The life of a PCT

Hola todos. So if you look to your left there is a view of the courtyard in Peace Corps Guatemala headquarters. It really is very nice there, and as I may or may not have mentioned previously, the staff is incredible. Guatemala is a very old post, almost as old as Peace Corps itself; we have actually been sending volunteers here since 1943. With all of this experience comes a wealth of wisdom. Us Peace Corps Trainees spend our days absorbing the knowledge of the technical training staff, the medical training staff, the safety and security training staff, and most importantly the language training staff. The life of a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) is really quite exhausting, and I can not remember a time in my life where I have been on a more regular schedule; awake at 6am, breakfast at 7am, classes from 8-12:30, lunch at 1pm, training activities from 2-5ish, dinner at 7pm, and never asleep after 10pm. All of my meals are prepared for me daily by my host parents, when I can't be home for lunch they pack me a lunch box. It's actually pretty nice to be taken care of so well, but it can be a little suffocating.
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To the right you can see what the view looks like from the viewing platform of my park. What you are looking at is Guatemala City. I have not had the chance yet, but I am told that at night it is even more magnificent. The park itself is beautiful, it is in the mountains so the hiking terrain is excellent. It is a great spot for bird watching, there are great barbecue pits everywhere, there is a mountain biking course, there is a camp ground, obviously beautifual views, and wild animals everywhere. It is an unadalturated piece of nature, and a breath of fresh air. However, the directors of the park have no sense that it is still a business and that they are losing money for the municipality hand over fist maintaining the park. Our job is to design a business development plan to help them eventually turn a profit. It should be both interesting and challenging, and at the very least my office is a gorgeous slice of nature. On a quick side note, I actually got to meet the mayor yesterday and talk about my business education and experience, and how I think I can help his park.
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Meet Doggy (pronounced duggy). This dog loves me. Last night it was very windy out, and pretty cold. My house opens up to an outside patio right past my bedroom door, but there is no door to the outside, it is just open air. I was sleeping, and I woke up to a thumping sound that seemed to be coming from inside my bed. The wind was blowing and things were banging around all over outside, it was pitch black in my room, and I have been having crazy lucid dreams as a side effect of the malaria medication, so I wasn't sure if I was awake or asleep. Then the thumping started again, and I am not going to lie I started to freak out a little bit. When I finally figured out that I was definitely awake, I got off my bed to look underneath with only the light from my watch. And if you can't guess what happened next, Doggy jumped out and scared the living hell out of me.
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I am officially at the one week mark, and I have plenty more stories, and a ton of pictures already. So for those of you who are reading, commenting, and sending emails thank you very much, it brightens my day everytime I hear from one of you. I will put up another post soon, because I have a lot to talk about, but I think thats it for tonight. Adios.