Site Visit!

Through winding roads on crowded chicken buses and VIP rides in the mayor’s 4WD truck, I have survived my site visit! I have to honestly say that I’m incredibly pumped to live in my new town and despite some minor setbacks; I’ve got a very positive vibe. Last Monday was counterpart day which consisted of a sort of blind date kind of feel to it. We all had name tags and had to walk around trying to find someone who also had my town’s name on it. I was running a little late but found my counterparts ( a guy and a girl) who will be working with me in the Oficina Municipal de la Mujer (the women’s office, OMM). They are both young and informed me that most of the people at the office are also young. My counterpart is awesome, she’s super cute, energetic and incredibly friendly – seems like the perfect type of work setting for me! After enduring lots of PC presentations and tons of delicious coffee and breads the day was over and I prepared to pack all of my stuff into my suitcases to haul to site.

Tuesday morning we were able to mooch a ride off of another volunteer so that we only had to take a camioneta (chicken bus) for a short amount of time. We arrived in Quiche around three which is our big city. It’s got a bunch of stores, a big market, lots of Pacas (woohoo thrift stores!) and a pretty large central park. We were getting a ride from the muni so we had to wait a little bit until the truck got out of the shop and the driver ran some errands. In true Guatemalan fashion, we ended up waiting for four hours! Haha so we just hung out at the bus terminal with all of my luggage until about eight at night. We ended up getting into town around ten thirty. So this brings me to the “adventurous” part of my journey: THE ROAD! So PC warned me that it was a bumpy road and wasn’t paved so I was prepared but whoa! I wish I had pictures but basically it’s two hours of crazy bumps and winding turns. You know this motion simulator rides where the seats move and you’re in a movie theater? Yea that’s my ride. All you can really do is laugh at the fact that you have to endure such bumpiness just to get home (you must have a sense of humor to do PC…pretty much mandatory!) When it’s rainy season…I’m not leaving my town, I don’t see how it’s possible! So if there’s anyone out there that’s reading this who knows someone who would love to donate a paved road to my amazing town…hit me up. I know there’s some engineering firm out there that would love to put that on their resume  we would be forever grateful!

When I arrived late I decided to stay with one of my host family options. We got there and come to find out…they don’t have a bed! Thank God for my sitemate!! Susan you are the bestest. I called her up and she had an extra bed for me to sleep on and I just stayed there for the days that I was in site. I was also excited to find out that my sitemate is super busy with work, goes running, and loves to listen to music. Perfect match! I was so worried that my sitemate would be weird, or we wouldn’t get along, but we’re totally gonna rock our town!

After an awesome breakfast, I met some people at the muni including my mayor and then went to the salon to see the Mayan Princess contestants. Our muni is having a Mayan Princess pageant to select who will be the Mayan Princess for our feria (town celebration) which is in December. I thought it was awesome that we’re putting this together because these young girls don’t usually have a chance to do public speaking or anything like that so it teaches them how to present themselves and gain some confidence. After that in the afternoon we went on a house hunt. I’m pretty bummed about my housing situation actually. I love my family in San Antonio, they are amazing; so it was really important for me to have an equally inviting and loving family in my new site. That’s not gonna happen. I’m renting a room from a family (no hot water) and it will basically be a tenant type of situation. The old volunteer who lived their previously did not have a good experience and advised for me to just go ahead and find my own housing asap. So that’s what I’ll do and because my muni is so awesome they’ll be my family to welcome me to town. Which is fine, you can’t have it all! The best part of the trip was that my counterpart organized a welcome dinner for me! The muni bought awesome roasted chicken, beans, salsa, cream, etc at the warm pilas where they are also building a pool (supposedly they will be ready be Christmas…I doubt it will be done by then, but it’s all good).

There’s more to write about but I’m running out of time!! So more to come about the rest of the week! I don’t have my computer so I can’t share my pics but as soon as I can I will share!!

I know my site!!!

I'm going to go to Quiche!! My pueblicito is pretty small, a little under 2,000 people and it's a mix of indigenous and ladino people. I imagine it will be like San Antonio in that everyone speaks Spanish but that culture and language is still very much a part of the community. I'm incredibly excited! There are a couple of reasons why I suppose, the biggest reason why is because I ran into the muni volunteer that I'm replacing and she said that whoever replaces her is really like and the counterpart is great. So that's the biggest reason why I'm excited because that was my number one priority...working with a team that I can be happy with. Also, I'm super excited because the weather is like here in San Antonio! That means I can still work out and I don't have to worry about being too freezing or too cold!! The site is also super safe which is a huge relief because being a woman that's a huge concern, especially if I plan on living alone. And the final reason that I'm super pumped is supposedly it's within the three hour range to Lake Atitlan! So even though I'm kind of out there, it's exciting to know that I could potential escape to one of the most beautiful places on earth (I'm told, have yet to visit), on a semi regular basis! I'm also really excited that there is a Mayan culture there. I find it absolutely intriguing and even though at first I wanted to be placed in a Ladino site, I feel that I'm going to learn a tremendous amount culturally. When else will I have that kind of opportunity!? Sure it will be a challenge working with the more timid women's groups, but it's a challenge that I'm ready to face. There's also a family living there that's from the US. Pretty sweet! The biggest down fall is the fact that I'll be basically trapped in my site during the winter when it's the rainy season. The road to my town isn't paved so when it rains...it's pretty much impassable by chicken bus. So for all of you planning to visit...don't plan on coming May to August (I think that's the rainy season?)

I'm so relieved to have this information! No more stress, no more what will life be like. The journey is about to begin! I go on site visit next week so I'll have much more first hand details on what life will be like there and where I'll be living. From what I know I have two housing options. One is a room with a couple (or maybe just a woman?) where I will have more privacy the other is a room with a family where next door the daughter lives with her kids. I'm thinking I want the one with the kids because they make life so much better in so many ways. Also that one has a door to the street or to a patio so I won't have to go through a house to get to my room which could be nice as well. Both situations I think I'll be able to cook for myself which will be nice, although I do think I'd have the option of just having dinner with one of the families if I want to pay more. We shall see!!

So, for those of you who are in the training phases or about to ship off to your Peace Corps country, the best piece of advice I have is to keep an open mind. A lot of times you think you know what you want, but really during training you don't have that much time to develop a good sense for what the different possibilities are. I'm glad that I didn't limit myself by saying I want to be in the Oriente only or I want to be in a big town only. There's a reason why they put me where they put me and I'm excited to explore all the various opportunities that there are in my new site/home!

Staying in Shape: Physical Edition

As a Peace Corps Trainee or Volunteer it can be incredibly difficult to stay in shape. As a female PCT or PCV, it's even harder to stay in shape. So for all of you soon to be trainees, know that you're going to have to make a conscious effort to stay in shape and sometimes get creative. When I was applying, this was definitely something I thought about so I figured I'd post a quick blog to give my summary of dietary and exercise issues.

Your diet is going to change dramatically. You're going to find yourself loving the most random combinations of foods you'd never thought you'd try. For example, chow mein sandwiches using white bread...for breakfast. It's good, try it! Is it good for you?...Probably not. Either way, it's offensive to not eat something that's served to you, so DO NOT be picky! Just go with it. I've eaten more fried chicken here than I have in my life (and I'm from the south!) and for some reason the idea of American fast food sounds like heaven (I hate fast food chains). But hey, when you're in a new country...your outlook changes sometimes. Many families and volunteers have told me that the women typically tend to gain weight and the men tend to lose weight. I'm happy to report that I haven't gained weight while I'm here and despite the massive amount of carbs that I've consumed I think the biggest reason why is because the food that we eat here is FRESH and the portions are regularly sized! That chicken you're eating...it was probably killed that same day or the day before. Those beans you're eating...they were picked last weak and they've been boiling on the stove for two days. What will get you here are the unhealthy snacks that are so cheap and so yummy in the tiendas such as sweet breads (no not that nasty meat kind of sweet bread, but literally bread that is sweet), chips, french fries, fried plantians, ice cream, etc. So good, So comforting...but try to indulge only once in a while.

But the point of this post is about exercise. I typically have three different types of exercise routines. The easiest for me to do involves a wonderful set of fitness bands called Rubber Banditz (www.rubberbanditz.com) which was developed by someone who needed to stay in shape while serving in the Peace Corps. These bands are a lifesaver as they come with all the needed gadgets and a booklet with exercises, routines, and a dvd with routine explanations. Apparently they also have workout and pilates online but since it takes an hour to load youtube I have yet to explore that route. I also run in my site. I didn't start running until I was able to observe what the community was like, if other people run, and where some good routes would be. When I have the strength to wake up early, I go running in the morning which is nice because not too many people are in the street to stare at my as I run past them. I always carry my cell phone with me and if I were super pilas I would also carry a stick with me to fend off the chuchos (street dogs that lie on every corner of the street). Thus far, the chuchos haven't given me a problem and I haven't ever felt insecure while running. I stick to streets that have people on them in case I get injured and my town fortunately has a large park and central streets so I stay in that main area. You get used to the stares after a while. I ONLY run when it's light outside. I would never run if the sun weren't up.

