heavy rains and bad roads

This year it seems like bad weather is not just a Guatemalan problem; people here in Cunen have mentioned the earthquake and hurricane that hit the US last weekend. It hasn't been so drastic here yet, but we've had tons of rain every single night starting in the afternoon or evening that makes a deafening noise on my metal roof. The rain also makes traveling, even within my municipality, pretty awful. The road up to some of the communities I work in isn't paved, so when the rain gets bad the gravel gets washed away in some places creating deep ditches and holes and the micro-buses aren't exactly in tip-top shape so its a very bumpy ride.
But the rain is a nice excuse to drink lots of tea and read when I'm not out working, no one really leaves their houses when its raining this hard. I just finished "La Casa de los Espíritus" by Isabel Allende (The House of the Spirits). It's definitely the longest book that I've read in Spanish and although I still had to look up some words it was an enjoyable read.
I've been here in Cunen since I got back from in-service training and the weekend at Lake Atitlan, which has been good for catching up on work and spending time with my friends here Cunen. The people I see the most are my sitemates Melissa and Nicole; we cook dinner together several nights a week and alternate between southern dishes (Melissa is from Georgia and anything that calls for frying she does incredibly well. She also shares my addiction to way too much salt) and curries or stir-fry. I also visit with my old host family in the evenings sometimes. The room where I lived the first six months in Cunen is now a sitting room where Maria Isabel and I played Candyland when I last visited. I brought Candyland back from the States when I was home in July and she absolutely loves it. Just like six year-olds all over the world, she likes to play the same game over and over and over again. I think we played six games in row before I suggested we go outside and see the family's animals. They have a goat, which I'm not sure what they plan to do with and a whole family of ducks which I'm pretty sure is destined for the dinner table.
As predicted, the combination of heavy rain, build-up for the upcoming elections and Independence day has affected attendance of some of my health talks and training but there have still been many good days. This month I trained many of my groups in the basics of first aid, the importance of vaccines and also did a training with local teachers on HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention. Some of the promoters I've been working with also did their first health talks at a school last week. It was a great moment to watch them; when I first started working in Cunen it was a struggle to get groups formed to listen to my health talks, so having a promoter group that is far enough along in training to present a talk without me is pretty awesome.
Tomorrow morning I will be headed out of town in the early hours to go to the Quiche celebration of national health workers' day. There will be a parade, a basketball tournament (Melissa is playing and I'm cheering from the stands) and a dance! I'm very excited; last year I didn't feel as close to my coworkers so this year should be much more fun.