Dear Mike

Dear Mike,

Just got back yesterday from my site visit to Amanda's aldea (she's the volunteer who I might be replacing). It's only about a 2-hour bus trip from where I'm living now, but it's amazing the difference. The climate is totally different (she's at a much lower altitude so it's super warm), the people are mostly indigenous (they still wear traditional Mayan dress and speak in a Mayan dialect), and it's a lot less developed. If it does end up that I'm assigned to her site (in which case I'll be totally elated), she's already got some great projects up and running that I'd be able to come in and continue to build upon…she's got this great women's group that I met on Wednesday night that are really interested in the possibility of exporting some of their hand-made weaving to the U.S., and of course she already has relationships with 3 local schools where I would be working and teaching the Youth Development curriculum.

These last 4 days have really been the best part of training for me…I really got a sense of what I'll be doing for the next 2 years, what sorts of projects I'd like to pursue, what kind of image I want to portray in my site. We've visited several volunteer-sites now, but upon visiting Amanda's I immediately knew that I wanted to live there. There was this vibe that I immediately sensed and felt like "Ok, this is what I want my Peace Corps Guatemala experience to be like." And so now I just wait until Thursday to get my site assignment. I hate to get my hopes up too high, but honestly I can't help it. This past week all I've been thinking about and dreaming about is my site placement. It's a pretty big deal to let somebody else determine where I'll be spending the next 2 years of my life, with whom I'll be spending them with, and what kind of work opportunities I'll have. I don't now whether I'm more excited or nervous at this point. All I know is that Thursday seems light-years away.

Also on my visit I almost saw a cow give birth! Amanda rents a room from a family in the aldea, and the family have several chickens and a cow. Now this cow was SUPER pregnant when we got there on Wednesday night, and we were hoping that she'd give birth sometime that night or the next day so we could witness it. But she gave birth sometime during the day on Friday but she was up in the field where they take her to graze and we weren't around. But the family brought them back so we could meet the new-born, who was the sweetest thing. So so gentle. Did you know cows had 9-month long pregnancies just like humans? I had no idea.

I miss you every day. Hope life is good. Lytm.

xoxo,
Hannah