November!

Well time is really starting to fly now! I can't believe it is November already - just 2 more months and it will already be a year in country. The days really do go by quickly here - it is already 8 p.m. and I am wondering where the day went!

I have been keeping very busy lately and that really helps. I am still working on my big tourism project - bringing a mix of hotels, plantations, communities, restaurants, and an archeological site together to promote as a group effort. We are working as a great team and it will be fun to watch this take off. I was just up in Coban last week for the Primer Encuentro de Turismo Comunitario here in Guatemala. That means it was the first meeting of community based tourism projects here in Guatemala. The meeting was organized by INGUAT, the national tourism organization here in Guatemala. It is pretty cool to be able to continue working in tourism at a high level even though my project is fairly small scale. I never thought all of my experience in tourism would be put to work down here - the great thing is that I can speak intelligently on the issues and even give them some ideas on how we have made things work in the US and how the US clientele think. I made some great contacts at the meeting and also it was a great opportunity to see my Peace Corps friends. It is soooo nice getting together with them and comparing stories and see how everyone is doing. I am so amazed at some of them - speaking almost fluent Queqchi! We had great weather - didn't get hit by the "chipi chipi" - meaning never ending mist/drizzle - we actually had great weather. Also, got to stay at a nice hotel - which was amazing - hot water, water pressure, and I got to eat meat everyday! And there were monkeys there too!

Coming back I spent a day in Antigua doing some Christmas shopping and just enjoying Antigua - doing laundry in a washing machine and there was a DRYER too - oh I pulled my nice warm clean clothes out of the dryer and just held them up against my face - what a wonderful feeling - warm dry clothes that smell soooo good - oh it truly is the little things. And I got to watch TV and they had cable too at the hotel in Antigua. I watched Jersey Shore for the first time ever - wow - I kind of wish they wouldn't show that here - I hope people don't get the impression that all Americans act like that - it is kind of embarassing and now I know where some of our stereotypes come from. It is really different watching these programs now with a very different point of view. Antigua was great - got to enjoy eating bagels in the morning, enjoyed some sorbet in the afternoons, and generally loved wandering around Antigua. Oh yeah - I got to find a new taco place where they make great tacos al pastor!

Got back to site on Sunday and it was a crazy travel day - the first camioneta (bus) was packed - tons of people traveling for Todos Santos - with flowers and adornments. Then got on another bus, a Pullman, like an old US Greyhound which usually are really nice and you get your own seat - but this time there were no seats and I stood for 3 hours - but a really nice guy offered to hold my backpack on his lap the WHOLE time. The kindness of strangers in this country is really amazing - people are soooo helpful! At first I was very wary of this kind of helpfulness - thinking it was a scam or they wanted something - but no - truly people are that nice here. Then we got to the bridge just outside of my stop and there was a HUGE line - like 5-6 lines wide and on both sides. They picked probably one of THE busiest travel days of the year to try to fix the bridge - What the....??? So - I got off the bus and decided to walk across the bridge and hike to my bus stop to get up to the community. It was hot and I had a heavy load - but I didn't mind too much - except for the constant whistles and horn honks the entire way! Now I know what it is like being a celebrity - must be the blonde hair - but it is crazy here - constant whistles, horn honks, chching, yells of "canchita" (little blonde), que linda (how pretty), que hermosa (how beautiful), I love you...., ohhhhhh that is background music of my life here - at least in cities of on the side of the road- but don't worry - they don't mean anything by it and I just ignore it or sometimes they do get really creative and they get a smile out of me. Wow - when I get back to the States and I don't get this kind of attention I am going to wonder what happened to me!

Then yesterday was Todos Santos and I walked up to the cemetary in the forest with Sara's family. We adorned the grave sites and lit candles and enjoyed walking around and visiting with everyone.

On another note I was asked to be the godmother for the child of Vitalino and Pasquala. She is due in December and I hope I am here for it. It is a big honor and I am happy that they asked me. So that is exciting news too.

Other random things that I am thinking about/miss from the US...

*Ice cubes (namely I'm thinking about iced coffee)
*US sense of humor (The Office) - and cable TV
*Traveling in cars (as oppossed to public transport)
*Getting my own seat in a car - put it this way - the seats in coach on the plane are going to feel spacious compared to what I am used to
*Lettuce - I haven't eaten a salad in 10 months
*Sandwiches - the book I am reading constantly refers to sandwiches and it is driving me nuts!
*Getting to eat exactly what you want when you want it
*Dancing - oh I am missing my time at the dance studio

Stuff I Love about Guate
*Not having to get up out of your seat (or half or quarter of a seat) to get anything - they bring the paper, snacks, bananas, cold soda - anything right to you - LOVE this!!
*People being so helpful and helping me travel with my heavy bags
*GREAT music in the camionetas
*The cleanliness at McDonalds - they keep it sooo clean and there are free newspapers to read and they carry your tray for you and open the door for you - what service!
*My Guatemalan family - The Recinos that have taken me in here in Guate - they are so kind and generous - this has really helped my integration here in the community.

So that is about it for now! We have some volunteers here and they brought The Office with them - oh one of my favorite shows from the US - yes!!

Cheers!
Tara