It’s interesting, how being in a new place can change you so much. I’ve been back in Guatemala for like, four full days, and I feel like a different person.
I was determined to get back into eating better and exercising daily, because I was NOT doing that back home. Definitely something to do with the weather, but it’s more than that. It’s kind of like the whole idea that you act slightly differently around different people or groups of people, because you are trying to fill a role. I feel like that’s kind of what happens with me when I’m in a new place–which of course, is partially because I’m around all new people as well.
Anyway, the point is that I HAVE been doing that. I’ve been trying to take care of myself physically, and since I entered this new space doing just that, I think that this will continue. I’ll make sure it does, because I feel approximately a million times better when I do take care of myself.
So, you may be wondering, what exactly am I doing, and where the hell am I?
Well. After all of our disastrous experiences working at the animal shelter, my friend and I decided to do something about it. After I left Guatemala the first time, she met a guy, who ended up becoming our third partner in this endeavor. Together, the three of us formed Mayan Dog Rescue. Our goals for this are to rehabilitate dogs that are sick and malnourished, as well as sterilize and vaccinate them. We want to find homes for them or release them into protected areas in the community. While doing this, we are going to focus on working with the community. Not only about their relationship with animals, but also with food–growing food, eating healthy, sanitary practices. We want to build a safe place for the community, for them to have access to use our resources of the land we are going to build on (with like, about a million avocado trees) and to always have an open door.
I’m in Jocotenango, which is a town in Guatemala, just a few miles outside of Antigua. The land we are building on is in Sumpango. I am living in my friend’s house, which is really big and really…Guatemalan. That is, it’s kind of half-open to the elements, and we spend most of our time up on the roof, working. There is an avocado tree and fruit trees, and the locals surrounding the place are just wonderful.
As far as our progress on our project…that’s been really difficult. This is the first time we’ve all been together (I literally met our third partner in person the day I moved into his house) and there has been a LOT going on. There has been tons of drama with his really difficult and disgustingly dirty roommate, who thankfully just moved out yesterday. There has been difficulty with some people that we were working with not delivering, and asking for money that we already agreed we wouldn’t be giving them, and so on and so forth. There was a whole thing with a borrowed unregistered vehicle almost causing some of our team members to get arrested. Basically, there have been a lot of things happening, and we recently lost a huge chunk of our team. But luckily, there are lots of other people out there who want to help, and we are already recovering.
This isn’t easy. I’m especially having trouble finding time to work on all of my own projects. But we will figure it out.
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