When it rains, when it's too cold, or when I don't get a chance to work out in the morning, I get creative and figure out ways to bounce around in my room. My thinking is, if your heart is pumping for at least thirty minutes that should count as exercise. I actually draw upon exercises and routines that I learned way back in the day when I took kick boxing classes in high school. I tend to do things for a full song. So jumping jacks, running in place, side kicks, front and back kick combos, punching combos, side kicks without touching the ground for a minute alternating feet, ups and downs and mountain climbers are typically what take up a half an hour. Sometimes, if a song comes up on shuffle that I like to dance to, I'll alternate and do some easy dance combo that's pretty jumpy.It sounds pretty silly and I definitely felt a little self conscious when I first started bouncing around in my room but it definitely helps! The best part is that there are usually people outside of my room who can probably see me randomly jumping and kicking, so Lord knows what people in San Antonio think of the crazy gringa who jumps around in her room!

It's definitely worth staying active and in shape. If I ever find myself in a down mood, even if I don't think it will help, I ALWAYS feel better after I get my heart pumping for a little bit.

If anyone has questions about PCT life (not a PCV yet) and how to stay active, feel free to hit me up, I'd love to share!

Visit to San Marcos

Yesterday I arrived home from the ever so beautiful department of San Marcos. On Wednesday morning we took a long ass camioneta ride (long ass technically means about six hours) over to the Occidente (west). If I weren't squished in between people, I would have noticed the incredible beauty of the mountains and landscape. What I was able to notice though was the incredible amount of road damage caused by the massive amount of rain we've had recently. On several occasions, roads were completely gone thereby forcing cars and trucks to use a two way highway into a two way road. The sad part is that by the time they clean up all the mudslides...it'll be rainy season again!

But I digress.

As expected, the community we visited in San Marcos was quite chilly. For those of you who know me, you know I hate the cold. We gathered for dinner at the volunteer's prior host family's house and all huddled around the stove as it was the only source of heat around. After dinner we headed to bed and I was delighted to find that the room was actually somewhat warm since it had been closed off for the day. A fellow trainee and I were visiting a male volunteer so it was crucial that we stay with a family instead of at his apartment to avoid the ever so common "chisme" phenomenon (chisme means gossip which runs rapids throughout the mountains and valleys of Guatemala). We were fortunate enough to view what it is like to work with a DMP (planning office), economic development office, public relations office, and a woman's office. Unfortunately, the head of the woman's office decided it was best to bail on us last minute to conduct a workshop on self esteem which only highlighted a frustration that I've heard often about the women's office: they don't take themselves seriously. Quite unfortunate if you ask me as there's much work to do in this regard. Another surprising aspect was that the community was Ladino. I saw absolutely no traje (traditional dress) and was informed that someone a long time ago actually declared the municipality as officially "Ladino". Talk about a shame, clearly this area of the country has a strong indigenous cultural history but it was somehow eradicated by a superficial declaration. All in all, it was an interesting aspect of training and one that I'm glad to have experienced. The volunteer we visited admitted to not really ever leaving his site, which is definitely easier to do when your girlfriend lives in town, but either way the important aspect was that he seemed happy and was able to make friends and connections in his town...despite the freezing cold (apparently it can get as cold as 20 degrees). I definitely loved San Marcos, it was gorgeous, but I really would love to be in a slightly warmer climate.

The day we left San Marcos, Peace Corps gave us a ride to a neighboring community that was having a grand opening celebration for a bottle school. More and more volunteers are engaging in projects where you can build walls and eventually schools with recycled plastic bottles stuffed with trash. Pretty awesome if you ask me and it was incredible to look at the pictures of how the bottle school progressed. The PC volunteer partnered with a US non profit called "Hug it Forward" (what an amazing name! don't you love it!?) who found the funding for the school. It was certainly an inspiring morning and reminded me about the importance of integrating physical projects into one's service (it helps motivate and is a tangible success that oftentimes feels more rewarding). It also reminded me of how I'll need to set up dates for events just like how I did in the States to enforce deadlines and help achieve goals.

I'm definitely happy to get back to my beautiful CBT community. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. One of those days where you feel incredibly grateful to be alive and on this beautiful earth of ours.

Just four more days until I find out where my site is!!! By a process of elimination, Carmen and I have determined that we're probably going to the East (Oriente). For betting purposes, I'm going to say that I'm either going to Quiche or El Progreso (no reason why really, just a shot in the dark). Keep your fingers crossed that it's not the freezing site in San Marcos!!!

Field Based Training moments

I thought I would share some stories that stick in my mind that happened during our Field Based Training (FBT) experience in Chiqimula (aka chiki chiki muulah!)
During one of the days we were going to experience our very first municipal community meetings. As one can assume with any governmental meeting, especially in Guatemala, we figured it would start late and go over schedule. Thus, we were prepared for the obvious (it started about an hour late and went two hours past schedule). It also is important to emphasize that the eastern part of Guatemala is what most American’s typically think of Central American weather: hot as hell. It was certainly hot as hell and we were certainly in a gym like room with very little ventilation and about one fan for a room full of about fifty to sixty people in it. I’m not even sure why they teased us with that fan. Anyway, the first presenter decides to take about forty five minutes to go into excruciating detail about the financial situation of the municipality and how the national government budget distributes funds to the municipality. This is not to say that the information she presented was not worth understanding, but the delivery of it needed some critiquing and it definitely didn’t help that she was sucking face with the microphone. Needless to say, by around noon, we were all dripping in sweat, totally zoned out, and unsuccessfully fanning ourselves with our agendas. Once lunchtime came around I was very excited for some sort of distraction to not only keep myself awake but to satisfy my incredibly hungry stomach. As I anxiously await my lunch I notice that they are distributing bowls to people. “Hmm, perhaps it’s a deliciously refreshing salad,” I think to myself. As the bowl is handed to me I look down and what else do I find but piping hot soup! Really!? It’s like a hundred degrees in this gym and you give me soup!? Is this a sick joke? I was incredibly hungry and said a little thank you for having the privilege of having a hot meal and thanking the municipality for paying for the meal (hot or not, you gotta respect every meal, especially a free meal). So that was my incredibly ironic lunch. Also about three people got incredibly sick from the soup…including our Guatemalan Spanish teacher.
Another meal related funny story deals with our absolutely delicious and friendly pizza store owners. Their pizza was awesome (actually understood that pizza equals a shit ton of cheese!) and we literally ate there every night. This particular night was two calzones for 30Q (a little over three dollars, which I split so basically a solid calzone for $1.50…but understand that my eating allowance is under $8 USD a day). As I’m happily biting into this savory piece of cheese heaven, I come to find a sweet flavor among the mushrooms and green peppers. “What in the world? Wait, why is my cheese pink?” I find a half of a maraschino cherry, like the type you find in a Shirley Temple. “Maybe they thought it was a tomato,” I thought to myself. I mean this place seemed to know how to make a pizza so clearly it must have been a mistake. In my entire calzone I find about 8 cherries. I meant to tell them that they should probably 86 (or is it 68? I’ve forgotten my restaurant lingo) the cherries next time. To top it off, a fellow trainee decided to add a couple cherries, chili, and picamas hot sauce onto his supreme calzone for kicks. Gag.
One of the afternoons we were supposed to make over a playground at a local orphanage with a fresh coat of paint. The first sad part is that I got assigned the light blue group (eww Carolina blue!) but unfortunately, Guatemala’s flag is Carolina blue so it’s everybody’s favorite color. Anyway, first step was to sand the paint down which was a completely futile effort so I’m walking around pretending to be productive until we bust out with the paint. Afterwards, we start getting some work done and this poor little kid who was standing underneath a bar we were painting got a huge splash of blue paint on his forehead. You probably had to be there to find the humor but the look on this kid’s face was priceless and he was like “Oh no my mom is going to yell at me!” but then two seconds later he comes back all cleaned up. I was pretty surprised because it was oil based paint sooo he may have gotten doused with some gasoline on his forehead! Then it started to rain big time so we all got to go underneath this metal roof and play a bunch of school kid’s games. I learned a great new way to play “rock, paper, scissors” which is called Pikachu. There’s a hilarious video of the boys doing it which I’ll try to post. Then there was another game called “conejo” which I’m pretty sure involved kissing someone or something so I made sure to steer clear of that one…kinda awkward. But it was great fun and given that I was wearing bright pink capris and my bright green I love Durham shirt (thanks Lizzie) I totally fit right in as a fellow 10 year old!
The 24-7 store (or 7-24 store) that decided to sell us a pepsi for 6Q even though straight on the bottle it said the price was 5Q. And then the next day they told us it was actually 7Q…damn gringo tax. This 24/7 was also open past 3am but for some reason it was closed during the useful hours of breakfast time. We think it’s secretly a narco hot spot because they never had anything in stock and clearly just wanted to overcharge for the few pepsis that they kept in the fridge!
There are also some great pictures and inside jokes that developed as well! In sum, field based training is tons of fun because you get to know everyone a little better and you actually have the freedom to hang out with people past dark (what a concept!).

