Here we are again (estamos aqui ultravez), another week down in the glorious Guatemala. Things seemed to have calmed down since last Tuesdays excitement, when a police officer, off-duty and "supposedly" on drugs shot a taxi driver 7 times, and the town's response to the incident was to burn the police station down, resulting in the police leaving Tecpan. NOT TO WORRY> i was safely in my home and didn't find out about the unrest until the following day when everyone was going about their usual daily business. Unfortunately this is a reality in Guatemala because the police and government are so corrupt that many times the people feel that they must take matters into their own hands so that they can see the results that they feel are necessary. There has been no retaliation or return of the police since the incident and Peace Corps is keeping a good eye on the situation, ready to pull us 3 tecpan volunteers out of the site if necessary, but I honestly do not think it will be necessary!
Otherwise I went to PDM (Project Design Management) last Wednesday-Friday with one of my fellow teachers at a school that we are hoping to give a water project to. It was very informative and my counterpart really seemed to enjoy himself and learning about how to approach asking for funds and executing plans for infrastructure projects. I was able to stay with one of the girls i got very close to during training which is always fun and we were able to talk about future projects and maybe trying to do a GLOW camp (GLOW camp is a worldwide peace corps initiative that focuses on empowering girls to go out and approach their dreams). So hopefully with school ending we will be able to do one of those in December.
After that it was back to site. I started an exercise program called "Insanity" and very quickly quit it. It just wasn't for me, so I am back to trying to run around town, I have found some dirt roads that get less motor traffic so it is easier to breath.
We have finally finished our surveys of all the progress within our schools and are taking it easier this month because of the election (no school for the friday and monday before and after the election day on Sept. 11) and the Guatemalan Independence day on the 15th which also means there will be no school the week of the 15th. But we are going to enjoy this time by traveling to San Cristobal de las Casa in Mexico for a couple of days and I have about a week of spanish class to keep me busy the last week of sept. SO no worries, I am sure between the elections and the 15th there will be plenty of stories to tell!
Hasta proxima ves!
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