Day to day life so far

I realize a few people might be wondering exactly what I am doing down in Guatemala this year, so I'll go ahead and explain myself.  I am down here as a Vision Team Coordinator with the organization, Common Hope, or Fundacion Familias de Esperanza as it is called here.  This basically means that I organize and manage the trips for groups that want to come down to see what the organization is all about.  As part of these trips we organize social work visits, time to help in construction, sponsorship visits for those who already are sponsoring a student, perhaps a cultural tour (a visit to the kite ceremony in Sumpango on All Saints Day for the coming group), and whatever other activities the visitors might be interested in. 

I am officially a long-term volunteer which entitles me to a living stipend.  This covers my room and board at a house in a town near the project site, Santa Ana.  From my house, it is about a 15 minute walk to work, a 10 to 15 minute walk into Antigua to the market or supermarket, and probably a full day's hike to summit any of the nearby volcanoes which are all above 12,000 ft.   

The view of Acatenango volcano from my house. 

and the view from my house in the other direction.

This being said, I would suggest against hiking Volcan de Fuego as it is still active.  I actually saw it erupting last night on my way home which is pretty rare; not just the plumes of ash or smoke which happen daily, but actually a eruption of lava.  Sorry though, no picture of the eruption!  

Also, the above photos were taken on a semi-clear day, which honestly has been quite rare so far.  The rainy season was supposed to end a few weeks ago, but heavy rains persisted due to the presence of a few hurricanes and tropical storms up near Mexico.  The first road I take into work is called Calle del Agua (Water Street), which, either ironically or accurately, has been host to a decent sized river a majority of the days since my arrival.  A Guatemalan news station said that somewhere around 60% of the roads in Guatemala had been damaged or destroyed  from landslides that occurred as a result of the rains.  This being said, thankfully the sun has been shining again here the past few days and things are drying out.  Hopefully more drier days to come!