Chiquimula- Cheekymoolah

Hello Hello!

Okay so I finally found out where I will be spending the next two years of my life and am VERY excited about it!!! I can't tell you all exactly where I am going but it is near a place called Chiquimula (pronounced cheeky-moo-lah), which is in the oriente (east) and is pretty close to the Honduras border, which is really cool. The majority of the people in this area are ladino, which means that I will not have to learn an indigenous language (yayyy!). Another awesome thing about this area is the weather... I hope. Where I am living now is pretty chilly but considered moderate by Guatemalan standards, whereas where I am headed is calido (hot). Basically the temperature range in my information packet says that it will be between 25 and 40 degrees Celsius (75 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit) which clearly is extremely hot. I am really excited that the weather will be warmer because that is exactly what I wanted but 104 might be a little extreme especially when I have to ride on a camioneta somewhere and there are 6 people to a seat... I might sweat to death. Another great thing about my site is that I am going to be super close to my biff here Emily (http://emilypcguatemala.blogspot.com/) which should be extremely interesting haha keep your fingers crossed that we don't single-handedly destroy the entire east coast of Guatemala. It is a little sad that we will all be leaving our current training sites, especially Ag Marketing because our group has really gotten so close and I can't imagine not seeing them every day :( We are all super happy with where we will be going though so that is great and I know we'll all be able to meet up once in a while. All of the other people in Ag have awesome sites so I'll definitely be making my rounds to see them. Hopefully people will come and visit Em and I out in the east (even if it's just to use us for our proximity to a beach, Thomas ;) ) I am also pumped that my other really good friend Nicole is going to a place called Quiche (it's not a delicious pie prepared with eggs and cheese) because there is awesome hiking there and it's much chillier weather, which will be a nice break from the intense heat of where I will be.

As for what I will be doing as my job for the remainder of my time here, I am really pumped! I will be mainly working with a group of women who have an association with artesanias including wicker products and shampoos and creams. I am not exactly sure what they primarily work with or specialize in but will hopefully find all of the specifics out on Monday when I meet with my counterpart (assuming I can communicate effectively with her since my Spanish is still not bueno). During training we have visited a lot of coffee cooperatives and learned a bit about mushroom cultivation and that whole process but have not learned a ton about arts and shampoos so I am very excited to see what that is all about and be involved in my association. I have two housing options at my new site, which is sweet cause I'll get to check them out and see which one I prefer (one description says there is a slight situation with the latrine/shower and if you know me at all then you know I'm extremely clumsy and would absolutely fall into a faulty latrine so I'll definitely be taking that into consideration before signing any leases...) As for other specifics, only time will tell. I am really excited/nervous for my site visit next week, which will be the first time I'm really all alone besides the first few days here (which didn't go very well considering my overdose of anti-malaria medicine combined with the lack of any knowledge in Spanish). Traveling to my new site via camioneta with all of my luggage should be an adventure in itself so please pray that my counterpart has some sort of vehicle that can transport me or else it will be an extremely long (4 hours or so) ride with all of my worldy positions... if that doesn't sound like something to add to your bucket list then I'm really not sure what would.

It's really unbelievable that training is almost over but I am so ready to be a volunteer and go to my site to do what I came here to do :) I am going to miss my family in Sumpango immensely but they have already invited my back for Christmas, which I will most likely take them up on because my madre is the best chef ever and my bed here is phenomenal not to mention there is an indoor shower with hot water (I'm so spoiled, it's ridiculous). I miss everyone at home as well and I hope you all are doing great and enjoying the awesome fall weather (what I'd do to roast a marshmallow and go on a haunted hayride would probably alarm you). I'll post another blog after my site visit! Wish me luck :) Adios!