For the past few days i had the pleasure of visiting another Municipal development volunteer in her site in Poaquil, about 2 hours from Alontenango. We had a fabulous time and it was wonderful to see the volunteer life in action. We met up with several other volunteers in the area as well so I was able to see a variety of housing situations and chat with people about their variety of work situations.
She has a wonderful house....with two bedrooms, a bathroom (with a hot shower!), kitchen-dining room, and patio. This is not roughing-it-Peace Corps-life. She has made it really cute with decorations and furniture built on request by local carpenters. She has a fridge, gas stove, and even a mini food processor. She took me to the Municipal building where she works and I got to meet her counterpart and other office employees.
We took a good like 45 minute hike through the countryside to a nearby smaller settlement and met a family that shes friends with up there. The mother was away for breast cancer treatment in the nearest city of Chimaltenango, so I didnt get to meet her. I heard great stories about the work that shes done in the community and it worries me to think about the type of treatment that shes receiving at the public hospital. The little girls showed us around their property to their apple trees, crazy tropical fruit trees, corn, and medicinal herbs. The property had beautiful views of Poaquil down below and green mountainsides covered with cornfields for as far as you could see. Stunning. I also met Rosa, a dynamic young women who lives up there who is the only indiginous women to attend law school in Chimal. She was incredibly friendly and showed us all of her flowers and fruits that she cultivates in her spare time to unwind from the stress of school.
We went on a beautiful and memorable run that was all up hill that kicked my butt in a good way. She has run several marathons and has been running at this altitude for two years now, so I was challenged. We went in late afternoon with some dark coulds in the sky and some rays of sunlight poking through. There was mist beginning to settle in the little valleys of corn fields and the views were breathtaking as we climber further up the hillside. (The whole experience was rather breathtaking with the combination of running up hill, at altitude, with the occasional camioneta or large truck belching out black fumes in its wake).
One of the great lessons of the trip is that cooking on your own in Guatemala can be fun, nutritious, varied, and tasty. I was treated to such delicacies as green curry with market fresh veggies, pizza with homemade sauce and dough, pancakes with fresh marionberry sauce, tofu phad thai, AND....homemade rice krispies treats two nights in a row!!! I was in heaven and am actually getting really excited about cooking when I get my own place. Some of the specialty items like sesame oil and green curry paste were from the capital, but other stuff is handily available around town such as fresh ginger root and marshmallows.
She also took me to the ruins outside of Tecpán called Iximché. Ruins of ancient Mayan town. Very cool. It took us about 45 minutes to walk there from where the bus dropped us off, so it was also nice to walk through the town along the way. You can climb up on the old stone steps and look out over the whole settlement of stone structures and wide open grassy spaces in between. In the back there is an area with people still do traditional religious ceremonies and we stumbled upon the embers of some recent fires that thousands of bees were swarming around what we think was something sweet added to the fires. The smouldering embers and buzzing of the bees gave off a very mystical sensation.
We walked around town on market day to take in all the colors, sounds, and smells that market day in Guatemala has to offer. There is a huge abundance and variety of fresh fruits and veggies. There is also everything you need for your house in plastic form. Lots of fake Puma and Abercrombie clothing to be sold, alongside brightly colored traditional intricately woven skirts and tops for the women.
Another trainee and I relished fresh liquados while waiting for the bus back home. A liquado is a fresh fruit smoothie blended with milk right before your eyes from piles of bananas, strawberries, and pineapples. Heavenly. You just try to focus on the yummy flavors and not the unknown handling of the fresh fruits with bare hands.
Overally the site visit was a great way to see what "real" volunteer life is about, ask TONS of questions, and get the low down on Peace Corps. It was great to be treated to yummy meals, hot showers, and movies. It was very nice to meet their Guatemalan friends, neighbors, counterparts, and familiar people they interact with every day. I feel much more ready to head out to my site armed with some ideas for creative things to do with my house and my food and with a good realistic attitude of what to expect from work and the whole experience.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Random relatives birthday party
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of accompanying my family to a relative in Alotenango 50th birthday party. I had a blast...but the six hours I spent there could have been condensed into two. We ate a yummy meal of chicken, rice, and tortillas, complete with piña coladas made out of fresh pineapple and coconuts. Yum. But of course, only one, because i just follow what my mom and host sisters do...even though the drinks kept being offered and the men enjoyed more than a few. The family runs a disco, so they had all this great sounds equipment and for the entire time we listened to booming bass coming out of 5 foot speakers. The music started off with early 90´s depressing love ballads in English, but then progressed to cumbia, marimba, reggaeton, and even some Garìfuna (from Livingston, the city in the northeast part of the country make up of decendents from slaves from Africa). The party was complete with a gigantic snowman piñanta that the kids went nuts over. There was a 45 minute break in the loud bass music for the live Mariachi band that showed up to serenade and entertain the crowd. I danced with my host dad to the Mariachi music and with a bunch of the cousins to the reggaeton and salsa music. There was a gigantic lightning storm in the midst of all this and the power kept going off and coming back on. There was gushing water from the tent overhead and the lightning lit up the whole sky like specialty club lights. The entire experience was quite fun...but like everything in Guatemala, went on much longer than necessary.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Maximón, etc.
