The first days

After two days in Washington DC we finally landed in Queretaro. It is a gorgeous colonial city full of vibrant colors and small cobblestone streets. For those of you wondering about the group dynamics, the age range is from 24 to 65 (with me being the youngest) and most of the group over 30. There are 5 people over 60 which, though not normal for the rest of PC, is consistent with the average age of the Mexico vol. being 45. There is a range of professors, consultants, business people, environmental educators….. We spent the 1^st night in a hotel and then after a full day of medical and visa information were turned over to our host families. My host mother is great. She and her husband have 2 girls, both around my age, but both are married and do not live at home. She speaks no English, so my Spanish is being put to the test. After arriving at home and unpacking we took a walk to the center of town and watched the festivities associated with the festival of St. Francis, including many dancers and drummers. The highlight of the night was the firework display from the church. In addition to normal fireworks being shot off the top of the church, there was also a large structure that shot off fireworks in different directions (including some into the crowd) and resulted in a huge flaming structure of various religious images. Today we got more general information about safety, health…..but did find out more about our placements after training. For right now it looks like I will be working for SEMRNAT in Puebla (a city of ~ 2 million) doing some sort of watershed management and water quality inventory. That’s it for now. Having some upload issues but pictures will follow soon....