So I was recently told that somebody in Ichomchaj, one of the communities I work in, gave their newborn baby the name Travis. I went to the health center to see if I could confirm the information. They weren't able to find the record, but I'm going to keep investigating and see if I can find my namesake, if he exists.

Then, this morning as I was shaving in the bathroom, I heard a knock on my door. I answered it to find a young man that I'd never seen before, who shyly introduced himself, in imperfect Spanish, and explained his problem. He wanted to give his daughter a name in English, and asked if I could help him out. I invited him in and wrote out a list of some female names, mostly the names of my female relatives. That definitely was NOT part of the Peace Corps job description, and despite my being a bit uncomfortable about how what Guatemalans frequently trying to imitate American culture says about how they feel about their own culture, was amusing anyway.

I guess I'm becoming more popular around town these days, since doing my mini-summer camp with the kids the last few weeks. I also put up signs for my free English classes I'm starting and have already got lots of interest. I can't walk down the street these days without people, still mostly kids but more adults now, shouting my name as I pass. I guess it's a nice feeling.

I'd been planning to go on a 3 day adventure today--The first 2 days biking about 100km to Lake Atitlan, and the 3rd day climbing the San Pedro Volcano. I was excited to visit several of my Peace Corps friends en route. Alas, as I was streaming NPR this morning I heard there was a hurricane off the coast of Nicaragua--I looked outside and saw a steady rain falling, which is supposed to last the entire week. The bike trip will have to wait for another weekend and I have the rainy day blues. Bummer.

I watched the 6th game of the World Series last night. Roberto invited me to his house and we watched the game with Spanish commentary. The Yankees beat the Phillies with 4 of the same players I had seen them beat the Braves with my Dad and Eric, also in game 6, at the old Yankee stadium 13 years ago. I used to be a big Yankees fan, but in the last 10 years I have moved on to other interests and largely forgot about baseball. Nonetheless, watching the game last night brought back a flood of memories and nostalgia. I flashed back to lazy afternoons at Yankee Stadium with Eric, sneaking into more expensive seats and causing all sorts of mischief.(Seeing Rudy Giuliani on TV made me remember the time we snuck into seats that turned out to be owned by the Republican National Party, and played it cool when Mayor Giuliani and his entourage came and sat in the same row only 10 seats down--I got his autograph on a ball I had caught earlier in the game.) I also flashed back to many late October nights watching post-season Yankees games in the living room of my mom's house in Connecticut. Games would often run into extra innings, and despite it being a school night Mom could never get us to go to bed before the game was over. Eric and I would struggle to keep our eyes open, sometimes until as late as 1 in the morning, and show up exhausted to school the next morning, smiling brightly despite the sleep deprivation and constant hostility of Red Sox fans. And last but not least, I flashed back to watching the Yanks with Gramma at her house in Darien. As the crickets chirped and fireflies began to break the late summer dusk outside, we'd be glued to the game. Gramma would tell us stories about watching the Yankees win when she was a kid. Seeing the Yanks win always put her in a good mood.

Seeing the Yankees win last night was bittersweet. I enjoyed seeing them win again--mainly because of the old memories it brought up to the surface. Nonetheless, seeing the game, the aging stars from the 90s, also made me realize how much my own life has changed and how much I've lost just in the last year. It also made me home sick. The old Yankee stadium-- the house that Ruth built, where Eric and I used to go to games while visiting my Dad in New York, was demolished just a year ago. Mom's condo at River Run, where we'd stay up late watching playoff games, was sold just a few months ago after she got re-married. Most sadly, though, a year ago this month-- while I was in Colombia learning to paraglide, ecstatic after having just received my invitation from the Peace Corps to come to Guatemala after a really tough year-- I learned that my Gramma's house had caught fire and was seriously damaged. While Gramma miraculously made it out of the fire unhurt, and we all initially assumed the house would be repaired quickly, it was not to be. Gramma died about 4 months ago due to complications from a broken hip, right as the house she'd lived in for the last 25 years was about to be demolished, and I have to wonder whether she would have had the strength to keep going if she hadn't been through so much upheaval in her life in the previous months. It's a shame she wasn't here to see the game last night; it would have made her very happy.