On thursday we had the opportunity to go during Spanish class to visit Maximón (San Simón), a Mayan-Catholic psuedo-saint. He lives in San Andres Itzapa, just a bit outside of Antigua in the department of Chimaltenango. There is a church-type structure for him that is filled with tables of lit candles...so many that the temperature rises like 10 degrees when you walk in. He sits (a manequin) atop a shrine and people go up one by one to pour rum and beer on him and give offerings of food, money, cigarettes, etc. They pray or chant and slap themselves with bunches of branches with leaves. Outside there are witch doctors who smoke four cigars at a time to communicate with him while others burn patterns of sugar poured on the ground with mini fires of piles of candles. It was a fascinating place and one of those experiences where you walk away from scratching your head, not really sure what to think, but really glad you witnessed it.
Im starting to feel a little bit better about the lack of formal recycling programs here since i wince every time i throw away an aluminum can, or plastic bottle. But Ive started noticing trucks filled with used cardboard and men carrying gigantic bags of plastic bottles and hope that they are going to a good place. Houses are made out of scrap everything, so the informal recycling program is somewhat in place.
Thursday was also Elyse´s brithday, where we had the opportunity to be served a very "rica" carne asada meal by her family. We also ate a second chocolate cake. Its great to see all the different housing types and family dynamics that we encounter by visiting other people´s houses.
I continue to be surprised by funny little things....like a women changing her baby´s diaper right there on the bus, right next to me. There is no such thing as modesty when it comes to children. Other things like calling a taxi and having the driver motion us to cross four lanes of traffic to get in the car are seemingly becoming normal. Or for a completely full camioneta to stop at the gas station to fill up (without shutting off the motor) for 15 minutes while making 60 people wait. I sometimes just chuckle to myself and mutter, "this would never happen in the US." Thats the beauty of living here.
Im continuing to learn more and more about the complexity of the government structure and the process of decentralization following the Peace accords in 1996. We visited INFOM, an organization in the capital that exists to support municipalities with trainings and resources on administration, finances, and public participation. They are a great resource and have worked with Peace Corps a lot. Its good to know where to get the info when we need it.
We also had our second womens group meeting in Alotenango on Thursday (it was a very busy day...with torrential rain to boot). We did some fun activities like a relay race in teams passing a balloon and then popping it. They went nuts for it! It was great to see all these women, half with babies on their backs, laughing so hard and loving the chance to get to play themselves. We continued talking about how to get some weaving classes going and the mood was very positive and more energetic this time, although getting people to speak up in public remains to be a challenge.
Im getting very comfortable living with my family and they continue to be so welcoming and supportive. Its sometimes hard to completely submit to their schedule of meal times, locking the door at 9:00pm, and being called when its 7:00 and you havent come home yet, but the experience is totally worth it. They are so patient with me and we just laugh so much with each other. They tell wonderful stories, espeically the dad who grew up "when shoes didnt exist in Alotenango." My mom only has a third grade education and cant really read or write, but i am continually amazed at how she keeps all the prices of everything in the store in her head and can do mental arithmatic so much faster than I can. My sisters are so sweet and hilarious and help to explain and clarify things to me. Every time I come home its, "Hola Kah-ty!!!" with a hug and kiss.
Im starting to feel a little bit better about the lack of formal recycling programs here since i wince every time i throw away an aluminum can, or plastic bottle. But Ive started noticing trucks filled with used cardboard and men carrying gigantic bags of plastic bottles and hope that they are going to a good place. Houses are made out of scrap everything, so the informal recycling program is somewhat in place.
Thursday was also Elyse´s brithday, where we had the opportunity to be served a very "rica" carne asada meal by her family. We also ate a second chocolate cake. Its great to see all the different housing types and family dynamics that we encounter by visiting other people´s houses.
I continue to be surprised by funny little things....like a women changing her baby´s diaper right there on the bus, right next to me. There is no such thing as modesty when it comes to children. Other things like calling a taxi and having the driver motion us to cross four lanes of traffic to get in the car are seemingly becoming normal. Or for a completely full camioneta to stop at the gas station to fill up (without shutting off the motor) for 15 minutes while making 60 people wait. I sometimes just chuckle to myself and mutter, "this would never happen in the US." Thats the beauty of living here.
Im continuing to learn more and more about the complexity of the government structure and the process of decentralization following the Peace accords in 1996. We visited INFOM, an organization in the capital that exists to support municipalities with trainings and resources on administration, finances, and public participation. They are a great resource and have worked with Peace Corps a lot. Its good to know where to get the info when we need it.
We also had our second womens group meeting in Alotenango on Thursday (it was a very busy day...with torrential rain to boot). We did some fun activities like a relay race in teams passing a balloon and then popping it. They went nuts for it! It was great to see all these women, half with babies on their backs, laughing so hard and loving the chance to get to play themselves. We continued talking about how to get some weaving classes going and the mood was very positive and more energetic this time, although getting people to speak up in public remains to be a challenge.
