san fransisco la union Quetzaltenango!

Hello everyone! I am sitting on my bed. Its Saturday and I have a free day!!! YAY- Right now I have some company. Galia is sitting on my bed with me and we both just ate saltines and nutella that I have hidden in my top dresser drawer…Thank you Kelly and Lisa. Galia loved it! Haha We had to scrape all the crumps off the bed though before don beto saw it..hehe
Anyway!!! I Know where I will be living for the next two years. Its interesting here. I feel like choosing to come to the peace corps I gave someone the ability to decide what the rest of my life is going to be like. On wedneday, the day we found out, I couldn’t help but think “the next three words that come out of this mans mouth are going to change my life forever.” And surely it will. I am going to San Fransisco la Union in the department of Quetzaltenango. I am very very excited. Quetzaltenango is definitely not one of the poorest departments in Guatemala but it does need help and I guess that’s why Im going. I am going to be working in a centro de salud with a doctor who knows Spanish, K’iche, Japanese and English! Ahhh My counterpart, the person I will be working with for the next two years is a woman and shes a tecnica in salud prventiva. I am not really sure what that means though because that’s technically what I am too. Well, that’s what I am supposed to tell them I am when they ask me! HAHA
For the last week I have had classes de K’iche in the mornings and classes for Spanish in the afternoon. The people in my site speak Spanish as a second language! Just like me! Haha And it is mostly the men who know a lot of Spanish. The women get less schooling and therefore primarily speak in K’iche. I will need to know some catch phrases to be able to build the confianza….trust. I know how to say good morning, xsaqarik. Good afternoon, xs’eq’ri and good night but I forgot how to spell it. Also thank you is matiox. I really like it so far!!! Im nervous and have a lot more to learn!
Some details, I will be living only 40 minutes away from the second biggest city in Guatemala….movie theaters, restaurants etc…Im assuming. And I am 30 minutes away from another volunteer named Ashley who I love! So that will be super fun. Emily is about 4 hours away from me though. She is living in Huehuetenango, One of the poorest departments. I will have electricity!!!!! I will have water but only during certain hours. I will also be living near a post office! But I have no clue if there’s an internet café around?? I hope so! This community has ever had a health volunteer. They had an agriculture volunteer 10 years ago. The major problems that face this community are malnutrition, gastrinol disease, ad respitory problems…This kind of scares me because I know nothing about the last two things!!! HAHA…I hope there’s some pregnant women around too…
On Tuesday I will be going to my site for a week and Im going to stay in the doctors house! He is supposed to help me find a house to rent with a family. And I am supposed to introduce myself to the mayor, firefighters, postman, and all the people in the municipality. There are no police in this community- we’ll see how that goes. Wish me luck! I have gotten so comfortable in my house with my family and it will be weird to leave my comfort zone again. Who knows what the bed is like, the shower, the bathroom, the food. The people!! Ahhhh!