Friday, October 24, 2008

System Failure...Mission Aborted (or simply relocated?)

Due to the inability to fix a dysfunctional system, my original mission was aborted after 3 weeks and a new mission has been undertaken in a new location. I am now living with my sister in East Wenatchee Washington and am currently formulating a plan of action.

Yes, I am disappointed. How could I not be? I've looked into going back to Guatemala for a month, but finances are prohibitive. And I really don’t want to get a job to save more money. I worked hard enough over the past year to take this much time off and damn it… I’m going to take the time off! I’ll definitely return to Guate in the future.

Plan/Goals:

1. Learn Spanish: Granted it won't be as easy to learn here, even with a large Spanish speaking community, but I will continue to study on my own and take a class at the local college in the winter quarter. I thought there would be more opportunities to take classes here, but I was mistaken.

2. Volunteer: I’m trying to find an opportunity at a local social service organization.

3. Get into Shape: While working 6-7 days a week over the past year, I had no time or energy to do anything physical…dance, hike, run, swim…all things that I miss. Wenatchee is conducive to many outdoor activities. I’ve already gone on two hikes with my sister, we’ve rollerbladed next to the Columbia River, and I’ve gone on a bike ride. I think I’m going to join a gym so I’ll have some more options once it starts snowing. Or maybe pick up some used cross country skis???

4. Visit Friends: I’m hoping to make a trip to Oregon and maybe to California.

I will continue to keep this blog… I’m still distant from my NY home, distant from work, distant from my usual life…

There are a couple more things I’ll write about Guate in future posts.

Inky is still with me.