So it seems that it's taken me about a month to get acquainted with my family. They invited my site mates and myself to the Mayan New Year celebration on February 23rd. I was honored to receive the invitation considering that these ceremonies tend to be exclusive. It was also pretty amazing to witness first hand an indigenous tradition thousands of years old. The ceremony begins with an introduction from the head spiritual guide welcoming everyone, stating the purpose of the ceremony, and outlining briefly the tenants of Mayan Spiritualism. Mayans believe that water, fire, earth, and air make up the four main forces of our worldly lives without which we could not survive. Fire for the Mayans is the most important natural force because it unites the family, cooks food, and most importantly, its smoke acts as a messenger to God. Therefore, the New Years ceremony took place around an intricately decorated bonfire. The Mayans have great respect for nature because they believe that God manifests Himself in all aspects of nature. Following the introduction, everyone present kneels and prays to the four directions (N,S,E,W) - all this occurred in the native indigenous language Q'uiche (there are many different Mayan languages, my family specifically speaks Kachiquel). After the introduction prayers, the spiritual leader leads a series of prayers to each of the nahuals (not quite sure of the spelling). The nahuals are protector spirits and each person has their own. When that person's nahual is called they kneel beside the bonfire as one of the spiritual leaders blesses them, and at the end of the prayer, the person throws candles into the bonfire. These prayers take up the bulk of the ceremony, which ends with the performance of the traditional dance called the Son around the bonfire to the tropical beats of the marimba (an instrument comparable to a large xylophone that three people play simultaneously).
Needless to say this was a very cool experience, and a crucial part to my integration into the lives of my family members. Since then we have become very close, and I will be very sad to leave them in April. As of now, I have 3.5 weeks until the end of training and I'm sworn in as a true volunteer. As much as I love my family, I can't wait to be on my own, cook my own food, and in general have more control over my life. Training has been fine, but the information they give us about the specifics of our job has been to abstract. I'll learn best by experience and probably some trial and error. April 12th is the swear in date, after which I will move to my two-year site. I find out this location on Monday... very anxious. When I get to my site, I'll be living with a family for two or so months until I find my own house. If I am placed in a site where a volunteer has already been I will inherit their house and possessions. I actually want to be the first volunteer in my site so that I can set the tone, do house searching, and not have to follow in the footsteps, work ethic, or legacy of the volunteer before me. My Spanish has really improved, but it takes a conscious effort!!! I definitely have no problem communicating my thoughts, but I need to work on being more gramatically correct when I speak - little by little (poco a poco).
Life is going pretty well, and time is beginning to go faster, or at least at a normal pace. My typical day begins at 7:30am with Spanish lessons that last until 12:30 or 1:00. I return to my house for lunch from 1:00 - 2:00 and then we have technical training for the healthy schools program for the afternoon. Usually this entails writing down our community observations. Some days for our technical training we go to the neighborhood school to observe and discuss educational issues with the teachers. We have given two health lessons to classes. For my first lesson I taught a 4th grade class about the five different kinds of nutrients and in which foods they could find them. I was pretty nervous, I've never taught a lesson, let alone in Spanish! The lesson was a success, and the children really responded to me. I was in the zone during the whole lesson, and I discovered how useful my adrenaline can be outside of the softball field. For my second lesson I taught a group of second graders about how to avoid germs, and that also went pretty well. So to say the least, I now feel like I can legitimately teach lessons in Spanish... interesting. I eat dinner with the family around 7:30. We generally have good conversation despite the T.V., and W.W.F. is huge down here! Absolutely unbelievable considering that I hate it. It's sad that I know names like Batista, Mr. Kennedy, John Cena, the Undertaker.. the list goes on. I tell my family that its trash T.V., or that its a man's soap opera, but then my host mother told me she likes to watch the naked men... she may be traditional but she knows muscle! I can also get bootleg DVDs down here for only 20 quetzales (a little less than three dollars). I'm usually not a fan of bootleg in the states, but it's so enticing to be able to see movies that are now in U.S. theaters - a little taste of home goes a long way.
The food hear is actually pretty good. I've been pretty persistent about fruits and vegetables, and my family cooks them regularly anyway. A new thing that I would suggest is boiling a banana (really its a plantain) in its peel for about 15 minutes. It tastes delicious because the heat exaggerates the banana's natural sugars. I have two every morning for breakfast, up from one. During my first month or so my digestive system was having a rough time of it. It just wasn't digesting as quickly. I would still feel full from lunch by dinner, but because refusing food here is rude, I would stuff dinner down. My stomach looked like I was about three months pregnant, and I could feel my intestines trying to work through the food. In addition to this, I guess as some subconscious adjustment thing, I was drawn to candy bars and sugary bread in between meals. I was craving food that I would never have even touched in the states - it was pretty crazy. Now I've calmed down a bit, and I hope to return back to my normal eating habits once I get my own place.

That's all for now!