Im getting very comfortable living with my family and they continue to be so welcoming and supportive. Its sometimes hard to completely submit to their schedule of meal times, locking the door at 9:00pm, and being called when its 7:00 and you havent come home yet, but the experience is totally worth it. They are so patient with me and we just laugh so much with each other. They tell wonderful stories, espeically the dad who grew up "when shoes didnt exist in Alotenango." My mom only has a third grade education and cant really read or write, but i am continually amazed at how she keeps all the prices of everything in the store in her head and can do mental arithmatic so much faster than I can. My sisters are so sweet and hilarious and help to explain and clarify things to me. Every time I come home its, "Hola Kah-ty!!!" with a hug and kiss.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A trip to Guate...the capital
Guate! Guate! Guate! the men yell from the street corner indicating the destinations of the camionetas. These guys are paid to stand there all day shouting that our and they have the skills of an rapid-talking auctioneer. Yesterday we followed the Guate! calls and ventured into the quagmire of Guatemala City with our trusted guide, Eduardo, our Spnish teacher. It was quite the interesting advuenture as we were paranoid the whole time of getting robbed...but it was a succuss. We got taxis to the Peace Corps office...surrounded by a high fence with barbed wire and razor blades with security gaurds wearing bullet proof vests. I don{t know whether these safety measures make me feel safer or more vulnerable. We located the hospital and the laboratories if the need should arise.
We then were treated to a schmorgeseboard of fast food options for lunch in the fancy new mall, Tikal Futura. It was a tough decision between pizza hut and Quiznos for me, but I opted for the pizza with a real salad to follow. And then finished it off with a churro and some strawberry ice cream. Pure heaven. The mall was filled with lots of stores from the US like Levis and the Gap. We were told that since a lot of people cant afford these things, theyre actually used for laundering drug money. Awesome.
We had to round out the trip with a stop at Hiper Paiz, the half Wal-Mart owned super mega uber store. Against my morals yes, to shop at a 50% Wal-Mart, but I tried to console myself that its half Guatemalan too. Anyway, I splurged on some mini-snickers for a emergency purposes and a bright pink Barbie beach towel (Jesse, it might be the same one you have..heh heh). I also scoped out brands of products for the future when I need to start replenishing other supplies and I was quite pleased with the selections.
After arriving back in Alontenango (about an hour away) we tried to go to the Muni for our appointment with the Planning Office coordinator, but he seemed to have left the building for a family emergency. So we still haven{t met with him....some day hopefully. Today is Elyse{s birthday so we baked a surprise cake for her with supplies from Antigua - Betty Crockers Devils Food cakes complete with Rainbow chip frosting! Were going over to her house to celebrate tonight. Yippee for birthdays and reasons to celebrate!
On Sunday Ill be going to visit another Municipal Development Peace Corps volunteer at her site in Chimaltenango. I{m very excited and it should be a fun and very informative adventure. Ill spend four days with her learning about what the real PC experience is like.
We then were treated to a schmorgeseboard of fast food options for lunch in the fancy new mall, Tikal Futura. It was a tough decision between pizza hut and Quiznos for me, but I opted for the pizza with a real salad to follow. And then finished it off with a churro and some strawberry ice cream. Pure heaven. The mall was filled with lots of stores from the US like Levis and the Gap. We were told that since a lot of people cant afford these things, theyre actually used for laundering drug money. Awesome.
We had to round out the trip with a stop at Hiper Paiz, the half Wal-Mart owned super mega uber store. Against my morals yes, to shop at a 50% Wal-Mart, but I tried to console myself that its half Guatemalan too. Anyway, I splurged on some mini-snickers for a emergency purposes and a bright pink Barbie beach towel (Jesse, it might be the same one you have..heh heh). I also scoped out brands of products for the future when I need to start replenishing other supplies and I was quite pleased with the selections.
After arriving back in Alontenango (about an hour away) we tried to go to the Muni for our appointment with the Planning Office coordinator, but he seemed to have left the building for a family emergency. So we still haven{t met with him....some day hopefully. Today is Elyse{s birthday so we baked a surprise cake for her with supplies from Antigua - Betty Crockers Devils Food cakes complete with Rainbow chip frosting! Were going over to her house to celebrate tonight. Yippee for birthdays and reasons to celebrate!
On Sunday Ill be going to visit another Municipal Development Peace Corps volunteer at her site in Chimaltenango. I{m very excited and it should be a fun and very informative adventure. Ill spend four days with her learning about what the real PC experience is like.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
First womens group meeting and Independance day!
So last Thursday we met with the womens group that we will be working with for the next few months in Alotenango. I learned the most in those two hours that any other experience in my life. Wow. Culture shock. It is a group of more traditional women who have an interest in learning how to weave in the traditional way to continue the culture and to earn more money for the household. It´s wonderful that they have this idea already, so we´re working with them to help organize and plan with the group to make it happen.
So they all showed up "on time", meaning they were one hour late according to Gringo time. (The meeting was scheduled for 2:00, it started at 3:00). There is this phenomena here called "la hora chapina" which means Guatemalan time and that things start whenever, usually from 30 to 90 after that appointed time. No one here really has a watch. It can be frustrating, but we can also learn a lot about relaxing and not rushing life. In the states, "time is money"...here, "time is life". Very different.
It is also very difficult to know how to greet people for the first time. Some people hug and kiss, others touch arms, others shake hands, and others do nothing. It is very ackward when the two people do different things and I havent figured out yet how to figure it out.
So we conducted the meeting, but due to the marimba music that was playing, the loud other group in the room, and the horrible acoustics of the place, it was very difficult to hear. The women are very shy and timid to speak in front of a group. It will take time to build "confianza" with them. There are long periods of silence which are ackward for us, but normal and not uncomfortable for them. In general as an American I freak out when there{s long silences, but for them it{s nothing to worry about.
