Home for the Hols

I've just packed my bags, swept the floor, talked to my ex-homestay brother about cat sitting, and am almost ready to go to bed. Tomorrow, I'm heading to the gym at 530 AM (to get there around 7) then spending the day studying for the GREs, I then head down to Antigua on Friday to book a shuttle to the airport and say goodbye to my dear friend Laura Kutner (who has been here in Guatemala serving as a Peace Corps volunteer for over 3 years) and head to the States for a few weeks.

I have had a bit of a crazy few days this past week as we had our mid-service conference, which means we are half way (a bit more now actually) done with our service, I had a dentist appointment (2 cavities - boo, I blame the Guatemalan coffee which = 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee, lukewarm water and 4-5 tablespoons of sugar (to taste)... which is served in every house I visit.) and a physical and have a clean bill of health.

For the conference itself we were down in Antigua at the Peace Corps office for the day, catching up with our bosses and their plans for the future of our project, newly named "Healthy Homes" (it was Rural Home Preventative Health, quite a mouthful), the nurses and our trainer (I had a 2 hour chat with out trainer, now security adviser David about my compost... riveting stuff). I stayed with some of my close friends at a SWEET house in Ciudad Vieja (near Antigua) that is owned by the parents of Courtenay's boyfriend, who are Guatemalan, but they live in California (did you get that? oh well... it was sweet!) we got to stay (rent free) in a house with (wait for it...) a pool, a washer AND dryer and hot showers. It was pretty much heaven, and I haven't been this clean in over a year. We spent our evenings cooking and watching movies and TV shows (thanks to Mom I almost have every single episode of Dr. Who starring David Tennant) and generally enjoying each others company.

We also went into Guatemala City and saw Inception in the theaters (the mall was pretty much reverse culture shock as we sat in the food court and people watched for a few hours). Great film, btw all should go see it!

I've been trying my best to study for the upcoming GREs, I'm taking them next Thursday in Connecticut (so many things about that last sentence are surreal for me) and I'm not sure I'm all that prepared, what with juggling work/doctors appointments/the conference/ cleaning the house/ travel etc. I haven't really been giving it my all, but I'll do my best, and I can always go to Uni in Europe where the GREs don't seem to matter that much.

But, I'm really excited about seeing the fam, and some friends up in CT (I haven't been in the US in a while, let alone CT!) so I'm planning on taking the test and enjoying the rest of my time with everyone without worrying too much about it. I will also be moving my baby sister into College, American University in DC, which is SUPER exciting, I'm so proud of her. So that will be a great time for all of us.

I won't be updating in a while, but until then...