krissy meets simba

so a lot has happened since my last blog entry. ill try to follow my calendar to go in order. after leaving monterrico, a very teary farewell, we made our way to antigua. we climbed the volcano pacaya. that proved to be a difficult hour and a half ascent. all along the way with guatemalans on horses ready to yell taxi whenever it looked like you were having difficulty breathing. i did not succumb. but it was really cool. we didnt see lava but some of the rock was really hot and you could throw sticks on it and it would go up in flames. afterwards we made it to panajachel to see the lake atitlan. big and beautiful. we stayed in san pedro one night and jaibalito another. jaibalito is somewhat off the beaten path. ... read more

so teri and i are back in antigua after 3 and a half weeks in the lovely beachside town of monterrico. we stayed with a wonderful homestay family. i guess the standard of living is higher in monterrico because they were an average family that had a few televisions, a laptop, a desktop, a fridge, microwave, etc. the house was really cool with a thatched roof. and the entire kitchen area was outside under another thatched roof and there was a table in front of a tv with a couple of hammocks around. we also lucked out in the fact that our homestay was also a little shop/restaurant. so the food was really good. she really tried to change it up as well. for breakfast we would have chopped up fruit with a blended fruit smoothie, ... read more

so i made it to guatemala a few days ago. sans my friend teri. she accidentally overslept and missed her flight. she will be out here on sunday. i am currently in antigua. its a great city. with cobblestone streets. and little cafes everywhere. and people eating ice cream. ive even seen a few frozen yogurt stores. people walk dogs. and ive seen pugs, german shepherds, dobermans, chihuahuas, you name it. and of course mcdonalds. kfc. burger king. i was also surprised at the road from guatemala city (where i flew in) to antigua. it was great. the past few days ive just been walking around. getting used to my surroundings. i met some current peace corps volunteers yesterday at my hostel. it was nice chatting with them a bit to get an idea of the ... read more

so that is a popular song lyric from a bongo flava song. basically about a boy saying that hes not married yet. hes just here hanging out still. and that is true with me. i am still in tz hanging out for a bit. the market is not yet finished. i had our safety and security officer come out and visit my site. and she saw the market not being finished and my impeding departure as not ok. so i called and talked with our acting country director. and he seems like a nice guy. and we talked about it. and it was highly recommended that i see this through to the finish. because when volunteers leave it is almost guaranteed that a project wont finish. and that being allowed to go to the world cup ... read more

so weve hit june and im starting to wrap everything up. overall things are going really well. i finally finished the cycle bead lesson with all the girls at the secondary school. and they were all able to make their own beads. which they were really excited about. i did not understand why afterwards i saw some boys wearing the bracelets. but such is life. the market project has really taken off. all the supplies have been purchased. and building has started. actually they started doing the foundation yesterday which is pretty cool. and they should finish making the cement bricks later this week. so really in the next couple of weeks things should be finishing up with that (hopefully). one of the woman in my village came to me recently. asking about tree seeds. she ... read more

just a quick update. the library has been installed. school just let out for easter break yesterday so it will go into use mid april when students return. its really basic. 2 shelves. and the shelves arent full yet. but its a great start. and kids continually come to my house in search for books or magazines. and now they have access to them at school. there is a boy and a girl. they are our librarians. in charge of checking the books out to students. and making sure they are returned in 2 weeks. exciting. im in town again to receive another busload of solar panels. i bought 20 of them. the demand is so high. its exciting giving them out. and i actually am going to buy one. the light is just so bright ... read more

we are just moving along. the market project is coming along nicely. weve had numerous village council meetings and meetings with villagers. the location was disputed at first but that has been resolved. and all villagers who are deemed able to are required to donate 2500 shillings which is about 2 dollars. and this goes for the village contribution of getting transportation for all the goods plus also purchasing of sand/gravel/stones. this collection is already under way and should be finished by late march. when that is finished we will be able to gather materials and begin construction. hopefully early april. everyone is very excited. i am a little nervous though because late april is also when harvesting time is. hopefully that will not be an issue. also good news. my fundi (shelf builder) has finally ... read more

so we have entered 2010. pretty crazy. the school year just started yesterday in tanzania. so naturally that meant you saw a lot of kids in school clothes just loitering about. because everyone knows that school really doesnt start for another month or two. especially if these rains keep up. (the kids will be working in the farms) well actually im nervous if the rains keep as is. i havent seen blue skies in awhile. and i do enjoy the rain as opposed to the sweltering heat. but now crops are dying. the village next to us had water up to their knees. not good. but everything is gorgeous and green. i did not farm this year. everyone keeps bugging me about it. and i just dont have the want to ask my baba to borrow ... read more