The other funny thing was that when the meeting was over, no one left. I said that if anyone had any questions, comments, or suggestions, that they could come talk to us afterwards. But no one moved, no one said anything, and there were about 20 minutes of ackwardsness with a little bit of small talk with the people sitting around us. Its difficult to create chit chat too becuase they were very timid at answering questions. When we finally stood up and started stacking chairs, then everyone left and it was evident that they had been waiting for us to leave first. Ah, the learning.
The women bring all their children in tow too. I have to get used to seeing lots of exposed breasts during the frequent feeding times. The great thing was that there was good attendance (about 15 women, plus children) and they all seem very interestered. It will be a fun and informative journey. Im excited to keep working with these women and building confianza and hopefully we{ll figure our way around the cultural differences and things will get less ackward. Their project sounds so exciting and it should be great to work on.
Yesterday was Día de Independencia. Basically in every town all the school children dress up in uniforms and parade through the streets with their school bands. It{s really fun to watch the baton girls and the little boys with giant drums. They are all very pround of what they are doing and it its neat to see. However, it goes on for hours and is very loud. I watched in Alontenango during the day from the terrace of the house, then watched it again on the local TV stations, and then went to Antigua with my host sisters to watch the bands there in the central park at dusk. It was cool to see all the buildings lit up and the cardboard bull with firecrackers shooting out from all sides. But lots of standing and watching the school bands all play more or less the same song for hours.
Today Im spending the day with some peace corps folks in Antigua to indulge in internet and cute cafes with espresso. It is ironic that some of the best coffee in the world is grown here, but everyone drinks instand coffee, Nescafe oftentimes. They drink it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and as soon as babies are weaned from the breast, its on to sweetened coffee.
So they all showed up "on time", meaning they were one hour late according to Gringo time. (The meeting was scheduled for 2:00, it started at 3:00). There is this phenomena here called "la hora chapina" which means Guatemalan time and that things start whenever, usually from 30 to 90 after that appointed time. No one here really has a watch. It can be frustrating, but we can also learn a lot about relaxing and not rushing life. In the states, "time is money"...here, "time is life". Very different.
It is also very difficult to know how to greet people for the first time. Some people hug and kiss, others touch arms, others shake hands, and others do nothing. It is very ackward when the two people do different things and I havent figured out yet how to figure it out.
So we conducted the meeting, but due to the marimba music that was playing, the loud other group in the room, and the horrible acoustics of the place, it was very difficult to hear. The women are very shy and timid to speak in front of a group. It will take time to build "confianza" with them. There are long periods of silence which are ackward for us, but normal and not uncomfortable for them. In general as an American I freak out when there{s long silences, but for them it{s nothing to worry about.
The other funny thing was that when the meeting was over, no one left. I said that if anyone had any questions, comments, or suggestions, that they could come talk to us afterwards. But no one moved, no one said anything, and there were about 20 minutes of ackwardsness with a little bit of small talk with the people sitting around us. Its difficult to create chit chat too becuase they were very timid at answering questions. When we finally stood up and started stacking chairs, then everyone left and it was evident that they had been waiting for us to leave first. Ah, the learning.
The women bring all their children in tow too. I have to get used to seeing lots of exposed breasts during the frequent feeding times. The great thing was that there was good attendance (about 15 women, plus children) and they all seem very interestered. It will be a fun and informative journey. Im excited to keep working with these women and building confianza and hopefully we{ll figure our way around the cultural differences and things will get less ackward. Their project sounds so exciting and it should be great to work on.
Yesterday was Día de Independencia. Basically in every town all the school children dress up in uniforms and parade through the streets with their school bands. It{s really fun to watch the baton girls and the little boys with giant drums. They are all very pround of what they are doing and it its neat to see. However, it goes on for hours and is very loud. I watched in Alontenango during the day from the terrace of the house, then watched it again on the local TV stations, and then went to Antigua with my host sisters to watch the bands there in the central park at dusk. It was cool to see all the buildings lit up and the cardboard bull with firecrackers shooting out from all sides. But lots of standing and watching the school bands all play more or less the same song for hours.
Today Im spending the day with some peace corps folks in Antigua to indulge in internet and cute cafes with espresso. It is ironic that some of the best coffee in the world is grown here, but everyone drinks instand coffee, Nescafe oftentimes. They drink it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and as soon as babies are weaned from the breast, its on to sweetened coffee.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Internet...at last....
I have a love/hate relationship with the camionetas. Caminetas are "chicken buses" that are retired yellow school buses from the United States. The seats are made the appropriate size for children, which isn't so bad for Guatemalans since they tend to be rather short. But for those of us who are a bit taller it is a bit more difficult. They squeeze you in three to a seat with the aisles packed as well. You are smashed in among everyone else, bum to bum, elbow to elbow, face to ....whatever part happens to be in front of you from the person in the aisle. The drivers are CRAZY!!! They don't waste any time on their trips...hauling around corners and barely stopping to let people off. To get on sometimes you have to make a run for it to grab the ladder on the back and hop in the swinging door. Every camioneta has its "ayudante" or helper who collets fares though the aisles, hangs out the open doors as the bus whizzes through town screaming the destination, and throwing whatever people are taking with them up on the roof. These men are pretty tough and don't mess around but are allegedly pretty popular with the Guatemalan ladies. There is always some sort of music blaring...be it reggaeton, salsa, Marimba, or Christian something. It impresses me how people are able to sleep on these rowdy trips. Some days when I'm in a good mood it's so much fun to experience the camioneta and I'm loving life and this country. Other days like yesterday, I hadn't been able to use the internet, I was really tired, and had to pee really bad and was not pleased to be crammed in between two smelly men, one of whose bag was uncomfortably jabbing my recently-vaccinated sore arm. To make matters worse, the camioneta stopped at the gas station while my bladder continued to stretch, the air became more stale, and claustrophobia began to set in when I realized with a panic that I could move any of my limbs. I made it home fine, but the camioneta trip didn't help my mood for the day.