Watching baseball when I was young, I relished in the simple pleasures of seeing my team win (which happened a lot in the late 90s). Watching the game last night, I saw baseball from a different perspective, even as a metaphor for life in ways-- the countless individual plays and moments adding up to great victories and defeats; the arbitrary silliness but also genuine fun of rooting for your group (ie team) based on nothing more substantial than the fact that they play in the city where you're from; the increasing role of big corporate money in controlling outcomes (the Yankees have by far the highest payroll in baseball). Mostly, however, I saw last nights game as a reminder of both the continuous and ephemeral aspects of life.

School vacations have been pretty good so far. I miss my schools and kids, but have made up for it by running a mini-summer camp 3 mornings a week for the kids in my town. I was a bit worried I'd be overwhelmed, but so far the number of kids that show up has been ranging between 20 and 60ish, which has been more or less manageable. I've been teaching some basic English phrases, doing songs like the Itsy Bitsy spider in both English and Spanish, games like Simon Says and sharks and minnows, and American sports like kickball and capture the flag. Capture the flag seems to be the favorite activity. It was a bit crazy the first few days as the kids were learning the rules and there seemed to be quite a lot of cheating, but we had a great boys vs girls game yesterday morning with some real teamwork and strategy on both sides. I'm also trying to incorporate educational aspects into the activities, for example by talking about hand washing and teeth brushing, and also really emphasizing the kids not throwing the trash on the ground and having everyone pick up trash from the ground for a few minutes each day. Everyone seems to be having fun, which is the most important thing. I must admit, I am as well, especially when the kids get along and I can play the games too!

I've also been doing lots more longer bike trips now that I have more free time, exploring and checking out different places nearby. There are some really gorgeous places I'd never seen before, and I love the sense of freedom, adventure, and accomplishment of doing long bike rides, a joy I haven't had much of these last few years. I'm hoping the biking will be good cross training for the Xela half marathon, which I'm running next weekend with Oliver and Jamie.

Last weekend for Halloween, which is celebrated here in addition to the more important all saints day, I joined lots of my other Peace Corps friends high in the Cuchamatanes mountains, the highest range in Central America, for a famous celebration in the town of Todos Santos Cuchamatanes. The town is famous for the yearly horse races they run on the morning of November 1^st. After some Halloween partying the night before, we checked out the races the next morning, which were pretty interesting. Brightly dressed local men in varying states of intoxication raced their horses back and forth down a track, yelling and waving their arms. I asked but wasn't able to really determine the reason or history behind the tradition, but it was fun to watch anyway. The U.S. Ambassador also showed up as well—he's a really nice guy and has made a big effort to be involved with PC volunteers, and we enjoyed chatting with him. I jokingly asked him if he was jealous of all the excitement his counterpart in the Honduran embassy was getting these days (after the coup a few months ago.) I'm not sure if he appreciated the joke. The next morning we went to the cemetery, where people were making the yearly visit to deceased friends and relatives to leave food, light candles, and in some instances even play marimba music at the grave. I reflected on how the graveyard demonstrated a different Guatemalan attitude towards dying, where it is seen more as a natural part of life. Some people were definitely mourning very seriously, but the overall tone seemed to be more of celebration and honoring the dead. There were even vendors walking around selling ice cream and other snacks; not something you'd probably see in an American cemetery.

I imagine back in my home state of Connecticut they're starting to enjoy the fall weather and colors. That's definitely something I miss here in Guatemala. The only 2 seasons here are the rainy season and the dry season, but there's been a drought here the last few months so even that distinction hasn't meant too much. The idea of having 4 seasons as different as the ones we have in New England is completely foreign here. I try to explain it to people, but it's hard to describe snow to someone that's never seen it. One thing I never realized before is how the changing seasons give a sense of flow and even order to the passing of time, a sense I miss here. Here, it sometime seems that time doesn't pass at all, and I need to remind myself that I've been here in Guatemala about 10 months, quickly coming on a whole year!

The school year here is different and is coming to an end this week—Guatemalan kids are now starting what would be the equivalent of their 'summer vacation' until January. I have mixed feelings about completing my first school year here. The last month or so teachers seemed very busy with all sorts of different paper work and meetings, so it was hard to get them to even stay in the classroom during my lessons, much less continue with the changes I would have like to have made a priority. Nonetheless, looking back I think we definitely made progress in all my 3 schools. For example, in Centro Ichomchaj, my largest school, they only have 1 sink for over 200 kids. In order to implement a hand washing system for before the school snack, I suggested they obtain plastic barrels with spigots at the bottom for each classroom to use. To my surprise, they did. It's not a permanent solution—building more actual sinks is something I hope to do next year-- but it works fine and kids are able to wash their hands and brush their teeth much easier. In my smallest school, chua chioj, one of my favorite teachers Luis suggested I make a final exam for his class based on the material I taught them over the past 7 months. I was pleased when, overall, the class did fairly well, averaging a score of about 75%, with several scores in the 90%s and one perfect score. I try to tell myself that at the end of the day if even some of the students absorb the information I'm trying to impart my work will be worth it. Looking back, we also did some fun, interactive activities which will hopefully serve as a model for teachers, such as teaching about recycling by making piñatas out of recycled newspapers and plastic bags.

