mucha lluvia

Warning: some parts of this blog are not for the faint of heart/weak of stomach.

A great deal has happened since my last update. For starters, I thought it would be a good idea to use the tap water to brush my teeth. OK, mistake of my life. Several days of almost-being-dead later, i found out I had amoebas. Seriously? I thought amoebas were just things you looked at under a microscope in tenth grade. I told them ( the amoebas) that it just wasnt working out and that they couldnt live here ( in my stomach) anymore. Then i killed them. (On the bright side, you really drop pounds when youre eating for 1,000) Gross. TO all concerned family members: I promise I´m fine now, and I will be more careful.

On Saturday we visited my site in San Juan Ostencalco (near Xela). I´m in love! At the (2 hour) church service, they had me get up in front of the entire congregation and say a few words (like seven or eight). Then my host father got up and welcomed me on behalf of the church, then my host sister welcomed me on behalf of the youth group, then everyone said a prayer for me. I´ve never felt so welcome in my life! The service was a mix of Spanish and Mam (so i was totally lost) and almost all of the women were dressed in the traditional traje. It was beautiful. After church there was a huge snack time (truly, these are my people) and we went to my house. I love it! It´s very cozy and there are many different rooms for various activities (sewing, embroidery, cooking, hanging out, etc) I have my own room and there is definitely enough space for some Pilates. My host father works at the church, but he is trying to start a restaurant out of the house. My host mother does emroidery work and she also runs a maternity health clinic in the room next door. There are two older daughters, Sara, who has finished school, and Carla who has promised to get lost with me Xela! There are three younger boys, Mario, Daniel, and I´ll have to report back about the third one. Im so happy to be living there, I could move in tomorrow (I actually move in October 13th, yikes!)
THis week we are in Xela and it has done nothing but rain. Xela is a very cool city, we have already discovered an amazing place for hot chocolate and a Mennonite bake shop. We also visited CEIPA, where I will also be working. They took us to one of their schools which is located in one of the markets. Every student there works in the market all morning and can attend school from 2-5:30. Public schools are open in the morning, so this is a wonderful oppurtunity for these children, I am very excited/nervous to be working with them.
We only have a week and a half more of language school, while I´m excited to start working, I hope that is enough time to learn all of the Spanish that i will need (it isnt, but I´ll manage)
OK, I will leave you now with the top and bottom 5 things about Guatemala (so far)

Bottom 5:
1.Amoebas
2.you cant drink the tap water, it isnt a huge deal, you just have to be careful about eating fruit that has been washed, or off of plates that have been washed
3.cold showers. it is not hot here
4.the rainy season
5.did I mention ameobas?

Top 5:
1.Corn flakes with hot milk. Im serious, try it.
2.If you say "hello" to someone in the street, they will say "hello" in return. always
3. the rainy season is almost over!
4.Tortillas, liquados (like smoothies, but better), hot chocolate, etc.
5. The culture here is beautiful, which sounds cheezy but there´s no other way to say it. I love it.

Special thanks to Asia for the post cards, Jeffrey for the phone calls, and all the email support! A big hug to all the other YAVs, WCF, my family, and my friends in Tallahassee!