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!!!