Algunos Exitos. Some Successes.

Many exciting things have happened in my job with Transitions. Here are some highlights with pics:

Last month, Alex and I decided we wanted to send out a really good holiday card to all our donors this year. Not only did we decide to send out a really pretty card, we decided to send them to over 1,000 people! So how did we put together that many cards? With hand written addresses, and hand written names inside every card?

Some how it all came together in just 3 hours! I asked my Spanish school to create a service project for their students, in the afternoon we needed help—thirteen of them (from all over the world) showed up. And then everyone who worked for Transitions was there, and then I bought pizza for everyone to keep everyone smiling. We finished all the cards and created a nice little Spanish-speaking, pizza-loving community while doing so.


Several weekends ago I spent a night at this eco-lodge in the hills above Antigua. There I stuck up a conversation with a couple that both teach at an “American” high school in Guatemalan City, and the wife of the pair coached the school’s basketball team! I encouraged her to bring her team to come play with Transitions one Friday afternoon. And they did!

This past Friday, 13 high schoolers, most of whom were Guatemalan and Korean (there is a big Korean population in the city), along with 10 or so teachers (who were most from the US, hence “American” school), to play wheelchair basketball. The Transitions guys were great, sharing tips, and their chairs. And before our young friends left, they bought us pizza, and I made them answer a reflection question, “What are you taking away from today?” – thanks for always being inside my head Cal Corps Public Service Center!


El dia de acion de gracias! Thankgiving! So, I had a hard time sleeping the night before the big day, because I had never made a turkey before, let alone a 20 lb. one!

I’m not sure how we did it, but Chef Edgar and I pulled it off: moist turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, green beans and pumpkin pie!

Twenty-four of us came together to eat – my boss (Alex) and his wife, the boss of the wheelchair workshop and his family, the boss of the prosthetic workshop and his family, the Transitions guys who live above our offices, my Spanish teacher and her family, and 4 volunteers/friends from my Spanish school who have been coming to Transitions every Thursday night to help the guys with their English.

Everyone said the food was “rica” and gave thanks to everyone else for sharing this tradition with Guatemala.

I’m convinced that because my first turkey meal went so well, I’m going to have bad turkey luck for the rest of my life…or at least have bad turkey luck when I’m in the home country.