To the beach and the one month mark!

This rest of this past week has been great. It’s hard to believe I’ve officially been here for four weeks. This past weekend, the entire group took a trip to the Southeast coast to a beach called Tilapita (there are pictures of the 4 hour bus ride to the beach as well). The beach was practically deserted when we arrived. Having the entire beach to ourselves was so fun! We all shared a little house about forty feet from the shore and spent the whole day Saturday sunbathing, swimming, reading, and relaxing…couldn’t ask for a more relaxing weekend.

The food was great too. There was a family who owned the house and a little restaurant right next door. For breakfast we got eggs and beans with tortillas, for lunch, a huge fruit salad (I even have a picture of the beautiful fruit), and for dinner, a choice of grilled/fried fish, shrimp, and of course a vegetarian option. The fish was amazing! Both nights after dinner we built our own bonfire on the beach and roasted marshmallows to make s’mores. I’m pretty sure everyone in the group had an amazing time.

This week is pretty normal as well. We're working out our volunteer projects as well that we will start in two weeks. I will probably be working on a health class for young women as well as working a bit in the Tuberculosis/AIDS hospital in Xela, however, I'm not sure exactly yet, but I'll keep you updated. The women's class, especially, will be a lot of work (we make up the lesson plan/activities ourselves), but I'm so excited. So far, I've had some great experiences talking to Guatemalans, whether in my house or on the bus. I have high hopes for the volunteer work.

Last night we had a conference on the public health system in Guatemala and some of its issues (in short, the government does not have enough money to support the system). Tonight we're watching a film on the Cuban music group, Buena Vista, and there's more salsa later in the week too!

Hasta pronto!

Pictured below - the group piled into a truck on the way to the bus station (that's the way you travel in Guatemala! so fun!), on the four hour bus ride, the house we shared overnight on Friday and Saturday a few paces from the beach, the fruit for lunch, the sunset on Saturday night on the beach, and a few of us on the little boat that took us to the beach