Diversions

            After such a long post about the work I do, I thought it would be nice to fill everyone in on the way I spend my (ample) free time.  After we are done for work at 4 each day, the rest of the day is open to spend how we please, and although as a group the volunteers tend to go to bed by ten at the latest, this is a lot of time to fill in a house with no TV, no kitchen, and limited games/puzzles, etc. 

Brains!

            We try to keep our brains working as much as possible, since most of us are in the middle of continuing our education.  In addition to the assigned readings that Chris and Madeleine give us, each of us is usually reading two other books at a time, one for pleasure and one related in some way to volunteerism or Guatemala.  I am currently about halfway through Cien Años de Soledad by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter.  

I have also found some videos that teach beginning guitar lessons, and I have been trying to teach myself how to play the guitar (the volunteer who just bailed left a guitar behind).  My lessons have to take a break for a while, however, because I managed to cut myself at work and had to get stitches on my finger.  

Bodies!

            Given the richness of the food we are served at the mission, we have decided that in order to avoid gaining a ton of weight, some kind of daily workout is in order.  We developed a little workout plan that goes like this:  Every other day we run up into the mountains (with mace, and very carefully) for about 6 K.  The other days we do a little circuit training that we developed in our back yard.  We made some weights by filling little plastic soccer balls with cement and connecting them with part of a broomstick, and we use this random metal rod we found to do squats with.  We also have a jumprope and pull out a mattress for situps, etc.  This circuit lasts for 45 minutes. 

Fun!

            As a group we have become quite obsessed with playing Scrabble and cards, especially Hearts.  Sometimes we download movies online to watch, and sometimes we just sit around and talk while we crotchet.  Sometimes I feel like I am living the life of a 70 year old, but it has been nice to slow down and enjoy the things that I have not had time to do in the past few years of school.