with them will start shortly, and things with the other 2 groups have been moving along.  I think I convinced the Trigales group to completely reorganize because even though they’re a legal association, they do not act like one.  Namely, each member sells their crop individually to a coyote/intermediary, rather than combining their crops to take advantage of higher quantities and collective bargaining.  We’ll see what happens over the next year, I guess.  In that same community I’ve been working with 4^th-6^th graders – one hundred and freaking fifteen of them! – on a school garden project.  So far it’s been fun, exhausting, and productive :)  We cleaned and fixed up the land and planted, and the seeds (most of which I got for free from Semilla Nueva!) are starting to sprout.  The soil isn’t the greatest, but in 2 weeks we’re starting a compost bin, at least for next year.  And although I can’t stand the cold that it’s bringing, luckily the rainy season has more or less officially started (and the rain is still nice and light), so there’s no pressing need for irrigation :)

Another new development is that I’m now on the volunteers’ Gander and Development (GAD) committee, as the Communications and Accounts Manager…aka the fundraising and marketing person, but we’re not allowed to say marketing lol.  So my big objective for the next month is getting business to donate stuff for our raffle at the annual 4th of July party (celebrated on the 2nd…) and getting volunteers to buy tickets!  Being part of GAD also finally brought me to Xela (SHAY-la), Guatemala’s second-largest city, for the first time.  While I was lost almost the entire time I was there, it was a really fun weekend!  A productive GAD meeting, spending Q600 on (mostly) needed things at Hiper Pais/Wal-Mart (couscous! Nature Valley bars! pretzels! new undergarments!), getting the free seeds, and a crazy welcome party :)

My most exciting and also most frustrating news is my new house!  The Muni program’s APCD came to Cunen last Thursday and approved my adorable, fancy new space!!  It did come with a caveat, though: it has a street entrance that leads to my backyard that needs to be blocked off.  I finally met with my landlord last night and we decided that he would build a little fence on that side of the backyard, which will be extended poco a poco (little by little) in the future, when both of us have more money.  So, waiting for that and for the furniture I ordered last weekend that’s taking AGES to come, my move-in date has been pushed back until not this weekend but the next, when I get back from In-Service Training.  Which just happens to fall during my birthday, so I conveniently get to celebrate in Antigua!

the front of my new house

what will be my bedroom with its fancy tiles and chandelier!

While I hate being projected further into my 20’s, turning another year older will hopefully give me some more credibility (street cred? lol) in my work here.  It’s not uncommon for professionals to be pretty young, as being a teacher is very common and they only have to complete 1 year of study after high school for their degree, but I think a lot of people have trouble taking me seriously.  Oh well, time will tell.  In the meantime, in addition to celebrating on my actual birthday in Antigua, this weekend we’re off to Panajachel for another welcome party that’s doubling as a joint birthday party for Carolyn, Justin, and I…let the fun begin!