A crazy start

The first week was as wild as anticipated and included:

• a LOT of time at the Chilaj roughing filter (more on this to come)
• a ped. bridge opening ceremony in Joyabaj with some lovely marimba players, speeches (bilingual - Spanish and Quiche!), and a lunch consisting of beef and veggie soup, HUNDREDS (not an exageration) of tortillas, and of course, some rum
• various whirl-wind site assessments and meetings with communities and Alcaldes in Pachulum and Cubulco to discuss additional projects - Marvin, the Alcalde of Pachulum, treated us to some chicharones and a lovely viewing of the Argentina v. Suissa match at a roadside tienda as well as some fresh mangos
• a little time at the Sechum vehicle bridge site to lay out some foundation rock chipping work
• a very nice meeting with Florencio, the Alcalde of Joyabaj, to discuss plans for all upcoming projects in the municipality, the state of current projects, and some preliminary discussions about my infrastructure analysis and municipal planning project

Throughout I was able to do some project trouble-shooting with Mike, Mincho, and Alejandro (the head of the Joyabaj water system). Also finally met Waleska (Guatemaltecha full-time EWB-USA employee working on community relations and project logistics) in person and have been able to spend lots of time getting to know her. She comes from a business management background but is eager to understand all of our projects as thoroughly as possible, so I'm thoroughly enjoying explaining our project systems and engineering concepts and the great discussions that result from her feedback and input. In exchange, she has excellent contacts in Joyabaj and in the broader development community in Guate, so she will not only be supporting my work and projects with feedback and suggestions, but will also be introducing me to various folks with a lot of insight and info regarding the state and needs of rural Guatemalan infrastructure. All very exciting!

I'm now in Xela (Quetzaltenango) for a week for Spanish classes - the homestay is great, and the earthquake this morning, while it lasted longer and was stronger than I've felt before, here in Xela it was not very (if at all) destructive, so if you saw the headlines, no worries! All is well! Though thoughts and prayers certainly go out to those who were effected at its origin in Mexico and near the border.

Alejandro and Mike working on the Chilaj roughing filter (services a portion of the population of Joyabaj)