Assimilaltion

To start, a note:   If you receive updates via email, you may have to check the site for the last update.  I am having tech issues in a developing country and neither have the internet availability or technical know-how to fix things quickly.  And lucky for me, Feedburner does not have a help desk, so I appreciate any help you all can offer!

Since my last post, things have gotten just a bit rougher and a lot more exhausting.  Aside from the journey itself, assilimating into another language and culture is trying!  It is quite possibily the most difficult thing I have had to do in a very, very long time!  Every conversation, no matter how benile, requires extreme concentration on my end!

Also contributing to my tiredness is the roosters around here.  I foolishly thought roosters called only once at the very break of dawn, but boy was I mistaken!  They start at dawn (in the four o´clock hour) and go all morning long.  There is generally only a three second interval of silence between each cock-a-doodle-do, and the only way to hit snooze on the rooster-alarm-clock is to scare the rooster with a barking dog.  Of course, sleeping to a barking dog is no easier than sleeping through a cocking rooster, so you see the irony.

The local buses are also exhausting as they make for quite a stressful commute.  Guatemalan buses are old, American school buses that have been "refurbished" with bright paints on the outside but still belch black clouds of smoke due to their diesel engines on the inside.  The ride itself is fast, windy and crowded.  So far, my highest count is 80 adults - envision three people per seat as well as people standing in the aisles and by the entrance steps.  Apparently, it is unlawful to have standing passengers, so if there is a police car near-by, the driver will shout to the passengers and everyone standing has to duck on top of each other.  I really hope I never have to witness that mayhem!

I´m now staying with a local family.  My homestay mom actually works with the organization that I am volunteering with.  She has a very charming house that is quite nice, by Guatemalan standards.  I am living in her guest house, so its nice to have my own, separate space.  My homestay-family is quite large: the two parents, a grandmother, three daughters, two sons, one son-in-law and two grandchildren.  Fortunately, they are a great family and remind me a bit of my own -- the father loves to garden, the two boys love movies (and more specifically, Megan Fox) and the grandkids are very sweet and playful.  The youngest daughter, Karina, is only 10 -- and, if I´m old enough to use this saying, she reminds me of a younger version of myself.  She loves when her extended family comes to visit, helps with the housework, and is generally very welcoming.  She even makes it a point to teach me some Spanish, and in return, I help her with her chores and play volleyball, cards, etc. with her.

On the work front, I went to my first campaign on Saturday.  With my host mother, I visited a rural town about an hour south of Antigua.  We (or rather, she) did eye exams for the locals and was trying to sell reading glasses and sunglasses with UV protection.  The glasses only went for $6.50 (or a venti latte at Starbucks), but most people could not afford them, which goes to show what a dire situation some people are in.  But regardless, it was still exciting to see the few people that did buy the glasses and were relieved to be able to read or sew again.

Poco y poco (little by little), I will learn Spanish, get the Guatemalans and help some locals too.  More on that as it happens...