.honesty.

...how should I begin?

It's been quite some time since my last update for you and I apologize about that. So much has gone on in the past 2 weeks and its a little difficult to know exactly where to start...

While I realize that many readers of blogs enjoy living vicariously through others' experiences, brace yourself because this is NOT one of those times. Now, its not to say that the past 14 or so days have been all bad but I guess I'll just lay it out as plainly as I can.

My understanding of the 3-month internship that I would be completing was based on a rather vague conversation between myself and my advisor. Having already a close tie with the organization, I felt assured that a personal recommendation would have set me up for a very rich experience here. That being said, the day I finally met the Director of PRESANCA (2 weeks after I arrived in Central America) turned out to be the beginning of a downward spiral. I learned that the qualifications for this internship included past policy work experience and fluency in Spanish (neither of which I had). Having been ill-advised by my advisor and sent to Guatemala, I had learned that my being here was essentially based on false information. 

After a long meeting discussing what would happen next, I was told that I would sent to the municipality of Olopa and work in Tituque (a mountain community living in extreme poverty). The plan would be for me interview families and observe daily activities in the home with the primary focus of practicing Spanish as much as possible. Then in coordination with the current nutrition policy for the country, I would (with the direction of my supervisor) design my own nutrition project to implement in the community.... a pretty big undertaking but I was psyched!! 

So, Monday the 4th, I arrived, met local community leaders and officials and set off the next day on a half hour bumpy ride up to Tituque Abajo. For the first time, I felt like I was accomplishing something: meeting families, interviewing them, getting insight for my own project, etc.

Then came the news: after deliberation, my advisor notified me through email (cc'd to 7 different individuals associated with me, my university and the host organization) that my internship was terminated! The email was sent on Monday  (the afternoon I arrived in Olopa) and I had only the first chance to open it on Tuesday evening. SHOCKED!! Yeah, that's how I felt: she went on to say that "sometimes there is not a good match between student and organization and its best to send me home to the US". Now, after having to read her message a few good times, I finally surmised that in order to save face, my advisor decided to pull me from the internship because of the lie she told. But my question was this...why did I receive word of my termination through an email 3000 miles away when the Director and my supervisor were right there in the same town as me? Why would they send me to Olopa with a project in hand to then send me home? And better yet, why was I terminated at all? Within a few minutes of emailing the Director, I received a reply from her that we would discuss the whole situation the next day over the phone. (Just to be sure, that "next day" has yet to come, yesterday I was told she is in Europe for the next few weeks) 

So, I was left not knowing what my status was and whether I should start packing up my things. The next day, my supervisor (who's really called this more for ease of identification than her actual supervisory role) laid out the proposal: I would have 2 days to design a one month project. This project would be reviewed and if they accepted it I would have 4 weeks to implement and show results....if they rejected my idea, I would be sent home. May I just add that the deadline was on Friday, my 29th birthday! Happy birthday to me :( To my own amazement and with the help of God, I crafted a pretty comprehensive project that I was actually excited to work on...I felt refreshed, confident! On Sunday, though, I got word that my project was rejected because it was too intensive and showed that I had little grasp of the realities in the community. I was given 2 choices: work on a policy analysis, write an essay and present it to the PRESANCA team in Guatemala or be sent home. Completely frustrated and discouraged, I seriously opted to cut my losses and head home. While on Skype with my parents last night, I learned that although the supervisor rejected my proposal, the Director got wind of it and loved it! Not only that, but she has dropped the probationary deadline of 4 weeks and has given me the option of making this a 6-week or full summer-long assignment!

I'm very thankful for this newfound favor but I tread with caution.  I think that's what they mean when they say that living/working abroad teaches you many lessons about life. With the official summer season having yet to arrive, I feel as though I've already had my fill. Still, it'll be quite a finish line I cross when I do complete my full tenure here and travel back home in August.

...new post in a couple days to fill you in on the amazing stories from the field and pictures, too!

             

.4 n 4.

What a whirlwind of a week...

So, I arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador on Tuesday afternoon and was picked up by a PRESANCA employee. (I gotta say: the whole strolling-out-of-the-airport-and-seeing-a-stranger-holding-a-placard-with-your-name-on-it scene was rather anti-climactic if I do say so myself) This was probably due to the fact that besides the deliciously sticky 95 degree tropical thunderstorm going on, about 2 dozen OTHER people were holding up placards among the couple hundred anxious faces of family and friends waiting just beyond the doorway. Regardless, I finally found my name and headed to la mancomunidad de PRESANCA to meet some of the ElSal staff. Later on, I finally made it to the hotel which was gorgeous...it had a living room, full kitchen, full shower, queen size bed, flat screen TV and a view of the historic San Salvador volcano. 

