This one is entitled Orellana because Philippa and I left our storyboard-type thing that we need for our discussion tomorrow on the bus last night...fortunately we managed to get it back today after inquiring at the garage here in our pueblo.
Anyways, things are still bizarre. Great, but bizarre. What day is today, Wednesday, I think? This past weekend was so much fun - we had what they refer to as ¨community interchange¨ Saturday morning. San Miguel Dueñas (us) switched with a town of Youth Development volunteers that live in San Mateo Milpas Altas. We each had to show each other around our towns, in Spanish, and talk about the town and its surrounding areas, etc. For the afternoon, a group of us met up in Antigua, which is always interesting. In Antigua, a couple of us went thift-store shopping in the market, referred to here as paca. The market is absolutely massive...probably the the square footage of a WalMart or some other superstore, but all individual stalls and crazy jam packed. I got this sweet Astros t-shirt.
On Sunday, about 20 of us rented microbuses and went to a Pacific coast beach, very near Puerto San José if you´re looking at a map. It was actually this private/residential part, so it was really pretty - San José is supposed to be pretty nasty. I ended up bartering with this guy on the beach (black sand beaches on the Pacific coast, by the way - volcanic ash) and went horseback riding on the beach with him for 40 quetzales. There´s about 8Q in $1...you do the math. We had a fantastic time.
On the not vacationing side of things, things have been...sluggish, I´d say. We´ve been helping in our town´s Puesto de Salud, which is interesting. Last week, we split up and each tailed a worker in the Puesto (there´s only 2 nurses and 1 tech, no docs...very small). I was actually with one of the health promotors (it may take an entire update to explain los promotores de salud, and exactly what I´m supposed to be doing with them). Our first task was to remove stitches from this guy´s head. Doña Chus is going to town scrubbing at the crown of his scalp with alcohol, and then digging in with the scissors and tweezers, as I´m peeking over and quickly turning green. Not a fun experience...I had to leave the room. And before I got to this country, I didn´t consider myself to be squeemish.
I missed our field trip to Guatemala City on Monday because I literally thought I was dying of the flu. Turns out I had some sort of 24 hour flu, with like 102 temp and the aches, but that´s all. I was fine by yesterday (Tues) afternoon. We spend all of our Tuesdays in Santa Lucía Milpas Altas, where the Peace Corps training center is. We´ve taken to playing Ultimate Frisbee in the late afternoon when we finish up with medical, tech, history/politics, etc sessions. Let me mention right now that I´ve had at least one shot each week since I´ve been here, if not more. I´m impressed with myself.
Tomorrow morning, we´re observing a charla about pregnancy, which should be pretty interesting. By next week, we´re giving them. Talk about learning by doing. Alright, I´m off to go play fútbol in the municipalidad. There are NO rules here in sports games. It´s awesome. You can throw all the elbows you want in soccer and basketball and no one says anything. Although, I have found it´s easier to play clean, unless you want your ass handed to you.
Ok, I´m off to work on my own charla for tomorrow, in English. I´m starting to miss the States, just in a sort of nostalgic way. Oh, and please write/send packages! I got my first mail from home yesterday, and it was fab. If you do mail a box or package, draw crosses and religious expressions (in Spanish) on it, because apparently customs officials don´t mess with anything related to Jesus. Score.
Meredith
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Samoyoa.
Now we have Samoyoa. These are back to back, but I forgot I wanted to say something about the typical food here. Se me olvido.
They eat breakfast for dinner, is the weirdest part to me. Dinner is usually black beans and pancakes, or eggs, or platanos fritos. Or some combination of that. Lunch is the big meal of the day, which I´m not fond of because I´m ready for a nap in the afternoon already and I have to be in class then. Doña Madelin thinks I´m crazy because I don´t want anything other than cereal and fruit for breakfast.
Some of the Guatemaltecos favorites are the platanos fritos, or fried plantains, with cream and sugar...really?! And they like this local soft cheese or cream with their black beans, which are usually either whole (parados) or pureed (volteados). They eat pan dulce with just about every meal, and only drink instant coffee. I JUST started drinking coffee, and I´m punished with living in a country that drinks, as one volunteer described it, coffee flavored VitaminWater. Oh, I crack up when they pull out the honey for tha pancakes. And they love to drink fruit juice with lunch. Always freshly whipped up, usually mango, papaya, or fresa con leche.
And now my time is up. I should have made this all into one, but whatever. It´ll suffice!
Adios.
