2009!

So Much has happened over the past couple months. Life is going too fast, even though I'm living in a culture with a much slower pace of life relative to the States.


Having my family here was awesome. We did cave tubing/hiking, spent a few days where I live and did Christmas here and visited some remote Maya villages, then up to the Mountain Pine forest and did a lot of hiking, swimming in rivers/ water falls saw the 1000 foot falls, mountain biking, then we went out to the island and chilled there for three days. My dad and I went scuba diving and saw sharks, sea turtles, eels, etc and my mom, Ben and Nicole went snorkeling. It was a great way to end the trip with three days on a beautiful Caribbean island.

For New Years I came back to my house in Punta Gorda and we had a party with a mix of our local friends, Peace Corps friends, and other foreigners residing/ working in Punta Gorda. I was happy to get home and back in my life here.

I've been trying to think about what this experience has been so far for me and I know it's been significant but it's hard to articulate that now while im in it. But really I don't see myself as doing some incredible sacrifice or making any significant impact towards the people that many people think I'm doing down here. I am just doing the work here I've been assigned, not making money doing it, but it's just become real life like work I'd do anywhere else. Sure my work gets at some of the core aspects of life, dealing with social issues, searching for meaning, values, beliefs that I try to have my retreats centered around so it's definitely been impacting and fulfilling for me. I am very happy here and have soaked up the laid back care free attitude many embody here. Sure at times I wish I had some more money to live with here and didn't live in a rat and cockroach infested house that gets broke into nearly every fucking time we're gone, but it's right on the seafront and life here is much slower with a lots less pressures and stigmas as there are back home. So I'm just living and enjoying and doing my thing. I have less than six months now which is going to fly by.