Time

How is it already September? Where did August go? It is a weird feeling how time creeps by everyday but then somehow the weeks just fly by. I was talking with a friend yesterday and we discussed how we already cannot wait to be done with service. We both love it here, mostly, but at the same time our other lives remain on this awkward pause. We cannot really move forward or back but only finish our two years here as best we can and attempt to maintain our old relationships back in the States.

Anyways, 6 weeks in site and I am getting things going with my work. The 5 volunteers in my municipality are going to start on building an extra room with “eco-bricks” (plastic bottles filled with trash) for the much too small Health Post located in the main town. It is going to be a lot of work but I am so excited about the project! This country is much too beautiful for all the trash it has everywhere so this can be our little part to clean it up!

I have been continuing with home visits this week. I actually really like them! I walk around with a male and female community leader and we visit anywhere from 10-25 houses each day. My community has 6 sectors so we go sector by sector. I introduce myself to the family and give a little information about my job with the Peace Corps and my goals for the next two years. Some people are very receptive and excited to have m and invite me in for food. Others, not so much. Some families only want me to give them money or a project. I get a little annoyed with these people thinking every American is soooo rich, but that is the perception I must fight. I just focus on the interested families and hope they will follow through with their word and come to my charlas.

On a much darker note, I received some terrible news yesterday. I usually try not to put the “bad stuff” in my blog because I do not want people to worry about me, but this has affected me very deeply and I feel I must write about it a little bit. I found out yesterday morning that two of my good friends here in Peace Corps Guatemala were in a deadly car accident. They both survived but 3 people from their Health Post died. I saw a picture of the van in the newspaper and it was disturbing. I do not know how anyone walked away. One of the volunteers did walk away with only bruises, but now has the memory of seeing coworkers dead. The other volunteer was not so lucky and now has numerous broken bones. That volunteer had to be medically evacuated back to the States to receive better treatment for the injuries. I was very shaken up by this whole event. I had just seen these two people a few days prior. I think it hit me that Guatemala is not that safe and I sometimes forget that. There are WAY too many car wrecks and the roads are not properly maintained here. This could have happened to any of us. But more importantly, my two friends could have been sitting in different seats and not been so lucky to escape with their lives. I have made amazing friends here who I connect with and feel so at home with in the land so far away. I had to take a step back and remind myself that the people I am here with are truly making this experience doable and enjoyable. I appreciate my friends here, and at home, so much. I would not be who I am without them. Thank you God for sparing their lives! I can only hope for their quick recovery and return to country 