I'm trying to plan some activities in the community to keep myself busy during these months. First, I'm planning a 'mini summer camp' for the kids in my town, where I'll teach them sports and games from the U.S. like kickball, capture the flag, and duck duck goose as well as doing songs, teaching some basic English, and other educational activities and community service like picking up trash around town. I'm also going to start teaching English classes once a week. I'm also hoping to paint a big map of the world on the wall outside of the elementary school. I'm also continuing my K'iche language classes. It's going, slowly, but I'm finally able to form some basic sentences and understand a little bit when people speak to me slowly. I'll see how things continue to go.

Today I've been invited to attend a graduation ceremony for the 6^th graders at one of the elementary schools I work in. I was very touched that the students themselves took the initiative to invite me, and reminded me not to forget, so I know it's important to them that I attend. For most if not all of the graduating 6^th graders, they're probably the first generation in their family to attend even elementary school. I asked them how many were planning on continuing on to middle school next year. Of the 25 or so graduating 6^th graders, only 3, all girls, are planning to continue studying in middle school next year. There are lots of barriers in the way. Lots of kids have to work to support their large families with many mouths to feed. Parents, most of whom didn't go to school themselves, often don't understand the importance of education and don't or can't afford to support their kids going to school. And in the case of more remote schools like the one I'm going to today, just getting to the only middle school in the area will involve the 3 girls walking almost an hour, down a steep ravine then back up the other, under the hot sun. Then, after classes they'll have to do the same thing in the dark. Despite all the obstacles and challenges to education here, I'm inspired by the maturity and commitment these girls have shown in order to become educated and improve their lives.

I've also had some incredible adventure the last few months, the most memorable of which was going back to Colorado to be the best man in my dear friends Aaron and Aneta's wedding outside of Steamboat Springs. It was so wonderful to get back to my old home, if only for a few days, see old friends and of course, party and have the time of our lives. The party continued the following week when they came down to Guatemala for their honeymoon and I got to be tour guide. We had a blast, first in Antigua, then in my site, then exploring lake Atitlan for several nights. The highlight of the trip (and possibly the most fun I've had in Guatemala) was renting a power boat and waterskiing and wakeboarding through the sunny, volcano ringed lake the whole weekend.

Last weekend was a religious festival in my town. Courtenay and I were invited to participate in an event to go to Huehuetenango, light torches at a church there and bring them back on our bicycles. It ended up being a crazy, fun day and was great for my integration into the community here. Before coming back on the bikes we spent a few hours hanging out at a mini-water park complete with water slides and lots of statues including a huge T-Rex overlooking the pool with water coming out of his mouth. People would climb up and jump or dive off into the less than 6 feet of water. Needless to say it wasn't the safest experience but was very fun. I thought we would bike all or at least most of the way back here to town, but in the end we ended up not getting on our bikes until 4 in the afternoon, so were only able to pedal an hour or so before piling our bikes back on the truck and climbing in the mini van. The ride we did do was fun though, and we saw an unbelievable complete double rainbow! Back at the edge of town, we got out and got back on our bikes, lit the torches, and rode into town to lots of cheer, fanfare, and of course—FIREWORKS (It wouldn't be a Guatemalan celebration without...) The next day the festival continued, and Courtenay and I participated (and lost) a contest where she fed me juice out of a baby bottle, and we ran a 3km road race which ended up being scandalized when it was revealed some of the contestants had secretly rode bikes part of the way. Other memorable recent weekends include riding my bike to Momostenango again in order to go to my friend Sarah's birthday party outside of Xela, and spending the night at some beautiful hotsprings called Fuentes Georginas for a welcome party a few weeks ago. Yesterday I rode my bike to Quiche. It was a beautiful ride and only took less than an hour and a half. I hung out with my friend Susy and it ended up being a really nice day.