They eat breakfast for dinner, is the weirdest part to me. Dinner is usually black beans and pancakes, or eggs, or platanos fritos. Or some combination of that. Lunch is the big meal of the day, which I´m not fond of because I´m ready for a nap in the afternoon already and I have to be in class then. Doña Madelin thinks I´m crazy because I don´t want anything other than cereal and fruit for breakfast.
Some of the Guatemaltecos favorites are the platanos fritos, or fried plantains, with cream and sugar...really?! And they like this local soft cheese or cream with their black beans, which are usually either whole (parados) or pureed (volteados). They eat pan dulce with just about every meal, and only drink instant coffee. I JUST started drinking coffee, and I´m punished with living in a country that drinks, as one volunteer described it, coffee flavored VitaminWater. Oh, I crack up when they pull out the honey for tha pancakes. And they love to drink fruit juice with lunch. Always freshly whipped up, usually mango, papaya, or fresa con leche.
And now my time is up. I should have made this all into one, but whatever. It´ll suffice!
Adios.
Antoineta.
So, today we have Antoineta. Ahem, you know who you are, and that is indeed a shout-out to you.
This past Sunday, on Mother´s Day, or should I say Día de las Madres, I did something in Tory Burch flats that I guarentee you no one else has ever done in those suckers. I helped carry the Santa María Vírgin de Fatíma through the streets of my little town of San Miguel Dueñas. With about 40 other people, we took her around the town, with rose petals, incense, prayers and song, and paraded her into the Catholic church in the town square. I had a corner of the Virgin Mother on my shoulder, and happened to look up and see the Volcan de Fuego puffing smoke, and thought, ¨could this be any more surreal?¨
Other than that, things here have been pretty normal. Lots of Spanish class. On Monday, we took a little field trip (caminata) to a current PCV near Chimaltenango. Really cool to see where she lived and what she had done in her town. Other than that, it´s been usual stuff, I´m sorry nothing too interesting. I´ve gotten some very cool pictures on my camera, and soon, I promise, I´ll get some of them up on here!
This past Sunday, on Mother´s Day, or should I say Día de las Madres, I did something in Tory Burch flats that I guarentee you no one else has ever done in those suckers. I helped carry the Santa María Vírgin de Fatíma through the streets of my little town of San Miguel Dueñas. With about 40 other people, we took her around the town, with rose petals, incense, prayers and song, and paraded her into the Catholic church in the town square. I had a corner of the Virgin Mother on my shoulder, and happened to look up and see the Volcan de Fuego puffing smoke, and thought, ¨could this be any more surreal?¨
Other than that, things here have been pretty normal. Lots of Spanish class. On Monday, we took a little field trip (caminata) to a current PCV near Chimaltenango. Really cool to see where she lived and what she had done in her town. Other than that, it´s been usual stuff, I´m sorry nothing too interesting. I´ve gotten some very cool pictures on my camera, and soon, I promise, I´ll get some of them up on here!
Friday, May 8, 2009
Esmerelda.
¡Hola de San Miguel Dueñas!
If you read my email, then you´re pretty much in the loop. For the last week, I´ve basically been swamped with Spanish class and homework, and some tech training in there as well. Next week we start ¨helping¨the nurses in our towns´Puesto de Salud, or health center. There are 4 of us living here in Dueñas, and we´ll be working with Nurse Maria Elena, apparently.
I hear you can make this as hands-on as you want it to be. Our actual description is ¨health experts¨, which I find hilarious. That´s kind of a joke, but supposedly we´re here to educate voluntary health promoters here in Guate, so they aren´t reliant on outside help to make change. Basically, we´re just supposed to ask the right questions so that the members of the communities we´re working with come up with solutions on their own. If it´s not their idea, they usually don´t know how to use the technology that has been given to them.
This culture is so unbelievably conservative, it´s unreal. It is actually considered OFFENSIVE to wear sport sandals or flip-flops here outside the house. Shorts are never worn by women, and never outside the house by men. Skirts and dresses are always to at least the knee. Apparently, the shoe thing is tied into money. The old-school theory is that if you are poor, you either can´t afford shoes or just the bare minimum, so it is best to leave the house in shoes that show you are not poor. Guatemaltecos are so sweet and kind that they wouldn´t say anything to you, but it is considered extremely rude. Which is bizarre!
Day to day activities are the strangest part of living here. As I´ve said before, every house has a pila that collects water that is used for every purpose. Pilas are an open sink, with one or more small side flat basins that you use for washing. Some pilas are as small as our sinks in the States, and some are as large as a small swimming pool. Women use the side sinks to wash dishes, do laundry, etc. Let me be the first to tell you how unfun it is to handwash your clothes in the pila, scrubbing and beating them against the cement. I miss the washing machine and dryer. Appreciate them.
