Aaahhhhh, where to begin. Perhaps with a small anecdote. Yes, I think that´s a swell idea. So I´m standing on the corner in Antigua waiting for the bus to head home, and a "gentleman" (yes, that´s in quotes for a reason) feels the need to ask me, "Hey baby! How you doin´ and how much?" Somewhat humorous I felt. It´s rather bizarre that the people who try to speak English to you here only say things like "I love you" or "Hey baby, how you doing?" Whatevs.
So, Sunday night I had a crash course in hand-washing clothes in the pila. Apparently my host mom is 5 months pregnant and her doc doesn´t want her doing laundry anymore. Fíjese que, that´s hilarious. She told me that I have quite the aptitude and was impressed by how fast I picked it up. Uhhh, ok. I may not have had to do my own laundry until college, but I feel that I am more than making up for it these days. It took me literally 15 minutes to wash just ONE pair of jeans...they´re the worst. Fortunately, there is a washing machine, but they say it doesn´t work well and just use it to wash sheets. Anyways. It´s weird to wash your clothes with this kind of bar soap, and they don´t ever really smell fresh and clean the way that they do when they come out of the dryer. I miss that smell.
I experienced my first bit of camioneta trouble this past weekend on Saturday. A group of us (2 from Dueñas, 3 from Pastores, and 3 from San Luis Las Carretas) went to Zaragosa, Chimaltenango to visit the one and only Grant P-M. Grant, if you´re reading this, thanks again! We had a ball. But first we had bus trouble. We´re in the middle of the road between Pastores and Parramos, about 15 minutes outside of Antigua when the bus stops and then just doesn´t go anywhere. Keep in mind that I´m sharing the bench with 2 other full grown adults, and there´s a chapino ass in my face too. To put it mildly, it was a rather full camioneta. After about 20 minutes of just sitting there, people start getting off in hopes that another bus will come by and we might be able to hop on. Disembark. A bus comes by, and for the FIRST time I´ve seen in 2 months, doesn´t stop because it was full. Usually they don´t give a hoot if everyone is standing on each other. After about 15 minutes of hanging around outside the bus, it turns back on and there´s a mad dash for the back door. Fortunately we all made it in through the door before it took off running with the door swinging in the wind. Apparently all fixed and we made it to Chimal without further incident. If any of you reading this come to visit me, we are NOT going to be visiting Chimal. It is a rather nasty city that is really just good for changing buses to get to the antiplano of the Western Highlands of Guatemala. We had a lovely rest of the day shooting the breeze and eating Grant´s homemade hummus. Snazzy.
I actually managed to go riding yesterday morning, which was delightful, despite the piss-poor weather. It was literally pouring, but we went out anyways. The people that own the stables are rather...eccentric...British ex-pats. It was lovely to ride a trained horse again, however. My swell friend Anna accompanied me, and was a great trooper even though she was soaking wet and somewhat confused. But if you know Anna, you know confusion isn´t an uncommon frame of mind for her :) There was an interesting point on the ride where Fred, the hubby, speaks up about how he thinks this country needs a good ole epidemic disease to wipe out some of the population growth. He continues by commenting on how he thought AIDS was going to do it, but it´s looking like it won´t be able to do the trick. Vaya. Too bad we´re here working to improve health and prevent disease...
We had a hilarious little language confusion in Spanish class the other day. One of the girls here in Dueñas with me is from Louisana. We were discussing animals in Spanish, because I didn´t know how to say quail or possum. Rafael, our Spanish teacher, starts talking about nutrias, these precious little animals that swim and some people even keep as pets in their pilas. Lauren´s jaw drops, because apparently there are nutrias in the States, and they´re nasty water rats that are kind of similar to possums. I have no clue. Rafael is talking about how beautiful nutrias are, and what great pets they can be. Us gringas continue to be ridiculously confused, but just accepting it. After all, possum meat is a delicacy here. We finally discover that nutria is the word here in Guatemala for otter. Yes, I would like to have an otter in my pila as a pet. No, I would not like to have a Lousiana nutria, EVER.
I feel normal again, but will be continuing to take horse-sized antibiotics 3 times a day for another two weeks. Whoo! Happy belated Father´s Day again to you, Daddy, and I hope everyone had fun at John´s last night. Wish I had been able to be there. Fam, please email me some new pictures of the one and only Libby Mae! We´re coming down to the wire here...I find out where I´m going forever on July 1. Cross your fingers I end up somewhere, I don´t know, whatever. I don´t even know what I want in a site anymore. It will all work out.
Muchos besos,
Marta
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
xoyita.
Ahhhh, the after effects of our field based training. What an...interesting...8 days. In a nutshell, we left from Antigua on Saturday for San Antonio Ilotenango, Quiché. Wednesday morning we left San Antonio for San Martín Sacatepequez, Quetzaltenango. Returned to our training towns on Sunday.
