"Full House", came to mind today after a busy day of work. So I have had a huge problem with making myself get up on time since moving to the co-op. This results in me having to walk to the shower in front of everyone already at work, which sometimes includes groups of tourists. To complicate this situation more, lately the water tanks have not been full and I've had to wait an hour and a half more, unshowered, while the tanks fill with water and I can successfully bathe. So today after my lengthy process of getting ready, we organized the store for artesian products and t-shirts and stuff. I always feel good after a good organization project. The girls I work with were impressed by my organization and 'creativity'--I think it is just normal when you have a store to keep it tidy and have good displays. Hopefully this is one way I can improve the operation here. Baby steps....that lead to SUCCESS! Another recent success was that I mentioned we should paint one of our buildings that looked a little dated and weather-worn. It's amazing sometimes I just have to mention stuff and the next day it is taken care of. The building has already been painted and just needs some touch-ups on the trim.
Also today, a PC volunteer friend and his sister and mother from the states came to visit the Coffee Tour. This was such a fun experience seeing the coffee cultivation and tour from their perspectives. I really do love my site and the people I work with. Also, my co-workers have mentioned that we have rubber boots available, but I had never laid eyes on so said boots. However, with all the rain we have been receiving in Guatemala lately, the trail was very muddy so I asked about the boots before we set out on the trail today. Thankfully, they had four pairs for us and they all fit, more or less. I am probably going to buy my pair to have for the duration of my time here. Rubber boots are a wardrobe staple in this part of the country for men. I'm so stoked! Definitely one step further in cultural integration into my community.
Another fun story: I bought some tortillas last night to eat with my dinner. I had made guacamole and refried beans. The lady delivered my tortillas (I know kind of spoiled to have your tortillas delivered, but she offered) in a cloth napkin. Well, I left the uneaten tortillas in the napkin on top of my refrigerator last night. This morning, we found a mouse had eaten through the cloth napkin and chomped on the whole stack of tortillas. My co-workers kept harassing me about leaving food out. I finally asked one of them why they didn't just ask me for food. She said, what? I told her I knew she had eaten the napkin and tortillas during the night and she didn't need to blame it on the mouse. We kept laughing about this all day. This is the simple humor that helps PC volunteers like me get through the everyday life of living in a developing country. I'm so thankful for humor and people at my site that enjoy humor as well...
Also, several people have written or called about the current weather conditions in Guatemala. Yes, there has been a lot of destruction and there continues to be many mudslides and accidents. For the moment, Peace Corps volunteers are on "standfast" and are not allowed to leave their sites. PC tries to do a good job of informing us when there are emergency situations, such as this national emergency. So no need to worry stateside... I'm fine and my area of the country has not yet been affected much by the recent natural disasters.
So I just received a call from an unknown number. It happened to be a co-worker calling me to see what 'shadow' meant in english/spanish. After a couple of attempts to explain in spanish the significance of shadow, he finally said, oh yeah I get it... Just another SUCCESS for this rainy Wednesday.... Hasta Pronto! (pictures to come from today's tour...)
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