One year down...One year to go

Wow!!!


I can’t believe how long it has been since I last wrote on here, and how much has happened since then. I will try to fill you all in…


The macadamia project went very well. We got all the plants to the village farmers by late August just in time before the rainy season started in Sept. and Oct. From what they have told me only about 100 trees didn’t make it, which is extremely well when you consider we planted over 7000. I am planning in the next few weeks to go and visit the villages so I will have more pictures to show all of you, but here is a picture of a farmer planting his tree .


When the projected ended in August the month of September became an extremely difficult time for me. Having it rain nearly every day became a little bit depressing, not to mention I had just finished one year here and many people say that the halfway part is the most difficult part of service (it is just the feeling knowing that WOW I have a whole another year of this…Do I really want to go through with it) I was also very depressed knowing that I would miss yet another beautiful fall in the Midwest and most notably the opener for Pheasant season.

So my mom and I decided to give my Dad an early Christmas present and fly me home for pheasant hunting. I had a wonderful trip home and got to hunt nearly everyday and spend much needed time with my family.

I flew back to Guatemala still struggling with the thought of being here for another full year when my good friend Liam let me know that PC was sending some new volunteers out to the Oriente where my site is at. I really can’t explain to you how uplifting it was to hear that I would finally have other Americans living close to me. Don’t get me wrong though…it has been a tremendous experience the last year speaking only Spanish and forcing myself to be proactive and meet many people. Thankfully, because of this I was able to make many Guatemalan friends which is what this experience is all about. However, once in a while you need a break and it can be very revitalizing to speak a little English.


Last week we had our Mid Service conference which proved to be very motivational for me. On the way to the conference I got to see quite the show. A man entered our Chicken Bus dressed up like a Michael Jackson Clown. He started dancing and singing like MJ so of course I had to give him a Quetzal (local currency). At the conference it became very apparent to me that I had survived through the difficult times (The first year can be extremely difficult. It takes a while for your Spanish to come around…not to mention I had never been away from home and I certainly had never lived by myself before.) Now that I am more accustomed to everything here I am confident that the next year will fly by and will also be more productive.

Some of the projects I hope to work on in the next year include

An AIDS Prevention workshop for teachers and young adults in the community.
A library project for one of the communities in the ¨Campo¨ villages.
Do more trainings for other Municipal Planning Offices on how to use the mapping software ArcVIEW.
Support our Forestry Office with more Reforestation projects


I have also learned from being here that you have to be flexible and patient so I can’t expect to accomplish all of this overnight.



Lastly, having the greatest impact on me enjoying my service again is getting back to church. Special thanks to my Grandparents and my friend Liam for inspiring me. When I get up and go to 6:30 mass on Sundays I have this amazing connection that I feel like I am at home. Here is a picture of our colonial church I really enjoy the fact that when it comes to communion there are no ushers and everyone just piles up to get to the offering. It almost becomes a race to see who can get there first.


Thank you all for your support and prayers. Now that I am much happier and enjoying this experience once again you all can expect more blogs.


Take care,

Drewski