We did everything from give charlas about lombrices (worms) to an HIV/AIDS workshop to cooking class with indigenous women and children to playing basketball in the muni with little kids to visit the "slaughterhouse" of the towns, etc. It was a really full and interesting week, but I feel like I kind of missed out on a lot of it because I felt horrible the second half of the week. Apparently, I have amoebas and a bacterial infection, and had NO energy. Fortunately, as of today, I´m feeling tons better. For being on 4 different antibiotics, I´d better be feeling better. I had to go to the hospital Friday night to figure out what was wrong with me, and I SO wanted to be in the States at one of the two rehearsal dinners that were happening that night. I have no idea if they´re reading this, but huge congrats to Richard/Gwendolyn and Amanda/Ben...I´m so sad I had to miss your weddings! The one upside of Saturday is that after we finished all our work of the week, we went to the Fuentes Georginas near Zunil, in Xela (same thing as Quetzaltenango). They were FANTASTIC. I have pictures somewhere on Facebook. I hadn´t ever been to hot springs before, so it was a major treat.
We´re (my town) giving an HIV/AIDS workshop here at some point in the next week or so, the details are still being hammered out. Current volunteers came in from their sites to help us out with the planning this past Mon/Tues/Wed which was incredibly helpful, and it´s also nice to get to know some volunteers outside our loony group of trainees.
I feel like this is a really boring update without my fav brand of dry humor, but I guess I had trouble finding sarcasm when I felt so crummy. This morning, we met our Spanish teacher, Rafael (Pastores, be jealous) and went to Jocotenango, a town just on the other side of Antigua. There is a "cultural center" there at this coffee finca called La Azotea, and we had a tour of the coffee-making process and some Mayan cultural education. Considering I didn´t drink coffee until 2 months ago, I didn´t know anything about it until this morning.
I´ve decided it will be hilariously ironic if I end up owning a horse in this country for transportation purposes (it´s really common) when I never was able to in the States because they´re so crazy expensive. However, that´s a long way off with lots of details to figure out, and quite possibly may never happen. Wooooo, I´m off for now. Time is starting to move FAST, and we find out where we´re going for the next 2 years in just over a week! Craziness. Keep the letters/packages/emails coming (the only ones NOT on my shit list are Mom/Dad, Rachael, and Lily W) as I´m really starting to miss celebrity gossip and idle chitchat from home.
Mere
We did everything from give charlas about lombrices (worms) to an HIV/AIDS workshop to cooking class with indigenous women and children to playing basketball in the muni with little kids to visit the "slaughterhouse" of the towns, etc. It was a really full and interesting week, but I feel like I kind of missed out on a lot of it because I felt horrible the second half of the week. Apparently, I have amoebas and a bacterial infection, and had NO energy. Fortunately, as of today, I´m feeling tons better. For being on 4 different antibiotics, I´d better be feeling better. I had to go to the hospital Friday night to figure out what was wrong with me, and I SO wanted to be in the States at one of the two rehearsal dinners that were happening that night. I have no idea if they´re reading this, but huge congrats to Richard/Gwendolyn and Amanda/Ben...I´m so sad I had to miss your weddings! The one upside of Saturday is that after we finished all our work of the week, we went to the Fuentes Georginas near Zunil, in Xela (same thing as Quetzaltenango). They were FANTASTIC. I have pictures somewhere on Facebook. I hadn´t ever been to hot springs before, so it was a major treat.
We´re (my town) giving an HIV/AIDS workshop here at some point in the next week or so, the details are still being hammered out. Current volunteers came in from their sites to help us out with the planning this past Mon/Tues/Wed which was incredibly helpful, and it´s also nice to get to know some volunteers outside our loony group of trainees.
I feel like this is a really boring update without my fav brand of dry humor, but I guess I had trouble finding sarcasm when I felt so crummy. This morning, we met our Spanish teacher, Rafael (Pastores, be jealous) and went to Jocotenango, a town just on the other side of Antigua. There is a "cultural center" there at this coffee finca called La Azotea, and we had a tour of the coffee-making process and some Mayan cultural education. Considering I didn´t drink coffee until 2 months ago, I didn´t know anything about it until this morning.
I´ve decided it will be hilariously ironic if I end up owning a horse in this country for transportation purposes (it´s really common) when I never was able to in the States because they´re so crazy expensive. However, that´s a long way off with lots of details to figure out, and quite possibly may never happen. Wooooo, I´m off for now. Time is starting to move FAST, and we find out where we´re going for the next 2 years in just over a week! Craziness. Keep the letters/packages/emails coming (the only ones NOT on my shit list are Mom/Dad, Rachael, and Lily W) as I´m really starting to miss celebrity gossip and idle chitchat from home.
Mere
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Primorosa.
