nick and i have said goodbye to concepcion huista now. we traveled through jacal to say goodbye to our redmond friend and peace corps volunteer there, then through san antonio huista to say bye our bud eric. who killed a chicken for us. actually it wouldn't die so nick cut its head off. there's pictures; we'll put those up soon. we've got a bunch of reports and things to write. flying home on the 17th.

i forgot to mention, although we thought about it greatly, that may 4th was exactly 2 years in guatemala. we left home on the 2nd for miami but touched down on our tierra suegra on the 4th. feels like a lot of time, no? but went by very, very, very fast.

norma went home today. she was boarded as continental airlines cargo and shipped home to seattle. thanks to the embassy family we stayed with we didn't let guatemala get us this time. you would just not believe the ridiculousness of shipping a dog home and navigating a system that employs people who haven't graduated from sixth grade. SERIOUSLY. it was nuts.

ruby is staying in guatemala. another pcv fell in love with her and so we gave her up. she'll be happy and snuggled.

nick and i finished up our last medical exams this morning. pretty much exactly what we did last year for our "mid service medicals." so far so good, no calls from peace corps saying they found we have some rare tropical disease...

also for these last few days nick and i stayed with an embassy family. they live in a HUGE house in zone 15. zone 15 is the new zone 14 which was the new zone 10. it was a lot like california. in the nearby grocery store i found organic peanut butter puff cereal made in blaine, wa. that's a unique only-in-zone 15 find i believe. anyway the house was HUGE, how else can i say this? enormous? gigantic? hujingus? nick and i occupied "the tower" of the house and entertained tammy the dog and feasted on cold (cold mind you! refrigerated!) soy milk, homemade cookies (thanks nick!) and grapes. grapes are a luxury. it was a nice few days.

just wanted to let folks know we've officially received the Friends of Guatemala donations here in guatemala from roseanne, uncle kev, lana and grandma blanche, aunt mary, tony, ann and lisa. mil gracias!

i know we haven't put much here lately but i thought i'd share a little story that reminded me it's not over til it's over and just so everyone knows after two years you never really get the hang of guatemala.

yesterday i was on a bus to the lake and as we were barreling down the highway a tire started screaming. the bus driver pulled over and the ayudante quickly inspected the tire. i think this was the dialogue:

driver: tire's messed i think

ayudante: yeah i'll check it out

later..

ayudante: nah, we can keep going

driver: ok... it's making a funny noise...

driver & ayudante: OH WELL!

so we keep going and the tire is making lots of noise and it feels like there is no tire. after about 10 minutes the bus pulls sharply to the side of the road, the ayudante looks out the door and screams, "it's burning! everyone out!" then begins a puro chapin stampede. forget women and children first, it was survival of the fittest in a sea of elbows. i made it out pretty quick tossing my own elbows (it's nice to be tall).

everyone jumps out and practically huddles around the burning tire. the ayudante and the driver frantically put out the fire with dirt on the road and take the tires off. after a few minutes it was discovered another bus from the same line would come and take people to the direct destination and all those going to points before that (like me) could get 10 of the 15 quetzales back of our already paid fare and catch another bus off the highway.

fine. i get my Q10 back and join a group flagging buses. i was feeling pretty adventurous and chill i think from having been reflecting lately on my time here that i can handle a lot of nonsense now. a bus to take me to los encuentros came up and passed me and my group so we all had to run like mad up the highway to jump on the bus. i ran up to the back but it was full; people hanging out with the door unable to shut. the ayudante came up and said, "go up front!" so i ran to the front door and as i grabbed bars to help jump onto the bus i fell. i looked up and the bus driver said, "careful." thanks.

as i was tending to my bloody elbow a guy got up so i took his seat. but he came back because it wasn't his stop. he was waaay to drunk to know where to get off. so he fell into the aisle and leaned on me. very, very, very drunk. some indigenous ladies next to me giggled but i just kept on keeping on. not much else one can do.

the rains have started more or less although they say it's not supposed to yet. true, technically may starts the rainy season but due to the earth being ticked off about global warming and all that it's raining earlier.

nick and i are officially closing our service on june 15th. so june 16th or 17th party at hillside quickies.

hi all,

don't fret we are alive. we just don't blog as much. we are getting ready to go actually. mid-may we have our COS conference which is the "you're going home soon" meeting. nick and i are most likely leaving guatemala early june. everything is going well and work is winding down. the rainy season is starting to start and nick and i are running in training for the coban half marathon in may. it's gonna hurt but we're gonna do it. that's it for now. we'll be home soon.

