5,000, 219, 4, and 1

Walking to Tzibal for our pila celebration

5,000
Cartas de Lejos has officially reached 5,000 total page views!  Sure, that might pale in comparison to some of the big fish out there in the blogger pool, but it makes me feel pretty special.  Blogging can be a daunting endeavor--why should anybody care to read what I have to say?  Over the past year, however, Cartas de Lejos has really been a great source of catharsis for me, as well as a great way to stay in contact with friends and family back home.  The fact that you are all out there reading this, keeping up with my life and work here in Guatemala--it really keeps me going, and helps fulfill the third goal.  If nothing else, I hope that I have helped to spread the beauty and culture that is everything Guatemalan, and the good, bad, and ugly of Peace Corps service.

219, 4
Thanks to friends, family, friends of friends and friends of family, we raised $219 in under 4 days.  I'm amazed, and so thankful to everybody who came together to get the job done!  The women and I went today to the store and made a deposit on 38 pilas, 38 bags of cement, and 114 sheets of lamina.  Then I went back to the market and bought 7 loaves of fresh bread and 1 old tequila bottle full of fresh Semana Santa honey.  Time to celebrate!

1
1 week from today, I will have been here in Guatemala 1 year.  Sometimes it feels like I've been here forever, and other days I wonder how all this time has already passed.  One thing is for sure, I've made it a year.  I'm out of the woods.  The hardest parts of service--training, integration, adjustment--over and done with.  Sure, integration is an ongoing battle, and other challenges will surely come up to replace the old ones.  But I'm here, I'm doing this, and frankly, I'm going to kick year two's ass.

It's nice to have the numbers on my side.