What Guate can teach the US about Independence Day Partying

Guatemala’s Independence Day was September 15th and let me tell you it was a blast! I woke up in the morning super pumped because in addition to Independence Day, my family was celebrating two of my host brother’s birthdays (6 and 16) so we were cooking a huge lunch, breaking a piñata, and eating cake! During the morning there’s a big parade of all the school children in different kinds of costumes. Before heading out the door my host mom asks if I’d like to put on some indigenous clothing. I clearly say yes! It’s pretty thick clothing that consists of a skirt which is called a “corte” and is a long rectangle that you have to fold in a certain way to make it into a skirt (not in an intuitive way mind you because when I tried to do it I ended up with a huge slit which is definitely not supposed to happen!) then the skirt is accompanied by a huipil which is also a square type of shape with slits for your arms and heads. The huipil is made by hand usually and is usually quite intricate. Then to tie it all together you have a belt the word is faja but I forget) which is also weaved and pretty cool. I think that the way all these different patterns and designs match is there is a predominant color; my color was pink  So we watch the parade which is cute but I liked the bands the best with their drumline beats and dance moves! Afterwards the eating and drinking festivities start with my family! We had a delicious meal called estofado which is a mixture of slow cooked beef and chicken in a tomato sauce accompanied with rice and a side of green beans and carrots. Absolutely delicious (and it takes two days to make!). So I bought a couple of gifts for the kids and a gift for the adults (bottle of Bacardi) which my family certainly appreciated and thought was cute.
Towards the afternoon the municipality planned a variety of activities ranging from a 15k to grease pole climbing. For a while I had told myself that I wanted to run this 15k because I have never in my life run that far and I thought it would be a great personal challenge. But after I realized my family was throwing a part and that the 15k was later in the afternoon, I figured that it probably wasn’t going to happen. Around 2:30 one of my sitemates decided he was definitely going to do it. So I couldn’t just leave him hanging, especially since I was the one that had been all pumped about doing it in the first place. So I have one more dance and my family feeds me another rum and coke (they said it would be my “gasolina”), and quickly change to run the 15k. I’m incredibly full and a bit tipsy but the adrenaline is pumping! For all of you PCVs, PCTs or future volunteers, if your town hosts a race DO IT! Running in the 15k was the best thing I’ve done so far in training. The first couple miles I was totally praying that I wasn’t going to vomit on the side of the street somewhere (can you imagine the gossip! A gringa throwing up on the street during Independence Day!!). The entire town is outside clapping and cheering which makes it even better because you kind of feel like a super star and you’re not going to just slow down when everybody is watching! I do have to admit that I did stop to walk for about ten minutes when going up a pretty long gruesome hill, but other than that it was a nice slow passed jog the whole way! It was such a high and I had a blast! Towards the end of the race I notice there’s a girl in front of me and I got a bit competitive and stepped it up so I ended up being the first girl to cross the finish line! (I have to disclose though that there were only three girls total that ran including me though). Anyway, with all that drink in my stomach, after catching my breath, I ran to the bathroom after! Supposedly, according to local gossip, I was supposed to win a trophy but the next day when I found out I of course received a “fijese que…” excuse that the treasurer was not in the office and that the race was actually just supposed to be men and they didn’t have any prizes for women. Who knows what the truth is and it’s not a big deal at all because nothing beats a huge crowd of people cheering for you and they even said our names on the loud speaker as the Cuerpo de Paz volunteers! Now the whole town is like oh aren’t you the girl that ran that race!? It’s great! Later that evening I just chilled with my family and ate even more food. I also watched people on horses try to use plastic straws to catch these tiny rings hanging on a string; pretty entertaining, especially since one guy’s horse would literally walk past the rings and the dude still couldn’t get a ring (he reminded me of Sancho Panza, Don Quijote’s side kick). I unfortunately missed the people trying to climb up the greasy pole that was incredibly tall, but I heard it was hilarious. In summary, it was an awesome day and the US should really step its game up because bbq and fireworks ain’t got ish on what we did in Guate!

some random pictures

The Stress of Not Knowing Your Site!

Last week we returned from Field Based Training. Essentially, this is a time where Peace Corps Trainees get to venture out into the country as a group to visit other Volunteers who work in the same field. It's absolutely amazing to see a "real" PCV in their "native" habitat :) For me it was a mixture of highs and lows as most Peace Corps experiences seem to be. Right now, our group is in the torturous stages of being so close to knowing where we're going to live for the next two years but also still having to wait a significant amount of time. It's like when you're waiting for acceptance letters from college! I don't have a specific site in mind that I want to live in necessarily, the largest part is making sure I'm set up with a municipality that has some structure and will be supportive as well as that I live with a family for the first three months that is very open, accepting, loving and can make me feel at home more or less. That's really what's stressing me out, I can live in the east, west, north, hot, cold, I don't care that much it's just those two factors that keep me up at night. Because I'm working in municipal development and elections are coming up it's going to be a challenging time for us municipal volunteers. Parties are going to want us to campaign with us and we are prohibited from being involved in such things (thank goodness!) that could also potentially mean that funding is tied up to election related activities to beef up votes. Also, with the second year it will be challenging if the administration does change because oftentimes that entails a completely new staff and new priorities. Thus, we'll be starting from zero essentially. It's going to fascinating and challenging at the same time but one thing that I have to ensure is that I continue to motivate myself and take initiative. In a couple months, the summer camp that is training is going to end and I'm going to have to once again deal with the politics of works...except even more so because it will literally be in a political environment, in another culture, and another language.

The Peace Corps volunteers offered some valuable advice that I want to post for other trainees, volunteers or people interested in Peace Corps.

One: TAKE INITIATIVE! In training we learn a lot about capacity building and ensuring that host country nationals take the initiative, but one volunteer who I consider to have had a successful service says that many volunteers misinterpret this information and end up sitting in an office for two years and find that they have little to nothing to show for their close of service report. You always want to involve HCN but that doesn't mean you can't get things started!

Two: YOU MAKE YOUR SITE! It's all about attitude, outlook, setting goals, remaining flexible and keeping a sense of humor. I think that's going to be some what of a mantra for me

Three: WORK WITH YOUTH! I'm learning this in training, but kids are amazing. They always want to play, interact, learn, and even though this can be overwhelming at times when you just want to be alone, it is also a blessing and a great way to combat loneliness. If we can start educating youngsters...we may be able to galvanize some sort of change

Four: MAKE SURE YOUR FIRST SECONDARY PROJECT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL! This I found interesting, if the first project you plan is a total failure at first, you may have a pretty hard time building up trust if you've wasted a bunch of people's times. Be realistic about timelines, what can be accomplished and what it takes to get there.

Five: DO WHAT KEEPS YOU SANE! There will be a lot of sacrificing of self while in a more conservative country, but you have to find some outlets that help keep you sane. If that means you need to buy a tv...buy it! If that means you need to visit other volunteers nearby once a month...do it! The mental challenges are more difficult than the physical challenges of bucket baths, cold water, or non stop rain (or drought) so sometimes you're going to have to treat yourself!) but I'm also fascinated by the culture in the West. Kinda leaving it up to fate so that I keep an open mind because I know that it's up to me to make sure I have a good experience here!

