A Gringa No Brasil

This month has been a bit hectic, but I've finally got a few minutes to fill you in. I've been working with a group of ten students to help them apply for a scholarship to study in the States. The program is called "Becas Semilla" and is funded by USAID and Georgetown University. The scholarship winners go to a community college for two years and receive a technical certification or associate's degree. The application is a lot of paperwork, but I'm going to Teguz to hand in the second/final part of the application tomorrow, which will be a relief. If any of them are selected as finalists then I'll have to help prep them for interviews in January. Fingers crossed that at least one of them wins.

At the beginning of the month I went to an Artisan Fair at the US Embassy. Every December, the Embassy hosts the fair so that local artisans and vendors can sell their goods to the embassy workers for the holiday season. The PC business volunteers recruit other volunteers to bring local artisan groups from their communities. I didn't go with anyone from Cantarranas, but I filled in for the volunteer from Valle de Angeles, the neighboring municipality. The group's name is Empresa Recicle, and it's a group of women that make all of their goods from recycled items - jewelry, aprons, change purses, pencil holders, holiday wreaths, etc. They didn't sell all that much, but considering that we're so close to the capital and there were no travel expenses, it was definitely worth the trip. Other groups rode the bus for 10 hours to get to the event. Yikes. Also, the fair gave me a chance to do some of my own holiday shopping.

The municipal fair is back in Cantarranas again! It started on the 4th and ends this coming Sunday - two weeks long instead of just one like last year. Highlights so far: singing "Stand By Me" with another volunteer in the karaoke competition, seeing 10 year olds have a chugging contest with ponche de leche (a mix of hot milk and alcohol), being woken up every day of the first week by firecrackers and a marching band parading around at 5am, and lots and lots of dancing. Coming up this weekend: Ranchera music competition, the crowning of the Ugly King of the fair, rodeo, fireworks show, Kazzabe concert (popular Afro-Latino group from the north coast), and (of course) more dancing. Some volunteers came to visit last weekend and more are on their way for this weekend's festivites. Should be a good time :)

Also, since my Christmas cookies were a hit last year, I've been using my spare time and money to make fresh batches for this year. My list of friends in town has definitely grown over the past year, so I hope I made enough to go around. I'll find out this weekend.

After the fair ends this weekend, my coworkers at the town hall are having their Christmas dinner party on Monday. Then I fly to New Jersey on Wednesday. Yay!