It has been quite a while since I updated. The last month has been a mix of ups and downs. I wanted to sit down and write several times, but it never felt right. My uncle who always read my blog passed away, and it was difficult to not be able to be home with the family. Thinking about updating the blog felt like writing him a letter he would not read. He was so encouraging of the work I am doing and was a positive influence in my life.
It was a fairly normal month in terms of work, I met with the regular women's and promoter groups. Topics this past month were natural disasters and emergency planning, first aid, reproductive health, and family planning. I also taught cooking/nutrition classes; we made some super yummy black bean burgers and in another class we made pineapple jelly. The promoters in all my groups are getting close to graduation. I will still be working with them after graduation, but more in a facilitator position to help them figure out their role in the community.
Last week I celebrated Thanksgiving all over Guatemala. Wenedsday night some friends and I cooked dinner in a cute hostel in Xela-- we bought part of a turkey (there were only four of us) and put that in the oven for a few hours and spent the day cooking and playing spades. It was really lovely. There were also sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, cranberry sauce, green beans sauteed in garlic, a spinach salad, and pumpkin pie for dessert. Needless to say, there were tons of leftovers and we had them in a modified version for brunch the next day. Then, I ended up going to Earth Lodge outside of Antigua for dinner Thursday night where another Thanksgiving meal was served. As it turned out, I had Thanksgiving three meals in a row! It was an extremely delicious and successful Thanksgiving for being out of the US.
On Friday I hopped on a bus headed toward the coast, and with only minimal difficulties arrived later that day in Monterrico. The Pacific coast of Guatemala is mostly black sand beaches, and Monterrico is one of the nicest and best known on that side of the country. It has turtle hatcheries, boat tours, and other tourist attractions. Both days I woke up early and saw a beautiful sunrise, Saturday on the beach and Sunday in a mangrove swamp. Apart from the turtles there are caimans, iguanas, herons, pelicans, sting rays and many more animals I don't know the name of but enjoyed seeing. Watching the pelicans skim the breaking waves for food was very cool. The tide is very strong in Monterrico, so I never went in too deep, but I'm hoping to make a trip to the caribbean coast for Christmas and make up for that. Penni will be coming to visit, so I think we'll be visiting the Livingston/Rio Dulce area. I am very excited to have her here to help me celebrate my first Christmas in Guatemala (I made it home to PA last year).
Both of my sitemates are away right now, and it has been odd but enjoyable to be the only gringa in Cunen. Today was spent planning for international HIV/AIDS day (Dec 1). A coworker and I will be doing a workshop and poster contest with the young people here, so we walked around today and put up posters promoting the activities.
After work I stopped by my old host family's house and chatted over an atol with them, then we watched some telenovelas, played go-fish and they invited me to stay for dinner, which was nice. They had been visiting relatives in another town for a few weeks so it had been a while since we'd spent time together. I've also been spending more time with my landlady and her niece. The three of us go jogging together most mornings. Now that it is the dry season, there are usually pretty awesome views of sunrise and the mist rising out of the valley and moving between the mountains. Although it sometimes feels really far away from everything, Cunen is a very beautiful place to live.
