I am finally done with m Peace Corps service. After a long week of dealing with all the documents needed to exit Peace Corps and then transfer my VISA from my PC passport to my personal passport I am done. YEAH! I learned getting into Peace Corps is hard...but getting out is even harder. Poop tests...check. Essays...check. Palabras given...check!

Sabiha and I have been enjoying our time attempting to get out of Peace Corps. Everyone with the PC staff has been so gracious and understanding to both of us. The process was made much easier given all their support. I never though I would be leaving this way, but I am.

Now I am off to Honduras for 2 weeks to visit some ruins, the beach and learn to SCUBA dive. Not too shabby! Then my mom will come for a week then I will be back home April 3rd in Boise!

Ooo and I must mention I was also the recent champion of Musical chairs at the hostel...going out with a bang!

For the past few months I have been tortured with the decision to stay in Peace Corps or walk away. This has not been an easy decision to make and I still have a knot in my stomach thinking about it. I feel it is the right decision for me at this point in my life. I am terminating my service with Peace Corps.

In November, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, probably due to the high altitude and the stress of Peace Corps (not speaking dialect, drunken men coming to my house during the night, travel, lack of safety…). I visited a cardiologist in Guatemala City who warned me that I am far too young to be having these problems. I also have a very devastating family history of heart problems. I went along with the advice of the Peace Corps Medical Office and started a regime of medications. In January, I went back to the PC Office to have my blood pressure checked again and unfortunately it was still just as high as before. The doctor informed me that if it does not come down in the next few months Peace Corps will have to “Medically Separate” (sent home for medical reasons) as I would not be fit to serve. I could stay and hopefully my BP would come down but that was not guaranteed. I was in limbo.

This news devastated me. First, I do not like being told that someone else gets to decide whether I can stay or I must go. I must live my life for myself. I had a few rough weeks but ultimately I decided I would rather leave on my own terms. I have not been happy in my site for a long time. I can point fingers and say my site was not ready for a Volunteer and Healthy Homes Volunteers should not be put in sites without a Health Post, but I want to take responsibility for my own actions. My site was HARD. It was. I still do not have a working latrine after 8 months. My unofficial counterpart was a drunk and drank himself into a diabetic coma for 2 months. I am so far away from other volunteers. And the drunken men…the harassment I received was simply too much for me. Too much. I did not feel safe when bolos would come to my house and try to break-in during the middle of the night. All these things led me to walk away from my site. I know there are things I could have done to make things better-moved houses, studied dialect more, just be out in the community more. However, I feel it is too late.

It breaks my heart that I am not completing my 27 month commitment to Peace Corps. I do not like to quit things once I start them. However, sometimes it takes more strength to walk away from something than to stay and be miserable. I could keep chipping away at my site knowing I get to go home in a year and a half, but I’d rather walk away with my head held high. I have accomplished the true goals of most new sites- the people understand Peace Corps and have met and lived with an American. I have built trust within my community. If nothing else, I have learned from the native Mayan people and them from me.

And now I move on. I began the steps to apply for a few graduate programs for a Masters in Science with Environmental Education. Working on the “Eco-Block” project made me realize how much I love the environment and I think this path is where I belong. I hope to someday have my dream job of leading outdoor, educational excursions for young students or working with community outreach for an environmental NGO.

I will go into the Peace Corps office on Monday and begin the paperwork to “Early Terminate” (Peace Corps lingo for resigning). I have to do some medical tests and write a few essays and then I will be free. I am not returning directly home. I will go travel to Honduras and Nicaragua with a friend of mine who is also done with Peace Corps. Then my momma comes at the end of March and we will travel through Guatemala. I also am working on sending little Lubu home to the States. I cannot leave my beloved street dog.

So that is it. I do not know if I will continue to blog or not. Right now I cannot think past tomorrow. I hope my blog readers understand my situation and respect my decision to leave. However, if not that is fine. No one understands situations except the people who live in them. I have made internal peace with my time in Guatemala. I would still recommend Peace Corps to others but with a grain of salt. Know what makes you happy and do not sacrifice that. Live for yourself because if you are not taking care of yourself you can never help others.

With that…I’m OUT! Peace and Love to all :)

Today I went over to Cathaleen’s new community to help her with a water system project. Her town is in the process of putting in tubing and a water tank so the community has water (right now only two houses have water!!!!). The town has been working diligently and Cathaleen decided to solicit the help of an NGO, Agua para la Salud, to come help as well. A civil engineer came all the way up to Cat’s village and is spending the week doing measurements and figuring out the hydraulics of the system. I understand the basic concepts of the whole projects but there is still a LOT more for me to learn about water systems.

We first traveled up to the first spring where we measured the flow rate. We then had to measure the distance of that spring to the point it will join a pipe from another spring. We had to do this piece by piece since PVC pipe can only go in a straight line. I was in charge of holding the tape measure as Cat walked as far and she could. The engineer figured out some other measurements using a compass and some other thingy. I honestly did not understand that part! Something to do with figuring out the change in altitude, I believe. To get to our destination we had to cross the stream/go in the stream, climb through bushes and try to do it all on our feet! Luckily no one fell in the river, except Lubu.

We did the same flow rate measurement for the other spring. We then measured our way back to the town. We had to break for lunch after about 3 hours of this. After lunch we finished up. It was very interesting to get to help today because I have read a lot about water systems and my sister is a Civil/Environmental Engineer but I never really understood until today when I was there helping. I only wish we got to wear the orange vests and hard-hats like surveyors in the US. Maybe I should introduce that to Guatemala!

On another note, I am doing various presentations in my community, as well as neighboring communities, to promote the “Bottle Puesto de Salud.” All the PCVs in my muni are collaborating to attempt to expand the current health post in the main town using “Eco-Blocks” made out of plastic bottles filled with plastic trash, like candy wrappers and plastic bags. I am really excited about this project and I hope it actually gets off the ground!

Getting the flow rate

Measuring distance for the water tubes (me with the yellow tape measure)

View from Cathaleen's community looking over to my community (30 min walk)

Cute little girl hollering into the empty water tank

Adorable!

Ok I am not going to brag or anything but I might just be the coolest and/or luckiest PCV in G-Country (aka Guatemala). I received a phone call from the lady at the Peace Corps office saying I had a package waiting for me. I couldn't think who would send me a package at that address since its 10 hours from my site. I told her I will come and get it in time. No worries, it can't be important. She was very insistent it was important and said it was from the US Ambassador. I assumed it must just be the photo of our group and him from reconnect. She said no, it is a regalito (a little present). Say what!?!? A regalito…I’m excited.

Cathaleen picked up my regalito from the Xela office for me this weekend and it was more of a regalo! It was a cute little Santa wine holder filled with peanut M&Ms, a dog bone for Lubu and earplugs. Also, Ambassador McFarland put in a little note saying he is a fan of this blog! I feel so cool! (“I’m so popular, I’m so cool!” –UD) Who knew I would basically become a celebrity here. I sure had no idea! Kidding!

Long story short…THANKS Ambassador! You still ROCK!

Lubu and me with our Christmas present from the ambassador!

