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!

Vivo en Guatemala

SOOOO I am finally here, after a year I have made it into another country. Where to start is the hardest part. We arrived on Wednesday and jumped right into training. It was a bit humid but so pretty. There are volcanos and all sorts of beautiful things I have never seen before this. I met the people that would be my host family for the following three days before we are shipped off to our training site where we will be for the next three months. In the beginning I was so apprehensive, what the hell did I get myself into? Why am I doing this? I wanted to go home to be completely honest. But the following day I was back on track. My host family is the sweetest and I have been staying with two other female volunteers who are great people. I have a brother, two sisters, a Don, a Dona and a dog named cacahuete. They have been nothing shy of incredible. We played games outside with the kids last night. I saw my fist firefly and ate my first granadia. I think that is how you say it. It is a fruit that you eat the seeds out of and they are super slimy, like snot consistency but delicious! Mom you would be so proud of the stuff I am eating here!! I have tried everything except the squash. I had my spanish interview yesterday to test my spanish skills so they could pick an appropriate training site for me where I am grouped with three other volunteers at around the same fluency level. I am moving to Sampongo tomorrow morning and hopefully by Sunday I will have an official internet connection and maybe even a cell phone! I miss these luxuries.

There weather here is crazy. It goes from super hot to torrential downpour with thunder and lightening I have only heard horror stories about, all in one day. I also saw the volcano spit out a huge load of smoke today, also a first for me. The last few days has been full of incredible firsts I could never have imagined. I saw a guy walking a cow on a leash with his son yesterday. I have sat in on a spanish bible reading. I am a minority. I learned some mayan. I have sisters! I don´t have a phone, a car, an official room to call my own or the means to communicate as effectively as I would like as of yet. All this in mind though I couldn´t be more content with myself. I can´t believe I made it this far and I know while there will be harder feats down the road I will succeed here and I am doing the right thing for me. I miss you all more than I can say. I appreciate your emails so much, please keep them coming. My time is so monopolized right now it is hard for me to get back quickly but believe me I will. Your words of wisdom give me strength and I will need them more and more in the coming months. A guy just walked past on the main road with two cows on leashes and a woman walk with a box on her head and no hands, another first! Hee hee. Love you guys!

Fate & Life as I know it

Sooo fate is a touchy subject and my belief in it tends to waiver. but for the first time in my life I have this intense feeling that I am in the right place. I am leaving in 27 days on teh biggest journey I have ever gone on and I feel more at peace than I have in a long time. I think I should be freaking out right now but nope, calm, cool and collected. My family has stepped up in major ways to help make this possible and I appreciate you guys more than I could ever put into words.

I am spending my last month here in the states enjoying everthing I want to without inhibition; food, drinks, friends, and family.

Plans before I Leave:
Roller Skating
Melting Pot
Volleyball
Dancing
Drinking Wine
Throwing a Theme Party
Pole Dancing w/ my Girls' Night Girls (should end in amusement and a few bruises)
Karaoke
Biking the Centennial Trail
Hiking Poo Poo Point
Making Ridiculous Signs for Roy's Show
Avoiding the Gym
Laying in Bed ALLLL Day with Trev (God only kows when I will get the chance to lay next to a guy I enjoy again, I shall miss men the most...:) Lies, I will miss you all, you are incredible, please don't forget me.
Make a Wicked Playlist
Hug Every Friend I Have and Let Them Know How Much They Mean to Me
Learn More Spanish
Live the Only Life I Have Known to the Fullest. I will look back on this phase of my life fondly, I regret nothing.

More to come...

Love,
CAM

Trial & Error

Hellllooo friends and family and potential PC volunteers. I want to use this blog to keep everyone updated on my Guatemalan adventures. I'd like to start by apologizing for any poor grammar, misspellings or bad jokes I may make. I can't imagine what wierd and exciting things might influence my judgement and therefore my writing abilities over the next 27 months. About a week ago I received my invitation to Central America. I accepted without hesitation, this is where I had originially asked to go but had been denied. I was going to Africa they said. So I have been mentally prepping myself for Africa for the past 10 months. The offer to Central America was an incredible blessing for my family and myself. After accepting the offer I received a large package full of tons of information I will need to know about Guatemala, my Peace Corps country of service. As of right now all my paperwork is filled out, my things are somewhat in order. Now just to sell the car, learn some more spanish and spend as much quality time with my family and friends as possible. I depart April 27 and I am scheduled to return August 21st, 2012. Anyway, this is it for my first official post. I will keep everyone updated as my adventure gets closer. Thanks for reading:)