This town is small, but not anywhere near as small or as rural as the town I´ll be in starting in July, and we don´t have grocery store. There are lots of little tiendas, that sell everything from phone cards to underwear (in the same store), and EVERY window in the country is covered by bars. Even gum is kept under lock and key, so you have to ask for everything. On Sundays, the municipal market here is up and running, so there´s tiny Mayan women from all over the country selling papaya, live chickens, onions, guisquil, chocobananos, handwoven goods, etc.
The market is open in different days in different departments (similar to states in the US). Antigua has their municipal market open I think two days a week, and there´s a really famous huge market in Quetzaltenango that´s also open two days. Because I´m the epitome of a gringa, people try to sell me stuff for twice as much here. My family loved teaching me to say, ¡No! 5Q for a papaya. No hay 10Q!
Because I´m living with the daughter (who is only 24), of a family who is also hosting a volunteer in Dueñas, we´re always at that house, which is actually connected and right next door. The 4 dogs have the run of both houses. One of the dogs is hilarious - he reminds me a lot of Bonnie, for those of you who know who that is. This morning, Negro (the dog) and I went for a nice little walk around the town to stretch our legs and get more oriented. Essentially, every afternoon, there´s 4 little girls under the age of 10 at the big house that are so sweet. Andrea is 8, Jimena is 7, Leisa is 4, and Belen is 2. Andrea and Leisa are sisters (neices of my ¨mom), and Jimena and Belen are sisters (also neices of my mom). They are too precious.
Happy early Mother´s Day! Here we celebrate on the second Sunday of May, no matter the date. I went to a school play in honor of Día de Mamá this morning at Colegio Compostela in Antigua with my Spanish teacher. Her daughter is 7 and absolutely darling. Pretty hilarious, and Mom, I´m sorry you had to sit through all those plays at ROBS. Pretty excruciating I bet!
Because I have no idea what to title posts to this blog, I´m going to name them bus lines. The camionetas here, or ¨chicken buses¨as they´re known to Americans, are a scream. They are such incredibly garish colors, named sauve and promiscuous female Latin names. Perhaps my next update will be Princessita. And then Dorita. The seats are designed to fit ¨3¨people. 3 people, my ass. But we do it, ass to ass, also taking up the 6-8 inch aisle. All the while, there are people standing in the aisle and the ayudante squeezing his tush up and down collecting Quetzales. The bus drivers careen around the corneres of the roads at a rather frightening pace, with the ayudante hanging out the open front door and people packed into the bus like chickens. Fortunately I haven´t encountered any animals on the buses yet, but once I start going up into the highlands where I´ll be living for the next 2 years, I´m sure they´ll be there.
Everyone here is so friendly, and always greets each other ¨buenos días¨etc. Simply saying ¨hola¨is remarkably rude. It´s always buenas tardes, buenas noches. This morning, this tiny little Mayan woman in traditional dress with a canasta on her head almost bumped into me coming around a corner. I said to her, buenos días. Her response? Buenos días canche!, which means ¨Good morning pale blonde gringa.¨ According to my host mother, that is actually a good thing and kind of a compliment because it meant she wasn´t ignoring me. A group of elementary schoolers saw me in the street today and starting screeching, Gringa, Gringa! Of course no one else in my group in Dueñas has blonde hair.
I´m off to recommence burying myself in Spanish, but it´s been nice to say this much in English! I´ll just briefly mention that we have parades here for EVERY reason. I´ve seen 4 so far, and it´s been a week. Ok, that´s all for now. I´ll cover the crazy nighttime noises and comida tipical in my next update.
¡Qué le vaya bien!
If you read my email, then you´re pretty much in the loop. For the last week, I´ve basically been swamped with Spanish class and homework, and some tech training in there as well. Next week we start ¨helping¨the nurses in our towns´Puesto de Salud, or health center. There are 4 of us living here in Dueñas, and we´ll be working with Nurse Maria Elena, apparently.
I hear you can make this as hands-on as you want it to be. Our actual description is ¨health experts¨, which I find hilarious. That´s kind of a joke, but supposedly we´re here to educate voluntary health promoters here in Guate, so they aren´t reliant on outside help to make change. Basically, we´re just supposed to ask the right questions so that the members of the communities we´re working with come up with solutions on their own. If it´s not their idea, they usually don´t know how to use the technology that has been given to them.
