And so it begins...again

It’s cold. I was hoping for some sweet, sweet sunshine after last night’s frozen slumber in long undies and my beanie but alas that’s not the case. It’s November and the beginning of winter and perched on the mountainside, Salquil is completely enveloped in the clouds. Standing in the street you couldn’t see fifty feet in front of you. As a result I have spent the day huddled in my room, studying Spanish, trying to plan my work for the next month and currently hunched over my laptop with a warm cup of Darjeeling tea on my stove (Brittany you’re the best).

It’s my first week as a volunteer here and what a week it has been. I meant to update my blog earlier but I was continually finding myself drained of brain power at the end of every day, exhausted from trying to keep up with all the Spanish. I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at meetings with my cooperative in Nebaj. By the end of Tuesday’s 9 hour session completely in Spanish all I wanted was a cold beer (and I got one). Wednesday’s meeting was better. I was digesting more of the Spanish and I was more involved as we planned out the month ahead. It’s going to be a crazy one.

Perhaps I should give you a brief description of what exactly my work here entails. As a Food Security Facilitator there are three basic areas I work in: 1) Community gardens(soil conservation, compost, worm composting, etc.). 2) Poultry/livestock management (vaccination campaigns, milk goats are a big project in Nebaj). 3) Nutrition (Usually educationally related, goat milk is more nutritious than cow milk. Nutrition is easily my weakest area of the three as anyone who lived with me in college can attest.) That’s a basic overview of the field in which I work.

Next week I have presentations in each of the three communities I’m going to be working in: Salquil Grande (my home), Quejchip, and San Francisco Javier. The initial goal for my first three months is five family gardens and one school garden in each of the communities. But before I can leap into that I have to take a survey and get to know the communities. John, the volunteer I replaced had some advice about approaches to carrying out projects, so we’ll see what happens. Also this month PROMASA, one of the organizations I’ve been assigned to is holding a health fair in Salquil. I’m not exactly sure what part I’m going to be playing in that but again, we’ll see what happens. I’m hoping I’ll be able to head to San Marcos so I can spend Thanksgiving with Jaron. That would be a nice end to a hectic month.