I moved!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update! Things have been kind of crazy here.  My biggest and most exciting news is that I just moved into a new house! I l moved from San Miguel to another town called Cajolá where my site mate lives. The new house is awesome! I was having some troubles in the other house so this was definitely a good decision. Suki and I have more space and we don’t have to worry about the kitchen flooding every time it rains J I have 2 rooms, a bathroom, my own pila,  A SHOWER AND FLUSHING TOILET, and a patio for Suki to hang out on. It was a hard decision to move because everyone in San Miguel was just getting to know me, and now I kind of have to start all over but I still have 21 more months which is plenty of time to get to know people in my new town. Not to mention I am much more comfortable here, and the family that lives next to me is awesome! So my first night/ day in the new house was pretty interesting. The doors to all my rooms shut and lock and I don’t have the keys so I ended up locking myself out of my room and had to search around the house for something to open it with. After 20 minutes I finally succeeded by unlocking the door with a random wire I found.  I guess it was just another lesson in problem solving J Also, I was so excited to finally have a hot shower only to find out that yes I have a shower but it’s freezing cold. I guess you can’t win em all right? Sorry Mom and Dad… you’re definitely not going to be living in luxury when you visit but you’ll get to experience my life for a few days.

 The owner of my house is the brother of one of my teachers, and their parent’s house is connected to mine. I’m really excited to get to know them, and we’re off to a great start! The other family I lived with was kind of shy and hard to get to know but this family is so welcoming and they come over to my house just to chat and see what I’m up to.  Yesterday morning the mom, Encarnacion, who is this little old Mayan lady, knocked on my door at 6:45am to see if I wanted to go to church with her.  It was the cutest thing ever! I had literally rolled out of bed to answer the door so I didn’t go but it’s the thought that counts. Whenever I’m out back at my pila washing dishes or whatnot they run out to greet me and see what I’m up to. I have a feeling that I am really going to like this family. They have a least five kids, 3 of whom are teachers in my schools, so it’s nice to have that connection. One of the daughters came over last night so I could help her with her English homework. It’s like I just fit right in and became part of the fam. All my doubt about moving has been washed away by the positive experiences that I’m already having J

July is a busy month. I was just in Antigua for the Peace Corps 4^th of July party and then went to the beach for a couple days. It was really nice to get away for a little and relax but traveling is stressful, and I was so thankful to be back in site and back to my normal routine. This week I’ll just be getting organized in my new house, and I have a couple schools visits to do then next week my parents come to visit! I could not be more excited. I can’t wait for them to see where I’ve been for the past 6 months and show off my Spanish skills J I have some good stuff planned for when they come. We’re going to spend the first couple days in Antigua then we’re going to head to my site for a few days. They’ll finally get to see everything and everyone I’ve been talking about and how I live here in Guatemala. I’m also going to show them a couple of my schools which should be a lot of fun. We’re going to end the trip at Lake Atitlan which they are going to love because it’s gorgeous!  I made them a guide to surviving the Guat with safety and health tips to help them have a good and safe time here. It’s definitely different from anything they’ve seen but I know they’re going to love it because they see how happy I am here.  And most importantly they get to meet my little baby Suki! Can’t wait for you guys to get here J

Work is going well, and I’m really starting to get to know a lot of my teachers and schools. In August I’ll be starting my presentations with all my teachers and getting more in depth in the program. Poco a poco!

I still absolutely love it down here, and I would not trade this experience for anything. We’ve had a lot of people go home from my group, which can be kind of disheartening but for me this experience is all about what I make it and the effort I put into it. I’m never going to have another opportunity like this again so why not make the best of it through the ups and downs because every moment of this experience is a time for growth and learning, and I want to cherish every second of it!

Xoxo Maddie