Katie's First Post

Hola!

As you may have noticed this is my first blog entry, the reasons are I am not a prolific writer and I enjoy reading Jon’s writing. This entry focuses on the time I spent taking a Spanish language course in Guatemala.

When planning this trip we realized it was my first trip overseas alone and I found myself looking forward to it. I knew I could do it, I just didn’t know if I would enjoy it as much. During my trip I occasionally missed having Jon around to share the burden of traveling chores, you know, where to eat, where to sleep, arranging modes of transportation, laundry, etc. However, I did not miss Jon when it came to shopping. I did more, and at a very leisurely pace without the guilt of dragging him around. Anyway I had a really good three weeks meeting very interesting people, improving my Spanish, seeing a few sights, and learning a little more about how I travel on my own. I realized being alone I reached out to meet more people and went out at night more often... still not nearly as often as my younger traveler counterparts. My family and school were great and from the stories I heard these did vary in quality. Unlike some families my friends told me about my family encouraged me to speak Spanish, ate with me, and ate the same food as me. Always I felt busy (a good busy) between studying and other activities I worked at not overbooking myself its easy to do.

First big activity was visiting San Pedro on Lake Atitlan with 5 other students on my first weekend and it was logistically very amusing usually its just Jon and I. All 5 of us organized it on our own instead of going with the school to save a little money. Horseback riding was high on my list here and it was gorgeous and the two girls who joined me from our group made it that much more enjoyable. During my second weekend I ventured to Chi-Chi on my own and the three hours of shopping in this market was enough for me. Don’t get me wrong I had a blast but it is huge and extremely over stimulating at times. Needing to take little retreats in shops, where I found that young girls were the most fun to bargain and practice my Spanish with. I was ready for the minivan, sleeping most of the three hour ride back to Antigua. The rest of the van was also curiously very quiet.

After school I participated in many school arranged activities. Including climbing Volcan Pacaya, a bike tour around Antigua, cooking local food, visiting a musical museum, a macadamia nut farm, a coffee plantation, and a weaving village. Everywhere I went the guides spoke in Spanish as we the Spanish students requested. The first week I found the tours in Spanish hurt my brain and at a certain point it just shut down I kept going because I figured it was good for me and it was. By the third week I understood a lot more and found myself enjoying the tours more that was a relief. Also listening to other students stumble with questions in Spanish gave me more confidence to speak up. After three weeks of Spanish immersion I felt that my Spanish had grown and my confidence to speak it had also grown. By the end of my stay I felt that I could at least get my point across. Finally Antigua is an incredibly easy place to make home for three weeks and I look forward to my next travel adventure and further impriving my Spanish.

Adios!

Bad Bloggers!

So, it's official. Katie and I are bad bloggers. We can't seem to post frequently enough... oh well, people will just have to get used to it I guess. Once in the Peace Corps, we may not be able to post very often at all.

I kept hoping for some big update. Meaning, where and when we are leaving, or at least that an invite was in the mail. That was being a bit optimistic though. Really, we have been told soon, and I know they mean it...but they are also very busy, and our leave date is still quite a ways off, so its right that we are a lower priority. Still, we can hope.

So, without that big piece of information, mostly we have been just getting used to the new situation. Getting all of our finances in order (including paying taxes...yuck!), and starting to plan some future trips. We did get to go visit our friends Calvin and Kerry up in Lava Beds NP. Great place, we will definately be visiting it a few more times in the future. Great lava tubes for exploring, especially once it get hot. While there we ran into an Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV). She was working there for the summer. She was posted down in Honduras, it was good to hear that she had a great time and highly recommended the whole experience.

Katie promises to post something about her time attending language school in Guatemala soon!

Two Keys

In many ways, that's the best symbol for how far we come down this new pathway... I only have two keys on my keychain... No more work keys, alarm cards, house keys, just the two car keys. That's all that nomads need.

No posts for awhile, we have been too busy. The last few weeks of getting out of the house were frantic! This was compounded by Katie leaving me to go down to Guatemala for three weeks :-) She had a lot of fun learning Spanish most days, but still having time to go horseback riding, salsa dancing, volcano clinbing... bah! Meanwhile I was busy cleaning up the house, and putting the final touches on the landscaping. Really though, Katie did the lion's share of work prior to departure... so no real complaints.

So, now I am up at Fall River Mills, starting to settle in... back living with the parents. Now, this may seem like a step backwards to some, but it is part of what we wanted to accomplish in our prior to Peace Corps departure time. One of our goals was to spend some quality time with family and friends. What better way than to live with them! Our space is coming together... I need Katie up here to put the final touches on things (her plane landed last night, but she won't get up here for another few days).

Meanwhile, I've been getting used to life without work, spending my time tying flies for the upcoming fishing season, planning some of the trips Katie and I will make once weather gets a little warmer, and contacting some friends that we want to take the time to see soon.

There was some contact with the Peace Corps during this time. I was asked to provide additional information on Katie's and my Spanish experience. It was rather satisfying to be able to say that Katie was currently down in Guatemala taking Spanish classes... The great thing about the whole exchange is that I really was able to line out a much more detailed list of our Spanish experience. By adding all of our time spent traveling in Spanish speaking countries, we looked way more impressive! The PC representative said it looked great and was very thorough, she also said that we should be hearing from the placement officer "soon". By soon she meant two weeks, and if we hadn't heard in a month, we should call. It will be two weeks this coming Tuesday....