Bubu Lubu

Claire and Cathaleen holding onto Mora "the lap dog"

I went to a meeting yesterday to help plan the “desfile” parade that will happen for my town fair in two weeks. I sat in a classroom for about 40 minutes waiting for others to show up and I noticed the only school rules are as follows:

NOT Permitted:

-headphones

-eating

-liquor

-bad habits

-makeup

-being without a uniform

I agree that most of these are good rules but what about respect? Or raising your hand? Or turning in assignments? There are so many things wrong and corrupt with the education system in Guatemala it breaks my heart. These kids want to learn but often it is just not possible because of lack of funding, quality teachers or they have to stay home and work.

Another sad fact for my middle school is there are currently NO teachers! I went to visit with the director on 3 different occasions a week ago and he never showed up, not even once! I was really annoyed and couldn’t understand why he kept standing me up when I was doing him a favor and teaching English classes. I found out yesterday all the teachers got better job offers in other communities so there is no one to teach now. There are 6 classes of students in three grades that are without classes. School was supposed to start the 17th but as of yet, nothing. The town men are meeting on Friday to “discuss the problem” but what can be done?!!? They need teachers ASAP but knowing how slow things move in Guatemala it may be a while before there are teachers for these eager minds.

On another note I was in Xela last week for more medical appointments. The city is the second largest and it felt like it. I am sure used to aldea life. I stayed with my friend Shannon who lives nearby and it was great to hang out with her and see her town. Nothing new to report on the medical side…things are still up in the air. It’s all very frustrating. But I push on….

Here is my website to view all the Christmas Extravaganza 2010 pics. Also, you can connect to the rest of my albums of my time in Guatemala.

Christmas Vacation 2010

Vacation is definitely over. The days of drinking Pina Coladas on the black sand beaches are far gone. I have been back in site a week now and it is funny how things go back to normal so fast. Yesterday I went to the Consejo Tecnico with all the health workers in my municipality and unfortunately there are now about half the number of health workers. The government does not have the money to pay the workers so a bunch of people lost their job over the holidays. Also, the NGOs that were providing health care lost funding so they left too. My town has been without vaccinations and any health attention since October. A different health post has been reassigned to take over vaccinations so hopefully these kids will not be forgotten.

I did my first charla of the New Year this afternoon. I asked Cathaleen to come help me. We focused on food preparation, washing fruits and veggies and chlorinating water. We did a little skit where Cat was a fly who contaminates food with poop and I was the girl who ate the food and got diarrhea. The women laughed and enjoyed it. The women seem to comprehend everything well but unfortunately when I reviewed the important times to wash hands I could hear crickets. No one remembered! Seriously?!?! I have reviewed the 4 times to wash your hands (after bathroom, after changing diaper, before eating, before cooking) but no one spoke up or anything. It was a very frustrating end to an otherwise great charla. It makes me remember that maybe I am doing no good as far as health education. I am entertaining to the women and they enjoy themselves. Maybe that is all a first generation volunteer can really achieve.

Other news, I am off for 3 days of medical tests in Xela next week. I have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and anxiety. They think its stress….duh! I am not sure what the doctors will say but hopefully something good. I have not responded to treatment thus far and Peace Corps has given me a time limit to get things under control. On top of the stress of my unprepared site, these medical issues are really testing me. Updates to come.

Finally, I want to thank all of my friends back home. I do not think I would still be here without the support from you. I love all the letters and packages and emails and everything. Thank you so much and know how much you are appreciated 

The fence finally went in! JAJAJA! The men and a few women showed up around 8am and work actually began at 9am. First, I must say the community bought all the materials and donated their time. I said I could pay but they said that they would collect money from the town and pitch in more themselves. I expected the fence to be done while I was gone but in hindsight I was glad to be around for the building day.

As they worked outside, I cooked inside. I agreed to cook lunch for the 20 people a few days ago. The only thing I could think to cook for that many people on my little two burned stove was chili. I started cooking beans last night and did about 4 batches of beans in my pressure cooker. This morning I borrowed a huge pot from my neighbors and adding the veggies, meat, and seasonings. It all came together in the nick of time. I wasn’t too sure if all the people would like my food but everyone finished it and some even had more. Of course I made too much so I will be eating chili for a few days. This afternoon I gave a bowl to my little neighbor friend who just laughed. She is only 11 but I’m sure she cooks much better than me.

I just need a lock on the gate and I now have a secure fence! The only bad news is that I won’t be getting help to build my latrine until the END of February! GRRR! I said I could just do it but they all said they are interested in learning about it and could I wait and show them about the dry composting latrines…I agreed. Yes, I will have to wait another month but they actually seemed genuinely interested in learning so I will take another month of my sick-nasty flooded latrine in order to promote the sanitary ones.

In progress

Everyone that helped

My delicious chili

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I must write about my long vacation and I will try to keep it interesting. After a few days in site, Lisa, Rem and I traveled to Huehue and visited the Zaculeau Ruins. After the day eating street tacos and sightseeing we headed to my friend Callie’s site about 40 minutes away. There we were able to hike around, swim in the pools and drink some delicious wine. I also got very good at impersonating the Turkey at her house…Gobble Gobble Gobble (trust me, it’s much better in person).

Zaculeu Ruins outside of Huehue

The lovebirds at Zaculeu

After a few nights there we headed off to Coban. This is where the shit hit the fan. The national government decided to issue a “State of Siege” on the department where we intended to spend the next week. The government wanted to take back the cities run by narco-traffickers. After numerous phone calls to Peace Corps staff and many tears on my side we decided to change things up and head up to Flores instead of visiting the Limestone Pools of Semuc Champey. We arrived in Flores and found a hotel with a lovely view. Unfortunately the tour people in and around the town were vicious and would not leave us alone. I guess everyone is always trying to make a buck. We spent the next day hiking near the island and then hitting up the many bars for happy hour.

The next day we headed up to Tikal. The national park is about an hour outside of Flores. We decided to spend the night at one of the hotels located in the park (thank you Lisa and Rem!). The place had a pool which combined with some afternoon Tequila led to some fun photo sessions.

Lisa and Me underwater

Rem and Me

Claire and Rem

We headed into the Tikal Ruins in the afternoon. The park was HUGE! You could easily get lost in there. We wandered around and saw a bunch of different old temples and got to climb some very scary stairs to reach the top of Temple #5. The view was amazing but I was feeling a bit nauseous looking down. Claire and Rem just walked around like it was no problem. Lisa and I stayed close to the ground. From the top of the temple you could see for miles and miles and it was just pure jungle. We saw a few more temples and the main plaza and watched the sun go down. It was cool to be in this place that 2000 years ago served as the capital city of the huge Mayan Empire. It makes everything else seem so new.

I also officially believe dinosaurs still exist. I know the signs said that the Howler Monkeys make very loud noises but the things I heard at night could no way have come from a little monkey. Those were noises of T-Rex and Raptors! Sleeping in the jungle (ok in a hotel really) was an amazing experience and I am so lucky to have experienced the dinosaur noises and all!