This culture is so unbelievably conservative, it´s unreal. It is actually considered OFFENSIVE to wear sport sandals or flip-flops here outside the house. Shorts are never worn by women, and never outside the house by men. Skirts and dresses are always to at least the knee. Apparently, the shoe thing is tied into money. The old-school theory is that if you are poor, you either can´t afford shoes or just the bare minimum, so it is best to leave the house in shoes that show you are not poor. Guatemaltecos are so sweet and kind that they wouldn´t say anything to you, but it is considered extremely rude. Which is bizarre!
Day to day activities are the strangest part of living here. As I´ve said before, every house has a pila that collects water that is used for every purpose. Pilas are an open sink, with one or more small side flat basins that you use for washing. Some pilas are as small as our sinks in the States, and some are as large as a small swimming pool. Women use the side sinks to wash dishes, do laundry, etc. Let me be the first to tell you how unfun it is to handwash your clothes in the pila, scrubbing and beating them against the cement. I miss the washing machine and dryer. Appreciate them.
This town is small, but not anywhere near as small or as rural as the town I´ll be in starting in July, and we don´t have grocery store. There are lots of little tiendas, that sell everything from phone cards to underwear (in the same store), and EVERY window in the country is covered by bars. Even gum is kept under lock and key, so you have to ask for everything. On Sundays, the municipal market here is up and running, so there´s tiny Mayan women from all over the country selling papaya, live chickens, onions, guisquil, chocobananos, handwoven goods, etc.
The market is open in different days in different departments (similar to states in the US). Antigua has their municipal market open I think two days a week, and there´s a really famous huge market in Quetzaltenango that´s also open two days. Because I´m the epitome of a gringa, people try to sell me stuff for twice as much here. My family loved teaching me to say, ¡No! 5Q for a papaya. No hay 10Q!
Because I´m living with the daughter (who is only 24), of a family who is also hosting a volunteer in Dueñas, we´re always at that house, which is actually connected and right next door. The 4 dogs have the run of both houses. One of the dogs is hilarious - he reminds me a lot of Bonnie, for those of you who know who that is. This morning, Negro (the dog) and I went for a nice little walk around the town to stretch our legs and get more oriented. Essentially, every afternoon, there´s 4 little girls under the age of 10 at the big house that are so sweet. Andrea is 8, Jimena is 7, Leisa is 4, and Belen is 2. Andrea and Leisa are sisters (neices of my ¨mom), and Jimena and Belen are sisters (also neices of my mom). They are too precious.
Happy early Mother´s Day! Here we celebrate on the second Sunday of May, no matter the date. I went to a school play in honor of Día de Mamá this morning at Colegio Compostela in Antigua with my Spanish teacher. Her daughter is 7 and absolutely darling. Pretty hilarious, and Mom, I´m sorry you had to sit through all those plays at ROBS. Pretty excruciating I bet!
Because I have no idea what to title posts to this blog, I´m going to name them bus lines. The camionetas here, or ¨chicken buses¨as they´re known to Americans, are a scream. They are such incredibly garish colors, named sauve and promiscuous female Latin names. Perhaps my next update will be Princessita. And then Dorita. The seats are designed to fit ¨3¨people. 3 people, my ass. But we do it, ass to ass, also taking up the 6-8 inch aisle. All the while, there are people standing in the aisle and the ayudante squeezing his tush up and down collecting Quetzales. The bus drivers careen around the corneres of the roads at a rather frightening pace, with the ayudante hanging out the open front door and people packed into the bus like chickens. Fortunately I haven´t encountered any animals on the buses yet, but once I start going up into the highlands where I´ll be living for the next 2 years, I´m sure they´ll be there.
Everyone here is so friendly, and always greets each other ¨buenos días¨etc. Simply saying ¨hola¨is remarkably rude. It´s always buenas tardes, buenas noches. This morning, this tiny little Mayan woman in traditional dress with a canasta on her head almost bumped into me coming around a corner. I said to her, buenos días. Her response? Buenos días canche!, which means ¨Good morning pale blonde gringa.¨ According to my host mother, that is actually a good thing and kind of a compliment because it meant she wasn´t ignoring me. A group of elementary schoolers saw me in the street today and starting screeching, Gringa, Gringa! Of course no one else in my group in Dueñas has blonde hair.
I´m off to recommence burying myself in Spanish, but it´s been nice to say this much in English! I´ll just briefly mention that we have parades here for EVERY reason. I´ve seen 4 so far, and it´s been a week. Ok, that´s all for now. I´ll cover the crazy nighttime noises and comida tipical in my next update.
¡Qué le vaya bien!
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