We have arrived to the last day of November. Tomorrow starts the beginning of the end of the year. For me, however, it is the end of the beginning. I have finished my 10 weeks of training, I have sworn-in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer, and I have moved to my new 2-year home in Sacatepéquez. This marks the end of the beginning.

December will be full of meetings, going to events and showing my face, and getting to know my community. The month will consist of a lot of down time and a lot of integration with my new host family. I’ll be getting the hang of things all over again and getting accustomed to a new area with new people. My goal for December: show up and show my face. Show that I am here to stay, that I am taking this seriously, and that I am trustworthy. I have already been to four meetings in the past week of living in my site, introducing myself and observing a lot of how things are done here. December will continue that trend and I’m very excited for it. January is when schools start up again and I will be able to make school visits and make my presence known there.

The days leading up to my swearing-in were full of cherishing some of the last moments with my group where we are all together. The next time we will all be together is the last week of January for our two week Early In-Service Training. We spent quality time together as a group before we were to go our separate ways to our individual sites.

Then came the day of our swear-in. I was nominated by my Healthy Schools group to represent them and give a speech in Spanish at our swearing-in, which I was honored to do. We gave an oath, we received a certificate, shook hands with the U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, I gave my speech, and then it was over. It flew by in the blink of an eye, and all of a sudeen we were packing up the vans for them to drive us to our new homes.

I arrived at my new house last Friday and have already fallen in love with my new host family. They are kind, they are so welcoming, and they are eager to get to know me and make me feel comfortable in their home. One of my host brothers speaks fluent English, which has been incredibly helpful as I try to formulate my thoughts. The house is beautiful, I have hot running water, electricity, and internet. This is not the typical life of a Peace Corps Volunteer. In fact, there is no typical experience. They are all different and unique and wonderful in their own way. I have access to more resources than most volunteers do and I am interested to see how this will affect my service. I have finished setting up my room and it feels very much like home now.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and my host family expressed interest in sharing the holiday with me, so we prepared a dinner together and engaged in good conversation. I made a spinach frittata and mashed potatoes, and was able to find a pumpkin pie in Antigua at a bakery called San Martín. My host mom prepared a caprese salad, a large chicken, and yummy grape juice from scratch.

I’m thankful to have a host family who is willing to share U.S. holidays and traditions with me, as well as share their own customs with me. The holiday was a little less sad being away from my family because I have such loving people around me here in Guatemala.

Oh, and I was able to facetime both my dads and moms side of the family, and that made everything a whole lot happier.

So here begins my two years. I’m ready to jump in running!

Today begins my last week of training. Someone at the beginning of our time in Guatemala said to my group and I that the days will go by slow, but the months will go by fast. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, and I bet I still don’t grasp the truth of this concept, but Pre-Service Training definitely went by fast. I feel like I just got here, but at the same time I feel like I’ve been here for years already. The days often feel long and drawn-out as I am packing so much information into my brain. And yet, I feel like I blinked and all of a sudden I am here with one week left before my two years really starts. Two months ago these people around me who are my new family were strangers. Now on Friday I will have to say a very difficult temporary goodbye to them as we all move to our new homes, starting the awkward process of getting to know strangers all over again.

Since my last blog post, a lot has happened. My Healthy Schools program teammates and I ran a Leadership Camp to train and equip Student Health Promoters in Santa Lucía, Santo Tomás, and Magdalena to promote health in their communities. We had about 38 students who we certified as new Student Health Promoters in their schools. I got a taste of what my job is going to be like in Guatemala and I loved it. Working with young students who are passionate about health in their communities was an inspiring experience. We went over topics such as leadership skills, self-esteem, team management skills, hand washing, and nutrition. I cannot wait to continue this work and get even better at it.

I had my last few classes with my language group. We all moved up to the advanced category and I am so proud of us! Our language will only improve from here and we put in the hard work during PST to jump from intermediate to advanced. I will never forget the amazing things we did together during PST and all of the laughs we had together. In one of our last meetings together we were able to learn how to make earrings with a business called Swietstuff (follow them on instagram @swietstuff or visit their website swietstuff.com). They are a group of powerful women doing some fabulous things for Guatemala. Check out their jewelry!

