13 Hours to Guatemala!

So I leave for the airport in about 6 hours, at 3:30 AM. My flight leaves at 6 AM. Today has been a crazy day. I had to move out of my old house and put my stuff in the new house. I'm planning on sleeping on the couch for a few hours because there is no furniture left in my room anymore!

I found out a little more information about what we will be doing in Guatemala. CasaSito has organized for us to volunteer for the Asociacion Mujb'ab'l yol, which is an organization that uses radio stations to raise awareness of human rights and other social issues. (http://www.casasito.org/english/mujb.html) We will be helping build a training center for young people interested in learning more about radio broadcasting. There is also going to be a museum associated with the training center which we may be helping to construct.

I'm excited to try and practice my Spanish! From what I've heard some of the smaller villages speak indigenous languages but I will be able to (hopefully) talk to people in the larger cities that we visit. I really have no clue what to expect once I get off the plane though. I hope there are computers at the hostels so I can update this. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures!

Wish me luck!

Katie

Back to Being a Beach Bum

I've been back in the states for a couple weeks now. I work at Warren Dunes State Park in the campground office and go to the beach on my days off or whenever I get the chance.

Hard at work at Warren Dunes.

I've been keeping a mental list of things that I'm thankful for here at home. Food tops the list, among other things:

1. Food that I am used to, especially dairy products. I am thankful for cheese mostly, but also for skim milk that I trust. Milk in bags always kinda freaked me out in China.

2. Driving wherever I want, whenever I want, with the AC and my music blasting. No more crowded metro rides with sweaty, smelly people!

3. The weather. With heat indexes over 100 degrees in Shanghai right now, I am thankful for the 'mild' Michigan weather. The nights are nice and cool and I missed sleeping with the windows open.

4. Being able to read! You don't realize how much you take for granted being able to read road signs, billboards, food labels, etc. until you can't anymore.

5. Old friends. I missed them.

I apologize to anyone still in China reading this, but if I had a choice I'd still be there. I've been keeping a list of things I miss about China as well:

1. New experiences. You know how they say you learn something new every day? Definitely true in China.

2. The food. I know food is on both lists but I miss trying new foods in China. The canteen food started to get pretty gross by the end but going to restaurants was always exciting (mostly because I didn't know what I was ordering).

3. New friends. I miss everyone in China. I made some great friends and I can't wait to see them in the fall.

4. Traveling and sightseeing. I can't see myself going back to China anytime soon and I wish I could have traveled to more places. I keep getting emails from friends still there about traveling to different places and I wish I could go with.

5. The big-city nightlife. Nightlife in St. Joe consists of walking around at Best Buy and/or Wal-Mart, or driving around aimlessly. Enough said.

I've been trying to prepare for Guatemala by bringing my Spanish book to work and reviewing my Spanish. My mom has also been giving me daily Gutemalan crime updates and travelers' recommendations to insure that I'm fully terrified of Guatemala City before I leave. (We're not spending any time in Guatemala City). I'm also reading a book called I, Rigoberta Menchu. She tells the story of her life during the Guatemalan Civil War.

21 days to Guatemala and counting!

¡Adios!

Katie