It has been a long run of vacation or work-related time out of site. I started the month in Antigua for the all-volunteer conference and after a few days there it was off to the USA! It was an amazing trip; I got to catch up with a lot of friends and family and summer in PA is gorgeous. Shannon and Brian's wedding was in the afternoon on Saturday July 9th. We spent the days leading up to the wedding getting all the final preperations done. I stayed with Nour so I had the opportunity to watch her make the wedding cake-- with baking, prep work for the icing, assembly, decoration and clean-up it was a many, many hour-long process. But definitely the most beautiful and unique cake I'd ever seen. After the service everyone enjoyed good food and a great night of dancing.
Sunday was a wonderful, quiet, happy/sad and definitely non-traditional day. Instead of giving the bride and groom some time alone together, we all showed up at their place in the early afternoon and went to lunch. It had been a very long time since we'd all been together and they left about a week later for grad-school in Idaho and I'm back in Guatemala.
The rest of the week flew by! Monday Nour and I got on the megabus headed for Harrisburg and Izzy picked us up in the parking lot by the mall. Drifting around the Target was slightly overwhelming, as all ventures into big stores are. Cunen doesn't have anything big enough for isles. Most stores here only carry a few types of soda, some candy, eggs, canned beans, toilet paper, dish soap and other random assortments of daily neccesities. I wouldn't caracterize the shopping exeperience here to be one of deprivation, only a lack of variety. If you are patient you can find almost anything (except nice cheese) in one of the stores or during Sunday market. So it is very weird to walk into an American grocery store and have an entire isle of just different chip and pretzel brands.
Tuesday I went to Philadelphia and walked around Villanova's campus with my college roomate Caitie, her boyfriend Jack and our friend Christine. It was a great but short visit and I had the opportunity to talk to the head of the accelerated nursing program there. Peace Corps fellows works with their nursing program so it's something I'm considering for after this is over (which is strange to think about since I'm only a little more than half-way done, but already time to start making applications).
Wednesday I, with tons of help from my family and Nour, made dinner and had a presentation at St. James about what I've been up to here in Guatemala. It was a really fun evening and I got to see a lot of people that I haven't seen in a very long time.
Thursday Mom, Izzy, Nour and I had a fantastic lunch at Rachel's Creperie and then I went to Manor Barber and had pretty much all my hair cut off. I think that they took off about fourteen inches and donated it to Nour's organization of choice. Danita and Penni met us at a cafe on Chestnut street and then we all rode up to Harrisburg to drop off Nour. Thursday night I had dinner at home, saw a few more people and tried to watch the movie Beutiful but was so sleepy that I'll have to finish it when I have netflix again (August 2012!).
Friday was off to the airport and goodbye to the U.S. and summertime. It is rainy season here so it gets rather chilly and rains pretty much every day, but the clouds hanging low in the mountains make for an incredibly beautiful view. After a rather extended period of intensely missing my friends, family and the long summer days filled with good food and much better transportation options, I am feeling happy to be here again. And I had a fantastic time seeing all my training friends at our midservice conference a week ago and got to enjoy the Antigua lifestyle for a few days. The Refuge has better espresso drinks than anywhere else I've ever been. I'll be back in Antigua in a few days for my midway medical check-up where I'm sure they'll find a few cavities. Guatemalans put tons of sugar in all hot beverages and fruit drinks so despite plenty of brushing and flossing, I'll probably need at least one or two fillings. I'm getting tired of all the travel (from here to Antigua is about 6 hours +/- half an hour depending on traffic and road conditions) but I can't help but be excited everytime I get an opportunity to be in a place where good coffee is served. Well, this has been a very long, rather rambling and perhaps boring entry but it really has been an interesting and fun couple of weeks.
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