Back to Antigua... for about a week and a half

Tuesday afternoon I arrived safely in Antigua, Guatemala after a 2 and a half week visit home for the holidays. Its kind of funny how a person can switch modes so quickly, and in a way it seems like I never left. That being said, I did have a wonderful time in Ohio and Michigan. Most days/nights were spent hanging out with my and/or Marty's family or friends, making for a busy "vacation." I definitely need to work on some card-playing skills to keep up with the Brown's and their cousins!

But for now, I'm here... and I love it! The school I'm working at in San Andres Itzapa is fabulous. Unlike the school in Honduras at which I worked, this school is totally GVI owned and operated. Volunteers run the show in every classroom, and we have some good, creative people here now. It is wonderful to see the excitement. The school is also brighter, more open, and has more interaction between classrooms. We all eat together at a house in the community where a woman cooks us lunch each day. The kids are more touchy/feely here. Also, most of the girls dress in traditional indiginous dress. The kids seem to look a bit healthier here... not quite as malnourished as the students in San Rafael.

The two GVI houses for interns are full right now, so I am living with a host family near most of the other volunteers (they like to have one intern in that section of town anyway). I have the king of host family stays. The food is great and their is plenty of it (unlike Copan). There is wireless internet (practically unheard of), there is a big outdoor roof patio right outside my room, the shower is hot, the bed is comfortable, and my "mother and father" are hilarious! They play music at dinner and do a great job of bringing us into conversations (another voluneer lives here as well). The father says "no more of that!" when we speak English at the dinner table.

Ironically, the volunteer who lives with me has done two AmeriCorps programs and he is a wildland firefighter in Arizona. Actually, just yesterday he found out that he will be on the hotshot crew next spring... a very big deal as my NCCC friends know! Also along the lines of "its a small world," I mentioned that I've climbed in Kentucky, and a non-climber from hours away from the Red River Gorge asked me if I'd been to Miguels Pizza. But of course! He said he once met someone while in Germany who had been to Miguels. It's just that good.

In one week I am heading back to Copan, Honduras to fill in during an intern gap for 2-3 weeks. I like a lot here in Antigua, but there are certainly aspects of Copan that I miss. I wouldn't want to go back for 2-3 months, but I am happy to fill in for a couple of weeks.