At the 1-month mark

Well...I´ve been in Guatemala for one month as of today. I feel like I have been settling in to a groove in terms of what I do every day. At 5:45 every morning, I jog around Parramos, the nearby village, and sometimes stop to talk to the owner of a local restaurant called La Familia which the NPH volunteers have adopted as their local hangout. He runs a small stand during the day which sells corn cobs seasoned with ketchup, salt, cheese, and maybe some other things, not really sure! Then I finish my run and hit the cafeteria in the morning, which serves the same plate of beans, rice, cheese, and tea every single day.

I get to my first classroom at 8am (6 students with moderate disabilities) work for a couple hours, and hit my second classroom (9 students with severe-profound disabilities) at 9:30. I spend the rest of the day there, with the exception of lunch and one hour of workshops in the afternoon, in which i help some of the special ed students in the school participate in pre-vocational tasks. I am done around 6, and then I grab dinner at the cafeteria (hoping for vegetables if I am lucky!) , and visit with my section of girls. I get back home around 7:30 or 8, read for a while and unwind, then sleep. The highlight of work this week was when my students went to hipotherapy (horseback riding)... what a great experience for them.

The weekends have been a different story. There is always shopping, drinking, and many new places to explore both alone and with friends. I haven´t done any travelling yet, but I know that will come soon! I went to a huge rodeo in Chimaltenango this weekend, which was quite the cultural fiasco. Also, there was a concert in Antigua for a festival which was really fun. I am moving into permanent housing this week, which should help everything at the house become more stable.

Pictures wouldn´t upload again...so sorry! I will try again soon. Also, FYI--- snail mail has not been coming through, so I will post an update when it is safe to send me letters!

Volunteer Orientation- The orphanage

NPH, the orphanage, is situated in a little village called Parramos, about an hour outside of Guatemala City. It is tiny and there is really nothing here- but I like that because I see the same faces every day. The house itself has over 300 children and 24 volunteers in addition to the local staff. The NPH orphanage is not just a home.... the organization runs a school, medical clinic, beauty salon, bakery, and carpentry workshop, making it perpetually its own microcosm. The children learn vocational skills in addition to traditional subjects to better prepare them for life on the ¨outside.¨

My first week here was spent getting aquainted with the other volunteers. There was alot of information and ¨getting to know you¨ activities which were somewhat tedious. For now, I am living in the guest house with 5 other girls, but I will be moving in a couple weeks to a different volunteer house with a girl who was raised in the USA, but has Guatemalan roots in her family. It should be a good time.... I can´t wait to start working.

Interesting things that happened this week- a dog rummaged through the trash can outside our house in the nighttime. I woke up to a yard full of trash which was gross! Also, I started running every morning just to relieve some stress. Finally, I watched many reruns of the Office and Sex And The City in Spanish with my new roommates. Here are some pictures from the week!

Pictures from Antigua

My host parents, their home, and general sites of Antigua!

More Antigua!

So I have been here for over a week now, and I´m starting to settle in. I am a little homesick because there are so many new places and things, but I think that´s actually a good thing because once I get through the initial homesickness, it´ll be alot easier.

Bad news... the pictures wont upload in the lab here in antigua, so I will have to wait till I am in Parramos to upload more!

Other than language school, I have gone out with the other volunteers who are here in Antigua about 3 times, taken a salsa class, tried about 20 different foods, and watched the soccer finals with new friends.... Not too bad for one week!

The first few days in Guatemala!

Well I´m here!! The flight was totally fine, and I got all my baggage on time. I went to the orphanage which was about an hour away, and one of the girls there was having a going-away party to celebrate the end of her NPH term. So I went out in Antigua! It was really fun- good drinks and bands.

The next day, I got up and hung out with the other volunteers some, and I arrived at my host family´s house at about 4pm. I was a little sad when I got there because it felt wierd staying with some family I didnt even know. But the house is beautiful and it has an open area in the middle with a garden. The dad took me on a walk through Antigua which was also awesome. They are very nice, but pretty busy with their grandma, who lives with them and is 96 years old and quite ill.

I met my new class today... the students have pretty severe disabilities, but they seem like they are able to communicate in some capacity. Also, the volunteer speech therapist, OT, and PT are really open to ideas. It seems about like what I expected.

So far, it has been kind of a whirlwind because there are lots of new people, everyone speaks spanish, and I have no clue where I am. But on the other hand, everyone pretty much understands my spanish, so thats a start. Language school has been relatively easy and the teacher is very patient with me.

Pictures of my host family and antigua to come soon...

My last few days in Columbus/Cincinnati

Last week, I packed up the last 5 years in Columbus and moved home to begin my pre-trip preparations. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to my friends in Columbus, who have been a second family to me throughout college. That being said, we had some GREAT nights on campus and around the shorth north as a send-off! Back in Cincinnati, my parents threw me a Latin fiesta to say goodbye. OLE! It is so encouraging to know that I have the support of my family and friends when I decide to do crazy things like this. What would I do without these people?

Map of Guatemala

Note the cities of Antigua and Chimaltenango!