Ilana in the Cloud Forest

Hey everyone, Apologies for taking such a long hiatus from writing this month.  I was going to write a couple of weeks ago—in fact I had pretty much written the whole piece—but things got a little hectic, and I never got the chance to revise and send you all what I had meant to send.  September has been quite an interesting month.  I started this month off by taking a trip to Querétaro where I gave a presentation with the Peer Support Network (PSN) at the new volunteer cohort's pre-service training (PST). We introduced ourselves and the PSN, ran a few activities to break the ice with the new cohort, and ended the session by giving the trainees a chance to reflect on their fears, hopes, and goals for their service.  Everyone I met in the group seems super kind and down to earth. I also got to know the new trainees who will be coming to the Sierra Gorda in a few months after they finish PST, and I’m very much looking forward to having more peers geographically close to...

Happy Sunday, everyone, I hope you are all well. I'm currently writing to you from my hotel in Querétaro where I arrived this afternoon after spending the night in Jalpan with my friend Veronica. I came to Querétaro this week to meet the new cohort of volunteers who arrived in Mexico on Wednesday! How crazy is that? Y'all, if I'm being completely honest, the past two weeks haven't been my best. On paper, it may seem like everything is going great: I'm moving forward with my cistern project, I spent part of last week in Jalpan, and this week school was back in session and I was able to get out of the house more to get my work done and spend time with different community members.  Like I said, on paper, things are good. And I'm not saying I'm not enjoying what I'm doing, but sometimes it's hard. I've officially been in Mexico for an entire year! Friday marked one year since landing in Querétaro, and, you know, a year is a long time. It's if wit...