Well, that's all for now I suppose, at some point I'll post some pictures to make things less boring haha

Mayan Ceremonies

This past weekend I had the opportunity to experience two Mayan ceremonies. The first was a “surprise” planned by my host family on Friday night and the second was one planned by the Peace Corps office. I’m not sure if I’ve explained this previously, but I live with a spiritual guide (the mother) and so three times a week she does natural/spiritual healing for people and then on specific occasions she puts together ceremonies (sometimes people ask for them specifically or she personally puts them together during the day of her nahual). I personally love that I get to learn about an aspect of Mayan culture that many people are not exposed to and even though many find these beliefs to be superstitious or unrealistic, I think it’s absolutely fascinating.
So Friday night, a group of about five people get together for the ceremony. My host madre carefully gathers and prepares all of her materials. First she creates a design with sugar on the ground. Then one by one she places small pieces of incense that look like rocks. At first they are placed on top of the sugar but after she finishes that pattern she continues to fill the circle with the incenses. On top of that there is a large assortment of different colored candles and other types of incense. Each color of candle represents something different. I can’t recall what each color represents but it just emphasizes how every step has a purpose, an order, and a specific meaning…nothing is just randomly placed. Everything is blessed before being placed into the pile and the candles are set on fire after everything is set up. Prayers are said in both Spanish and Katchikel (the indigenous language in this region). The fire continues to grow and the group becomes entranced with the flames and prayer. This part is truly captivating and I wish I could get it on film; it’s almost surreal to watch the fire and hear an unknown language. As the flames rise up, everyone cannot help but notice that the fire and smoke are always coming towards me. People comment and in my head I’m thinking, “I could be totally screwed or lucky depending on how they interpret that!” Nonetheless, I keep my cool as the ceremony continues with prayer and some observations by my host madre. We are all blessed with rose water to take away negative energy and she gives some special attention to some members who had especially negative energies (this was also especially interesting to watch). The flames began to die down and closing prayers were said. Afterwards, my host madre decided to explain to us all what she was told by the “abuelitos” (grandparents which signifies God and ancestors, the ancestors are paid homage and are typically present during these ceremonies as they have much knowledge to give). She specifically discussed what she was told about each person and saved me for the last. “Mihijaadoptada” (my adopted daughter) is how she started, she proceeded by telling me how I have become more comfortable here in Guatemala but that I am still holding on to the United States and that I need to embrace my stay here and receive more positive support from home. She said that it was very clear that Guatemala is welcoming me as the sagradafuego (sacred flame) was definitely in my favor (turns out smoke and fire in the face is a good thing!) Basically, Guate is giving me good vibes and it’s up to me to really go all in! This was a relief to hear and made me think about how I can mentally, emotionally, physically adopt my new home.
The ceremony at the Peace Corps was a very different vibe. Since it was such a large group, it’s difficult to get such personalized attention and to also personally be attached to the ceremony. I learned a lot more about the symbolism behind various things (i.e. the sugar, soda, chocolate, honey, liquor are all offerings to help ask for happiness)and the entire procession was different. We had to greet all the various nahuales as well as each of the four corners of the earth. With each greeting the spiritual guide proceeded to tell us what each nahual represents. It was also a little difficult because this ceremony was during the day and the school nearby was blasting some bumpin music so it was a stark contrast to the serene atmosphere of the ceremony.
This all led me to be very curious about my nahual. What is a nahual you ask? Well, the Mayan calendar is composed of different kinds of months, days and years than the traditional calendar. Thus, every day has a specific energy to it which is signified by the nahual. There are 20 nahuales and thus there are 20 days in a Mayan month. In summary, a nahual is an energy. Each person has a nahual, actually each person has 9 nahuales but there are 3 principle ones which make up a person’s Mayan cross. The day you were conceived, the day you were born and your destiny narhual are the three principal ones. The day you were born dictates the other two (there’s an assumption that you were conceived nine months before birth…pretty rare to know the day you’re conceived!) The nahual tells you characteristics about yourself and also who you get along well with and who you may clash with. It’s kind of like your animal on a Chinese calendar. So I became curious and decided to look online to see what mine was and I was pretty happy with the result. I read the description and for the most part it fits my personality type. Also my host madre said I was very lucky to have this nahual as it is very intelligent and has other positive connotations. She advised me not to just let people know what it is as some may find out and use it to make me weak. Sooo call me superstitious but I don’t want to just post it online  (if you’re really curious just email me and I’ll let ya know what it says in detail).
So that’s my two cents about some interesting Mayan experiences I had over the weekend. This Wednesday is Guatemala’s independence day and I’m quite excited for the festivities! This morning there was a parade of tiny little ones in traditional traje which was incredibly cute!! I’ll have to snag pics from my sitemates to post because it was truly adorable! Thus, more parades will take place as well as awesome drumlins (my favorite part!) and lots of food. Apparently my host family wants to dress me up in traditional clothing as well, but I’m not sure if they were joking or serious about that…we’ll see!!

An Assessment of Community Needs Assessment

We’re beginning to delve into the specifics of identifying a community’s needs. As we’re discussing this topic I think to myself, “yea I remember all of this from classes at Duke” but then it dawns on me…actually this is very different. What I recall from classes is how to ensure that you get a solid representation of the population when conducting a CNA, make sure focus groups have similar characteristics, gain trust, incorporate community leaders, and determine existing networks. What was fascinating though is that during these classes we more or less went in with the assumption that we already knew the answer. In a university setting, you get funded for researching a hypothesis thereby causing the researcher to be biased. It reminded me of the phrase “statistics is the best way to lie” because if you think you know the answer, you’re either consciously or unconsciously going to seek out those who will let you know what you want to hear. There are situations where your research uncovers that the real need is something completely different, but even still it usually still pertains to the same type of topic (i.e. health).
What was fascinating about this particular workshop is that I suddenly realized that in this type of Peace Corps Scenario, I’m truly going in with a blank slate. Because I’m working with the municipality, my only limitation is that it has to deal with a need identified by women. For the first time I’m not trying to just focus on health or just focus on a specific project like microfinance…the sky is the limit. I started to wonder why this topic was never really brought up. I clearly remember in class learning that the first step is to always conduct a community needs assessment, but because these were always in Global Health classes it was assumed that the need would be health related. But what is a poor student to do if she goes into a community and suddenly it turns out that what they truly want is a new school? There goes their funding? Or they continue to try to implement a health regimen that ends up not being adopted by the community because it’s a need identified by an outsider? I guess there really isn’t an answer and this topic probably falls into the ethical questions pile.
Either way, it was exciting for me to realize that I suddenly have a myriad of options and paths I can go down when dealing with development. I’ve always loved health and health care, but now I’m wondering if this experience will lead me down a different kind of path. Perhaps it will just reinforce my love for healthcare since it is incorporated in pretty much every aspect of life.
Anyway, we’ll see how my first community needs assessment goes once I get to my site. I’ll keep you all posted!

Experiential Learning

Throughout training, we have begun discussing the experiential learning process. After earning trust and learning about our communities, we have to learn to not only be a change agent but inspire others to serve as agents of change as well. The primary way that we are expected to galvanize this process is by facilitating experiential learning experiences. Clearly, this makes my heart pound with joy and excitement as I’m taken back to my days at Duke in Tony Brown’s enterprising leadership class where experiential learning is the name of the game. We’ve only just started discussing this process but I’m looking forward to writing more about this topic and also asking friends, family and mentors for their suggestions as to how I can help facilitate the experiential learning process and continue to try and help the residents of my future community become change agents and active participants in their community’s development. I know I sound totally bright-eyed at the moment since I have yet to work with a community or face any challenges, but I’m totally psyched about being able to take something I loved learning about and applying it to this new setting.
This post is just as a prep, I’ll continue writing about this topic throughout my service and explaining the success and inevitable failures that I’ve had while facilitating this process and (fingers crossed)hopefully inspiring others to take lead in community change!

The Poor Give

“The poor give even when they have nothing.” The other night I had a short conversation with my host padre that made me step back and think for a moment. We were discussing the Christmas traditions of “posadas” where the town goes around to various houses to sing and the family gives the group punch, tamales and decorates their house with lights and other various decorations. As he describes this lovely tradition he mentions how although the people in the pueblo don’t have much, they’ll continue to give to their neighbors and family regardless. He then went on to say that when he used to go into houses to repair electronics, in the houses of rich families they wouldn’t even offer the workers a glass of water during a whole day’s work whereas in the poorer houses they would immediately offer water, a little bit of bread, tortillas or whatever snacks they had available.
Why is that? Have you ever found that to be true?
I instantly started thinking about the differences between Guatemalans and Americans. Here, whenever my host brother or sister receives a tiny little snack from the store, they immediately share with me. There’s no sense of “this is mine, don’t touch”. Today I went to the store with my eight year old host sister and as we walked out the door she said, “oh wait”, ran back into the house and came out with a halls cough drop (which I assumed she was munching on one too as candy). Then later, we played cards and she got piece of fried tortilla and sat down, then instantly got up and got one for me without me even saying that I wanted one! It was so great, just very welcoming, loving and even though I didn’t need a Halls or a piece of fried tortilla I felt cared for. Compare this to situations in our own families, friends or people in general. “Get it yourself”, “that’s mine!”, “get your own”. I can already hear the children screaming this to their siblings, friends and even parents.
I also think about how people have welcomed me into their homes. As a guest, I receive the best of what they have. The first Sunday that I was in my pueblo, we went to my host padre’s mother’s house and she spent all day cooking an extremely special typical dish that also had a good amount of meat (aka expensive to cook). She lived in a small home with two rooms and an outdoor kitchen with only firewood to cook with (literally over the stove on her knees). I was served first and I was given more to eat after I finished despite politely declining. It’s been like that here ever since. Clearly, people always want to give a good first impression, but it’s incredibly humbling to see how people bend over backwards to accommodate guests. It makes me think about how I can become a more giving person as well. I mean, if my host family can offer me the best of what they have when all they have is so little, surely we can all do the same.