My language class and I also had the opportunity to visit a Macadamia farm in San Miguel Dueñas. We got a tour of the farm, got free mini facials/massages, and ate a big lunch there.

I’ve spent a couple days in Antigua and I have decided it’s one of my favorite cities and I could go on forever about it. Lily and I got a little bougie and relaxed with some massages and wine and were able to have a moment to center ourselves. It was much needed relaxation.

And then, most exciting of all, I received my site placement! Kan 14 traveled to San Antonio together and there we received little gourds that had rolled up pieces of papers in them with the name of our new site. It was a very emotional time full of anxiety. We sat down, counted to three, and then opened our papers to reveal our new homes. And what I saw when I opened my paper: Sacatepéquez!! This is the department where I currently am living and where the Peace Corps office is! My first emotion was relief, and then excitement, nervousness, and then hope. I still don’t know exactly how to feel, but I am thankful and I have a feeling this is where I am called and I am going to listen to that calling.

For those of you who don’t know Guatemalan departments well, here’s a little map with my department colored in. The capital of Sacatepéquez is Antigua, the Peace Corps office is in Santa Lucía Milpas Altas, and it is a beautiful department with lots of urban areas, modern stores, and classy restaurants. It’s population is mainly Spanish speaking, ladinos with a small percentage of Kaqchikel speaking indigenous peoples.

The first two months of my service will be a lot of learning and readjusting before I start my work. I’m going to be completing school visits, meeting representatives of Guatemalan institutions, integrating with my new host family, and more. On Friday I swear-in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. My Healthy Schools friends have nominated me as one of two swear-in speakers for Friday, so I need to start writing a Spanish speech that I will be giving in front of 200 people, including the ambassador of Guatemala. Send me all the prayers and well wishes! Thank you for all of the support!

¡Feliz Día de Los Muertos! Or, as is more commonly said here in Guatemala, Día de Los Santos o Día de Los Difuntos. I have learned that here in Guatemala the “day of saints” is more commonly celebrated, especially in the smaller pueblos. Where I am living for training, the aldea de Santo Tomás, there are a lot of Catholic families that celebrate this holiday. I spent the holiday, November 1st, with my host family. The day was a lot different than what I had experienced in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2017 with Día de Los Muertos and it was a wonderful experience to be able to share such a personal moment with my host family.

We started the day in the cemetery at 7:45am. We visited my host moms parents grave first, placing flowers on it, cleaning it off, and adorning it with a corona, or circular flower arrangement that looks similar to what we in the U.S. would know as a Christmas wreath. All of the panteones or tombs were painted in happy colors of yellow, orange, blue, or pink. The sight of the cemetery was less of mourning and more of celebrating and honoring the dead. At 8:00am we attended a Catholic mass in the cemetery. The most comical moment of the morning was when someones cell phone rang while the priest was reading off the names of the dead and he paused to ask if the cell phone belonged to one of the dead.

The rest of the day was spent eating fiambre, the typical Guatemalan dish that is eaten here on Día de Los Santos. It consists of a variety of vegetables, meats, and cheeses and has a strong vinegar flavor. I have decided that it is not my favorite thing. The best part of the day, however, was spending time with the family and the extended family as well. We talked a lot, laughed a lot, and relaxed.

Rewind a little to right before this holiday, I was able to spend Halloween with my cohort in the Peace Corps office. We dressed up and ate snacks and were able to share a little Halloween happiness for a couple of hours! It made me miss home and our special traditions in the U.S.

The night before Día de Los Santos, I was sitting on the couch reading a book (the sixth book I’ve read so far since being in Guatemala) and all of a sudden fireworks started going off outside (a common occurrence here). I was in my pajamas and my birkenstocks and my host mom jumps up and says “Camila, let’s go see the fireworks!” I get up, thinking we were just going outside to look up at the sky for a moment, and I end up being dragged into the park and then into a Catholic procession. If this isn’t a classic Peace Corps experience, I don’t know what is. One moment you’re doing one thing, and the next, you’re in a procession walking through the streets of Guatemala in your pajamas, holding your host moms hand and listening to religious chants in another language. It’s all an adventure here!

