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!!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
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!
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!!!
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!!!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
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!).
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!
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!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
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