Another thrilling form of transportation are the Tuk-Tuks. Essentially, they are three-wheeled open-sided contraptions with what sounds like a law mower motor. They chug up hills at about 10 miles an hour, but can move pretty speedily on flat or down hill surfaces. They cost 2 quetzales a person (Guatemalan currency)...so like 25 cents. They have a cute little horn that they honk at everyone in the street to get out of their way, it sould like a car alarm going off. They are a beautifully handy thing when you're running late and they even kindly put plastic on the sides when it rains. I wouldn't take on on the highway though - these would definitely not be street legal in the US.
Ah yes....rain. It's the rainy season right now, as in it rains almost every afternoon. You wake up to clear skies and sunshine and they sure enough when you're in the middle of eating lunch, it starts to pour. Sometimes it's accompanied by window-shattering thunder and lighting. Today sitting in Kelly's kitchen we saw a lightning bolt strike the house across the street right in front of us!
So Sunday 9/9 were elections. There was much anticipation as local power is fatally important. THere are literally lives and money at stake. THings went off without too much trouble in Alontenango. When the results were annouced late that night there were lots of firecrackers and music and madness, which of course I slept through. However, in other towns, ballots were taken and burned in huge bonfires...in other towns physical fights broke out. But by Guatemalan standards, this was low-key. Word on the street this afternoon is that the man who won for Alotenango for mayor was receiving death threats for himself or one of his children. Part of the problem is that since there are so many political parties, the winner will have only received like 14% of the vote...so the remaining 86% are pissed. In local elections like for mayor, the winner will not be very popular with many people and oftentimes there are problems with the incumbant stepping down. It is riduculous that every layer of the government here is thoroughly corrupt and no one has any trust in it. As for president, there will be a run off between the first and second place winners of this election in a few weeks. The choices are a ridiculously corrupt man or the guy who's deeply involved in narco-trafficking...take your pick. One of the senators is an ex-general who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people during the civil war and wanted to be tried in Spain.
Training is going well. We gather once a week in Santa Lucia at the Peace Corps training center for various medical/safety/security information, shots, and technical classes. This week our medical session was about all the different types of worms, amoebas, and parasites we might contract while we're here. (Including brain worms that you don't know you have until you start having seizures). It was terrifying. Basically the moral of the story is WASH YOUR HANDS whenever humanly possible.
Spanish classes are really fun...it's the four of us girls and our fabulous teacher for at least four hours every morning in one of our houses. We go do lots of nifty things too like checking out the local cemetary, drinking coffee at the local gas station (more on this in a moment), or day trips to Antigua to musuems and teaching us how to maneuver ourselves in Guatemala City.
Technical training is incredibly informative. I'm learning so much about the government structure here, cultural attitudes, and the functioning of development groups. In 1996 when the peace accords were signed to officially end the civil war, there were some laws passed aimed at decentralization of the country to give local municipal authorities more control over their territories and to encourage greater citizen participation. There is a whole structure of local community group that can receive national funds for their development projects and give a structure for communities to organize themselves, get connected with the local goverment, and accomplish self-directed development projects. The problem is that many people don't know these options even exist. We will be working with one of these groups here in Alotenango during our three months here to support the work that they are doing and offer trainings to them.
I am very appreciative of the Peace Corps' approach to development with the emphasis on "Capacity-building." Our goal is not to go into communities and "develop them" but rather to help people prioritize their goals and help them build capacity to do it themselves. Hence, we're not giving money like many other NGO's, but people, knowledge, and skills-training. Peace Corps volunteers are not kept in any one site for more than 7 years I think in order to prevent the people from becoming dependant. Another thing that I appreciate is that PC has a rule that no administrator can keep their same job for more than 5 years. This keeps the organization from being run by a bunch of out-of-touch beaurocrats. The staff is INCREDIBLE. They are so helpful and knowledgeable and we´re definitely lucky to be working with them.
La gasolinera...the gas station. The only place in town to get a good cup of coffee that has table that you can sit and chat. There aren't really restaruants in town and definitely no cozy cafes. I miss Seattle. So we go there...oh...about once a day and drink coffee or diet coke and maybe eat some candy. We've made friends with the Senora who works there and it's a comfortable place to be. There was one day a really cute guy that stopped in, very tall (unusal), well-dressed, driving a brand new Land Rover. Probably involved in drugs since he's got money....but who knows. Now it's the joke for our families here, our teachers, and the Senora about how we go the gasolinera every day to watch for the "chico guapo."
Kelly and I have been running a couple times a week, which keeps me somewhat sane. I go practically nuts sitting in classes all day long and not working out regularly. She also brought a yoga DVD that did this morning which made me feel SO much better.
There's lots of free time, especially on the weekends. I kind of wander around the house all day long, chatting with the families, waiting for meals even if I'm not hungry, reading for hours, and playing Phase 10 the card game, for example, for 3 and a half hours last Saturday.