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to go on a beautiful hike with my Healthy Schools group! (This is the project I am going to be working on here in country and my group is 19 amazing, dedicated individuals). The hike was actually pretty difficult, as we were scaling a mountain at a vertical angle on uneven muddy ground. My legs and glutes are still sore. However, it was SO worth it for the view at the top. I think it’s the best view I’ve ever seen. From the top, you can see Lake Amatitlan, the city of Guatemala, a few volcanoes, dense forest, and much more. My friends and I ate lunch up there and hung out and just enjoyed the afternoon of freedom that we had.

Yesterday I went to Antigua for an hour with my host fam to get some bread. The bakery actually ended up being closed, so we went to a beautiful church instead, bought some Guatemalan candy, and then headed home. It was a pretty fun evening and I enjoyed spending time with them, even though our plans didn’t go as we thought they would. That’s pretty characteristic of my time here in Guatemala. Nothing goes as planned, but what happens instead is often a sweet, precious, unforgettable moment.

Kan 14 (my cohort) is halfway through training! We have four and a half more weeks to go. In three weeks we find out our permanent two year sites and then we are thrust into the unknown. Every day is full of Spanish language and Guatemalan culture learning, as well as spending time with my host family. There is very little time for rest, relaxation, or “me time.” I am learning that Guatemala is a very collective culture and everything is done together! So, my current mood: contemplative, quiet underlying anxiety, hopeful. Current American food craving: cheez its, twix bars, and milkshakes.

My group and I traveled to Antigua to learn about Guatemalan history by an anthropologist, which was both interesting and heart-wrenching. Learning about Guatemalan’s history of violence, slavery, and corruption was hard to listen to. Learning about the United States’ involvement within it all was hard to listen to. I encourage you to do your own research. Look up the United Fruit Company, for starters. The lesson also taught me about the ethnic communities in Guatemala, some of which are K’iche, Kakqchikel, Maya, Garífuna, Xinca, Mam, and much more! There is a large population of Ladinos (mixed European and indigenous descent) as well. I’ve been learning about the different departments in Guatemala, similar to what we know as states in the U.S. Currently I am in the city of Santa Lucía, which is in the department of Sacatepéquez. Peace Corps Guatemala currently works in six out of the twenty-two departments in the country. This is due to safety, security, housing options, and need. Peace Corps only goes to countries and regions that ask for Peace Corps volunteers. And Guatemala specifically is very strict on where we can go due to the high risk of danger in the country. The departments that Peace Corps Guatemala serves in are Sacatepéquez, Totonicapán, Sololá, Quiché, Quetzaltenango, and Chimaltenango. All of these departments differ in climate and population. I could be sent to a very rural site or a pretty urban site! I could be sent to somewhere that averages 90 degrees or somewhere that averages 60 degrees. I could have access to many resources, or no electricity and running water. Something that I have learned is that Peace Corps is an adventure and you should have no expectations. Jump in and be willing to go wherever they want you to go. Right now I am trusting their process and trusting God.

Last week I spent four days in Canillá, El Quiché living with a current Peace Corps volunteer who is one year into her service! I was able to see her living situation, her town, and meet her work partners. It was a great chance to see the life of a volunteer and get a taste of what ones service may look like. Canillá is extremely hot. There was lots of mosquitoes (it was a malaria endemic zone and I had to take malaria medication), cockroaches, and spiders. The town is also more rural and is in the desert pretty much. There was a lot of livestock and a lot of people riding their horses with cowboy hats and boots. My volunteer, Ariel, has running water and electricity and lives with three women we are simply amazing. I had an amazing time walking around the town, going to the market, and cooking my own food!

