Hola mis amigas!!!
I am sorry for not being able to blog sooner, but I am just now getting enough time on a computer to actually write something worthwhile! The past couple of days have been a worldwind- between arriving in guatemala and meeting our temporary host families (I was only with the first family for three days) to having our language placements to starting language classes to finally moving in with the host family that we will be with for the three months of training, i have barely had time to catch my breath!
But so far this has been an extremely enjoyable experience. I am situated now in San Lorenzo, a small (very small) village located about 15 minutes from antigua and 1 hour from the capital. The family i am living with has two daughters and one son. One of the daughters wants to attend a uiversity one day and is very serious about her studies. we have made a deal that if she teaches me spanish, then i will teach her english. so far it has been a lot of her teaching me spanish and less of me teaching english, which is probably a good thing! I am here with 4 other healthy school volunteers that placed into a similar level of spanish as myself. I think that they are a little bit more advanced (most had studied abroad in spanish speaking countries) than I am but I think if i work hard enough i'll be able to catch up soon! my family is a huge help because they correct me wheneveer i mispronounce something or use the wrong tense. it is definitely hard though! I am hoping soon i will be thinking in nothing but spanish and writing in english will be what is difficult!
Guatemala is a beautiful mountainous country. right now my elevation is about 7,000 feet and it feels like spring in greensboro,nc would feel like: pretty warm during the day but freezing at night! the first couple of nights i had to wear two pairs of socks to keep my feet warm! and it is very dry, the altoplano is suppose to be completely unforgiving when it come to cold all year round, so i am really hoping i am not placed there because the bucket baths in anything lower than 60 degrees are absolutely miserable!

This week I am going to be diving into my spanish lessons, we will meet monday, wednesday, friday, and saturday for 6 hours a day. tuesdays and thursdays are what they in the office call "core training days" and technical training days. those days will mostly be covering safety and security techniques, health, and actual on the job training. The entire 54 person volunteer training group will get back together those days, so it will be nice to catch up with some of my friends I made during the initial orientation days!
so far there have been no major adventures to report, just the day to day life in guatemala. The people are extremely friendly and generous and have made it know that they want to help me in whatever way they can, which makes like much easier! i have my own room at my homestay and there is a flushing toliet and bathroom sink. the shower is a bucket bath which is definitely something that i am going to have to get used to! that is all i can think of now, hopefully i will be able to post again in about a weeks time with many more enriching stories but until then hasta luego!!!!