I have a cell phone now! Even that was an adventure when we went to Antigua to buy them. We had to go around to like 4 different stores to even find the ones we wanted. And there aren't like cell phone stores. Every store is a mixture of a bunch of things and you have to ask if they have what you want. Our Spanish teacher brought us to McDonalds because there's a nice garden there actually. But, since we were there, we bought McFlurries! Chocolate chip and caramel...tasty.
Clothes washing is interesting. Generally either my mom or some other women who comes to do it does the clothes washing. But Peace Corps recommended that females wash their own underwear. I undertook the task over the weekend during my stretch of unfilled hours. The washing is done in the pila, the large container of water with separate areas for draining and rinsing. It's concrete, so you rub soap on your wet clothes and scrub them against concrete. My clothes have never been cleaner, but it sure puts wear on them. I actualy don't mind doing laundry...it's rather cleansing. :-) But then things take DAYS to dry (jeans never ever do) because the air is so damp.
My family has lots of television channels. I've indulged in watching Law and Order in English. Almost every night after dinner the whole family gathers together to watch their "telenovela" (soap opera). They are ridiculous but so catching. We watch "Distalando Amor"...Distilling Love...about this overly hunky man and his many lovers on his Mexican tequilla farm. One of my favorite scenes was when he gave one of his lovers a necklace and when he put it, he found out she was already wearing the identical neckalance from another man. Entrancing!
So I'm adjusting to living here in a good way. The bucket baths with barely luke warm water, the camionetas, the butcher shops with every part for display, the copious children in the street, "El gato" the drunk man on the corner, and marimba music everywhere, are becoming normal aspects of daily like. I still wake up at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 6:00 to the blaring camionetas horns and firecrackers for whoever's birthday that day, but I fall back asleep quickly as if that's normal.
Another thrilling form of transportation are the Tuk-Tuks. Essentially, they are three-wheeled open-sided contraptions with what sounds like a law mower motor. They chug up hills at about 10 miles an hour, but can move pretty speedily on flat or down hill surfaces. They cost 2 quetzales a person (Guatemalan currency)...so like 25 cents. They have a cute little horn that they honk at everyone in the street to get out of their way, it sould like a car alarm going off. They are a beautifully handy thing when you're running late and they even kindly put plastic on the sides when it rains. I wouldn't take on on the highway though - these would definitely not be street legal in the US.
Ah yes....rain. It's the rainy season right now, as in it rains almost every afternoon. You wake up to clear skies and sunshine and they sure enough when you're in the middle of eating lunch, it starts to pour. Sometimes it's accompanied by window-shattering thunder and lighting. Today sitting in Kelly's kitchen we saw a lightning bolt strike the house across the street right in front of us!
So Sunday 9/9 were elections. There was much anticipation as local power is fatally important. THere are literally lives and money at stake. THings went off without too much trouble in Alontenango. When the results were annouced late that night there were lots of firecrackers and music and madness, which of course I slept through. However, in other towns, ballots were taken and burned in huge bonfires...in other towns physical fights broke out. But by Guatemalan standards, this was low-key. Word on the street this afternoon is that the man who won for Alotenango for mayor was receiving death threats for himself or one of his children. Part of the problem is that since there are so many political parties, the winner will have only received like 14% of the vote...so the remaining 86% are pissed. In local elections like for mayor, the winner will not be very popular with many people and oftentimes there are problems with the incumbant stepping down. It is riduculous that every layer of the government here is thoroughly corrupt and no one has any trust in it. As for president, there will be a run off between the first and second place winners of this election in a few weeks. The choices are a ridiculously corrupt man or the guy who's deeply involved in narco-trafficking...take your pick. One of the senators is an ex-general who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people during the civil war and wanted to be tried in Spain.
Training is going well. We gather once a week in Santa Lucia at the Peace Corps training center for various medical/safety/security information, shots, and technical classes. This week our medical session was about all the different types of worms, amoebas, and parasites we might contract while we're here. (Including brain worms that you don't know you have until you start having seizures). It was terrifying. Basically the moral of the story is WASH YOUR HANDS whenever humanly possible.
Spanish classes are really fun...it's the four of us girls and our fabulous teacher for at least four hours every morning in one of our houses. We go do lots of nifty things too like checking out the local cemetary, drinking coffee at the local gas station (more on this in a moment), or day trips to Antigua to musuems and teaching us how to maneuver ourselves in Guatemala City.
Technical training is incredibly informative. I'm learning so much about the government structure here, cultural attitudes, and the functioning of development groups. In 1996 when the peace accords were signed to officially end the civil war, there were some laws passed aimed at decentralization of the country to give local municipal authorities more control over their territories and to encourage greater citizen participation. There is a whole structure of local community group that can receive national funds for their development projects and give a structure for communities to organize themselves, get connected with the local goverment, and accomplish self-directed development projects. The problem is that many people don't know these options even exist. We will be working with one of these groups here in Alotenango during our three months here to support the work that they are doing and offer trainings to them.
I am very appreciative of the Peace Corps' approach to development with the emphasis on "Capacity-building." Our goal is not to go into communities and "develop them" but rather to help people prioritize their goals and help them build capacity to do it themselves. Hence, we're not giving money like many other NGO's, but people, knowledge, and skills-training. Peace Corps volunteers are not kept in any one site for more than 7 years I think in order to prevent the people from becoming dependant. Another thing that I appreciate is that PC has a rule that no administrator can keep their same job for more than 5 years. This keeps the organization from being run by a bunch of out-of-touch beaurocrats. The staff is INCREDIBLE. They are so helpful and knowledgeable and we´re definitely lucky to be working with them.