View of the San Salvador volcano from my hotel room

In the morning, at the Real Intercontinental San Salvador Hotel (beautiful hotel, kinda reminded me of a Four Seasons) there was a Health & Environmental Awareness Conference that PRESANCA presented at. Big names in environmental policy from all over Central America were there....and I was horribly underdressed! But, it was all good. Then that afternoon, we drove out to Honduras to the city of Ocotepeque. $3, a signature and a stamp in the 'ole pasaporte and that was all it took...easy enough :)   

[Now, I'll briefly detail my one-night experience Hondo. I was initially pleased with my bellman's zealousness and desire to go above and beyond...but after the 3rd time of coming to my room with towels, soap and pillows (of which I already had), sitting on my bed, asking about my travel plans and if I was alone, I started feeling quite wary. Call me paranoid but I decided to stack all my hotel room furniture in front of the door. I mean, really, just in case 'creeper-man' found his way to my room for the 4th time later on in the night. Pero, todo esta bien, nothing happened but, needless to say, I was happy to be out of that room.]
 

I conquered the hike...and only slipped twice :)

Today was off to the wild blue yonder and into Guatemala! (Another stamp in my passport, YAY!!!) Anyway, we did some CRAZY driving around and around the enormous mountains of Honduras and Guatemala. What seemed like a drive that lasted forever, I found myself in a truck that was literally adding passengers with every stop along the route. When we reached our destination, along with myself there were 6 people in the cab and 7 in the back. Yep! I was in THAT truck *sigh* Again, incorrectly dressed for the occasion, me and my silvers sandals started the half hour walk up the rest of the mountain. The team and I then assessed the progress of a small health center being constructed for a community of about 100 who live out there.

Children from a mountain community in Olapa, Guatemala

So, we left about 2 hours ago and now I'm relaxing in my third hotel room of the week... this place is super cute!!!! 2 pools, a view of the mountains in the distance, tropical plants everywhere, and the music styling of 3 parrots who will repeat literally anything you say!

A quick snapshot of the pool area at the hotel in Esquipula, Guatemala

Anyway, that's that for now, a lot to go over but I guess the only thing is the spanish overload! Seriously, its a lot to take in and sometimes my brain can't handle conjugating any more verbs so I just stop listening. But, in just 2 days, I can tell I'm more easily understanding conversations so, as they say poco a poco or, little by little I'll get there.

So, I was bouncing around the truck as we made our way down to the city and I realized that I would have slept in 4 different countries in 4 days. From my home in the US on Tuesday to ElSal on Wednesday,  Hondo on Thursday and Guate tomorrow morning, I'd say I've had a pretty productive week....despite the fact that I haven't actually DONE anything. 

Tomorrow starts the real work: I'll be itemizing the strategies of all 3 countries' SAN policies (Politicas de Seguridad de Alimentario y Nutricion: Health & Nutrition Security Policies), the laws put in place to enforce them and the current gaps in the actual progress. At least I have a beautiful pool to sit beside to read five 30-page documents tomorrow :) That's all for now, my friends. Cuidate, take care!

.welcome.

No one can say I didn't try! :) I've decided to capture the experiences of my summer internship in Central America...thought the best way would be to become one of those nifty "bloggers"! So, here it is. I'll be leaving in 3 days and will reach San Salvador on Tuesday afternoon, or so. Its interesting to me how excited I was about this trip during the wrap-up of my semester up in Boston at Tufts, but now...eh, I guess it'll hit me when the plane lands. 

Soooo, I would go into a long drawn-out monologue about myself but I feel like you'll get a better sense of who I really am along the way. On that note, a couple things about my writing that you'll notice: I overuse punctuation and smiley's (sorry) so that's something to prepare yourself for. Um, hmm, I haven't journal-ed in years so brace yourself, I can be pretty random sometimes....but I'd like to think that's part of the joy of knowing me ;) 

Anyway, I'm going to waste a few more hours dolling up my profile... you know, gotta make my blog easy on the eyes! Oh right, I love sending out postcards too, so feel free to email me if you want a little note from abroad :)

Talk to you soon!