Dear Liz

Dear Liz,

Congratulations! Your letter was officially the first piece of mail I've received here in country. It totally made my day, chica! I agree with what you said; old-fashioned snail mail is way underrated these days. Thank you for your lovely coloring page, too--very creative.

Your letter was waiting for me in my mailbox when I got to the training center yesterday. We all met to debrief about the events of this past weekend--2 earthquakes, a volcanic eruption, tropical storm Agatha, and now a giant sinkhole in the capitol...pretty crazy, to say the least. When our training director began to cry, it really became clear how sad this all really is. My community was so lucky that we didn't suffer any major damage. So many people in other areas have been displaced, have lost their homes, their crops, everything. Guatemala is such a disaster-prone country and unfortunately most people don't have the physical resources to properly protect themselves and their homes from such disasters. But the good news is that it wasn't as bad as it could have been, and they will pull through.

It was really nice to hear from you; you seem to be doing really well! Tell Nick I say hi, and I would LOVE for you two to come visit me. Start saving now! I'll write you a proper email reply soon (and when I find a post office, I'll definitely send some snail mail your way).

Love ya,
Hannah