Estoy aquí para servirles.

I saw a man walking down the street with a UCLA Bruins T-shirt on, navy blue with the classic yellow-gold lettering. I was pretty excited. He, however, was very unsuspecting of its significance, and so it goes with most of the clothing bought in Guatemalan PACAs (second-hand stores). It gets so ridiculous to the point that we volunteers had a PACA shirt contest during our Reconnect back in February. My shirt said “Alien Sex Fiend Club” with a picture of a man with what looked like numerous spikes coming out of his head. I did not place, but Des’s “I’m horny” unicorn shirt was a fair winner. Keep in mind that people wear these shirts all over the country having absolutely no idea what they say. It’s pretty entertaining for us volunteers. I wish I could tell you more, but they are so many that I can hardly keep up.

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So, starting on August 29^th, I will have 14 months left. It is true what they say, that things pick up after your first year. I have had probably the best “Peace Corps” week since I’ve arrived in Guatemala.

My first victory this week: I won the representative position on the Gender and Development (GAD) Committee of volunteers for the Sustainable Agriculture program. This means I will be facilitating the sharing of information on how to incorporate Gender and Development charlas and activities into our projects, and will become a primary resource for the other volunteers in the Sustainable Agriculture program. This will add such depth to my service, as it has already given me the boost in self-confidence I need to start giving more charlas and building better relationships with the people I’m working with. AND, my counterpart is interested in working on this WITH me, since he has spent many of his years creating his organization (ADICTA) with a focus on development, devoting much time to providing opportunities to the groups of women in the surrounding communities. For this I am VERY excited.

Second victory: On Tuesday I gave a charla on Commercialization and all of the necessary steps to successfully commercializing your business idea. We started with a small skit and then did a rompecabezas (puzzle) to put all the pieces of commercialization together. The end result was a picture of a Guatemalan Quetzal (basically a dollar bill, but worth a lot less). They had fun doing it and I had fun sitting with them afterwards to eat our bread with jam and tea, chatting about life and ourselves. I LOVED it, in fact. When I left the house to go wait for a taxi to pass outside, it was drizzling. The house was located on a dirt road in a river valley, surrounded by trees with huge jungle-like leaves and forest-covered mountains. It was so serenely beautiful to just stand there in the drizzle watching the water drip off the leaves, the water pulling them down as it fell. Then I received a free ride back to the municipio from a passing minivan, of which the drivers were related to my counterpart! Or so they say. It is Guatemala, afterall. J

Third victory: Tuesday night, I chatted with my host family about how they felt about hosting another volunteer once I moved out. Their first response was, “will they be like you? We only want them if they’re like you.” It was the nicest, most validating thing – especially since I spend the majority of the time feeling like I’m an extremely rude, totally culturally insensitive gringa. I felt very loved/loving. Afterwards I went to “Noche Juventil” at my host family’s church and had my ears just about blasted out of my head by the absurdly loud speakers. I’m surprised they don’t have to buy new ones every week for how loud they insist on playing them. Aside from the difference in viewpoint and opinion on many real-world issues and the obnoxiously loud music, I thoroughly enjoyed spending the extra time with my host sister, Rosmil and the sweet girl that works in the family’s store, Vita. It was really a great experience.

Fourth victory: This morning I went running again!! And I did two miles, walking parts of the second mile. It was so absolutely invigorating and refreshing to get up early, blast my iPod (with some EXCELLENT old school hip hop to boot), and watch dogs fighting over each other as I made my laps around the super muddy soccer field. It is so nice to be able to feel the blood flowing through my thighs again as I seemingly effortlessly take one step after the other. It makes me SO nostalgic for those marathon training days. Anyway, I ended up being completely splashed up with mud—haven’t had such a glorious shower in quite some time.

Fifth victory: Today we had a meeting with the Junta Directiva. FAO came to ask them a questionnaire about their roles and to give a charla about Market Investigation and its importance. I sat through it with everyone and felt nice to be a part of the group. Towards the end, the secretary asked how one might go about doing an investigation, or writing a survey to take around with them. Don Víctor, my counterpart, chimed in, “well, fortunately for us Amanda is here. And she is FULL of conocimiento about just how to do that sort of thing. I recognize that I haven’t spent very much time working with her or showing her the ropes since I’m always in and out of the office in various meetings, but it would be to our great advantage to work with her. She is here to help.” Paolo, the Italian volunteer from FAO who came to give the charla, added very fervently, “ADICTA is SO lucky to have someone with this conocimiento at their disposal ALL of the time. It is really important that you make use of what she has to offer, especially since she will be here for only another year. AND, she’s here for free!” And much more. This was a victory because much of my previous despair and troubles came from my not doing anything in ADICTA. It was so hard for me to accept that it wasn’t my fault and that I wasn’t just some lazy volunteer – it really does go both ways and if I hadn’t proved I was willing to work by making my own plan and following through with it, I would likely have continued to go unnoticed. But now they notice. And they appreciate. And I feel like my decision to stick this out was the best one I could have made. I am happy, I am finally comfortable being who I am here carrying on with what I know is important and expecting nothing in return. This is the greatest relief.

And so, here’s to continuing on the up!

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In much of the spare time I do have, I have begun to draw a little bit here and there, and am the proud artist of my friend Charlie’s brand new tattoo! It’s a starfish, inspired by “The Star Thrower” by Loren Eiseley. You all should read it. This is why I love Charlie. I am also working on one for my dear friend, once diaper buddy (a whole half sleeve!!!)… I’ll let you know how that turns out.

I have also done extensive research on graduate programs of study. After much consideration of my extreme passion for nutrition (have read several books in their entirety in one single day) and its effects on physical AND mental health, and my obsessive interest in psychology, I searched long and hard for a program that would combine this love for nutrition and its psychological effects. I am excited to be seriously planning on starting from scratch with the many science prerequisites I need to be accepted into the MSNCHP (Master of Science in Nutrition and Clinical Health Psychology) at Bastyr University near Seattle, Washington. This is the first dream I can clearly see carrying through the rest of my life and I can’t tell you how pleased I am to have finally gotten ahold of it. Pretty sure this one will stick, but don’t hold me to it. J Afterall, I still have a whole year (+ two months) in Guatemala to change my mind…

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I love you all. And I miss you.