Thanks to Ann & Frank, Uncle Kevin, Skye and Sam, Debby, Grandma & Aunt Mary, Roseanne, Tony, ADB and Lisa for sponsoring these 10 kids. I am so impressed and happy that these kids have been taken care of in just a matter of a few emails. This is a huge gift to these kids and their families. It may not seem like much but it's an amazing gift. This afternoon I get to tell Don Chepe that these 10 kids got scholarships for the year. It's going to be a good day at the Basico.

If anyone still wants to sponsor a kid that's cool too. There's over 100 students and they're all special and all making sacrafices to be junior high students. Just email us at guatemala@riseup.net.

"Friends of Guatemala" or FOG is a voluntary organization in the USA whose members include Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs). It is a tax-exempt non-profit organization (501c3 status). The FOG Scholarship Program funds scholarships for children in Guatemala who need assistance and are nominated by current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). FOG Scholarship Program funds are comprised of donations from families and friends of PCVs and RPCVs.

It is our hope that some of our family and friends will choose a kid to support this year (January - October is the school year.) One year of Basico costs US $90. It includes the enrollment fee, course fees, and enrollment and fees for the computer class. Kids usually pay month by month and often drop out for lack of monthly funds. If you'd like to support one of these 10 students please email us at guatemala@riseup.net and let us know which kid. Then the scholarship funds, which will be tax-deductible, should be mailed to FOG in Washington DC at this address:

Friends of Guatemala

PO Box 33018

Washington, DC 20033

Nick and I recieve the funds from FOG's representative in Guatemala City and then we'll give them to the school and the kid will be smooth sailing for 2006 thanks to you. A relief to them and their families. The kids who recieve scholarships will have to maintain a high GPA and good behavior monitored by the school's director, and my counterpart, Jose Angel Recinos.

The kids nominated here were chosen 100% on financial need. No students featured here have immediate family in the USA and endure financial hardships and have made sacrafices to study at the Basico level (grades 7-9).

Without further adieu here are the kids. Thanks to all our family and friends for keeping up with us in Guatemala since May 2004. These kids, and generally speaking everyone, hate to smile in pictures so these photos look like mug shots. But these kids are all awesome.

This is Antonia Jimenez Salucio. She's an 18 year old 8th grader in Concepcion Huista. Her favorite subject in school in social studies. She has 5 brothers and sisters. Her dad, Gabriel, is a farmer. Antonia is a great student, always polite and sweet. Someday she'd like to attend university.

This is Lorenzo Ramirez Ramirez. He's 17 and in 8th grade. His dad does construction around Concepcion Huista and his mother has passed away. His favorite class is social studies and someday wants to be an accountant. Last year Lorenzo was president of his class. Lorenzo is a cool kid.

This is Nehemias Andres Vargas Marcos. This is one of my all-time favorite kids ever. He's 15 and in 8th grade. His dad is wheelchair-bound and works as a carpenter. He has 6 brothers and sisters. His favorite class is art and someday wants to be a carpentry teacher. During school breaks and weekends Nehemias works with his dad. Nehemias has a knack for learning English and is quite a clever young guy.

This is Lilian Mariela Recinos Silvestre. Lilian is Rosita's little sister, the young woman I worked with all last year. Lilian just started 7th grade and is 12 years old (yet the tallest in the class). She has 3 brothers and sisters. Her mom is a teacher and her dad passed away 5 years ago. Her favorite class is music and she told me she wants to be a psychologist when she grows up. Her sister Rosita is studying environmental engineering and is the only female in her class. She travels 4 hours each way on Saturdays to study. Her other sister Brenda is about to start college to be a doctor. No doubt Lilian and her sisters will be the first female professionals from Concepcion Huista.

