My Place

The view from my porch.

Here is Hendrik. Hendrik is the 5-year-old son of my counterpart. Don't be mislead by the smile. He is pure mischief. Although the way he pronounces rs like ls (ei glinga, flijol, tlabajo) is quite endearing at times, you will not have a moments rest or quiet with this kid around.

My garden. Hardy geraniums, cala lilies, peach, lemon and avacodo trees.

The path to my latrine. If only the latrine smelled as nice as those flowers....

The pila, or sink where I wash my clothes, my dishes, my face, my hair. We have water most of the time here.

My driveway. Behind the milpa is my dwelling. 

And there she is. My place. Complete with hammock and guard chucho, Oso. Don Juan's room is to the right and I have the center room. The rooms to the left are storage for Don Juan's corn. 

So I have been at site for over a week now. Getting settled into the place with a new paint job and some new furniture. This community is very quiet and poor and I have spent most of my time here walking the paths (we have a total of about three paved streets) and organizing my place. I have met most of the women I will work with in a welcoming event and hope to start meeting regularly with them soon. Don Juan, my 74 year-old neighbor is head of the Committee for Potable Water. There is a US organization that puts in pipes and resevoirs for communities with water problems (that is nearly all communities in rural Guatemala). I have met with the head and he already had his eye on my aldea. Thursday, Don Juan will take me to the source of the spring; the birth of the river; to measure the output and hopefully get rolling. 

There is no market, no eatery, not even a fruit stand in this town. All the necessities, however, are only as far as flagging down the nearest pickup truck and taking a ten minute ride in the back to the next town over. Also, we had a small earthquake this morning, the forth I have experienced since arriving in Guate. 

Things have slowed down for certain after training. Now it's time to let the work begin.