I'm goin' to Guatemala!

Hello friends and family!

Well, here's my blog. I just figure it's a better way for those people who would like to stay updated, rather than flooding everyone's email inboxes with mass emails. Also, this way you can check this site at your leisure and if you're not all that interested then you don't have to check it! One thing I do ask of you, though, is to please drop a line in the form of a comment every once in a while. I want to hear from you all and it'll be nice to know that someone is actually reading this. This post will mostly just be an introduction to what I'm heading out to do, but future posts should be less boring and I'll try to include interesting stories, reflections and funny anecdotes.

Anyway, I think everyone reading this knows that I'm joining the Peace Corps. However, I have noticed some confusion about where exactly I will be going and what exactly I will be doing (i.e.: "You're going to Nicaragua, right?" "So, Crystal, when do you leave for Spain?" "Crystal, I hear you're being sent to Afghanistan?") So, here's what I'll actually be doing: I will be going to Guatemala with the Healthy Schools program (I have included a map of Guatemala and a map of Central America for those of you confused about the geography of all those little countries south of Mexico). As far as the work I will be doing: I will be a School Health Facilitator and basically I will be working with rural primary schools developing sanitation and health projects, working with teachers to promote healthy habits and to incorporate health lessons into their curriculum, and helping to identify and implement necessary changes with the end goal of certifying these schools as "Healthy Schools."

Here's the map of Guatemala, followed by a map of Central America:




So, I'm leaving San Diego the morning of January 5th and will be flying to Washington D.C. where I will meet up with the rest of my training group, which I guess will be about 30 people, and we will have a day of orientation. Then, very early January 7th we will all be flying to Guatemala! For the first three months we will have training and all of us trainees will be centered around a town close to Antigua. Toward the end of training we will find out our permanent sites, then we'll be sworn in as volunteers and sent out on our own!

I'm getting pretty excited about embarking on this adventure and so far not so nervous. It does help a lot to know I have great support here at home and I'm really thankful for everyone's words of encouragement and excitement! We'll be in touch!



Much love,
Crystal