This is Aura Jeronimo Velasquez. Aura is from a village of Concepcion Huista called Yich Txotx and speaks the Mayan language Mam. Her older sister Maria graduated from Basico last year but isn't going on to high school, or Diversificado, due to financial reasons. Her other sister Benita is also in 8th grade this year and is 19 years old. Benita didn't enter Basico until she was 18 as she took care of her mom since the age of 13. I think their mom is okay now. Ok so Aura is the littlest and the wisest. She's already learned enough Popti' to join in with her Concepcionera friends. I think it's hard for these girls to fit in because they speak a different Mayan language. Aura is 17. She's got 7 brothers and sisters. Her dad is an electrician of sorts. Aura wants to be a nurse. She says all her classes are her favorite. Aura is a gem.

This is Candelaria Lopez Diaz. She's in 8th grade and is 15 years old. She has 8 brothers and sisters. She says her favorite class is my class, Desarrollo Personal. Her dad is a farmer. She's a very good student. Her brother, Gaspar, graduated from Basico last year and is now studying in Jacaltenango. They are an amazing family. They seem to value education which is unique sometimes when the family income comes exclusively from farming. Candelaria wants to study in the university someday. She never missed a day of Desarrollo Personal last year and neither did her brother.

This is Lorenzo Lopez Ramirez. Don't be fooled by his size. This little dude spent his Christmas vacation harvesting coffee in Chiapas to help with his school fees. A scholarship for this kid would ease his family's condition. He has 5 brothers and sisters. His dad is a farmer and he too wants to be a farmer. His favorite class is math. He's in 7th grade.

This is Nazario Jacinto Ramirez. He's 16 and in 7th grade. He has 5 brothers and sisters. His favorite class is math and wants to be a teacher when he grows up. His dad, Francisco, works for an environmental organization in Concepcion. Nazario's brother Mayco is one of my 9th grade students. They're characters. Mayco works in the mornings to pay for his own school fees and doesn't take the Basico's computer classes because of the work. Nazario is a good student with intentions to study beyond Basico someday.

This is Miguel Ovidio Perez Gaspar or just Ovidio. He's 16 and in 7th grade. He's a little cross-eyed and covers one eye when he talks one on one. He has 7 brothers and sisters. His dad is a farmer and his favorite class is social studies. He's my Popti' teacher's nephew. Ovidio wants to be a doctor. At school dances, Ovidio is not afraid to ask the 9th grade girls to dance. Quite a kid.

This is Manuel Gaspar Salucio. Manuel is 14 and has no brothers or sisters. His dad does construction. His favorite class is social studies and wants to be a teacher someday.

So those are the nominees. We hope they'll all find someone to support them this year. Also like to add that US$45 is cool too, a half-scholarship. Anything will absolutely help these kids out. Email us if you're interested or have questions.

yesterday was "carnival" in guatemala and especially in concepcion huista. i've got some great pictures to post here soon enough. all the kids dress up or cross-dress up and dance around in a parade down to the town's center. two marimbas were out. one with 4 students and another with 4 drunk dudes. the drunk guys couldn't really keep up. it's still odd to me that a junior high parade attracts so many drooling drunks tagging along. one guy was schmoozing about in front of the kids playing marimba with a spider man mask on. the school's secretary, katarina, said in the first i've detected of sarcasm in a guatemalan, "here comes spider man." anyway, i was here for this last year and it was funny. the kids have amazing senses of humor sometimes. i couldn't tell who all the kids were because of their costumes but there was a fidel castro, a boy in a mini skirt and high heels, two old men and a buffalo. not to mention dozens of clowns, drag queen types and ghosts. one kid came up to me and said, "guess who i am!!" i said, "i have no idea" and he said, "guess! guess! it's a game!" and i said, "beats me, who are you?" and he says, "it's me alonzo!" but in a "duh, who do you think it is?!?!" kinda way.