Legends of the Hidden (Mayan) Temple

So as of late, I’ve heard an assortment of Guatemalan legends that I’ve found fascinating and wanted to share. The following stories are of spirits that can be found in my pueblo during the night.
“La Llorona” (the woman who cries) – Long ago there was a woman who had a baby out of wedlock. Because this was, and still is, such a scandalous thing to do, the entire town was gossiping about this woman and her baby. After a certain point, the woman couldn’t handle all of the “chisme” (gossip) and decided to take action. She took her baby to the river to drown it. Of course, the pueblo found out and as punishment she was forced to search for her dead baby. Thus, her spirit haunts our pueblo in the night as she searches for her lost baby in the town’s rivers, lakes or public pilas.
“El Sombreron” – This spirit also wanders the streets during the night with a huge black sombrero and lots of gold jewelry. He goes around playing beautiful melodies on his guitar in front of the rooms of women in the pueblo. When a woman hears the sounds of his songs, she instantly becomes enchanted. She stops eating, stops going out, stops sleeping just so that she can hear the strumming of El Sombreron’s guitar. At this point, the woman is basically at a point where she is about to die so that El Sombreron can take her soul. The only way to cure a woman of this curse is by cutting her long beautiful hair. (As a side note, Mayan women do not cut their hair thus this decision is one that is taken by the entire family).
“La Sueganaba” – This spirit goes around town enticing men who are coming home drunk from the cantinas with her beautiful long hair and see-through dress. If a man who is stumbling home from a long night at the bar sees her, they instantly follow her wherever she takes them. She leads these men up into the mountains until they reach a cliff. Right before this spirit leads them to their sudden death she turns around and the man for the first time sees her face which is actually that of a horse. This is a man’s last opportunity to become frightened and “snap out” of his trance to save himself.
There are plenty more of these legends, but these are the ones that I’ve heard of thus far. At first glance, these legends may sound just like a bunch of superstition without purpose. But after giving them some thought, you’ll come to find that there is a meaning behind each of these legendas. The first is to warn women about sex before marriage and abortion. The second deals with vanity and the third, is clearly to scare the men into not walking around the streets drunk at night.
I’m just starting to scratch the surface with these fascinating stories of legends, mysteries and tales. There are several that I’ve heard dealing with how people can gain wealth from certain mountains or volcanoes in exchange of the soul of a loved one. A town will go around saying “oh such and such’s money comes from the mountain”.
This culture is rich with ancient beliefs and traditions. Instead of immediately writing them off, it has been and will continue to be and incredibly satisfying way to learn more about the Mayan culture and how their belief system shapes their communities.

More life details

So a lot of people have been asking about daily life in more depth so I figured I’d go into more detail about that for a little bit.
The food: I’m pretty happy with the food here, I get a little worried about my cholesterol because I tend to eat eggs often but other than that, the estomago is muy feliz! So breakfast is typically cornflakes or eggs with beans and of course tortillas! Then for lunch I have a variety of things that are similar dishes to dinner. Some plates that I’ve typically had:
· Chile relleno – green chiles that are covered with flour and then battered with egg and fried
· Soups – beef, chicken, potatoes, guiskey (like yucca), yucca, potatoes, sometimes rice, pasta, cilantro and pureed tomatoes
· Beans – which can be served three ways, whole black beans, liquefied black beans, and the refried black beans
· Tamales – which are very different from tamales I’ve had in the past because it’s really just masa with tomatoe sauce and maybe one piece of meat that usually is mostly bone, these are also eaten with French bread which seems crazy but it’s soooo good
· Pepian – this is a typical dish of my pueblo and it’s oh so good! Basically like a mole that’s poured on top of three types of meat, guiskey, yucca and potatoes
Some funny eating sidenotes I’ve encountered with my host family:
· Carbs with a side of carbs is pretty much how it goes over here, as a fellow carb lover, I have no problem with this…my waistline on the other hand may end up expanding as a result
· The tortilla is really like a fork, it’s pretty common to eat with your hands unless eating a soup or tamales
· Bones are sucked on…still haven’t gotten around to this one either
· Fish are eaten hole…which results in lots of work for little meat but my fam typically eats the skin since the fish are usually fried…I’m still a scaredy cat and like to be picky haha I’m sure I’ll come around
· I had Ramen for breakfast one morning…it was excellent!
· I also had a ham sandwhich with ketchup and mayonnaise…that was probably the most mentally challenging thing I’ve dealt with thus far (I hate mayonnaise that goozes out ughhhh) but there’s a slight chance that it’s this liquid cheese stuff, kinda like sour cream so I just tell myself that’s what it is
· Soda is called “agua” which is the word for water…that would be a great public health campaign
I do my best to stay in shape here but it can get to be pretty tough since I feel a little uncomfortable running alone, not that it’s unsafe but I get scared by the stray dogs and EVERYONE stares…I’ll get used to it I’m sure! There are others who run, this morning I saw four other runners, it’s just that they are all male. So as an alternative I’ve been doing a good job of making sure I regularly use my Rubberbanditz fitness bands and then I try to do 30 minutes of cardio which typically consists of: a song of jumping jacks, a song of high knees/running in place, a song of front kicks, a song of sidekicks, and the rest of the songs consist of a combo of the previous stuff, up-downs, mountain climbers, punching combos, or one minute kicks pretending there was a punching bag where I can’t put my foot down OR if I’m lucky enough where a good dance song comes on I just shake my booty randomly around my room while jumping around. I’m hoping eventually I’ll have internet so I can just youtube fitness routines.
My biggest enemies thus far are spiders and mold. This morning (Saturday) I spent most of my morning cleaning out my room and scrubbing down this one shelf that the mold seems to really like thereby attacking all of my shoes. The clothes are safe…but my shoes have become a victim. Thanks to all the HGTV that I watched back in the day, I retaliated with some bleach water. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve killed about seven spiders in my room thus far, none of them super big, but all unwanted. I’m sure I’ll get used to that too!
Biggest environmental threats: rain! The other day it rained all day pretty hard which back home isn’t a big deal at all but here that leads to a huge mess! Roads close, people’s houses get flooded, it can get pretty bad and all I can say is that I am so incredibly lucky to have a solid roof over my head and a concrete floor that won’t wash away. I’ve felt one tremor thus far that was very small but still weird to feel the earth shake! Then today I’ve felt two shakes but supposedly those are from the volcano that erupts (just slight ash, sometimes some fire, but I couldn’t see it because it was so cloudy). Don’t worry everyone who is reading, it’s not like lava flowing omg we’re gonna die type of eruption, just a small puff of ash and such J
All in all, I have to say I’m pretty happy here. Despite the hiccups and small environmental changes/annoyances, the people and the family here really make it all worthwhile. I also can’t wait until I have some free time to really explore and get to know this beautiful country and the festivals! The fifteenth is Guatemala’s independence day which I’m super excited about just because it means there will be lots of food and the kids have a big parade which I’m sure will be adorable! So yes, people don’t fear for me because life is muy bueno and I can’t wait until people can start to come visit!!

Immigration

The other day I found out that my host padre spent approximately five years in the US to work and send money home to his family. First, I’d like to point out an interesting statistic that I learned during PST, approximately 50% of Guatemala’s GDP is made up of remittances (money that people send back home from the States). Can you believe that! They actually depended on this income as part of their budgeting! So you can only imagine what happened here in Guate when the US economy collapsed. I hope I can continue learning more about economic development while I’m here, I find it fascinating. Anyway, back to the point. So he was in the US for five years and while he was telling me this I felt a mixture of emotions ranging from feeling guilty to feeling in awe. In his first area that he lived he worked full time at a fast food restaurant and then as a cleaner in a hotel chain. Then when he moved cities he worked at another fast food place and as a janitor at a school after hours. Then he worked at another fast food chain restaurant and said that oftentimes he had to sleep in his car in the parking lot because he didn’t get off until 2am and then had to open up the store at 5am. They also made him dress up as a corndog in order to promote a special that the fast food place was advertising.
It made me think a lot about immigration in the United States, it made the topic hit home. I’ve only seen immigration from one side more or less. My mother’s half of the family are all immigrants and came to the States legally but we’ve definitely had friends and family members who didn’t come legally at first and have had to work around the system to finally become citizens. But I’ve never been exposed to someone who is working in the States with family back home, not personally at least. My host padre wanted to be home and would have much rather preferred to make his living in his own country but people here make $2 a day! TWO DOLLARS A DAY! Can you blame someone for thinking well shit, I can make at least $50 a day in the US and send that home so that my family can finally have the house we’ve always wanted, the kids can go to a good school, etc. I guess I’m posting this because I want to share this experience and maybe it too will make you think about the different situations and difficult circumstances immigrants in the US have to go through and what pushes them to come to the US at any cost. Before judging or discriminating against illegals or “lazy Mexicans”, perhaps people should think twice about what incredible sacrifices these immigrants ares making in order to help their families at home (two jobs, sleeping in cars, doing work that would otherwise be humiliating if they were doing it back in their homes). Whether someone is legally or illegally in the US, he or she is still a human being that deserves the same amount of respect you would give to any other US citizen. Can you really blame a man for trying to provide for his wife and kids? Really?

