1. 1. I have kept my computer clock on Boston time my entire service.
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| My cat, Mrs. Cooper! |
2. 2. I have hosted a total of FIVE cats, currently have 3- Mama Mrs Cooper, and two of her 3 kittens. The other mini-cooper went to my friends Agnus and Michelle, bartenders at our fav bar/hostel in Antigua, El Caminante slash El Mirador. She loves her new home!
3. 3. I lived and worked in Cabrican, Quetzaltenango for just over 10 months as a Healthy Schools Phase 2 Volunteer. There, I shared 33 schools with my “pahtnah” Cliff. The Schools were in all sorts of conditions..some good, some so-so, and some in need of just about everything, but most importantly – connection to water!
. 4. Two volunteers have now replaced me in Cabrican to work in those same schools. They are super great girls, super motivated. The project money raised at my fundraiser on Jan 29th, is safely away and we plan on following thru with connecting water to those escuelitas!
2. 5 I have watched all 10 seasons of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. from beginning to end 6 times. Thank you Aunt Joanne, the box set was a birthday gift from her =) ITS. HILARIOUS. My favorite episodes are a 2-way tie between the one where they play the question and answer game and the one where Rachel is Late. The girls lose a question and answer game to the guys and they win their apartment- it’s also the one where Pheebs finds out she is pregnant with her brother’s triplets. In the one where Rachel is late, she is pregnant over a week and a half past her due date and she is hysterical! She just HHAAAATTTESSS on Ross- good stuff. My favorite emotional moment was when the girls were in the bathroom at Monica and Chandler’s wedding, finding out Rachel is pregnant, I cry. Every. Time. I. watch. It. Finally, my favorite joke is Pheebs is on the phone and she ends up getting and impromptu date out of it. She clenches her fists and proclaims ‘Today is gonna be SO much better than I thought!” then throws out double palms to ross and says “oh Ross, I can’t make lunch” hahaha straight up diss.1. 6. I have been either robbed or pick-pocketed 4 times. I have lost one camera, one ipod, three phones, three debit cards ,an internet modem stick, 10 dvds ( the real ones from the states, not the pirated 10s), including an all-time fav “Shawshank Redemption”….and about 2000 quetzales. The majority of these happened while traveling on a bus. The word for thieves in Spanish is “Ladrones” ….fingers crossed for a robbery free last year of service!
2. 7 My best friend in the PCG is Mary Faucette. She is from Chattanooga, Tennesee…Mary reps for Tennessee like I rep for Boston, she doesn’t play games. The first convo we had was after staging in Washington DC…she walked back into the hotel and I go “omg I got dope in like 10 minutes” and she opened her Target bag and goes ‘ check out this super cute Guate shirt I just got.” Done. Mary likes to climb trees and do outdoorsy stuff, she is super athletic…when we were at the Panajachel welcome party I entered a dance contest and lost-and proceeded to cry for an hour. Faucette was trying to comfort me and try to make me wrap my head around what I was even doing. I said “but Mary! What if it was a tree-climbng competition and YOU lost?!!?” hahahahahaaaaa
8. I haven’t fallen in love in a while…it’s been kinda nice
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| DBOAT! |
9. I gave out the official title of ‘Dopest Brother of all time” more commonly known by its acronym, DBOAT, to Adrian Ortega. He’s from San Diego and the brotha has got. It. Goin. On… at his going away party (despedida) I not only gave him a cape that said “DOPEST BROTHER,” but also gave quite the ceremony to hand it over. Adrian is the DBOAT because he is down for whatever man, so laid back . HE RUNS SHIT. He’s got more friends than you can even wrap your head around, and he amps up the party. He never has anything bad to say about anyone…well, unless of course you’re just awful, then he might have some palabras..i fell in love with him a little bit, I think everybody did he knows full well the deal, I fall in love with my guys friends as a Fact. Of. Life. Homeboy ain’t nothing bad to look at either…DOPEST BROTHER ADRIAN ORTEGA!
3. 10. I had bed bugs for my first 7 months which was TERRRRIBLE. They tore up my legs real bad, hoping they won’t scar I use this special aloe cream from a woman in church, I think its helping.
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| Lake Atitlan!!! |
1. 11. I HAD A SITE CHANGE! I now live in Santa Maria Visitacion, Solola…its about a half an hour up the mountain from Lake Atitlan, one of the biggest tourist sites in Guate. Unfortunately not many people swim in the lake because it’s so contaminated. PC has volunteers stations around the lake, both working to clean it up and creating sustainable tourism programs, its pretty cool. The Lake is surrounded by volcanoes and it’s such a gorgeous site to see! Though my site change was devastated, halfway through my service, but I lucked out with a Lake-site for sure.