primero basico (7th grade) has 59 students now. more than last year. the classroom is small and they sit in rows three deep all around the room. one of my favorite students from last year came back last week. i was worried he wasn't going to continue because he sorta hung with a "bad crowd" last year and had an "i don't care" attitude about grades, etc. but chepe, my counterpart, told me he just didn't have the money to come back. his "bad crowd" pals didn't come back but for lack of desire i think. anyway nehemias is back and he's got a new crowd including the kids we call ren and stimpy. ren is our dog sitter. last year stimpy and nehemias fought (that was the first time i ever broke up a fight) but now they are pals and it's great. anyway, very soon i plan on developing a scholarship thing for some of the kids here like nehemias. another kid but in primero basico, i found out yesterday, cut coffee in chiapas all during holiday break and paid for his entire year of primero basico in one lump sum. that to me is AMAZING. these kids have to work to go to junior high. the sacrafices families make here for basic education is incredible. anyway i hope to post some pictures of the kids who need help and hopefully someone out there reading this blog will "adopt" them for a year or two. a year of basico costs around $75.

lastly, DO NOT SEND ANYMORE MAIL TO CONCEPCION HUISTA. we will now be collecting our mail in the peace corps office in guatemala city:

PCV(s) Nicholas Cervantes and/or Colleen Rice

Cuerpo de Paz

8a calle 6-55, zona 9

Ciudad de Guatemala 01009

Guatemala, Centro America

Alright, we are back. I stayed in Antigua a whole dang week because of meetings with my boss and the week prior I was in Jalapa. My buddies and I built a water deposit. Which isn't actually so impressive if your Peace Corps project is "Applied Technology" but it was my first time and it was great. That was in R's town-- a very small town. Then I went to S's town, Pinula, to build some stoves but, unfortunately for classic PC reasons, it just couldn't happen those days. And I had to get back. The day after I left, the stoves got built but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. Anyway, I plan on going back soon to try my hand at some more tangible projects. There are AT volunteers in our department of Huehue but Jalapa is where my close friends are and it's also HOT there. Seriously, when I woke up it could have been Kihei. I have to visit these friends while I can and take advantage of learning about the other programs I am interested in. 5 months from now these people I've become close to will return to Arkansas and Boston and wherever and then I will REALLy never see them.

Anyway, Happy Día del Cariño, everyone. I love Colleen!

Here are some pictures of my trip to Jalapa. It was feria week in S's town, Pinula, and we rode the Guatemalan ferris wheel. They make up for not having roller coasters by running the thing VERY fast. But I watched the carnies assemble it and felt confident in their abilities...

this afternoon we're in jacal having some fun. well it's nice and warm here. concepcion, just 30 min up mind you, is cold, muddy and smelly today. jacal is warm, dry, and comfy. there's a new rotisserie chicken place in jacal so we lunched. then we dropped off some laundry (there's a lady here with a washing machine and then she hangs everything to dry, and because it's jacal things actually dry). now we're doing some internet stuffs with faster, cheaper computers than mario's in concepcion. sure we love concepcion but jacal is just so nice.

see concepcion is pretty. it's also really really cold and muddy. but we always have a spectacular view when it's clear. we are in winter too here. and i know it's not as cold as say boston or seattle but still, it's cold. colder than you'd think. okay i'll stop complaining.

pictures....

this sign was posted at a used clothing shop in the capital. i took a picture as proof of guatemala's rampant employment discrimination. this sign reads: hiring, gotta be over 18, pass basico (9th grade), and then someone taped the additonal requirement, must be a man.

this is maria, my popti' teacher, wearing the sweater i brought her back from the states. this picture was taken at the basico on the first day of school.

this is another picture of francisco, luciano's brother, who is totally my favorite kid. this night we had a little spontaneous party with popcorn, the arts and crafts stuff uncle ken and ellie gave us, and some music. more from that party...

nick and i in antigua.

in this internet cafe place the guy who works it and his, i'm assuming, friend just sprayed themselves all up in their shirts with some deodrant/generic man smell stuff. as if more is less. not important but somewhat relevant.