View from the top of one of the Temples

Some Ruins

Lisa and Me

Lisa and Rem

Lisa and Rem

Temple

The horribly terrifying stairs to the top of Temple 5

The next day we returned to Tikal and saw some more ruins. After a few hours of climbing up and down we headed back to Flores. We hit up some more happy hours and enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve dinner. I slept through it all but I am told I missed World War 3 status fireworks at midnight. Guatemalans love their bombas.

The 4 travelers: Me, Claire, Rem, Lisa

View of the island of Flores

Me, Sabiha and Claire

Christmas day brought Mass and some more eating and swimming in the lake. We then took an overnight bus to Antigua. In Antigua we visited my old host family, toured a coffee farm and climbed Volcano Pacaya. The volcano was a really easy hike but it was a beautiful view from the top. We actually couldn’t go all the way to the top since Pacaya exploded last May. Too dangerous they say…I would have gone though!

Me on Volcano Pacaya with Volcano de Agua, Volcano de Fuego and Volcano Acatenango in the background

Rock art

A few days before New Year’s Eve we headed to Monterrico, a small town on the Southern coast. The weather was warm, the waves were decent sized and we saw baby sea turtles. What else can I ask for? It was amazing to bask in the sun and hear the sounds of waves all day. We also got to eat some delicious fish and shrimp fresh out of the ocean. We took it easy on New Year’s Eve and just sat on the beach and watched all the fireworks. Once again, more bombas. One of the last days we took a boat tour of the Mangroves in Monterrico. It was very early but we saw some interesting fish and birds.

Baby sea turtle

The nightly release of the sea turtles

Lisa and Me at sunset on the beach

Sunset

Lisa and Rem

Wildlife during the Mangrove tour

We returned to Antigua the night before Lisa and Rem flew out. We had Indian Food and went out for a beer. They had to leave the next morning ridiculously early. I was so sad to see them go. I cried for far too long that morning after they left. If I have learned one thing since I have been in Guatemala it is the value of family. Seeing my sister made me realize how much I miss my family.

To finish this long post I must update on a few things. I still am having medical issues and have to go in for more tests and such. UGH! I was super healthy before I came here so why now?!?!? It is hard to focus on my job when I have so much other Peace Corps official stuff to deal with. Now that I am back in site I am really trying to make more of an effort to get out. I am going to walk my dog every afternoon to see more people. I am hoping once school is back in session I will be able to teach some English classes as well. A new year and hopefully a new start.

But still no fence and no latrine…some things never change.

My family is here! My sister, Lisa, and her fiancé Rem arrived Sunday night. I took the long bus in to pick them up. We stayed one night in Antigua and then took another long bus back to my site. We arrived in site and of course the children were scared. One grandma even covered the children’s faces when we walked by. I felt like I was back here on my first day. No one can believe that Lisa and I are sisters. We don’t really look alive and never have and for Guatemalans that is a hard concept to grasp. Everyone comments on how they don’t think she is my sister because we are so different. Also, a bunch of community members try to talk to Rem first (because he is the man) but he does not speak much Spanish at all. Family is such an important part of life in Guatemala that I think my village really likes seeing my own family. They wanted to throw us a huge welcome party but I told them that was not necessary. They would not let it go and finally we agreed to have lunch with the community leaders later this afternoon.

I also bought Lisa and Rem to one of my community Charlas on nutrition. Of course the community wanted them to stand up and speak and give some “palabras.” Rem told them all thank you for the welcome and they are happy to be here. All the 100+ women applauded! We only are staying here for a few days and I think my community wishes we would be here the whole time. However, I am ready for a long vacation to some warmer places in Guatemala. I will try to update this a few times while I am gone but no guarantees. So…Merry Christmas to All and Happy New Year! I miss you all and wish I could be in the states to see everyone. Take care 

Lisa and me in Antigua

Rem and Lisa in Antigua at some ruins

This is how I travel on buses with my stuff and Lubu

They brought me a pumpkin ale!

My community Charla with my translator

Rem helping me on the nutrition activity with the women.

As everyone knows I have been looking for a new house. I have too much of a problem with drunk men coming by the house at night and bothering me. I went to look at that one house last week but the lack of privacy and the animal abusive children made it less than ideal. I also talked to another family who said they have an extra room but it is really small. The father is also terminally ill and I would not want to be a bother to that family. Guatemalans will offer you the shirt off their back but it does not necessarily mean they want to give it to you. The offer is made to be polite. Learning when “Yes” means “No” and “Yes” means “Yes” is a continual struggle.

However, yesterday there was a turn of events. The Health Commission came to my house to talk to me about this problem. I have been a little disillusioned with the Health Commission because of their lack of support for my job. The men all came and pulled up in a little pick-up on my front yard. We talked about my problem and how I make literally making myself sick with worry at night because of these men. They asked me if I wanted to move and I said I really did not because I feel very comfortable here with my neighbors. Lubu loves this place and I have my privacy when I want it but I also can go visit the families nearby as well. This place is ideal (minus the lack of latrine). The men offered to build me a tall fence that would make it impossible for men to get to my door at night. I had thought about building a fence before but I did not want the community to think that I was alienating myself since no one really has fences here. The men talked in Q’anjob’al for a while and decided they will ask the community to donate supplies and then they will do the manual labor. I was elated! I can stay in this house! I think the community will make the fence for me while I am on vacation. SCORE!

Countdown until Lisa and Rem come…3 days!!!!! My community wanted to throw a big party but I insisted that wasn’t necessary so instead I think they are going to make a big lunch with just the community leaders. I am sure this will be something to write about.

My PC Project Director (aka my boss) visited my site this last Wednesday. He roared up in his Peace Corps SUV with tinted windows. Also, my official Guatemalan counterpart came (who I hardly ever see let alone work with). We sat down in my house and had a very serious talk about my work, my living situation and all the little things that are going wrong. I had a hard time expressing all my concerns because I did not want to be that complaining volunteer. However, certain things must change for me to remain here.

First, my living situation. I have not written about this on my blog because I know it will make people worry back home. DON’T WORRY! (I DO have my black belt ya know…) My current house is on the main road through town and everyone in my town and every town on the road know that I live here and I also do not have any close neighbors, just cornfields. For the first two months everything was peachy. I had my privacy and I also had plenty of people to go visit when I wanted to. It was exactly what I had wanted in a living situation (minus the fact that I have no latrine). Once the rainy season ended a new problem started. Drunk men, called “bolos” here, started coming to my door in the night. The first time I about had a heart attack as he knocked on my windows and then on my door, around 9pm. I hid under my covers. He was slurring his words outside my door and I knew he was drunk but it still frightened me. I told my neighbors and they told me the next time I needed to call them and they would come to help. The next time came all too soon. This time someone came to my door at 3am. I freaked. I hid under the covers again, as Lubu barked her head off, and called my neighbors. The man continued to knock and in English say, “I am your friend, just let me in.” He finally went away right as my neighbors came. This is a scene I will never forget: all my little indigenous women neighbors in their corte carrying HUGE sticks and machetes coming to my aid. Also the men came but I expected that. One of the women saw the man in the road and ran over to ask him why he was bothering the Gringa. The man responded that “we are friends.” BULLS***!!! I do not know him. He wasn’t even from my town. And 3am to visit your friends…I think not. Aside from these two incidents two other drunk men came knocking and every time my hearts races and I get scared. What if this time he can get in? I knew I had to move. In my head I tried to tell myself it will be okay and I can stay in the house but the more and more I thought about it I must move. I cannot live in fear for 2 years. I will have to give up my privacy and space to go live with a family but at least I will be safe. Today, I went and looked at a room that is in a house of a lady I work with. It is VERY small but I really do not have many options. The worst part is that there is no direct ceiling so it’s a huge house with walls but no room has its own ceiling so let’s all hope it stays mostly quiet with the rest of the family( doubtful…who wants to send me more ear plugs?) I will probably move in after my Christmas vacation.