La gasolinera...the gas station. The only place in town to get a good cup of coffee that has table that you can sit and chat. There aren't really restaruants in town and definitely no cozy cafes. I miss Seattle. So we go there...oh...about once a day and drink coffee or diet coke and maybe eat some candy. We've made friends with the Senora who works there and it's a comfortable place to be. There was one day a really cute guy that stopped in, very tall (unusal), well-dressed, driving a brand new Land Rover. Probably involved in drugs since he's got money....but who knows. Now it's the joke for our families here, our teachers, and the Senora about how we go the gasolinera every day to watch for the "chico guapo."
Kelly and I have been running a couple times a week, which keeps me somewhat sane. I go practically nuts sitting in classes all day long and not working out regularly. She also brought a yoga DVD that did this morning which made me feel SO much better.
There's lots of free time, especially on the weekends. I kind of wander around the house all day long, chatting with the families, waiting for meals even if I'm not hungry, reading for hours, and playing Phase 10 the card game, for example, for 3 and a half hours last Saturday.
I have a cell phone now! Even that was an adventure when we went to Antigua to buy them. We had to go around to like 4 different stores to even find the ones we wanted. And there aren't like cell phone stores. Every store is a mixture of a bunch of things and you have to ask if they have what you want. Our Spanish teacher brought us to McDonalds because there's a nice garden there actually. But, since we were there, we bought McFlurries! Chocolate chip and caramel...tasty.
Clothes washing is interesting. Generally either my mom or some other women who comes to do it does the clothes washing. But Peace Corps recommended that females wash their own underwear. I undertook the task over the weekend during my stretch of unfilled hours. The washing is done in the pila, the large container of water with separate areas for draining and rinsing. It's concrete, so you rub soap on your wet clothes and scrub them against concrete. My clothes have never been cleaner, but it sure puts wear on them. I actualy don't mind doing laundry...it's rather cleansing. :-) But then things take DAYS to dry (jeans never ever do) because the air is so damp.
My family has lots of television channels. I've indulged in watching Law and Order in English. Almost every night after dinner the whole family gathers together to watch their "telenovela" (soap opera). They are ridiculous but so catching. We watch "Distalando Amor"...Distilling Love...about this overly hunky man and his many lovers on his Mexican tequilla farm. One of my favorite scenes was when he gave one of his lovers a necklace and when he put it, he found out she was already wearing the identical neckalance from another man. Entrancing!
So I'm adjusting to living here in a good way. The bucket baths with barely luke warm water, the camionetas, the butcher shops with every part for display, the copious children in the street, "El gato" the drunk man on the corner, and marimba music everywhere, are becoming normal aspects of daily like. I still wake up at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 6:00 to the blaring camionetas horns and firecrackers for whoever's birthday that day, but I fall back asleep quickly as if that's normal.
Monday, September 3, 2007
First "formal" training day
So right now I¨m in Ciudad Vieja...about a 10 minute drive in my host sister´s car to get to fast(er) internet.
I went to a birthday party last night of a friend of my host mom which was a great experience. There were tons of friends and neighbors, mostly children. We opened the door and it was basically a farm behind the door with chickens, horses, and many sacks of avacados. It was great to see all the kids (tons of them) hitting the piñata and so excited for cake and candy. My host mom made the cake which was a giant white cake with cream frosting and fresh strawberries for 60 people. She sometimes makes these cakes and sells them out of her store because she went to official baking school some years ago.
Last night I brought out my photos to show the family and they brought out all of theirs too. It was really fun to chat about everything.
Everyone in town seems to know everyone else and there is constant talk of what everyone else is doing. Some of our families are related of the 4 of us here, but they all know each other well.
Families have to pay some for high school and for university also. In the more rural areas it is rare to finish high school and most have more like a 6th grade education. Obviously in more urban areas more people finish high school and go to further technical training tracks or university. The gender roles here are quite rigid though for occupations.
The 30 of us that came to Guatemala together are from municipal development, food security, and agricultural marketing. 17 are municipal development. All four of us girls in Alotenango are municipal development.
So far the weather is great....but very humid and nothing (like my wash cloth) ever dries. It is usually sunny in the morning and then clouds up around lunch time and then rains in the afternoon. Temperature-wise it is quite pleasant.
Today we had our first "formal" Spanish class in the house of one of the girls here. It was very relaxed with the four of us and our wonderful teacher. We laughed a lot....which I do here in general a lot. We walked around town, bought snacks, and visited the cemetary. The cemetary is quite beautiful high up in town with a great view of the volcanoes and all the greenery around. It is also much more natural than cemetaries in the US which are so perfectly manicured. We each went to our houses for lunch, the biggest meal of the day. Then we met up with the other Municipal Development people (17 of us) from other towns in the "Muni" (the Municipalidad...or city office.) We learned slightly more about what we may be doing. For our time during training, we"ll be working with a community group to build their capacity and help with projects that they are working on. We are expected to give a series of "charlas" (chats, presentations) on different topics to them.
There is a watch for Hurricane Felix so Peace Corps is sending us back to the training center in Santa Lucia to wait it out. They are very cautious for our safety.
So far I"m still healthy. The only really annoying things are that the water is on some days, and some days not and that the internet is not what I"m used to. But so far so good and I"m loving getting to know this beautiful country and such nice and welcoming people.