First week of training

This past week has been a whirlwind of emotions, learning experiences, and culture shocks. For some reason this weekend really hit me in terms of fully realizing what this Peace Corps experience will entail. I am not at summer camp! During pre PST training we were all located in the same town and were able to share ideas, thoughts and jokes every day, but then when we were dropped off at our individual houses for pre-service training (PST) I was alone. I hate being alone. Luckily, thank God, there are children at my new host family’s home and I was quickly able to play games with them instead of just reading or staying in my room. But I couldn’t help but think, okay, when can I talk to someone my own age, or when is dinner, or when will the time pass so that the weekend can end! I instantly started thinking of home, what my family and friends were doing, it was intense for me. When my new host family started asking me about home I kept tearing up and I’m sure they could tell that I was clearly home sick, they even bought me some corn candy that reminded me of fruit loops to cheer me up. That was Saturday, and even know when I start reminiscing about home or how hard it was to say goodbye (I tend to get these flashbacks of the exact moment of saying goodbye to various people and I instantly start to cry). But, of course, as time went on I’ve become more and more adjusted. We went to a family lunch on Sunday and it was nice to sit around with everyone and talk. Although I was super paranoid of getting sick from the food (PC has drilled in our heads how basically EVERYTHING must be sanitized or else we’ll get a horrible case of diarrhea so I kept thinking oh man, I bet that wasn’t sanitized, like a good ol’ paranoid American haha). At first I felt a little awkward just sitting in on people’s conversations and tended to stick with playing with the little kids, but then at lunch at sat at the “men’s table” and they were talking about starting businesses (my cup of tea!). I didn’t contribute to the convo b/c I wasn’t sure if it was kosher to speak when I wasn’t spoken to or whatever but my host padre brought up two interesting points:
1. A business cannot survive without the support of the wife, two heads are better than one and a married couple has to work together in order to support each other and their business, businesses that have both people working together will be sure to do better than the others
2. A husband must share his finances with his wife and they have to work together to achieve financial stability and transparency or else what’s the point of being married
Now this seems like sound advice, but I was taken aback and proud of my host padre for saying these things because I know that the Latino culture can be very machista and I saw these attitudes as pretty progressive, hell there are couples in the States that don’t do this. I also found out that my host padre cooks and cleans, which typically is a “oh hell no” for most men.
This all brings me to my last point for the blog post: the importance of family. I love how close families are here and it has really made me think and become excited about raising a family of my own someday. I love how at dinner time we all come together and talk about our days and laugh and none of the kids are whiney brats, they all genuinely love and respect their parents and enjoy being together. It’s amazing! Also, my host madre works a full time job in addition to teaching Mayan spiritual classes and the husband also works full time and actually spent 5 years in the States (more on that later). So each mother and father is also able to live their lives will still being able to come together with love. That’s what I want in life….really and truly.

Life as a Peace Corps Trainee in Guate!

So even though this seems commonplace to me, I figure most people are wondering what a typical day in the life of a Peace Corps trainee is like. Thus, this blog entry’s main purpose is to describe the details of what Pre-Service Training (PST) is like in Guate and what my living conditions currently are.
After the first three days, we were introduced to our new home during PST (for security reasons, I cannot say the location and for any family or friends that post a comment, please do not disclose this info). My new home is made of concrete and has a tin roof. Upon entering there is an open outdoor +process takes forever because it’s always raining!). There’s a little patio and on one side is the kitchen and on the other side is my room! I’ve got a good size room probably ten by twelve with a bed, table, shelves for clothes storage and another shelf for shoes and toiletries. There are two other bedrooms and then a couple of steps to go into a common room where the computer and toys are and then to the left is the master bedroom where my host padres and the two little ones sleep. The tv is in the master bedroom and sometimes we are all in there together watching whatever random movie is on, or if I’m with the little ones we watch “oso agente especial”, “los imaginadores”, “Olivia” or whatever else is on Disney kids network. I really wish little Luis were with me, he would have such a blast playing with all of us! As for the bathroom situation, there are two: one in the outdoor area and the other inside. The one inside has a bath with…wait for it…hot water! It can get pretty freakin hot too so that’s oh so nice. Also, as in any developing country, toilet paper goes into the trash not the toilet.
My family consists of a madre and a padre, three hermanos and one hermanita who is super precious. Ages range from 16 to 5 and basically the five year old boy and the 8 year old girl are my bffs. Every day when I get home from classes or on the weekend we’re playing cards, jump rope, hide and seek or whatever else we can come up with. If anyone has any thoughts on sweet kids games let me know, I have a feeling that the same games are going to get old after a while (especially hide and seek! There are only so many places a five five girl can hide haha or wait, I’m in Guate now so jaja). The family is awesome and I’m in love with the way we can all gather around the dinner table to talk about our days and also laugh at each other or crack jokes. The padre works with construction and specializes with iron and the madre is a medical assistant and also works as a natural healer after work on certain days of the week. I am so amazed by the madre as she does a lot at home and in terms of work, I’ve never heard her raise her voice to her kids (they are incredibly well behaved!) and she’s just got it going on, super fuerte. Momma I wish you were here so you could meet her!
The weather here is like Seattle in the winter I’m told (in my pueblo I’m the only volunteer that’s an east coaster). So slightly cold but nothing out of this world (a sweater with some layers and a rain jacket is sufficient) and it always rains. Apparently there’s a tropical storm going on right now so it’s raining more than usual, but you should always carry a rain jacket with you because it can be sunny in the morning and then rain buckets a couple hours later. The sun sets around six thirty and we have to be in our casas by sunset. HUGE no no to be out after dark, which makes sense, I don’t think I’d want to be out after dark anyway (unless it’s clubbing in Antigua which we’re not allowed to do anyway so it’s all good). I tend to go to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 and get up at 6:30 unless its training day (Tuesdays) and I get up at 5:30. What’s crazy is that it’s not a big deal waking up, I feel like in the States it was torture to wake up at 7:45, but here I’m chillin. It’s awesome when it rains a little at night because the rain on the tin roof is incredibly soothing (reminds me of HPS!) and that also means that dogs don’t bark non-stop! When it’s a festival day or weekend, these fireworks go off at all hours of the night to celebrate which is what happened the first weekend I arrived and scared the living daylights out of me because it sounds like a bomb going off. Also, Sundays at 5 am you can hear the church ceremony. Apparently they think it’s a good idea to let everyone know that mass is going on and instead of just keeping the sermon inside the church, it’s on super loud speaker phone so the whole community can hear it. It reminds me of the call to prayer in Tanzania, eventually I won’t even hear it. I also thought the bed was super rock hard but I’ve gotten used to it and it doesn’t bother me. My pillow is also slightly hard, you could feel every oversized cotton ball, but I’ve also gotten used to that.
So what the heck do I do all day? Basically, Monday through Saturday I have Spanish classes either from 8-12 or 8-3 with a one hour break for lunch. After Spanish we either have tech training (which is where we learn about municipal development, what that entails, and tools we will need to do our job). Tuesdays are training days where we have to go to the main Peace Corps office and learn about health issues (thus far, focus is how to avoid diarrhea and what to do when it strikes…which will happen inevitably at some point). We also discuss culture and the core expectations of Peace Corps and what it means to be a volunteer, PC’s view on international development which focuses on capacity building, and more info about Guatemala! PC believes in capacity building which I think is right on, we’re helping people help themselves instead of just coming in, “fixing” a problem, and then high-tailing it outta there. Every idea has to be from the community and our primary role is to serve as a facilitator in the process and sort of as a trainer in the experiential learning process that goes on in a community. Guatemala is very used to receiving gifts for free and so instead of earning something, they’ve just received free improved wood stoves, free new houses, etc and this doesn’t help them in the long run. That’s one reason why we’re not allowed to receive big donations from someone in the US for a specific project we’re working on because the idea is for them to connect with resources themselves instead of a gringo coming in and magically a bunch of money appears. Eventually, when Peace Corps leaves, the population needs to have the tools, resources, knowledge and training to develop on their own. Anyway, Tuesdays are long days, but it’s good because we get to see our entire class. We were separated into various communities based on our Spanish level. Thus, I only have three other people in my pueblo and only get to see everyone else on Tuesdays.
So this post is INCREDIBLY long now, but I hope this helps answer some questions that you may have about what it is that I’m doing. I miss home incredibly but I know this is where I’m supposed to be so for all friends and family just know that I’m going to go through some incredible highs but also some incredible lows and when I hit a really low point, the best thing to say is “it will all get better soon, hang in there, call me if anything” PLEASE don’t talk to me about “oh well you can always come home”…that’s not an option I want to pursue because this is going to be an amazing experience!!!
Anyway, lots of love to all and hope to post more soon!