The second thing we discussed was my work. I am not satisfied with the amount of work I am doing. I want to have something to do most days of the week whether it is a community heath talk or working in the schools. We decided the huge community health talks I am giving now once a month will not work if the town wants to receive projects. I am going to split the town up into three smaller groups and do a health talk every other week with these groups. That means instead of having one health talk a month I will have 6. MUCH better. Once the school open again I will be able to fill my time there as well.

I feel like I am starting over. I will be working in a new way and with different people. I will be living somewhere new. Hopefully, I will be much happier and healthier. I do not know if these situations will improve everything in my site but I can only hope. I am not ready to give up on this community so I have to figure out a way to make it work.

Finally, the countdown until my sister and her fiancé arrive is on…7 days!!!! YEAH!

I realize how popular I am (“I’m so popular, I’m so cool!”) on this blog when I don’t update it for a week and I start getting little nudges here and there from people back home. I feel the love and I love it! So here it is. A long time coming and hopefully worth your 10 minutes you are about to spend reading.

This last week was a roller coaster of emotions but not the small little, green dragon roller coasters you find at the county fair but the legit Hurricane-Screamin’ Eagle-Thunder Mountain-Ring of Fire kind of roller coaster. After Reconnect I was told I needed to return to the Peace Corps Office and to Guatemala City for some medical issues. Basically to make a long story short, after 2 days of tests and meetings with doctors I am stressed! DUH! With stress comes lots of side effects I will not go into but let’s all hope things change a bit for the sake of my heart.

After these doctor visit days I headed to Lake Atitlan to celebrate Thanksgiving with a few PCV friends. I met up with Kelsey and we took nearly every mode of transportation (bus, pick-up, boat) to get to Santa Cruz La Laguna and a little place called La Iguana Perdida. The hostel is owned by a British woman and her American husband. Mostly all the people who work there were guests a few weeks ago and just stayed on a few more weeks or months. The lure of the lake is so strong I completely understand how someone wouldn’t want to leave. We sat and watched the sunset over the Lake looking at the two Volcanoes. It was peaceful, serene and just what I needed after the last few days.

Thanksgiving Day was a lazy hang out day. Shannon and Melissa made it down to the Lake and then we went for a swim. Actually I was the only one to take the full plunge into the algae ridden lake which may have been a bad decision (story to come…). The traditional American Turkey dinner was served in the afternoon. I must say it was delicious and just what I needed but not the same as my Mom’s cooking. We met some other PCVs who happened to be at the same hostel and we all ate together and it was fun to celebrate with new and “old” PCV friends. There was even a TV lounge with satellite TV from LA so we got to watch some football too.

Friday I woke up and felt really sore and just assumed it was from being a glutton the day before. We took a “chicken boat” across the Lake to the super touristy town of Panajachel. There were a bunch of cool artisan gifts and jewelry and such. We walked around a bit but I started feeling not so hot. We sat and the other ate while I slowly got worse and worse. After lunch we immediately went back to our town on the Lake and I crashed in bed. I am not too sure what exactly I had but it was not a pleasant time. I had the chills and sweats and body aches and the big D! UGH! Luckily I have amazing friends who kept checking up on me and getting me water and rubbing my back. Love you guys!! The WORST part, ok maybe one of the worst parts, was that I had the chance to watch a Boise State football game on TV in the lounge but I literally could not pull myself out of bed. I think watching my boys lose would have just made me feel worse.

The rest of the weekend I just hung low and slept a whole lot. At least I was sick in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I felt better on Sunday and we headed out. It was a good/bad Thanksgiving but one to remember. I had hoped to climb Volcano San Pedro while we were there but that will have to wait. I will also be rethinking my swimming in algae filled lakes from now on.

Final note, my little Lubu got fixed while I was on vacation. She has a purple tummy from the antiseptic solution and some stitches. People in my site did not know that was even an option for dogs. As cute and tranquila as Lubu is, she will be the last of her street dog gene pool.

I could not decide on pics to post so I put up a LOT this time. Enjoy!

Me and Kelsey

Me and Shannon before I jumped in the Lake

The Lake swim was wonderful...but possibly what caused my sickness :(

Shannon and Kelsey at Thanksgiving dinner

Melissa, me and Abby enjoying TOO much food!

An ironic shot, I thought. So much trash in this breathtakingly beautiful country

Me, Shannon, Kelsey and Melissa walking off our dinner

This cannot be comfortable...

This past week was “Reconnect” at the Peace Corps Office. Reconnect is 2 days of technical training, review of the first months in site and lunch with the US Ambassador. When Cathaleen stood up to ask a question he had obviously read her blog and asked about Puchica so, if you are reading this Ambassador, you rock! I loved the Q&A and also took away a lot of valuable information on US Foreign policy and its current work in Guatemala. I also greatly appreciate that the head honcho for the US in Guatemala took the time to come eat some Dominos Pizza with a bunch of idealistic volunteers doing their best just to get by most days. That was most definitely the highlight of Reconnect for me. The rest of the week I had Spanish “class” but I was in a group with two other volunteers who just happened to be two of my favorite people and we got one of the best teachers. The days went by fast and I think the review of some Spanish was necessary since most people here do not even speak the language and if they do, it’s often worse than my Spanish. I also stayed with my old San Luis host family for a few days. I realized how much I have missed them. Also, Camila the baby is getting huge and she is starting to talk. It’s nice to have such a forward thinking Guatemalan “family” to visit.

The few days before I left I was having mixed feeling about returning and seeing my old friends from training and being back at my training site. I was excited but also apprehensive. I have felt so isolated these 4 months since my site is SO far away from most others and I have had internal and external struggles and, like any new PCV, questioned whether I could really accomplish this service. (Side note: still no latrine…BIG external struggle.) I wish I could say I feel much better about my site and my work and my isolation but I cannot. We had time to share with small groups our experiences in our site and my group decided to talk about only good things. We went one by one and I was last. At my turn I honestly could not think of one “success.” This is not to be negative but I feel like I have not accomplished anything in these 4 months. Yes I have “done” stuff but have I “accomplished anything? Define accomplishment. I am still beyond frustrated Peace Corps would give me 3 months of training on how to work with a Health Center/Post and then put me in a site without one. I often feel very lost in regards to work. Hearing all the awesome things my fellow Healthy Homes volunteers are doing with their Health Post educators and Tecnicos makes me a little more pissed! Why do I have to be here without anyone wanting to work with me?! I am slowly learning it is acceptable to stalk people here- call multiple times a day in order to get a straight answer. This is my site and I have to accept it but when will I like it?