i finally started my class this week. i'd been holding out because the muni was going to hire another rosita for me. turns out they aren't going to. also they haven't paid rosita since august, or nick's counterpart juan daniel. juanda quit because he can't live without his paycheck coming regularly. very bad stuff these people have to deal with. so unfair. so i started my class and it was like old times. the new primero basico class is about 65 strong.

concepcion is so cold and damp and cold. but neither of us are there right now. nick went to jalapa on the eastern side of guatemala to help a volunteer friend with some projects in the appropriate technology program. he'll be there for a few days building things and whatnot. it's warm over there and he was promised swimming. lucky duck. i'm down in the capital because my pal is coming in from seattle. then i'm going to wisk her away to concepcion to get muddy. the capital is so nice right now. sunny, warm. great weather. but i had my wallet robbed the other day on a bus. nothing too important but i felt like a moron nonetheless. i had a big rip in my t-shirt and so i was a little preoccupied trying not to give everyone a show and i just had my guard down for 10 seconds too long. i knew it immediately, but not immediately enough because the guy was gone just like that. anyway lesson learned.

Dear Blog,

Here is a picture of Dallas. Although it already seems so long ago that we were back in the USA. Almost like we never left Concepción. My work has been very random. The woods, the vivero, the office, and oh, the meetings. My counterpart, JuanDaniel had some triste news for me yesterday. He wont be working in Concepción anymore! He is from neighboring Jacal and is leaving to make and sell sausage with his family. He of course will continue going to college on the weekends but apparently, working in this Muni is not as financially viable as selling sausage door-to-door. The Muni hasn't been paying it's employees as steadily as it should, although they are building a new castle.

Juanda wont really trash talk the Muni, so he just said he wants to work for himself for awhile. But he only has 2 semesters of school left and then he'll get a good job in Huehue or something. Jacal's feria starts this weekend and he invited me to a "Rock Show" where his cousin's Led Zeppelin cover band will be playing.

Potential good news is that my friend Baudilio might replace Juanda in the the position of "Técnico Forestal". Either Baudilio or this horribly boring guy named Cash (Gaspar). Keep your fingers crossed. My Peace Corps boss is coming to visit tomorrow and I get to break the good news to him. As far as counterparts go, Juanda is a gem.

My PC boss is also retiring and this might be his last visit.

Next week I will be out East in Jalapa visiting two PC friends that I don't get to see enough. They are in the "Applied Technology" program and I am excited to help them build some water deposits (my Dad knows what I'm talkin about).

I went with Colleen last week to the opening ceremony of the Básico. The new tikes were all posturing and nervous. The old boys ditched the ceremonies to hang out on the roof. And Colleen's friend Maria wore the sweater Colleen got her for Christmas.

today's the first day of school. the street outside the big primary school is once again crowded with dirty little kids and these weird puffy snacky things they buy and put ketchup all over. later today i'll head over to the basico where i'm sure no classes will actually begin but all teachers will grudgingly show up, organize some stuff and maybe speak into a microphone presenting themselves and the class they're going to teach. concepcion is sunny today, but it's still really cold in the shade. this morning one of my graduated 9th graders, the corey feldman lookalike, waved to me from a passing truck. i hope all my graduated 9th graders will continue to high school but i know only half probably will.

last night the luciano group came over. hadn't seen them in ages! we gave them their belated christmas gifts which blew them away. they were a little uncomfortable accepting what i'm sure they thought were extravagant presents. but they dug it. it was like christmas morning but 7pm in guatemala in january listening to the kumbia kings. thanks to uncle ken and ellie for giving us stuff for the kids when we were home. i wish you guys could have seen how excited they were!

so i guess reality is sorta setting in again. back to work, back to the mountains. but it's hard to believe this is the year we leave. in 2004 this year was far off into the future and last year we always said, we're leaving in 2006. now it's that year.

Well, I'm reaclimated (a word?) to life in Concepción now. It was hard to leave family and comfort, again, last week but, with some sunny days and my rad counterpart, it's good to be back. Yesterday was the big 1st towm meeting of the month. It's for representatives from each aldea and leaders of local organizations to hear what the mayor's office (not the actual mayor), the "Planificador", and my office are planning for the year. JuanDaniel and I made a general list of goals and blar blar blar. It was a 5-dang hour meeting. But with free lunch. I prefer the tangible work, which there should be plenty of before we're out of here.

