The last public blog I posted here is dated August 21st, 2010. Before leaving the states to live in Mexico I had scoured the internet looking for blogs of volunteers in Mexico to gain a better understanding of what to expect. Enlarge the blogs I found, like mine here, discussed life leading up to departure and then stopped or at the least became very few and far between afterwards.
I now think this may be because, during training especially, that feelings about the experience here change from day to day making it hard to capture in words. The 3 months of training entailed long hours and were an emotional roller coaster for the entire training group of 40 people.
It is my hope that now I am in my service city of Ciudad Guzmán for the next 2 years that I can settle in and contribute more to this blog.
Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco:
It has been just over two weeks here in this beautiful city of Ciudad Guzmán. The weather is warm, and very much like my previous home in the State of Florida. At best a light sweater is needed during the evenings, and very warm during the day.
When I first arrived I was nervous about being placed with a new host family, but within 48 hours I felt right at home. My host mom has her own catering business, is taking classes to become a professional chef, and is the most amazing cook. Each day there is a new food dish to try out! The host stay here is for a 1 month period and I have been searching for my own apartment. It has been difficult searching for a place, but I think I have narrowed it down to 2 possibilities and may be able to move out by next weekend. My initial nervousness about living with a new host family has changed to a feeling of comfort and now I have a nervous feeling about living on my own! However Rob Ferguson was correct on his advice to me on my final evening in Querétaro, he said "that the only way to grow is to move out of ones comfort zone". He is a wise man.
My work is in the national park adjacent to the city. I will be assisting in many projects there dealing with their water systems (potable, wastewater, stormwater, etc) but my interest has been really sparked on a project involving capturing water using fog collectors. The park has a reforestation project that is limited in capacity by the available water for cultivating juvenile trees. This is a new system for me and I have been scouring the internet for information. Unlike the city, the park mountain is very cold; this ex-Florida boy will need time to adjust!
We celebrated Thanksgiving with several other volunteers and some new friends. It turns out the turkey was from Virginia, and we all joked that it had over stayed its visa here in Mexico and paid the price with its head.
Here are few more photos of my wonderful new home and friends:
View of national park from the city at dusk:
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/>View of the (my) mountain:
/>Mi familia nuevo:
/>Thanksgiving 2010 - Mexico Style:
/>The city:
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