January 16, 2012  I really love this beautiful country! I arrived very late Thurrsday night and went by jeep to my new home with Dona Margarita, her somewhat elderly spouse, and their daughter who is a medical student named Anna. My room is on the roof ! The family quarters are on the main floor, and there are 3 bedrooms (for 3 guests) and a bathroom up a long flight of concrete stairs. You should have seen me drag my 60 lb suitcase up those! Above is my room and a picture of Alberto, whom I mentioned in the last blog and saw again last Friday. He is really a keeper but has a very unfortunate home situation.

Here is a photo of the stairs

and the view from my bedroom door. The room is 8 x 10 feet and it is really my only personal space. I did tape some pictures to the wall and it does look more like it belongs to me.

I have now completed two "work days." In the mornings I will be administrating the teachers in the English program. My "office" is in the library. So far I have been reading tons of material about teaching languages, methodology, policy, dicipline etc. I am learning so much and it feels good. In the afternoons, I am helping Amy, who is the volunteer director with Casa Jackson, do orientation for new volunteers. Then I get to be grandma and play, rock, and feed to my hearts content. Today, Julia and I took Alberto and Mario to the playroom on the roof (3rd floor) What a great place. I will have to send pictures.

As an important side note: Casa Jackson is in need of a bilingual social worker to do field visits etc. It is a very rewarding job. Though it is hard to see the conditions of children who are malnourished, you actually get to DO something about it with referrals to doctors, the hospital and especially Casa jackson. I think most particulars can be negotiated.

On my first free weekend, I had lunch with Liz M and then she took me to visit her husband Tomas and their house in St Miguel Duenas.They are the best. Liz is from North Dakota and has been working in Guatemala more than 15 years. Tom is from everywhere and has been here even longer! 

On Sunday, Luis and his kids came to visit and we had pizza at Dominos. Though American kids prefer Pepperoni, these kids all like jamon con pina... literally ham and pineapple. I don't think they had seen this much food in a long time. It had been 10 months since they's eaten at a restaurant and much longer since they'd had pizza. (2 years they thought)

So here is my final picture: me, Daniel, Luis, Diana,David, and Donilla. We're a bunch of party animals. After this we went to the park and tanced to the locals playing flute and marimba. Love to you all !