My relationship with my host family is growing stronger. My host mom is still hilarious as ever and loves to joke around with me. My host dad loves to tell me about history, correct my Spanish, and watch baseball with me. My host moms granddaughter (one of my host brothers daughters) comes over a lot and I love talking with her. She is five and her Spanish is extremely better than mine.

I have found some good paca finds. A paca is a Guatemalan thrift store. They get lots of secondhand clothes shipped in from the United States and sometimes I find scores…such as this blazer where I am truly feeling myself.

Other than food, I also miss my friends from the U.S. greatly. I’ve been lucky enough to have wifi during training to facetime and whatsapp them. But ugh, I freaking miss fall in Oregon. The leaves. The chai. The pumpkins. The colors. The friendship. Just look at my bff’s going to the pumpkin patch without me and making me jealous! Thank God for the internet.

Life is good. There are ups and there are downs, but the adventure has yet to begin for me here in Guatemala. I am working on calming my nerves, on being present, and preparing for whatever this service will throw at me. I’m blessed to be here with some of the best people life could have given me and together we will make it through. Here’s to four and a half more weeks of training and living in Santa Lucía!

12 days ago I landed in Guatemala, eager, nervous, and excited to start my Peace Corps (PC) journey. I, along with the rest of my PC cohort (named Kan 14 and whom I have grown to love already), walked off the plane and were greeted by smiling, energetic PC staff members and current volunteers. We were embraced with a warm welcome and hurried off into vans to head towards Santa Lucía, our new home for the next ten weeks. The next three days consisted of a whirlwind of activities, meetings, interviews, and a constant stream of information being hurled at us. We had language interviews and were placed into our Spanish classes, we played games to get to know each other better, we listened to PC staff talk about policies, we received several vaccinations, and we got our official PC badges.

The first three nights we stayed in a hotel in Santa Lucía, and even though these three days were rapid, I am going to remember them forever and hold onto them closely. I was blessed with having the best roommates ever and our fun conversations in our room late at night and very early in the mornings were priceless. One morning we watched the sunrise from the roof of the hotel and as the sky became pink and the puffy white clouds made themselves visible, I felt whole and I knew that I was still me in this new place. I was still whole. Abrupt, drastic change sometimes can make you feel like you are missing a part of yourself. It’s disorienting at times. But at that moment I was whole and I knew I was still me in this new environment. The last night at the hotel we had a talent show and I was able to borrow someone’s dock martens to step in. I’ll never forget the faces of not only my group when I started stepping, but also the faces of the small group of Guatemalans in the back who looked surprised, confused, and a little impressed.

Friday the 20^th we met our host families. These are the families we will be living with during the ten weeks of training. They will be supporting us, helping us with our Spanish, bringing us to events in the community, and helping us integrate into Guatemalan culture. The moments before we met our host moms was agonizing, as all of Kan 14 was terrified. Terrified that our Spanish was going to be awful. Terrified that we were going to be awkward. Terrified of what our houses were going to look like, terrified of how we were going to live with strangers for the next two months. But all that worry dissipated when we were finally introduced to the host mothers. My host mother, Doña (Mrs.) Josephina, gave me a huge smile and grabbed onto me for a hug that lasted probably a whole sixty seconds. “Mucho gusto, mucho gusto,” she muttered. “I’m going to be your mom now for whatever you need.” I went back to her house in Santo Tomas, the next pueblo over from Santa Lucía, and met her husband, Don (Mr.) Omar, and her three sons, Gabriel, Omar, and Miguel. Her sons, my host brothers, are 31, 29, and 26.

And so commenced a weekend full of learning, living within the awkwardness, and lots of hand gestures to communicate. I went to a three-hour catholic church service, ate a lot of new food, and picked out food at the market with my host mom. Doña Jose has three little dogs and three parrots. She loves plants and flowers and has the most beautiful view of Santo Tomas from the roof of her house. Don Omar loves history, geography, baseball, and fútbol, and knows the United States capitols better than I do.