Also, it was very strange to be back with everyone from our whole training class. I know I have and will continue to change as a person but those changes became apparent to me in being surrounded my new old faces. These are people I know and love but everyone was a little different. It is like trying to get to know an old friend after a long absence. The love is still there but you have no idea who that person is right at that moment. Strange feelings. On the long bus ride home I popped in my favorite music and had some serious thinking time. I joined Peace Corps to do good in the world and “be the change.” I left my friends and family and came to Guatemala also hoping to “find myself” a bit, or at least find my place in the world. Now that I am here I only feel as if I am losing my old self piece by piece. Maybe that is just the feeling of change. Only time will tell. I am off to listen to some Johnny Cash and knit. Is this the “new me”??

Peace and Love to All

“Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day.” –HH Dalai Lama

On Sunday, Halloween, (aka the greatest holiday EVER) I traveled to the municipio of Todos Santos Cuchumatan to partake in the town’s feria (3 day fair/celebration). The town’s name means “All Saints” so the feria takes place on the days surrounding the holiday of All Saints Day. After a long two bus rides I arrived in the town. It is a fair sized municipio and by 5pm when I got off the bus the town was in full party mode. There was constant marimba music and bolos (drunken men) everywhere. One thing that stands out about Todos Santos is that unlike most municipio in Guatemala, all the men still wear their traditional dress, called “traje.” Picture this: every man in red and white striped pants with a white and pink and purple shirt dancing drunk in the street. And when I say dancing it is more of an intoxicated swaying/stumbling often colliding with the other bolos. By nightfall there are numerous (we counted 7 in about 2 blocks) men passed out on the street. Although it is mildly entertaining to watch, it also displays the sad truth about alcoholism and binge drinking in Guatemala.

Back to the fun…Halloween night was too much fun! The PCVs who live and work in Todos Santos rented a huge 4-story house for all the visiting PCVs to stay in. There were about 20-30 PCVs and then a bunch of backpackers from Australia and England and other places who all came dressed up and ready to party- American style. I went as The Pink Panther. Not everyone understood I was not a mouse and not a cat so I walked around singing the theme song a bit as a hint. Nearly everyone had a costume which was fun to see all the creativity since getting costumes together in Guatemala can be a bit challenging. There was a farmer, a piñata, Hermione Granger, a “heart attack” and many other very creative costumes! I loved it!

The next morning we all grudgingly rolled out of our cold sleeping bags (and some w/o bags! Brrrrr) to go see the horse races. Todos Santos is famous for their horse races on November 1st. There is a track that the participants run down then they all take a drink of beer and then race back. The winner is the last man still riding his horse at the end of the day. It lasts from about 8am until 4pm with a 2 hour break. This was the first year they allowed women to ride in the race and no Guatemalans did but two PCVs hopped on and showed everyone what they were made of! It was awesome to see! Luckily the PCVs did not partake in the drinking aspect of the race. By the end of the day men were barely staying on their horses and the majority had completely passed out. Gotta love Guatemala entertainment and festivals! That is how to celebrate the Saints…or is it?!?!

The rest of the time we walked around and enjoyed all the feria street food and street vendors. We also rode the Ferris wheel. Most of the Guatemalans on the wheel were teenagers looking for some privacy to make-out but I quickly ruined that as I decided to scream at the top of my lungs as long as I could. I got a few glares form the young pair ahead of us. Overall, it was just a great weekend where I got to see my buddies from training and meet a bunch of other PCVs. I am now in site for a few days where I have to finish (and by finish I mean start…hello procrastination) my Community Assessment Tool which is a huge report about my town which I will present next week when I travel back to the Peace Corps Office in Santa Lucia for a week of “Reconnect” with my training group.

Liz, Claire, me and Brittany at the "Peace Corps Party House"

Sabiha as Chocolate, Me as The Pink Panther and Claire as Catwoman

Horse races with the drunk men hanging on as best they can

An awesome PCV showing them how its done!

This one is for you Rem! This VERY drunk man was dancing in a CANADA shirt in front of the tourism office! hahaha

Wild Ferris wheel ride!

Masked dancing in the Plaza for the feria

Claire and Susie

This week I spent a few days in the cabecera (state capital) of Huehuetenango. Becca and I traveled down to attend a few days of training with the NGO Casa Materna. We looked at the schedule for the second day and saw “Cunicultura” as a two hour session. Neither of us had any idea what that meant but both of us saw a relation to a similar word in English that is not so appropriate. Becca later looked it up online and to our relief “cunicultura” means the cultivation of rabbits. Whew. We attended two days of sessions on a bunch of different topics such as how to grow and use composting worms, reforestation and school gardens. The sessions were intended to train the Guatemalan technicians who are working directly with Casa Materna. Each municipio, Santa Eulalia for us, has two technicians assigned to work in the aldeas of the muni. One technician will be working to improve nutrition through education and projects in about 30 different aldeas over a three year period. I am hoping to work with the technician to assist her in her training of the community. It is a very valuable and much needed project. The malnutrition throughout all of Guatemala is horrible (most malnourished country in the Western Hemisphere as of 2009) so I am hoping this project will at least aide the families of my community.

During the week we stayed with my friend Claire who lives about 20 minutes outside of Huehue in a small aldea. She is always such a great hosts and lets us crash at her place when we have work in Huehue or passing through. I always have a great time hanging out with her and we got to watch some Disney movies and Becca and she let me sing along! We also took a hike up the hill by her house which provided us with a beautiful view of her aldea, a volcano and part of Huehue. The day was warm and the sun beaming down on my white, flea-bitten legs felt so soothing. It was a great way to end a semi-stressful week of travel and training sessions. Tomorrow I am off to Todos Santos, another municipio in Huehuetenango about 2 hours away, to enjoy a Peace Corps Halloween Party and the famous Day of the Dead celebration! Pics and stories to come I’m sure 

On the bus to Huehue with Becca

Claire with Puchica (Cathaleen's pup) and Lubu and me. Our girl dogs need to learn to close their legs!

My baby girl

View from the top

How can you not love that face!

Lubu investigating the piglets in front of my house

Lubu is not too sure about these things

Lubu and the Mama pig

Friday was the day I had my community meeting in the next town over. I had made plans to have two women meet me at my house and walk over with me since I did not know this new community. They were supposed to come at 11am which is Guatemalan time means 12pm. I waited until noon then I called because no one was here yet. They said they were on their way. I waited another 45 minutes and they finally showed up. We were so late by this point we had to catch a ride to the town. We got out of the car and walked up this hue hill to the school. As I was approaching I saw all men! Normally, only women come to my talks and men work in the fields. However, since the community had to vote on whether or not they would let me work in their town all the men had to be there since they are the only ones who vote (equality=nonexistent in Guatemala). I ended up talking about myself, Peace Corps and the Healthy Homes Program for half an hour or so and then they pummeled me with questions. Most of the questions had to deal with money and when they would get projects. I had to explain this year I am only doing health education and nothing else. In the end they voted to have me work there. We will see how it all goes. It is always difficult stepping into a new community. It has taken me 3 months in my own community to finally have the townspeople understand why I am here. As long as people come to me health talks and show interest I will work in this new town.

