April Begins

First of all I apologize for not posting recently, but here is what has been going on:
March ended swiftly as we finished the mural and work intensified. I am starting to work with a Barrio (community) in town that is having major structural problems with their homes due to a fault line that runs through the middle of it, a river that swells and floods during the summer, and a drainage pipe that the town put in and has burst. It has become somewhat political, which I am trying my best to stay out of, yet want to find a project to help these people. The first step is a census to collect the data about their homes and families and health. Then we'll see what can be done. I will upload pictures of both the homes and the mural just as soon as I find my USB :(
Then I headed off to Antigua, home of the training center for a conference called "Reconnect" and more Spanish classes. I am currently still here at the center and will leave back for Jocotan on Sunday. Antigua is bursting with people and things to do as they gear up for the biggest holiday of the year, Semana Santa (Easter). Here in Guatemala it is a 4 day holiday and starts next Thursday, but there are still processions and events starting now. Reconnect was fairly helpful as it was great to come back and share my experiences with my fellow volunteers and the staff here at Peace Corps. The are very supportive and encouraging considering the large amounts of complaints and frustrations that can occur. And, as always, the spanish classes are very helpful and practically fry my brain when I think about the fact I've been living here for 8 monthes now and never knew the words for 'bucket' or 'grass' for example, haha. Much less haven't been able to talk in the subjunctive...
This upcoming week with Semana Santa will be mostly vacation. Kate and Rachel (two other volunteers from the Chimaltenango area) are coming to visit and see the culture of the East. oh! and I ordered the most amazingly, awesome boots from Pastores this week which I hope to pick up in a few weeks. Pastores is this cute small town outside Antigua that is famously known for boot making. Every store up and down the main strip is a boot store where they make them all by hand and with local or italian leather. We got to go to a boot-makers home that knows Peace Corps and get an awesome deal. They are completely custom made, I picked the heel from one boot, the style of another, the color of another, and even drew, myself right there on the spot, the design I wanted sewn on the sides! I'm stoked about it and can't wait to take pictures of those as soon as I get them.

Hope everyone is doing well back home. Thanks for checking up on me and reading the blog.

Peace, Love,
Robin