. 12. Despite taking bucket-baths for the past 16 months…thanks to trips home and packages from MAMA, I have yet to wash my body with anything but Victoria’s Secret body wash. Right now Im using ‘love rocks’ and I still have an unopened bottle… I also don’t have to go without Folgers coffee my aunt joanne and my parents have been so good about sending me packages with café rico! Just a couple things I couldn’t quite go without during my time here....
13. Speaking of Victoria’s Secret…one of the things I miss most is working there!!! I worked por lo menos 40 hours a week right up until I left for Guate. I hope I can work there again back in the states, even a couple of nights a week! That job was perfect for me and I enjoyed it so much- the fat discount wasn’t bad either. The PC girls get a kick out of my ability name their bra size or fragrance…so fun =0) .
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| we clean up nice! |
14. On March 1st 2011, Peace Corps Celebrated its 50th anniversary. President Kennedy created the peace corps in 1961, since then over 200,000 volunteers have served in 139 countries around the globe. Currently 8,655 volunteers serve in 77 countries, over 250 languages have been taught in spoken in Peace Corps. We had an event on March 25th at Abassador Steve McFarlane’s house..CRIB IS OFF THE HOOK! We all got dressed up, the new volunteers swore in and my training group finally got a picture together! This same weekend we celebrated exactly a year of service, so proud of everyone!
15. As far as my work goes in my new site- it is so very different than Cabrican, I am now a phase 1 volunteer. Two volunteers have already worked in my site a total of 4 year---and there are only 3 schools. My boss told me when I moved here my task was clear cut- these schools were ready to certify as ‘healthy schools” and I was to do just that. Well, I’m doin it. If all goes as planned (you never know in this country, things can change ALLL THE TIME) we will have a ceremony to certify them all. One school will act as the host for the event and the other two will come and have some sort of booth to show their work, think science-fair… This will happen on June 21st. I will be busy and focused trying to organize the event…there will be music, people will give speeches, my boss will attend as well as his colleagues and members of the ministery of education.. it will be a great day if I can pull it off…some schools are a little bummed out they are not getting their own special day..i told them they can absolutely do that and I will support and attend it…but PC and Guatemalan authorities will only attend the one time…so that’s the biggie..
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| Promise of Life -translated in QUICHE |
16. The students in my furthest (and smallest) school “pak’awex” do not speak Spanish, I speak with the two women teachers. They speak the indigenous languages of “quiche”…as do their parents. I only know a couple of words…”Maltiox” means THANK YOU and I’m not sure how to spell it but something like “Chauc Chiq” is goodnight. I’d like to learn a little bit more, the people of the community literally LOVE IT when you walk out of their little store with a “maltiox”…lol Most everyone in this community can speak both languages. In Healthy Schools we like to have the kids recite “La promesa de vida” or “promise of life” one day we translated it into Quiche and made it into a song…the kids loved it and I think I am gonna ask them to sing it for everyone at the big certification ceremony.
17. I am currently reading the BIBLE front- to back. I’m doing this for a lot of reasons but I FOR SURE don’t wanna wake up some day and ask myself “did I not read it because I was lazy, or what?” it’s a tough read for sure but it’s also cool. The book of numbers was nearly impossible to get through because it is basically numerical data of a census token. It was interesting to read thru the lives of Moses and Aaron, I am not necessarily studying the bible, maybe I can do that a little later after I read through…it’s a life goal! I am also reading the world atlas front to back, you can laugh if you want! But on each page there is a mountain of info about that area of the world, populations patterns, economic profiles, interesting facts, and famous architecture, ancient ruins, or something unique and awesome to that specific area. Meeting a bunch of travelers from around the world..it is so clear that US schools fail as far as geography goes, I remember taking geography in 7th grade and that’s it. I have read through all 50 states, North, Central, and South America, and I just crossed the pond. Learning is cool.
