I have my assignment, and I am so excited to start! Everybody I have met so far at Cantaro has been so friendly and welcoming. There are over 40 people in the organization, so I still don’t know everybody’s name. However, it does help that every time I see somebody, they give me a cheek beso and ask how I am.

My team works with Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in schools. The specific group that I will be working with is funded by UNICEF as part of earthquake relief after two large earthquakes last year. UNICEF has evaluation requirements for programs, and for this one, the group has to evaluate the status of the schools before, during, and after implementation of new technology. They are starting work on 22 new schools, so we will be doing a preliminary survey at each of these schools.

We have to find out about each school’s water consumption, what kind of technology is currently in place, how community participation is organized for the specific school, and ask questions to comply with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. While implementation of clean water technology important, just as important is education and community awareness and participation so that the systems are used and maintained correctly to ensure safe water consumption.

We will be travelling to all of these schools starting next week to investigate. Oh, and of course this will all be conducted in Spanish! Everyday my brain is a little less tired from using only Spanish. However, today I found a loophole. The team I will be working with is headed by the only other American working in the organization. Yes, we did speak in only English. But it is a nice break from constantly concentrating on every word I hear and say!

Along with the fun at work, I have had some fun exploring San Cris. Sandra and I walk to the center of town everyday to catch the collective taxi (kind of like a minibus). The first day she showed me around town as we walked back. Today, I explored by myself. There are some wonderful coffee shops, so I plopped down in one, ordered some tea and read a book for a while. Later, as I was heading back, in the middle of the square there was a performance (pics below).

They group explained that they are Maya and that the dance and song that they performed was a tribute to mother earth. The pictures are really bad quality (shoutout to the 1 pixel camera on my Mexico phone), so in case you can’t see each performer had on an elaborate costume. Unfortunately, they didn’t explain the meaning of their dress, but it was quite striking so I will try to describe it for readers at home. One performer had a vibrant blue, another had black and white, the other had on black body paint. The female performer had on burgundy body paint and a series of piercings on her ears and face. The performance consisted of drumming, fire, horn blowing, and a ritual that seemed to be the main performer fighting a tiger and eventually winning. I was quite happy to see that the performers were young which meant that these traditions are still alive and well. It was a wonderful performance and reminded me how unique Chiapas is Mexico because of the diversity of cultures that exist only in the region.

Finally, I wanted to brag a little and just show everyone what sights I see right outside of my (balcony) window.

Anyway, I am excited to get started and see the communities we work in firsthand soon!