To keep my brain occupied during most of the meeting, held in a big grey room (the meeting, not my brain), I got all the participants to sign their names and list their community/institution. Many of them cant write their own names so I do it for them-- Gaspar Gaspar José, etc. I liked the guy who brought his own inkpad for a thumbprint. They like formality. These lists don't go anywhere but the Planificador's office; he is a VERY organized man.

I suppose that's it. I talked again with the oldest-looking-man in town. And while I can't understand most of what he says, I found out his name: Gaspar.

we made it back to guatemala. in the dallas airport we ran into a peace corps friend of ours and so we all flew back together from there. easy flights just a little long and boring, the usual. we sprang for a night at tikal futura which was just easier anyway because the hotel shuttle picked us up and all our bags. we got in around 9pm.

we'll be heading back to concepcion tomorrow. we had a LOT of fun back home and thanks to our moms and dads for taking such good care of us.

We ate at our favorite restaurant in Seattle. It was delish.

Skye and I at the entrance into Antigua. This was the day they got in.

The best hotel in Guatemala. La Casa del Mundo on Lake Atitlan. We were lucky to stay there one night, normally they are booked for weeks or even months.

Lake Atitlan, there's no such thing as a bad picture of this place.

The top of Volcan Tajumulco, the highest place in Central America.

Tajumulco

All those bumps on the horizon are Guatemala's volcanoes.

Sam and I climbing. It took 5-6 hours to hike up to a spot between the two peaks of Tajumulco. We camped there and at 4am the next morning we climbed the last 1.5 hours or so, the hardest part.

ok, sorry it's been so long. we've been on vacation having a great time. spent some days on the caribean side of guatemala in hammocks and eating pineapple, slept under mosquito nets on rio dulce and swam in lake atitlan from the rocks at casa del mundo, the most lovliest place on planet guatemala. nick and i spent a couple days in antigua. i gave a workshop to a crew of healthy school volunteers on how and what to teach about self esteem in primary schools. cool. nick went back to concepcion and i went to quiche, where i am now. i am translating for two days for a medical team from the usa. me, erika, kelley and helen (75% pacific northwest representation). for two days around kelley's town this medical team for a group called "companeros de salud" is seeing whoever for whatever for free and certain things hooking them up with free surgery. so today was tough. there were the patients who only speak quiche, a quiche/spanish translator, me the spanish/english translator then the english speaking doctor. through this fashion i told a woman today that she had very, very advanced cervical cancer. the doctor said was inoperable and she probably would only live for a few more weeks. i saw a baby with a hernia, a woman with a fallen uterus, a boy with epilepsy and no medication, a woman with 50 years of ear wax buildup who couldn't hear. for most of the day i translated for the OB/GYN. phew. lots of pelvic exams and very, very uncomfortable women. some women, even though they were hurtin, would not let the doctor check them out. one woman got up on the table and just could not open her legs. even though she knew that what the idea. she just couldn't. most people just had pain or arthritis from too much work. anyway, it was incredible. an unforgettable experience. it was in a school in a small village outside kelley's town. tomorrow is day two and then back to concepcion.

We woke up for the 1st hike day really excited and anxious. You could say I was stoked. You know when a good day is coming. Alright, the bus rides that stalled my enthusiasm getting to the dang volcano were long but my brains were half asleep anyway.

Got dropped off at the trailhead at the side of the hiway. 24 of us in the group. 5 of us in our unofficial group, all welcome. Sam and Skye are totally radical dudes and musical scientists to boot. And they brought a new German friend. We could not see the peaks we would be climbing to thru their halo clouds and that was lovely too. Tajumulco is 4220 meters (Down with feet, up with hands!) and we were all loaded like mules that used to be wooden puppets. One is able to borrow bags, paks, coats, hats from Quetzal Trekkers and each one of us had a mix bag of tent or poles, tarps, a pot and chips, whatever.