Realism Vs Fatalism

One week down!
The days pass by insanely quickly but it feels like I have been here forever. I arrived in Sumpango on Saturday, I will be here until I swear in on July 16th. I lucked out and got an amazing host family. My dona Berta, Don Mario, his sister, dad and their 5 month old baby, Gladys. I have eaten more wierd food, rode on a camioneta, gone to a Catholic church and started thinking in spanish. A lot has happened in just one week.
My daily schedule looks something like this:
6am: Wake up, shower, eat breakfast, and do the dishes
8am: Leave to one of the other 3 people in my study groups house for spanish lessons
12pm: Almuerzo!
1pm: more spanish in the central park where everyone can stare:)
3-5:30pm: explore the town with my group for just because that's about our only freedom
5:30-7:30 Hang out with the fam, cook dinner, eat dinner, and do the dishes
7:30-9:30: Work out, talk with my real family and then head to bed

While writing this down I thought wow, how boring. It is honestly anything but boring. At this point in Peace Corps this is all I could ask for. My brain hurts from speaking/hearing primarily spanish all day long. By the time I get home all I want to do is dumb down for awhile, if I could watch some reality TV I most certainly would.
I have observed some crazy things while living in Guatemala. Some things I have found interesting:
*There are very prominant gender roles here.
*Most of the people in my town are extrememly traditional
*The majority of women wear traditional dress
*Kids are far more interested in us gringos then anyone else (they like to get really close and then run away laughing, this may be a game to them:)
*The more money people make, the more like americans they are (I can only truly say this about two families and it is because both of the guys in my group are staying with host families that fit this description, I don't mean to generalize)
*The drivers and ayudantes (helpers) of camionetas (buses) are by far the craziest people of all time
*Hand washing your clothes in a pila is freakin hard!
*I couldn't do this without my family and friends.

There have been some serious struggles, I miss everyone way more than I could have imagined. The buildings look depressed, I have no control over what I eat for meals, I have very little freedom and my head hurts. BUT the streets are full of life, everyone is so colorful, my host family is so helpful, the weather is incredible, I love the new bonds I am forming and I love the independence I am gaining from the only life I have known. I hope you all are taking some time to better your lives. For those of you who made me lists, we will be chatting in the near future and I hope to hear about a lot of accomplishments:) I wish I could share everything I go through with you all but after all the spanish lessons I am lacking a memory and the motivation to do so.

I do want to share an interesting concept with you guys though, fatalism. During training we were told that many people in Guatemala believe in fatalism. This is the idea that everything that happens to you was God's doing. You have very little control over what happens in your life. This includes sickness, pregnancies, money, and just about everything else. I had pretty strong feelings about this but I am more interested in hearing your guys' thoughts on this. Is it better to believe you have all the control in your life and therefore ALL good and BAD things are your own doing or is it better to believe all of your accomplishments and all of your failures are the work of God. Something to ponder.
Love you guys!