Training

During the 48 years Peace Corps has been operating they have studied, adapted and relocated the training program volunteers go through prior to swearing in as official PCVs. Volunteers were originally trained in the US as the educational and housing systems in country were not yet established. Volunteers trained at universities during the summer vacation months, allowing the PC access to high level language and job training programs as well as ample housing. UC Berkeley was the original training site for all volunteers. Berkeley also boast the highest number of returned pc volunteer graduates (go bears!) All volunteers are now trained abroad, most in the country they will be serving in although some countries have joint training.

In Guatemala we are participating in Community Based Training (CBT), meaning that we receive technical, cultural and language training while living with host families in various communities in the areas surrounding the training center. The first three nights in country were spent living with other trainees with a host family in the same community as the training center. This is the only time that we will live with other volunteers, Peace Corps only allows married couples to live together. During the first three days the 32 of us were given Spanish language exams and broken into groups of four based upon our program assignment (ecotourism or healthy schools) and our language skills. Each group of four lives in a different commuity and does Spanish language training four days a week together. The entire training group reunites every Monday at the training center for training in health and saftey, Spanish class and vaccinations. Thursday mornings we have tech training with the others in our program, leaving us with Saturday afternoons and Sundays free from formal training. There is never a shortage of cultural activities to participate in on the weekends. Thus far I've attended four soccer games, two weddings and two birthday parties. While full integration into Guatemalan culture is the PCs goal for us, spending the afternoon in Antigua with the other trainees provides with a nice balance between work and play...

Shout Out

Just a quick shout out to Samra's mom. Feel free to send us cookies. Samras doing well, but she'd be doing better with cookies.

Training

Don't have much time to post right now, Ive got to be in Spanish class in about 2 minutes, but quickly. We arrived safely, the climate here is very similar to home during mid march, its cool at night but it warms up during the day. We took Spanish tests yesterday, and my teacher seems to think Im quite witty. This is a mistake. I simply don't know enough Spanish to speak intelligently so I use the words I know to say funny things like , "Mi mama es muy baja, no estoy seguro porque soy grande" and things like this. Im living with two other volunteers with a host family a few blocks from the training center. Hasta luego!

Staging: Washington DC

The last time I was in Washington DC was on an 8th grade field trip. This is what I learned: It is possible to finish and entire card game of war, there is no Macys in the Capital Mall, and reenacting the battle of Gettysburg with 100 8th graders is not a good idea. So last night, one of the other volunteers and I wandered around DC, really looking for food, but ended up running into the Washington Monument and the White House.  These are both very large buildings, and you would think one wouldn't just stumble upon them, but it was cold and dark and a bit confusing with all the security and roadblocks set up in preparation for the Inauguration. This morning a few of us set out to see things (again), we stayed out for about 2 hours until it started pouring so I'm back in bed until our official meetings start at 2pm and we're off to Guatemala tomorrow morning!