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After a wonderful trip home in June, I was feeling a little down in the dumps upon my return to site. I know how lucky I am to have this opportunity to live and work in Guatemala. I've made great friends (both Guatemalan and American), traveled to some beautiful places, learned SO much about the life and culture of Guatemalans, and hopefully made a difference to some people through what I've taught them. I live with a caring, easygoing and funny family, in a breathtaking village on the top of the highest mountain in the eastern part of Guatemala. Yes, my current method of doing laundry is scrubbing my clothes a rock, and no, the water doesn't come on more than twice a week...but hey, its raining enough every day to fill the pila. (Which is also unfortunately enough to encourage a stubborn and reappearing crop of mold to grow on my cinder block walls) Sound depressing? Well honestly, I don't mind it. For the most part, the good outweighs the bad in my life here in Guate. I wasn't expecting a washing machine or running water when I moved here. What was really getting me down my first week back in site was the fact that my family and close friends are just so darn far away. And even though I'm nearing the end of my service here, the transition between America and Guatemala is still a little hard. "See you in four months" was so easy to say as I packed my bags and headed to the airport, but four months seemed like a really long time as I unpacked my bags and scrubbed mold off the walls.

Luckily I was able to cheer myself up with a fun-filled weekend shorty after returning to Guate: the Peace Corps 4th of July party, followed by a short trip to Monterrico, a black sand beach on the Pacific. A group of volunteers puts the party together every year, and it was a definite success. Hamburgers, hot dogs, a whipped cream pie eating contest, a bake off, a talent show: truly an all-American afternoon. I even got the chance to sing the national anthem in a quartet with some other volunteers. It was the first time I've sung in four part harmony since...high school? Yikes! It was a lot of fun!

Trisha, Erin and I sporting our red, white and blue at the 4th of July party!

Yum! Fresh fish for dinner!

But now I'm back from the beach (miraculously without any bug bites or a sunburn!) and happy to say that I'm excited about work. I have a lot to look forward to in these last 3 or so months. Apple season is right around the corner, which means coming up with some yummy recipes to teach my women's groups (apple pie, apple cake, broccoli and apple salad...so many possibilities). By the way, if anybody has any good apple recipes, send 'em my way! Our school gardens are growing by leaps and bounds with all this rain, so soon I'll be teaching new recipes to my students. I've been doing some geography lessons in the school where we painted the world map, so I'm planning to do a couple of cultural days where I teach a lesson on a certain country and then we make a recipe that is typical in that country, using veggies from the garden. The next round of chicken vaccinations is coming up in Pino Dulce and I'm hoping to train Carmen, one of my favorites in the group there, to take over vaccinating once I'm gone. My host mom from training, is planning to visit me in my site in two weeks, which should be fun.

Also right around the corner is feria, or the annual fair, in town. In most of Guatemala feria means a midway filled with all kinds of games, a Ferris wheels, and plenty of other rides that may or may not meet safety regulations. You can always expect an assortment of tipico (typical) fair food, though you won't find the hamburgers, hot dogs, salt potatoes, steamed clams, corn on the cob, funnel cake, and fried dough that we enjoy at the NYS fair. More common here are elote loco: corn on the cob on a stick covered with mayonnaise, hot sauce and ketchup, chicharones: fried pig skin, gringas: greasy flour tortillas filled with meat and cheese, shucos: sandwiches filled with grilled meat and onions, and an assortment of sweets such as coconut and tamarind candies. I am really only a fan of the last three. But the best part of living out here in the eastern part of Guate, the land of cowboy hats, horses, and holsters, the Wild Wild East, if you will, is that we also get a jaripeo: a rodeo! The bull riders aren't very good (they don't even bother timing them because they fall off so fast) but it's always a good time.

A couple of changes that I noticed since I got back:

My neighbor's house, which was recently painted to support one of the current candidates for mayor. (Elections are in September and campaigning is already full force).

The new paint job on the school. Hot pink is not an improvement over green, if you ask me.