This morning we went to the school in San Antonio, and I was pleasantly surprised by the progress being made there. A fresh coat of cement covers the soccer field, replacing the dusty patch of dirt previously there. The bathrooms now have running water, so the kids can use the toilets and wash their hands at school. We arrived during recess, and a mother was distributing snack, a sweet white oatmeal-like mixture, from a giant pot—the money from the government to buy snacks has finally arrived, and local mothers take turns cooking. We practiced giving health lessons to the kids—I gave a class about the 5 senses with an activity where the kids walked a mini-obstacle course in pairs, one kid with eyes closed and the other as a guide. It went well, the kids greeted us warmly and seemed a lot more active and receptive than in the past. It was very encouraging.

This afternoon my fellow trainee Sarah came over to watch a movie at my house, but we ended up skipping the movie in favor of siting out on the patio with my host mom Chica and chatting for almost 2 hours. We talked about life, family, her aspirations for her kids. She also told us about her life before getting married—old boyfriends, how she and her sisters ended up with their respective spouses, and other stories from her life. She's only about 10 years older than I am, but has already been married nearly 20 years. It was so nice just sitting and relaxing, hearing her perspectives about things.


The other night I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom. When I need to get up during the night I often use my cell phone screen as a flashlight to see where I'm going. Half asleep, I fumbled with the buttons to make the screen light up. As I raised the curtain to walk into the bathroom, I glanced at the screen and realized, to my horror, that I had accidentally hit the call button and had called Glenda, the 23 year old host sister of my fellow trainee Adrian. I didn't know if the call had gone through yet, and immediately hung up. I didn't know what to do, but didn't think calling back and trying to explain myself would be a good idea, so I just tried to go back to sleep.

The next morning when Chica went over to Adrian's house to pick up fresh tortillas, Glenda asked if everything was alright with me, and Chica came home asking me what happened. I did my best to explain the situation, hoping she would believe me and not think the Gringo had lost his mind and was actually stalking her sister. Fortunately I was able to explain myself sufficiently—I don't know what I would have done if I didn't speak Spanish—and went right over to talk to Glenda.

Glenda is a very exceptional young woman in Guatemala. She is exceedingly outspoken and quick witted, sometimes to a fault. She reminds me of Beatrice from Shakespeare's “Much Ado About Nothing”. I love hanging out with her and matching wits, going back and forth sarcastically, always in good humor.

I arrived at her house and, with much embarrassment, attempted to explain the situation. Fortunately, despite waking up the house in the middle of the night, everyone took the situation with a laugh, and it's now become a family joke. Glenda told me that if I need help going to the bathroom again to please just call a few minutes prior.


The last week has been very pleasant, and training seems to be winding down (even though there's still almost a month left). Last week we had a pleasant visit with Ame, another volunteer in the field. We also got to make a few afternoon visits to Antigua, the beautiful colonial city surrounded by volcanoes an hour away from here. Last Saturday we went to Monterico, a gorgeous black sand beach on the Pacific Guatemalan coast. Despite the 4 hour commute to get there (as well as a 4 hour return trip), we had a wonderful time sitting in the sand, swimming in the warm blue waves of the pacific, and sipping cold cervezas. On Sunday my good friend Erin came to visit Xenacoj. By coincidence it was Sarah's host sister and host father Martha and Porfirio's birthday, and we had a very pleasant birthday celebration with them, then went to a cafe in San Lucas for a while in the afternoon.

Yesterday we had a pizza lunch with the U.S. Ambassador at the Peace Corps office. I was pretty impressed by his candor—he spoke fairly openly of the involvement of the U.S. Government, his predecessor in fact, in the 1954 coup which ousted the democratically elected Arbenz government in Guatemala. He spoke and answered our questions for 2 full hours, giving us advice for the next 2 years. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to meeting him again for our swear in at the end of the month, which will be at his residence in Guatemala City.