First email home!!

Hello everyone!!! I'm sorry for this mass email but I've literally got ten minutes so I just wanted to let you know that all is going great and I love it here! When we arrived we went straight to the Peace Corps office in Santa Lucia. We've got a sweet view of some volcanos and the office is very pretty with lots of natural plants. We've gone through a bunch of safety and training sessions, the biggest challenge for PC Guate is security so they told us that the only time we're allowed to be "elevada" (absent minded) is when we're in our house with all the doors locked. But for all the hype about Guatemala City airport, it was totally fine, nothing scary at all...to be perfectly honest the airport and subway system of NYC scares me more haha.

So yea we stayed with a host family for three days and they were great! So much love! I know there are a lot of things that Guatemala doesn't have when compared to the US but let me tell you there's a whole lot of love here, everyone is so incredibly welcoming and friendly it's amazing. The first night my family asked me if I wanted to go to a bachelorette party! haha granted it's incredibly different here. We arrived at their friends house around 8 and it was a mix of guys and girls and we just played really cute silly games and absolutely no one drank, there wasn't even alcohol offered and everyone was having a blast. I was quite relieved by that b/c I was a little nervous about people drinking b/c I've heard so much about domestic violence and all that jazz but my family is pretty religious so it's a great home. Anyway, at the end of the party the man proposed to his wife and they were both crying and I almost started to cry it was so beautiful! Simple things in life! (I also burned my thumb on a match...Dad you gotta get these people onto some bic ligheters! We had to burn matches and give advice to the newly engaged couple...seeing how I've never been married I just stuck with the "loveis a beautiful thing" theme)

I went to church last night with my family...quite an interesting experience. It reminded me of those black churches where everyone is shouting and praising mid speech or prayer with lots of standing up and well I guess it's just a very active congregation. Despite the intresting cultural experience, the sermon spoke about love and also not to judge others because we're all guilty of something in our lives and then forgiveness.

What else, we demolished a barney pinata y esterday, pretty awesome seeing people beath the crap outta the big purple dinasoar

Today I get to go to my new host family's house in San Antonio Aguas Calientes (apparently the Aguas Caliente - hot water - is a misnomer b/c there is no hot water there haha). It's supposed to be an indigineous town about ten minutes from Antigua by bus. So curious! I hope there as awesome as my first host family. When I left this morning the kids had made me a bracelet and a little bag with my name on it (Carolina here) and a note that said "te queremos mucho". It brought tears to my eyes (haha once again I'm such a softy). I'm so blessed and happy to be here...it's going to be really rough after training is over and I'm sure I'll be really lonely but for now, I'm loving it! I know I'm where I'm supposed to be :)

I probably won't have internet access til Tuesday, if that, but know that I'm doing well!! If you don't hear from me it's not because I don't miss you dearly, it's just hard to get interenet and there a million things that need to be done!

Getting back into shape! - Mental Edition

I am out of shape. Not in a physical sense (although I've definitely given up my usual running for the more convenient and easier elliptical machine). What I'm talking about is mentally. My brain is out of shape. While learning about entrepreneurship, I was always told that thinking like an entrepreneur is an exercise. You need to practice thinking creatively, problem solving, continuously expose yourself to new ideas. Innovation is rarely created while sitting in an office.

Well, my brain has been sitting in an office for the past two years and it's gotten lazy! Granted I have engaged in various entrepreneurial endeavors while working full time, but certainly not to the extent that I did at Duke. Now I'm at this exciting point where I can start training my brain again! It's incredibly liberating (adding an exclamation mark after that sentence doesn't even give justice to how liberating and exciting it feels to think creatively again). ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. It's almost as if I've forgotten that over the past two years. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for the job I've had. But you can't help but think linearly with this type of gig. Back in the day, I had a huge to-do list of various accomplishments and then suddenly those dreams and ideas faded away and were replaced with direct deposit checks and office decor.

But not to fret! It's coming back to me. Slowly but surely (pole pole) I find myself day dreaming again. Thinking of all the amazing things that could potentially happen with my new life in Guatemala. Yes, I know, implementation is incredibly slow, it's about sustainability and capacity building not necessarily starting this big huge new project, but a girl can dream right :) Oh opportunities! I feel like I was suffocating for so long and now I can BREATHE! My mind is like Rocky on those stairs with Eye of the Tiger playing in the background! I hope to keep this type of vigor alive and to exercise this type of thinking while in Guatemala. Even if I personally don't implement something, just the freedom to be able to and the encouragement to creatively tackle obstacles is amazing.

Oh oxygen. Oh creativity. Oh challenges. I feel like I'm regaining myself again...and I love it!

Reactions and should I be married?

It's been incredibly interesting to hear people's reactions to my Peace Corps news. I've classified them into a couple of groupings:

1. The incredibly ecstatic, "this is going to be an amazing experience and I can't wait to visit you"
2. The "oh wow, Peace Corps, that's pretty cool" but in their head they're wondering why the hell I'd live in a developing country for two years but do mention that they've heard there's a lot of violence and be careful
   
3. The more blatant "so why are you going to do that?"

So to all of those in the 1 category...thanks for being excited with me!!

For those in category 2...I understand it's confusing and thanks for being open to trying to comprehend how incredibly awesome this next step is going to be. Every time I've been abroad it's been an incredibly amazing experience that truly impacts my life and how I see the world, this is just my way of exploring myself, this crazy thing called life, and new people! Also, yes I've heard there's violence in Guatemala, just like there's violence in every country in the world! I understand it's next to Mexico which is going through a lot right now, I also understand that Guatemala's civil war still has a lasting influence and the criminal justice system isn't fully developed. But I'm hoping with some common sense and a mindful eye on what I'm doing, how I'm acting, etc, I should be out of harm's way. I could get shot walking down the street in Durham just like I could get shot walking down the street in Guatemala. People fear the unknown, and unfortunately Latin America and Africa have a history of instability and violence but that does not mean that everywhere you go in those continents are war zones!

And for those in Category 3, I've developed a list of perfectly rational reasons for doing this: helps me advance in my job to work in an international setting, great network of people, and discounts on future education. (But I'm going to be honest, those three reasons may be what I'm telling you out loud, but are not the driving forces behind this decision).

Changing topics, one person suggested I wear a wedding band while I'm there. I'm seriously considering this and wondering if anyone has suggestions or thoughts. I have to admit that I'm concerned about men and unwanted/inappropriate behavior. I experienced this while in Tanzania and it still upsets me. I hate how some men try to cross lines even in a professional setting without any sort of flirtation or interest expressed on my part. This can happen in the States, but seems to especially be an issue when I'm traveling abroad. Not trying to sound like a victim, it just gets annoying. So any thoughts?

Passport awesomeness

I feel as though I'm in a pre training process of what is to come. I've had a horrible stomach bug for the past two days of which the source I cannot say and I had some fun with bureaucratic red tape yesterday!

So I'm traveling outside of the country in between now and staging which means that I have to fill out a DS-11 form which is essentially applying for a new passport. It took me a couple weeks to even make it to the passport office and so I'm already nervous about the passport getting on time. Then I get to the passport office, inform her that I need her to fill out a couple of things and witness my signature to which she replies "you need an appointment for that". Okay, great, how do I schedule one? She then informs me the next available appt is July 12th. What!? Definitely gonna miss the deadline if I wait until then plus I'm going to be in Canada.

So I notice that a clerk of court can also witness my signature. I ask the Post Office, where I can find a clerk of court and they say hmm you need a notary, just go to the law offices next door. A little skeptical of the notary thing because I feel like if I just needed any bank or something to notarize the passport signature it would have said that in the instructions. But in the interest of time and only having so much time during a lunch break, I go next door. I then tell her the clerk of court deal to which she says yea I notary. Fine, whatever you say. So I sign, she notarizes and then says, wait...I think this is wrong. You need a passport agent to do this.