The fact that so many men were there was very surprising to me. Most things to do with health involve only the women. It is the time of year where every man and most children are out in the milpa harvesting their corn. The men had all clearly come directly from their fields because there was not one man at this meeting who was not carrying his hoe, shovel or pick. I must admit I was very intimidated by all the men. They all just stare with leering eyes at this American girl standing up front. As most know I am very VERY jaded with men right now because of all my negative experiences with Guatemalan men. Standing up in front of the men of this town and acting confident was not so easy. I often feel like I am forever fighting the stereotype of the uneducated woman. I usually emphasize to people that I have my university degree and in general I am not full of shit (sometimes I am though…). The men just intimidate me. Period. It’s also frustrating that the women do not have a voice in this community. I want to work with primarily women as they have the most direct effect on the health of their families. I am not sure how this new town will work out but I have to hope for the best because there is nothing else I can do.

Latrine Update: the materials have arrived! I have everything I need to start building the latrine but now I need to find some people to help me figure out ho to lay cement and such. I am being realistic with the whole project and really just hope to have it done by Thanksgiving!

I want to write a bit about my new found love in Guatemala named PACA. Unfortunately this is not the man of my dreams but rather stores which sell used American clothing. Most know I am a big fan of Savers/Goodwill because one man’s trash is MY treasure. I am not sure where exactly all of this used American clothing comes from but I am glad it makes it way here. The PACAs are all over this country and even in some of the smaller municipalities. Some are a bit classier and actually use hangers but most just have huge piles of clothing. I always have the urge to run and jump in the piles and throw all the smelly, used clothes around like a child in a pile of fall leaves.

This past weekend Cathaleen and I went to the medium sized town near us and we did a little PACA shopping. I was on a hunt for parts of my Halloween costume so I visited a few stores. This one store was a goldmine! All the clothes were Q10 (about $1.20) which is actually a little steep for PACA clothes. I usually find stuff for Q2-5 ($0.20-60) but the sheer amount of awesome clothes made it worth it. I found too much stuff and had to hold back but I got a few new warm sweaters and all I need to complete my Halloween costume.

The best part of the PACA store was the store owner. Cathaleen was looking through all the baby clothes saying how cute this and that would be for her “baby.” Of course I knew she was talking about her dog (who was tied up outside) but the store owner did not. The lady finally asked some question about her “baby” and Cathaleen and I had to laugh. We told the lady that the little puppy outside was Cathaleen’s “baby.” The lady LOVED it! She handed Cathaleen a pink, fleece onesie and put Puchica the puppy in the outfit. Puchica could not walk without a tail hole and just had this “please help me my owner is nuts” look on her face. But I must say the outfit was adorable and with a little clip of the scissors to add a tail hole Puchica will have some great PJs. The store owner was dying of laughter, as was I, and ended up just giving the outfit to Cathaleen. The whole ordeal was hilarious. People here do NOT understand our relationships with our dogs and this was just another crazy experience.

The only bad…the lady called me gordita (little fatty)! Grrr! Even though she did not mean anything by it, it still bothers me to constantly be called gordita!!!!

Isn’t it funny how everything can change in a 24 hour period?!! I have been gravely frustrated with my site the last few months. I knew the first three months in site (which I will complete Saturday!) are the most difficult for most volunteers but I felt as though I had a few things thrown at me that no one could have prepared me for in training. First, I have no health post to work with. This means I am more or less on my own to get people together and work with me. I have the town Health Commission but they are not paid and it is not their primary responsibility. Second, I have no working latrine at my house. I have no problem with latrines (out houses as I used to call them) and I am starting to prefer a clean latrine to a nasty toilet. I have been waiting and waiting for the materials to build a dry, composting latrine for my house since I live in a flood zone a regular latrine does not work here. These are two things I did NOT ask for when requesting site preferences. I had no idea that Healthy Homes sites existed where there was no Health Post and that I would be told to live in a house without a latrine. In addition to trying to “integrate” into a community who does not speak Spanish and the stress of moving to a new place and starting a new job, I had these other 2 concerns weighing me down.

However, there is light on the horizon! In the last day many things have changed. On Wednesday I was notified by my Project Specialist that the materials to build my latrine will arrive this Saturday! I still have to build it which will be an experience I am sure but this is a huge step in the right direction.

Second, I gave my first official community charla on Wednesday. There was a nasty rain storm but about 60-70 town members made the sacrifice and came to listen to me speak about my job. I gave background information on The Peace Corps and some of its work in Guatemala. I described what the Healthy Homes project consists of and what my role will be in the community the next two years (really, only 21 months!!!). To finish, I read the story of Mariquita Cohcinita which is about a dirty girl who gets sick but then learns how to live a more sanitary life without disease. I think the townspeople, and about 95% women, enjoyed the story. I had to use a translator for the entire charla and sometimes I knew she was not saying exactly what I said but that is fine. She knows the community better than me and how to motivate them to be interested in my work. The COCODE also decided that I should give the same introductory charla next Saturday and see if more people will come that didn’t show up to the first one. I was satisfied with the attendance at this one so either way it looks like there are some families who do indeed want to work with me and have an interest in preventative health.

Finally, to round out my amazing 24 hours, I was given the opportunity to work in a different community. I was sitting in my house this afternoon dilly dallying and someone knocks on my door. I open it to a group of about 7 men and two women and my neighbor, Marta Lidia, who is also on the Health Commission of my town Pett. She tells me the others are here to chat with me and then leaves. I am not sure exactly what is going on at this point and am hoping they are not here to run me out of town. Not at all I find out. They introduce themselves as the community leaders of the smaller community over the hill named Yoch. They have heard I am here and working in the town (and I am sure they hear the word “projects” thinking free stuff) and they wanted to ask me to come visit their town and possibly work in their community. This was music to my ears! Were people coming to me asking me to work? I have spent so much time trying and failing at finding work here that this was seriously the happiest work related moment I have had since being in site. The desire of this community to have me will open up so many more opportunities for me. I grabbed my day planner and told them my free days and now I will be going to present myself and my work to their entire community next Friday! Just the fact that these nine people walked the hour to my house, not even knowing if I would be home, to try and get me to work gave me so much hope.

To sum it up, I couldn’t ask for a better 24 hours. I really needed a day like this to keep me sane. I had been losing steam quickly as I struggled to find work. I had questioned what I was even doing here in the first place. I am here because I want to be a tiny drop in the ocean of change. I left everything I had in the States to come to Guatemala and live in and learn about a different culture. I have learned things here are not easy. It is a struggle to just survive each day. I must try not to lose hope when things go bad. I have had this goal of completing Peace Corps service since high school. Every day is a new day and I must keep hope that I will have more and more of these extraordinary days.