18. I am learning to play the guitar! I just bought classical/acoustic guitar, and I am pumped up about it. It all my down time here in guate, I am either dancing or singing- it’s time to learn to play, I’m all about challenging myself these days. I have been learning from youtube videos and tutorials. I hope to learn the styles of Lauryn Hill (unplugged) and India Arie…they are my two fav soul sistahs and I find myself being influenced by their sound for sure. There is a 4 video youtube tutorial (taught by a dope brother) literally titled ..”how to play guitar like lauryn hill unplugged” sahhhweeet! It’s gonna require a lot of patience on my part, my fingers are so short that it’s hard for me to stretch them out to play even basic chords, but Patty showed me some finger stretches to practice and I will get it. I am focused on learning “if I were a boy” by beyonce because ever since I learned she had done it in Spanish, I have been singing kind of a Spanish/English mash-up version of it…there are only four chord in the whole jam and I am trying to get the finger picking pattern down so I can serenade you all! Haha but its true...19. The PC is not all fun and games, missing home is no joke! I think the other volunteers would agree when I say the emotional ups and downs are just straight up extremeeee. It sucks when you travel to hostels and they are the only place to take a hot shower!! It’s super lonely at times, I would literally die without music…or facebook for that matter, don’t judge me. It’s a legitimate lifeline. Mom got a web cam from my sisters for mother’s day, now I can skype with mom and dad! It’s hilarious, you can only picture my mom, I get 30 second hellos and goodbyes from EACH of the 3 dogs..jajajajjaja!
20. I have been here for just about 17 months, so that would leave me with 10 left!!!
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| Slave 4 u! |
21. The annual 4th of july party is creepin up!!! This is a weekend that everybody looks forward to. We have a basketball tournament where the different departments play against eachother, the all- volunteer conference at the office…but most importantly the party in Santa Lucia…music, BBQ, beer, the whole thing. Last year I was in the talent show and danced to the single ladies dance..it was a pretty good success, the crowd was poppin for sure. This year I will be dancing to Britney Spears…Slave 4 u! let me just tell you, its like training for the Olympics! The dance itself I believe to be much harder than single ladies…Britney was so athletic when she was rockin the hell out of this song in 2001. Beyonces style of dancing is more suave, and sensual..britney is very sharp and in your face…and don’t get me started on the amount of hairflips..i spent 2 night already with a heating pad on my neck…learning to dance like Britney spears is NOT A GAME!
22. Now, if I am to be a little emotional and sentimental about my service, I I think without a doubt that my strength as a person is being tested. Unfortunately my site change was just devastating to me. I had worked for so long in my old site and I had made promises, friends, relationships and gotten to know some of my students and teachers really well. PC says I am never to return there under any circumstances…it feels kind of like an unfillable void. It is just so hard when things are just OUT OF YOUR HANDS, you know? I have decided to let it go and move on, thought that took me about 4 months to get to this place. At this point I am all about setting little mini goals for myself and just reaching them. I had to change my attitude for sureeee, I have been pretty down in the dumps since my site change and I just cant let that ruin the rest of my service, I don’t want to regret my time in anyway. Gotta make stuff happen for yourself.
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| ALWAYS REPRESENT BEANTOWN |
23. Boston. OH MY GODDD DO I REPRESENT BOSTON. I think my boston accent has gotten much stronger since ive been here, I think its subconscious or something but I love it. I spend quite of bit of my time at parties and out at bars talkin about boston, the Celtics, patriots, sox, and bruins…what its like to be a true fan…IT’S A LIFESTYLE. So I spend the rest of my time telling off a buncha losers who talk shit….i mean, what am I gonna do, Let them do it? No. Apparently, no one else in the entire country likes tom brady…ummm they can take that bullshit talk somewhere else, ya hearrrrrd me? I have also come to a life/love/dating realization…looks like im gonna have to hold out for a boston boy. Its important. I need someone who knows that date night means ‘where are we watching the game” not some princess dinner and a movie crap. Haha its so true tho, a boston boy has a certain attitude that’s unique to them and turns out, I got that same attitude…AND I LOVE IT!
24. I’m not drinking a drop of alcohol in May, I declared it sober month…honestly since the superbowl, we have had reasons to party every weekend , going away parties, and of course its birthday season! I wanted to stay in site and take a break, focus on some work and that kind of thing. Also, I gained a little bit of weight since my site change and I wanted to make time to get my body back in shape….the dancing is helping! Haha I am on a diet, of sorts but let me tell you, trying to get motivation to go running or hiking is pretty much non-existent if you are IPOD-LESS, for real. (or terrified of getting robbed)
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| Paige is coming!!!!!!!!! |
25. One of my best friends Paige, is coming to visit me in August!!!! My first visitor!! She will be here for 4 days, and I got the whole thing planned out – we’ll do Antigua one night, hike volcano Pacaya, then ill take her to the lake to experience the hippie side of Guatemala…I cannot wait!!!!
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love you Grace Williams!!
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