So back to the Passport agent. Anyway point of the story is that it's very back and forth. Finally convinced her that I am in fact not trying to magically have two passports at once, that one is for government travel and the other for personal use, to which she obliges and signs everything. I had to fill out another passport app by hand which I'm hoping is okay and I didn't screw anything up.

Keepin my fingers crossed! Anyway, I feel like this was a reminder...hey things don't go as planned, but just try to have a good laugh about it at the end of the day.

Sooo for those of you who have questions about getting your passport...feel free to ask me because I have now become an expert!

How do you pack for 2 years!?

I know there's a packing list (got a kick out of the palm pilot recommendation...really a palm pilot?). But how in the hell does one pack for two years?

My gut says pack light. Everything I'll need can be bought over there...I think?

Do I take my ipod or is that just going to get stolen? My radio? Two bags or just one?

One other thing that slightly bothers me are those teva sandal things (see right). I don't know why but there's something about em that makes me want to avoid them. Teva flip flops are great, super comfy but the ones with the straps...chacos? I know they're useful, and I'm not judging anyone who has them, I have many a friend who wear those on the daily...buuuuut they just scream "I'm not from around here!" Regardless of how hard I'll try to blend in, I'm going to stand out like a sore thumb down there but I bet these are a dead give away...so I'm trying to find an alternative. How about a standard flip flop? Who knows, I could totally be eating my words in a couple months and join the band wagon. Perhaps there are some PCVers that can attest to how incredibly handy these shoes are and help me cross over to Chaco world.

Anyway, in my mind I'm thinking, whatever fits in my pack goes and whatever doesn't will stay.

It's crazy to sift through all the things you think you "need". When it all boils down, I guess the only real essentials are shirts, pants, undies some sort of shoe and a toothbrush.

Speaking Out Loud

I'm still in disbelief. I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm going to Guatemala in two months!! Even when I say it out loud to people it still hasn't sunk in. Yesterday was the official day of letting everyone know. The hardest thing was telling work. I've never quit a job before (I hate that word quitting...it's not like I suddenly got fet up. I'm just moving on). You never think about it but how in the world do you quit your job? Especially at a small company? It's so awkward! Hi boss ps I'm leaving. Maybe I just hate confrontation that much that only I think it's awkward. Either way, my boss came into my office and gave me a big hug and said she's sad but also so happy for me. That's the perfect response! It reminded of why I got so excited when I joined my company in the first place. My boss (who is a woman and founder of the company, hell yea!) has done some really cool traveling (climbed Kili!) and I think also shares my interest in travel (or at least we share a love for Tanzania).

I think it took me a while to send the email. I wrote it. Deleted it. Wrote it. Got up to just tell her in person. Wrote it. Sent a draft to my boyfriend and some friends. Almost clicked send. Waited. Then FINALLY clicked send and held my breath for a moment.

Then on to the parents...except my mom found out before I even told her! It's all my fault (sorry mom!) because I was waiting to tell my parents until after my sister's graduation.

Then the last thing to make it official...Facebook. Oh yes you know it's true...nothing's official until you post it on Facebook haha

But anyway, just a disclaimer to everyone. If I randomly break out in tears it's because I'm really happy but also sad to say goodbye and any little thing will trigger that thought. Just gotta keep remembering that's it's not a goodbye but an hasta luego! :)

It's Official!!

So it's official! Sent the email!

Yeaaaaaaaa!!!!

Congratulations! You will be in...

Guatemala! The past 24 hours have been a whirlwind of emotions. I anxiously awaited driving straight to my mailbox after work yesterday only to find that there wasn't anything relating to the PC. Dismayed, I walked to my apartment and there it was lying in front of my door, this beautiful packet that encompassed by potential future. I, of course, ripped it open and frantically looked for a country name. Guatemala, awesome! That's exactly what I expected thanks to the Peace Corps Wiki Timeline

So then on to the next question...what in the world would I be doing!? "Municipal Development Advisor" (honestly a bit surprised, I thought it would say NGO development) So what does that mean:
"the focus...is to strengthen activities of the Municipal Planning Office and/or Municipal Women's Office in each municipality and to increase citizen participation in local development" So community development, I can dig it. Something new which is amazing and lends me the opportunity to be exposed to new things and actually gain some interesting hard skills (I think).

As I continued to read and get excited something hit me like a sack o' potatoes..."you will be working in a RURAL setting and living in a town of 1,000 to 10,000 people". Whoa. To gauge what this means...1,000 people is less than the number of people who went to my high school. Now, obviously I knew that most of Guatemala is rural and I definitely wasn't expecting, nor did I want, to be in a city. But there is a HUGE difference between 1,000 and 10,000 and to be perfectly honest I was hoping for mid size. Maybe b/c I view Moshi, TZ as the perfect size, developed enough to have various restaurants and entrepreneurial activity but also very homey and small town feel (Moshi's estimated pop is around 15,000). I felt incredibly uncomfortable in Arusha and would not want to be in that kind of setting.

So for some reason I felt a little down. I thought I would be jumping up and down with excitement! I thought I would instantly know, feel and think "yes this is right". But instead I was flooded with doubt. I was stressed, had more questions than answers, and then I invited my boyfriend over who happened to point out all the negatives "whoa you may not even have running water!" or "how would it be like being a woman in such a conservative country?". He definitely apologized for this after the fact and realized that he needed to also point out the positives. I spoke with a friend who is an RPCV and she reassured that it's just the initial invitation shock, and also reminded me that if you're looking for something with a concrete set of expectations and outcomes...Peace Corps is not for you. That is so true. In my anxiety of trying to piece together my future...I forgot what this is all about! The Adventure! To learn new things, to be comfortable with the fact that I won't know everything, that I can't micromanage the situation, I either have to go for it or not but I'll never know all the details! This is a beautiful amazing experience and that's part of the learning process.

About a year ago I had randomly emailed a PCV who happened to be in Guatemala and he said "the best advice I received is to go in with no expectations"

In essence...JUMP!!!

I'll let you know where I land :)

Love in the time of Peace Corps

I’m officially starting a blog. Any day now I should receive my invitation from Peace Corps and I can finally make a decision as to if I will accept. The application journey has been an interesting one seeing how a lot happens to an individual during a year. I recall how I once felt in August when I first submitted my application. I had been at my current job for about a year and despite being grateful for the experience and level of comfort it provided me, I wanted more. The bright-eyed college senior that I once was at Duke University suddenly transformed into a nine to sixer. Yuck.

I spent four years developing deep passions for global health, social entrepreneurship, community activism, and where does all that energy go? Sitting in an office in front of a computer. That just doesn't add up to me. During my junior year, one of my amazing friends and I created a project called "Pathways to Success" to inspire students to choose alternative pathways and redefine their perceptions of "success". It's been a hard pill for me to swallow that after all that preaching about creating your own path, I suddenly gave that up. Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic, but I do feel as though America's talented youth is not being challenged and living up to its maximum potential. Corporate America is not set up to fully take advantage of what us young 20 somethings can bring to the table (granted we typically have zero hard skills or work experience BUT we are a generation of driven, passionate, creative and socially conscious individuals! We're fine with hard work, that's why we busted our asses off in school for the past 20+ years, it just has to be something we believe in.)

So here I am again. At a crossroads where I once again feel as though I face the traditional vs. the adventure.

The traditional: I love my life right now, I have an amazing support system with fantastic friends who are equally as socially driven as I am, have a vibrancy for life and meeting new people in addition to an equally amazing boyfriend and the love and support of my family who live nearby. My current job is at a consulting firm in an industry that I do care about(health) and I thoroughly enjoy the exposure to business concepts as it relates to our health care system. So I can happily stay here, save my money and apply to school in the fall to receive a MSPH/MBA joint degree (probably from Carolina...oh yes, even this Dukie has to recognize the amazingness of Carolina's public health program). So with this traditional route I would essentially be choosing love. Love for my comfortable life and love for the wonderful people that I have the privilege of spending my time with on a daily basis.

The adventure: Decide to embark upon a journey very foreign to me by committing 27+ months to the Peace Corps in Latin America working on non profit (NGO) development. This is the unknown which is this intriguing blend of beauty, opportunity, excitement and fear. I can't really say what to expect with the exception that I know it will be life changing and an incredible learning experience. I can try to predict worst case or best case scenarios but in reality I'm sure each day will present itself with unique challenges that will vary from horrible to incredible.

Everyone says "deep down you know what to do". It sounds cliche but it's true...deep down I know. But how do you say goodbye to love?