Today I attended the 1st birthday party of my neighbor’s daughter, Anayeli. My neighbor, Maria, is one of the 12 children of my “host family” (host neighbors really). First, I must say she is one of the few people in town I can call a “friend.” Here it is next to impossible to form meaningful relationships with friends in town as I would in the States. Women my age usually have at least two children, stay home and work in the house and do not aspire to more in life. This is a generalization because I have also met some amazing female movers and shakers that break this stereotype. However, in my small Mayan village, most women fall into the stereotype. Maria is 22 years old, has her two children and a husband who is working in the States. I was drawn to her initially because she loves my dog Lubu which is a rarity here. Most Guatemalans treat their pets horribly. Maria loves Lubu and has even learned a few commands in English to use with Lubu. She also stops by every single day just to see how I am. I feel that she understands why I am here and genuinely believes it is a worthy cause.

Her second daughter, Anayeli, turned 1 today. About 20-25 people came to her house and there was a feast. For birthdays here the entire family gathers and eats (my kind of party, eh?!). We had two types of soups and all the tamalitos I could consume. Also, there was an adorable pink cake. The whole party tried to get me to sing Happy Birthday in English but I had way too much verguenza so I opted out. I said I would teach all the little kids so next time we can all sing it. I also had my camera at this festivity and they had me take soooooo many pictures. I found it amusing because I had to take a picture with every single adult holding the little birthday girl. You can imagine a one year-old would not be too happy by the end of this photo session. I diligently shot all the pictures they wanted and we enjoyed the cake. After, we all went outside and they wanted me to take more pictures. They also wanted me to be in the pictures with them. I knew that I am “tall” here but until I saw those pictures I never realized how much of a difference there is. It is a nice change from being the short one to being the tall one. They cannot understand that in the States I am NOT tall at all. They just laugh when I say this. The whole afternoon was quite lovely and I had a very good time spending this special day with this family.

On the work front, I actually have something to do this week (whoa crazy, I know). Tomorrow Becca, Cathaleen and I are giving an HIV/AIDS workshop to the Health Post employees. Wednesday is my first community charla. This charla has been rescheduled and pushed back for months now. I am ready to get the show on the road and start real work. I also talked with Magdalena, another of the 12 children, about being my translator. She is 23 (with 2 kids) and studying to be the equivalent of a certified nursing assistant here. She also has to give charlas/health talks and does not know how. I told her I will help her and go with her if she helps me by translating. I think this is a very mutually beneficial agreement. She is the one person who I know understands completely why I am here. We discuss my job and health care a lot so I know she is a knowledgeable woman. She is the older sister of Maria and also another “friend” I have here. It feels good to finally feel like I am making progress with integration and work. I have really been down in the dumps lately and feeling like I am wasting time here but then I have days like today that re-energize me and help me continue on!

My Guatemalan version of rice crispy treat that I brought to the party

Family eating

One of the four Grandmas cooking

Anayeli

Anayeli and her mom, Maria

Abuela (which just means grandma in Spanish but everyone calls her Abuela instead of her name) who lives next door with Anayeli

One of the grandpas...this is about picture number 40 for this poor little girl. She is NOT having fun anymore

Michi trying to sneak some frosting while all the adults are distracted

Eating cake

Leti (who is studying to be a teacher in Chimaltenango about 9 hours away and just arrived back home for "summer break), Magdalena and me

Estefani looking adorable as usual

Magdalena and her two kids, Estefani and Tico

Lucia, me and Anna (I am soooo tall haha)

Lucia, Maria, Leti

Leti, Magdalena and Estafani

Please check out the website of this women’s co-op selling traditional handbags. Located in the next village over, the women’s’ group hand crochets each bag. Every Guatemalan has at least one of these bags and they are said the last up to 20 years! The co-op is in partnership with another PCV in this site! Check it out!

www.temuxmayanartisans.com

Sometimes things happen here and the only thing I can do is laugh. Otherwise I would get really pissed. I found out through a friend’s family that there are rumors going around my town about me. This is no surprise to me because chisme (gossip) is HUGE in Guatemala, especially with the women. Like any small town, everyone knows everyone else’s business. I found out through my sources that some of the indigenous women in my town were in a microbus and were talking about me. Apparently the rumors are that I am dirty. I am dirty because I carry my dog in my arms and I let my dog inside my house. I am also dirty because I don’t sweep inside my house. NOT true! Yes, I hold my dog and let her inside but I actually take care of her and bathe her and check for fleas. I also sweep inside my house every other day. How would these women even know if I swept or not?!?! I mostly find this whole thing funny because, let’s be honest, I AM dirty. I only take a bucket bath once a week because it is too cold to do it more. I pee in a bucket in my house because I do not have a working latrine. I mean I think those things make me “dirty” but I guess everyone has their own standards.

Friday was International Child’s Day and Pett celebrated with all the elementary students. First, let me back up and remind everyone how the town leaders asked me to run a few activities then decided to do presentations themselves. They all told me to be at the school at 7am and in the back of my mind I knew I didn’t need to go until 8am at the earliest but they were very insistent. Friday rolls around and I am prepared to do musicals chairs and an empowering chant with the kids. I arrive at 7:30am and to no surprise no one from the COCODE is there. I find the school director and we chat a little and he tells me the school has actually already planned out a ton of events with the teachers. I soon realize there was zero communication between the school and the COCODE members which just meant I was completely confused. I also told everyone from the start I HAD to be on the road by 11am to make it to Huehue for a veterinarian appointment.

9am arrives and finally some COCODE members show up. They tell me “Fijese que…we have a meeting in Santa so no one can do anything anymore. You can stay and run the whole thing and do some skits, right?” WRONG! I had to kindly remind them that I had to leave. I could do what I originally planned but I would not be able to stay all day. I was very frustrated with the fact that the whole COCODE was going to be involved and had planned this whole thing only to completely bail at the last minute. Whatever I told myself. I will do what I want to do and leave when I have to.

After this a teacher tells me before they start any presentations the “NBA está aqui” (The NBA is here). He said they are this tall and pointed to his knee. I had to laugh when I say the kindergarten students playing in a basketball game. Instead of the regular sized baskets there were smaller baskets and backboards hanging from the real ones. The kids hardly knew how to dribble and the ball was half their size. It was adorable to watch and I had to just sit back and let the day happen. So what if nothing was going according to plan. O well.

At about 10am (two hours after I was originally told it would start) the kids filed into the main room and the presentations began. I asked if I could do my activity first sine I had to leave. First I did a yelling empowerment activity with the kids. I had them all yell “I am a child. I am the future of the world. I have the power to change the world!” We did a competition between sides and I think the kids liked it. Hopefully they will remember the words and that the words will have a little bit of meaning. After that I did musical chairs. I had 13 volunteers come up to the stage and we played until there was one girl standing. I felt bad I had to leave but I ditched out right after my activity. As I was exiting I saw all the teachers dressed up in silly costumes for some skit. I was bummed I couldn’t stay and watch more.

The rest of the weekend I just went to Huehue and visited the vet. Lubu is all of 8.5 pounds now! Almost double since last time. I also bought her a cute pink collar so everyone knows she is a girl. I only stayed one night and then returned back home to my site.

