Buenos dias San Marcos!

Calgary, 10h30 pm. Sitting in front of a fireplace, in the basement of the program director's parents' house, eating delicious cookies made by one of the staff members of CAUSE Canada, I am thinking about the last 10 days. 10 days of training in Calgary and Canmore. 10 days that should have helped me understand more what I was going to do in Guatemala for the next 9 months. Oh yes, they have given us, the interns, a lot of information! Now I feel like my brain is overloaded. But as they say, the more you learn the less you know, and this is exactly the way I am feeling right now.

I was confident and felt strong about all this. But after talking over and over again about the potential obstacles, the possible difficulties that we would encounter and the hard times we would go through, I admit that I don't feel so confident anymore. I usually don't make a huge deal out of things but being in a serious and professional environment talking about all these important matters kind of made me nervous. This is an important community development program, and I really don't want to screw up or, even worse, be useless. I am sure that when I get there I will get back to normal and everything will be great. Being ready for the worse may be good for some people, but sometimes I just prefer dealing with things as they come, without worrying about it months ahead.

This organization is full of incredible people who are truly making a difference in the world, and I am proud of being part of it for the next months. The other interns all seem extremely knowledgeable and I'm sure they will all do a great job. I know this is going to be a rewarding experience for all of us, no matter what.

I also learned or confirmed some important things about myself during this training:

1- I am psychologically addicted to coffee
2- I know nothing about microcredit
3- I love Spanish
4- I can't speak English properly
5- I like muffins

I'm leaving in 14 hours. I better get some sleep.
Hasta pronto!

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April 1st, 2011

Quote of the day:

“If someone points a gun at you and asks for your stuff, give it. Because they WILL shoot.”
- Officer at the Canadian embassy in Guatemala

Almost there! After 7 hours on the plane, a meeting at the Canadian embassy and one day of driving, eating and stoping for pee breaks, we made it as far as San Marcos, where we will spend the weekend. We were meant to go to Comitancillo tonight but we learned that there wasn't any bed in the house we're going to live in. Because we didn't really feel like sleeping on the floor, Jorje, the very kind coordinator, will buy beds here and bring them to Comitancillo on Monday, along with us and our 10 000 bags/suitcases .

I started today eating the guatemalan way. Corn tortillas, bean paste, hot sauce. Hmm. I like it. I remember, after my trip to Central America 5 years ago, that I thought I should learn how to make tortillas so I could continue eating them at home. Never did it, but I think this time I'll have plenty of opportunities to learn!

I also went for a little exploring mission. Mafe, the other intern, was still sleeping so I went on my own. I came back after 30 minutes because I felt kind of like a dog in a bowling alley: e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y was looking at me. I'm the little white girl who just arrived in Guatemala and who isn't quite sure how things work out here. I wanted to buy some bread but when I saw that the man at the entrance of the store was staring at me, I turned around. Haha! I'll get used to it, as usual.

Also, my coffee emergency kit came in handy, as I couldn't figure out which of all the comedores would sell me a cup of my addiction. So I used my imagination and a few tools that I had brought with me and managed to make myself a black coffee, sweetened with a mint candy (Mafe's great idea). It was actually quite good!
My Spanish is.... I don't know anymore how to qualify it. There are situations where I can easily express myself, others where I need to use a lot of body language to get my point across. Which is kind of funny but frustrates me at the same time because I really want to be fluent!