Estoy aquí!

I made it to Guatemala in one piece!

After a short half-day staging event in Atlanta on Tuesday where I met the 51 other Healthy Homes and Youth Development volunteers (where I discovered there were only 6 other guys), we all boarded a plane on Wednesday morning and made our way to Guatemala City. Once we arrived, there were several PC staff members there to help us get through customs and very quickly escort us to the PC Headquarters in a small town about 40 min outside of Guatemala City. The PC HQ is an awesome little compound (literally-it´s surrounded by barbed wired and has armed guards), but is really cool inside with an awesome courtyard where we eat and have some of our classes.

We were all placed with temporary host families for three days while we´re here for orientation. I got pretty lucky with my family- a couple with 4 kids who are all pretty outgoing even around a big gringo (most of the kids here just stare at us). I think their house is pretty nice by Guatemalan standards - electricity, cable TV, several rooms. There is running water, but not in the bathroom, so that means a warm bucket bath in a shower and just dumping a big bucket of water down the toilet. It´s actually not as bad as it seems and I´ve already gotten used to it.

The past couple of days have been full of general health and safety information and determing our different Spanish levels. Today we were placed in groups of 4-5 with other people in our same project (healthy homes for me) and around the same level. I think I got pretty lucky with my group - everyone seems pretty cool. Tomorrow we will all move to different communities with our little groups where we´ll study Spanish together and receive our technical training...so I´m looking forward to meeting my new host family for the next three months.

Guess I better run home for dinner. The foods been great so far...lots of black beans, fried plantains, tortillas, and chicken (which I like!). And the best part is...I still haven´t pooped myself!! Let´s hope it stays that way!

Hasta la próxima!

I'm going to Guatemala!!

Hey everyone!

As most of you know, I'm heading to Guatemala this Wednesday for 27 months as a Rural Home Preventative Health volunteer with the Peace Corps. In an attempt to keep y'all updated on my experiences and share some photos, I've started this blog that I will hopefully be updating on a regular basis.

The PC is something that I've been interested in since high school and I'm thankful to finally get this opportunity. The application process was long and challenging, but I'm sure it will be worth it!

As a Rural Home Preventative Health volunteer, I'll be working with community partners to teach health and hygiene and how to build five principal sanitary technologies in rural homes (water tanks, latrines, stoves, drainage systems and cement floors). These infrastructures will hopefully help combat diarrhea, respiratory diseases, and skin infections, all of which are associated with high infant mortality rates in Guatemala. The fun part is, of course, that I have absolutely no idea how to build any of these structures. Luckily the PC has a pretty intense 3 month training program that will begin this Saturday . We'll receive several hours of language training in the mornings and several hours of cultural, health/safety, and technical training in the afternoons.

I'll be flying to Atlanta for a half-day orientation tomorrow with the 52 other Guatemala trainees and then we'll all fly down to Guatemala City together from Atlanta on Wednesday. Hopefully I'll have some time to post some pictures and give you an update once I get settled in.

Thanks to all of my family and friends who have supported me through this process so far! It's been great spending time with everyone here in Charlotte this past month!

Til next time!
Dirk

What 80lbs of luggage looks like!