I went to a birthday party last night of a friend of my host mom which was a great experience. There were tons of friends and neighbors, mostly children. We opened the door and it was basically a farm behind the door with chickens, horses, and many sacks of avacados. It was great to see all the kids (tons of them) hitting the piñata and so excited for cake and candy. My host mom made the cake which was a giant white cake with cream frosting and fresh strawberries for 60 people. She sometimes makes these cakes and sells them out of her store because she went to official baking school some years ago.
Last night I brought out my photos to show the family and they brought out all of theirs too. It was really fun to chat about everything.
Everyone in town seems to know everyone else and there is constant talk of what everyone else is doing. Some of our families are related of the 4 of us here, but they all know each other well.
Families have to pay some for high school and for university also. In the more rural areas it is rare to finish high school and most have more like a 6th grade education. Obviously in more urban areas more people finish high school and go to further technical training tracks or university. The gender roles here are quite rigid though for occupations.
The 30 of us that came to Guatemala together are from municipal development, food security, and agricultural marketing. 17 are municipal development. All four of us girls in Alotenango are municipal development.
So far the weather is great....but very humid and nothing (like my wash cloth) ever dries. It is usually sunny in the morning and then clouds up around lunch time and then rains in the afternoon. Temperature-wise it is quite pleasant.
Today we had our first "formal" Spanish class in the house of one of the girls here. It was very relaxed with the four of us and our wonderful teacher. We laughed a lot....which I do here in general a lot. We walked around town, bought snacks, and visited the cemetary. The cemetary is quite beautiful high up in town with a great view of the volcanoes and all the greenery around. It is also much more natural than cemetaries in the US which are so perfectly manicured. We each went to our houses for lunch, the biggest meal of the day. Then we met up with the other Municipal Development people (17 of us) from other towns in the "Muni" (the Municipalidad...or city office.) We learned slightly more about what we may be doing. For our time during training, we"ll be working with a community group to build their capacity and help with projects that they are working on. We are expected to give a series of "charlas" (chats, presentations) on different topics to them.
There is a watch for Hurricane Felix so Peace Corps is sending us back to the training center in Santa Lucia to wait it out. They are very cautious for our safety.
So far I"m still healthy. The only really annoying things are that the water is on some days, and some days not and that the internet is not what I"m used to. But so far so good and I"m loving getting to know this beautiful country and such nice and welcoming people.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
First days in Guatemala
I´m here! So far so good! This blog page took about 15 minutes to open.....this is going to try my patience and my wallet. After three days in Santa Lucia with a family training at the PC training center I arrived in Alotenango where I will be living for the next three months. It is a large town with around 30,000 peole. The main streets are paved, there are buses that are coming and going constantly from Antigua (about 15 minutes away). It is situated at the foot of three volcanoes, two of them active, but no risk. The town is bustling from early in the morning until night with children, buses, three wheeled taxis, dogs, firecrackers (for birthdays), blaring radios, propaganda from loudspeakers about the elections (sept. 9), and just about everything else. My new family is wonerful so far. There is the mom who runs a store out of the side of the house, the dad who works at the Nestle factory, and the three daughters who are around my age, one goes to law school in antigua, one is a spanish teacher in antigua, and the other is looking for a job and has her degree in business administration. The mom and one daughter are evangelical, the dad and another daughter are catholic, and the other daughter is nothing. The are wonderful so far and very welcoming and keep telling me to make myself at home, that they hope i feel comfortable, etc. They are very easy to talk to and we laugh a lot. The house is much larger than I was expecting with many bedrooms, an outdoor patio, a terrace, a living room, a kitchen, Australian parakeets, a fountain, a dog, and the store off to the side. My room is quite large with a bed, desk, dresser, and full length mirror! The house is two blocks from the main plaza and it was about a 10 minute walk to get to this internet place, which has the slowest internet I´ve ever experienced in my life. It takes about two minutes to open every email. Its driving me crazy. Any way....there are three other PC municipal development girls that are in my town with other families and we´re been going around visiting each other with the families. I´m going to go for a run with one of the girls, Kelly from washington dc, tomorrow morning. The nephew of my host dad lives in Bellevue! He went to the us illegally and works in a restaurant there. The mom cooks really good food and I´ve had lots of yummy tortillas, chicken, carne asada, macaroni salad, cabbage salad, mashed potatoes, sweet warm drinks, etc. There is no shortage of coffee. Tormorrow our first spanish lessons start in Kelly´s family´s house. I went over there earlier today and talked with her dad for a really long time about coffee growing here. He has a small coffee growing business that sells to Starbucks (antiguan blend) but it is very difficult. I told him about my idea for the direct trade business that i want to start some day and he thought that was great. We talked a lot about workers and globalization and all that. Tomorrow afternoon begins our technical training where we will go to the municipality for the first time. Tuesday we go back to the PC training center in Santa Lucia (one hour away) to meet with the rest of our group for medical training, shots, etc. So I live in Alontenago now and go to the PC center once a week by bus for random trainings. This morning I was awakened by a parade outside my window with all the kids from the school around here playing in bands and dancing. It was great to watch. Then later there were people dressed as disney characters dancing to music campaigning for the mayor. Very strange. There´s so much more to tell but my host sister is waiting for me to walk back home. I´ll write again when I can but I don´t know how much patience i can have with this internet speed. Thinking of all of you!!!!!
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