During the week we have our Spanish class Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays we have training in the PC office. Our Spanish classes each day are at a different member of the community’s house. I am currently at the Intermediate-High level of Spanish and my goal is to be at least at Advanced-Low by the time training is over! Yesterday Kan 14 got to experience a Mayan ceremony at the PC office, and we got to learn our Nahual (or Nawal). It is similar to what we are familiar with in the U.S. as our zodiac sign, as it corresponds to our birth day, month, and year. My Nahual is 13 Kej and signifies that I am a leader in my community. I am looking forward to looking more in depth about what it specifically means. The ceremony itself was amazing and it was a privilege that the spirit guide was trusting us to share her culture with us.

Last night I went to an 18^th birthday party for my host mom’s niece. Doña Jose’s sister is also hosting a volunteer, as well as a couple other of her family members, so I was able to reunite with a couple other PC trainees in Kan 14 at the birthday party. We ate food, watched the birthday girl get her face smashed into the cake, and tried our best to communicate in Spanish. Every day is full of learning and overcoming cultural differences. Today I learned how to wash my clothes in a pila. A pila is what most people in Guatemala use to wash their clothes and their dishes. It is a cement structure that has water in the middle and one area on each side. The right side is commonly used for dishes while the left side is used for washing clothes. It was a lot of hard work scrubbing each clothing item and I now have a huge appreciation for washing machines and dryers. It has been raining here a lot every afternoon, so I have to wait again until tomorrow morning to rehang my clothes to dry on the clothesline on the roof before the rain comes again.

These 12 days have already challenged me deeply. Learning a different language is hard. Living in someone else’s house is hard. My first night at my host families house was difficult. I saw my first big spider and then sat on my bed thinking, “what the hell have I gotten myself into?” But as I sat with that feeling I got up, I wrote down my fears and the heaviness of it all passed. I woke up, I took a lukewarm shower (praise), and I kept going. And I will have to do that time and time gain throughout these next two years, one month, and three weeks. I will get used to sleeping in a mosquito net. I’ll get used to eating new foods. I’ll get used to moving at a MUCH slower pace. And every day I will have to wake up and recommit to the cause. Because it’s one I believe in deeply.

Here’s to learning and failing and learning again, so that I can be ready to dive head first into this service and uplift this community with all of the power that I have been given.

This morning my alarm woke me up at 4:00am, signaling that it was time to start the beginning of one of the greatest adventures of my life. With three and a half hours of sleep, some of my sweetest supporters and I jumped into a car and drove away from my family, my home, and everything that I have ever known.

This week has caused me to reflect a lot on the choices that I make. One by one this summer I said goodbye to those who I am closest to in order to pursue something that is full of unanswered questions, hopeful expectations, and challenges. And why have I decided to do the hard thing–the painful thing–the uncomfortable thing? At moments I am not entirely sure I know the answer to this question. I only know that I must. I know that it is in my nature to do the thing that I am being called to do, even if I don’t understand it in the moment.

I believe that growth happens within the uncomfortability. I’ll state that again: growth happens within the uncomfortability. The uncomfortableness of leaving your family and friends. The uncomfortableness of moving your whole life to a country you’ve never been to. Of signing up for a job you only know vague details about. Of jumping into something that you cannot control. Or even in the small daily interactions we have with people where we are forced to speak up, to speak out, and to listen to those who aren’t being heard. Life is going to be uncomfortable. The right thing to do will often be uncomfortable. And even knowing this, I am ready to jump into this experience with everything I have. I am ready to live fully, to learn deeply, and to form relationships that have the ability to positively impact this deeply wounded world we live in.

So today, as I held those that I love profoundly and sobbed in the Portland airport, I knew I was still doing the right thing. So I took a deep breath and I walked towards the next chapter of my life.

I’m glad you’re here! I leave for Guatemala in about a month to live for two years working as a Healthy Schools Coordinator with the Peace Corps. Here is where I plan to document everything—my best days to my worst days, my fears and my tribulations, and, most importantly, what I am learning and who I am meeting. I’m so excited to share it with you all. Please hit the subscribe button below to be notified when I make a post! Now, I must get to packing…