Buenas. I´m so tired! I´ve been working all week on this presentation for tomorrow afternoon. It´s essentially just about a 30 min ¨charla¨to middle school kids about why it´s a good idea to wash your hands, but in a fun and educational manner. I don´t know how teachers do it. I´ve been working and editing the same lesson plan for like three days.
This pastSaturday, we all met up in Santa Lucía for some kind of Mayan ceremony; I´m still not totally sure exactly what it was for. I learned that apparently because of my specific birthdate and year, I supposedly have tons of energy and share that and other attributes with Carlos Santana and Winston Churchill. Snazzy. For the afternoon, we met up in Antigua, surprise, surprise. It was really nice just to chill out because things are really starting to roll along. I spent about 5 hours on Sunday at Valhalla, the macadamia nut finca thats about 1 km from my town. I read almost all of Unaccustomed Earth...fantastic book. Couldn´t put it down. I got a funny text in the afternoon from our techníco de salud in our Puesto. Earlier in the week, we had been joking about going to happy hour on Sunday, but we all thought she was kidding. Nope.
On Monday, we switched Spanish teachers...so sad. Our town really misses Sandra, but Rafael is our new teacher and he´s pretty good too. I had my second language proficiency interview on Monday, and am apparently now at the level medio/medio. The only reason that´s a good thing is because you have to be at that level at least at the end of training to go out in the field.
I was on pins and needles for most of Tuesday because we were in Santa Lucía at the training center all day, and I was anxiously awaiting an email about Libby Mae! I´m so glad she´s here and Candace is doing well, too. And Aunt Kath, I know you´re reading this...I tried to call and text you to tell you happy birthday, but I couldn´t get it to go through!
Next week, us Rural Home Preventive Health (RHPH, or salud preventiva) trainees are going on field based training (FBT). Go look at a map, we´re going to Quiché and San Martín Sacatepequez (en Quetzaltenango). It´s going to be 8 days of some really intense stuff, but should be really fun too. We´re headed off with the kids from Pastores (another training town around Antigua). Tomorrow morning (Fri), we´re going to Antigua for a specific class on how certain terms and phrases translate and don´t really mean the same thing...should be pretty beneficial for all of us.
Please send me mail! It´s so fun to get snail mail (and emails...Kels, where´s my weekly fix?). I finally uploaded some pictures to Facebook that I had taken throughout the last 6 months or so I was in the States...it´s hilarious that I finally get around to uploading them when I´m having to pay to use the internet here in Guate. Since we´re leaving Saturday, I won´t have access to a computer for a while...
Wish me luck with my charla tomorrow. My spanish needs your luck.
Marta
This pastSaturday, we all met up in Santa Lucía for some kind of Mayan ceremony; I´m still not totally sure exactly what it was for. I learned that apparently because of my specific birthdate and year, I supposedly have tons of energy and share that and other attributes with Carlos Santana and Winston Churchill. Snazzy. For the afternoon, we met up in Antigua, surprise, surprise. It was really nice just to chill out because things are really starting to roll along. I spent about 5 hours on Sunday at Valhalla, the macadamia nut finca thats about 1 km from my town. I read almost all of Unaccustomed Earth...fantastic book. Couldn´t put it down. I got a funny text in the afternoon from our techníco de salud in our Puesto. Earlier in the week, we had been joking about going to happy hour on Sunday, but we all thought she was kidding. Nope.
On Monday, we switched Spanish teachers...so sad. Our town really misses Sandra, but Rafael is our new teacher and he´s pretty good too. I had my second language proficiency interview on Monday, and am apparently now at the level medio/medio. The only reason that´s a good thing is because you have to be at that level at least at the end of training to go out in the field.
I was on pins and needles for most of Tuesday because we were in Santa Lucía at the training center all day, and I was anxiously awaiting an email about Libby Mae! I´m so glad she´s here and Candace is doing well, too. And Aunt Kath, I know you´re reading this...I tried to call and text you to tell you happy birthday, but I couldn´t get it to go through!
Next week, us Rural Home Preventive Health (RHPH, or salud preventiva) trainees are going on field based training (FBT). Go look at a map, we´re going to Quiché and San Martín Sacatepequez (en Quetzaltenango). It´s going to be 8 days of some really intense stuff, but should be really fun too. We´re headed off with the kids from Pastores (another training town around Antigua). Tomorrow morning (Fri), we´re going to Antigua for a specific class on how certain terms and phrases translate and don´t really mean the same thing...should be pretty beneficial for all of us.
Please send me mail! It´s so fun to get snail mail (and emails...Kels, where´s my weekly fix?). I finally uploaded some pictures to Facebook that I had taken throughout the last 6 months or so I was in the States...it´s hilarious that I finally get around to uploading them when I´m having to pay to use the internet here in Guate. Since we´re leaving Saturday, I won´t have access to a computer for a while...
Wish me luck with my charla tomorrow. My spanish needs your luck.
Marta
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Orellana
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
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
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!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)