Amongst the tall corn

On Saturday I arrived at San Bartolome Milpas Altas (literally Saint Bartolome Tall Corn), my home for the next 3 months. Located just west of the capital in the central highlands of Guatemala, San Bartolome is a city of about 8,000, five of whom are Peace Corps trainees. The town lies along the Pan-American Highway (how appropriate) which runs all the way from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. The weather up here is cold and it rains everyday. San Bartolome is nestled in the mountainside and sits at about 7,000 ft above sea level. Needless to say the town is very, very hilly. I live in the steep hills just outside of the city, about an eight minute walk to the center of town. It's a hike to mi casa from San Bartolome but I like it up there, it's muy tranquilo compared to the inner city where the other four volunteers live. In fact the only noise I hear are the numerous "bombas" which are shot off continually throughout the day and night.

Let me try and paint a picture of the property on which I live. Like all homes in Central America, there is a gate at the entrance. When you enter there is a drive at the bottom of a hill that leads past four houses which are located up the hill. These four houses belong to my family and extended family. The drive is bordered by avocado, lime, and pear trees and continuing down the drive leads to pasture, a pig sty and a small soccer field. All of this property belongs to my family. It's very, very nice and I have an incredible view of the highlands from my doorstep.

I live in a house with a family of four: Mi madre Olivia (35), mi padre Raul (31), Carmen (5), and Carla (2 1/2). They are a very warm and welcoming family and I'm the fourth trainee they have put up. It's fun to have siblings. Whenever I come home Carlita will yell "Daniel!" and run up and immediately lock herself around my leg (she goes up to my knee), prompting Carmen to do the same thing. Yea, I feel the love. Raul does party planning. Kinda like Zach except he hasn't gotten into the tents yet so Zach if you're reading this, and you want to expand your business southward in your mission to tent the world, I know a guy you can talk to. My first night in the hills of San Bartolo two kids asked me to play soccer with them on that small field. They're about 13 so I towered over them and could speed past them with my long legs. They called me the Hulk and I called them Shrek and Donkey. It was Shrek and Donkey vs. the Hulk which if you ask me wasn't fair. After running around for 10 minutes I was completely out of breathe, I'm not used to playing soccer at 7,000 feet. Still it was a lot of fun.

Sunday I spent with the family. They're Catholic and as is custom on Sundays, they lit a candle to burn all day in front of their shrine of some saint. In the afternoon the whole family piled into the car with Eminem blasting on the radio and Raul drove us further into the hills all the way up to the my family's farm. Raul is a reggaeton fan and Olivia likes Marco Antonio Solis (YES!). They walked with me up the terraced hills which bore the fruit of their labor: avocados, peaches, some vegetables I'd never heard of, and lots and lots of corn. It was a great family outing and a nice beginning to my three months here.