I headed out to Reconnect the second week of November. This consisted of two days of hashing out what we're doing in site, what's working, what's not, and getting some constructive feedback from our own program and what the next step is. These two days were exhausting, of course, but incredibly helpful. I was astonished at the amount of work some of my fellow PCVs had accomplished in the short 4 months in site, and I was relieved to find out that others had similar or even worse situations in their sites. I kept reminding myself to stop comparing, as I have a terrible habit of making comparisons and then putting myself down for not being the super stellar volunteer. At the end of Tuesday, I had a positive outlook and was ready to get back to site and get my hands dirty. Well, not quite yet. I had three days of Spanish class, but was happy to find out it was the last required Spanish I would ever have to take.
Reconnect was an opportunity to also see the other 49 volunteers from my training group - so far, we have only lost two PCVs and both terminated early for job offers. We were exhausted but happy to see each other. Some had traveled from Huehuetenango, a beautiful department up to 13 hours away from the Peace Corps office, so those few were not seen as often as others, like myself, only an hour away from Xela. Once Reconnect ended, the PCVs from my community-based training community plus a few others headed out to Rio Dulce and Livingston, both located in the department of Izabal of Northeastern Guatemala. It is a tropical department, but thankfully not too humid as the rainy season has subsided. We spent three days in Rio Dulce, kayaking, swimming, hiking waterfalls, relaxing in hot springs, and enjoying the liberation of zero cell phone reception. We stayed at El Hotelito Perdido, located on a small river with beautiful bungalows and a small dock and a honesty based system of charging. The atmosphere was relaxing and the food was quite possibly the best I've had in Guatemala. Anyone looking to vacation in Rio Dulce, I highly recommend Hotelito Perdido for accomodation. We later ventured to Livingston, on the mouth of the Caribbean Sea, where we swam more, ate more, and even ventured out to the Zapotillo Cays of Belize for snorkeling. The last day, we spent the afternoon at the small, secluded Playa Blanca (White Beach) where the sea and the horizon blurred into an indiscernible blue, drinking from freshly cut coconuts and watching the fins of dolphins move in and out of the water.
View from Hotel Backpacker's in Rio Dulce
Rio Dulce, heading to El Hotelito Perdido
Bungalow at El Hotelito Perdido
Pathway through Perdido
Rio Lampara, on our way to the waterfall
Cascada Lampara in Rio Dulce, we swam there!
Unfortunately, my pictures end there as my camera got wet from the humidity and stopped working for a few days. My vacation was relaxing, warm, and a great week with some good friends. I was sad to come back to reality, but I came back just in time for December 1st, World AIDS day, or Dia Mundial de VIH/SIDA. My counterpart organized a walk, or caminata, but things just didn't pan out for her. The municipal office granted her use of only one speaker and a car, but then told her she couldn't use either an hour before the walk. None of my health promoters came to the walk, and my poorly made signs made quite a laugh with the practicantes and my sitemate. Despite the poor turnout, we handed out information about HIV/AIDS, I handed out red ribbons, and my counterpart found a taxi willing to drive her with a speaker while she spoke about HIV/AIDS and getting tested. It may not have been the best walk, but I was happy to see that the Puesto took the initiative to commemorate such an important day and try to get the community involved. My sitemate, Marymam, was also kind enough to invite a few colleagues to join us during the walk, which made me happy to make more face time with some new people and get them involved with the Puesto.
Maryam, on the right, displaying my finely made poster, during our small VIH/SIDA caminata
December is a very relaxed month in Guatemala. The Guatemaltecos are getting ready for the holidays, purchasing gifts and going on vacation. According to my counterpart, a lot of the locals head to the Pacific Coast for vacation. Given that my counterpart and a majority of the Puesto are going on vacation after the second week of December, the amount of work I will be doing will be almost non-existent. I am looking forward to celebrating Christmas with friends in Guatemala, and ringing in the New Year. I will definitely miss my friends and family back home during these holidays, but I can only hope I will become a bigger part of my community by staying.
Until next time,
Sara
Note: reached my upload limit on Picasa. Pictures take longer for me to upload on blogger, despite both being Google based, but I will try my best to keep adding pictures. Pictures are all you want to look at anyway, right?
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