Ambassadorial Visit

It is truly rare that an ambassador takes the time to visit communities, see Peace Corps volunteers' work and the people whom with they work alongside, learn an indigenous language- all for the sake of doing his job to the best of his ability. Guatemala is lucky to have an incredibly interested and literally out-going representative to Guatemala, Ambassador Stephen McFarland.

It is even enviable amongst Peace Corps volunteers when this-dare I say über cool- ambassador makes a visit to a PCV's site while on his way to or from official state business.

Comitancillo recently had the pleasure and privilege to host the Ambassador for a short, but action-packed visit, which started with a fashionably-late arrival... which was a blessing, kind of. Of the year and a half I have been a volunteer at AMMID, there has never been a problem with getting locked out of the office. Except on the day the ambassador to Guatemala comes to visit.

Solution? Break-in (and clean up all evidence ASAP). Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Erwin, one of the agriculture guys, breaks the window for us to host Amb. McFarland.

Isa giving Ambassador McFarland a reconocimiento from AMMID.

All right. Call me self-righteous or whatever, but you must admit that you would be pretty psyched if your ambassador bought a textile product from your women's groups that they made and you, yourself, designed. Awesome.

Shane, the dentist in town who opened the clinic the day Ambassador McFarland visited, had an impromptu cutting-duct-tape ceremony that was facilitated by the Ambassador's pocket knife. I must be honest and say I was a bit disappointed that Shane didn't use floss as his ribbon. :-(

Me, Charlie, Amb. McFarland, Lauren and Abby

Not that we already didn't know that Ambassador McFarland is an ace man, he brought each of us PCVs a plate of his famous home-made brownies all the way to San Marcos from Guatemala City. You really can't get any cooler than that.