Other news…I decided to change how I am going to do my first community charla. Originally, I was going to do six charlas with each of the six sectors. However, I had this overwhelming fear that no one would come, or worse, like two people would come. I decided for this first charla I will do one with the whole community and gauge the interest level. The town will go around and use the loud speakers to announce this one charla so I am hoping I get a decent turnout. The only bad thing is that leaves me with less charlas which means less work which means more boredom. Ugh. I am still working on ways to pass my time. I never knew how much I would appreciate a hectic schedule. I like my downtime and all but I think I have learned I am someone who likes to be busy busy!

Pobre Guatemala was hit with another tropical storm this weekend. Tropical Storm Matthew rolled through the country and hit the eastern coast pretty hard. My site in northern Huehuetenango also received a LOT of rain. The storm started on Friday night and all PCVs got put on STANDFAST (no travel, stay in site for safety) again. Side note: I was told by another PCV that most volunteers will only go on STANDFAST once, maybe twice in their whole service…this was my third! The rain lasted all through Saturday and finally stopped sometime Saturday night. The creek that is about 10 feet from my house was overflowing and I almost left to go stay somewhere else but once the rain stopped it went back down a little. However, with the constant downpour and soggy ground I literally did not leave my house for 2 days. I must be getting accustomed to being bored and alone because this weekend really didn’t seem that bad to me. I am learning to pass my time doing completely useless tasks…and I can always sweep the floor!

Other than the ridiculous rainy season that will not cease I am preparing for International Child’s Day which falls this Friday. I met with the COCODE (town council) this afternoon to discuss some ideas. They had previously asked me to think of “something dynamic” to do with the kids. I took that as the kids will be playing some games and having fun. Wrong. I presented my ideas of games- potato sack races, wheelbarrow races, tug of war, musical chairs- to the group. Another side note: 99% of these meetings are spoken in Q’anjob’al; they only speak Spanish when speaking to me which means I never have any clue what is going on. I am constantly interrupting and asking for a translation. So I present my ideas and I think they understand in general but then go off speaking in dialect for another 20 minutes. I finally find out that the COCODE members are going to do a lip-sync (which is SO popular here) and they are going to play the games in front of the students. The lip-sync, not a bad idea. Having the kids sit and watch other people, other adults, play the games they want to play…bad idea. I finally agreed to run a potato sack race and musical chairs with 10-20 student volunteers in front of the rest of the school. This is just another example of how there is no concept of participation here. Guatemalans are just so used to sitting and watching things without ever getting involved. It was very important to me to get at least a few kids involved. For me, these kids should just have fun and be kids. Guatemalan children have an incredible amount of responsibility, probably more responsibility than I will ever have in my life. Most wake up early and help with chores and animals, then head to school, then return home for more chores and often to care for a younger sibling. I just want these kids to be kids for a day! I am hoping the day is a success. If nothing else, the town leaders recognize that International Child’s Day is an important day so that at least makes me smile.

In a follow-up to my last post, I had a completely full day today which makes me appreciate all my down time. I finished my home visits (yeah!), went to the town with my community leaders to ask for a nurse and then had the almost 3 hour long COCODE meeting. I am thankful I do not have days like this every day. It is very draining to be present physically but unable to understand the majority of the conversation. I am going to start using more of my down time to really study my Q’anjob’al!

Finally, I will leave you with a pic of little Lubu, who is getting bigger by the day! She is patiently waiting for any invader. In the spirit of Merle’s Door (great book for any dog lover), I have been letting Lubu run wild with the other street dogs. She always comes back and I think she is happier, but a little more aggressive. It is a fine balance to raise a dog in Guatemala.

I think I have been putting off writing a blog entry this week with the hopes that something interesting and exciting would happen that I could write about. Bad news- nothing happened! Last weekend I got to meet up with some of my friends from training who I hardly ever get to see because they are in a different department and that was a whole lot of fun. Too much fun to be exact. We danced and had drinks and stayed up all night! It felt so good to be surrounded by the people who really get me here. It was interesting to see how everyone is changing and evolving during our time here.

On Monday I was in Huehue, the department capital, for a meeting with Casa Materna which is a part of Project Concern International. The NGO is going to be sending technicians to a bunch of the aldeas in Santa Eulalie, including mine. They will be setting up improved, healthier kitchens and water systems, creating a school garden and providing the kids with food. This is all very exciting news for me! The NGO also bases its philosophy on the fact that education is the only true route to real change so the technicians will be giving health talks to all the students. I only stayed for the morning part of one day of the three-day training so I am not sure exactly what else the program includes. Either way it will be great having some Guatemalan support in this endeavor to improve the health of my community.

I have been getting letters regularly which has been amazing! Keep them coming please! Getting mail brightens my day! Actually getting the post office man to actually be in his office so I can pick up my mail brightens my day…getting letter brightens my week!!! In a letter I received this week from my dear friend she commented on how reading my blog is seems like I am always: kicking ass and taking names” but in her letter I wrote of some struggles and it is good to know I am being challenged. For everyone else who has not received a said letter I will make an effort to be a little more open. I have really hesitated putting the negative stuff on here because I do not want to seem like Debbie Downer. I also so not want people at home to worry about me too much. With that said let me write some negative…

I have no functioning latrine and no health post!!!! First, the latrine. I was supposed to have a latrine BEFORE I arrived at site but fijese que I still do not have one. After the new one filled with groundwater I was told Peace Corps would send me the materials so I could construct an above ground composting latrine but I still have no materials thanks to the terrible weather we have been receiving. I shall just keep waiting… Second, the lack of health post in my town. It is very frustrating that I would be assigned a site that does not have a health post/center. I have nowhere to go work, no home base, nothing. I see all (minus one) of the other volunteers and they work with their health post staff in the schools and in the communities and have a group of friends. I do not. I have to work out of my house which means I am home WAY too much. It is also almost impossible to get people to meet to schedule my work. No one really understands my role here and thus they struggle with having me work. I FINALLY met and scheduled my October charlas this afternoon which was a huge stress off my shoulders. Now if only I were sure those charlas will actually happen…vamos a ver.

On another note, I have been here 5 months now! How crazy is that! 2 months in site! Time really does fly by fast here even if the days only crawl by every so slowly.

Yesterday was Guatemalan Independence Day. The party really started on Tuesday night. The community had a big dance and party at the school but I was SOOOO tired and did not go. I also did NOT want to deal with the disgusting amount of bolos (drunks) that were roaming around. Here, a holiday for a man means gets obliterated by dawn and stumble through the next two days. Okay that may be harsh judgment of the alcohol problem here but I get endlessly harassed by the drunks and it is starting to take its toll on me.

Wednesday morning featured a parade with all the elementary students, middle school students and a band. The band was made up of middle school students and they had been practicing for at least a month for many hours a day. I was pleasantly impressed with their music. The parade also had a giant green dragon and I am still baffled by its significance. The students all danced their way onto the school basketball court. There was lots of music and dancing. The girls who were voted by their classmates to be the “senoritas” for the year were presented in their beautiful gowns. Also, since the independence of Guatemala from Spain is tied with the nations of Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua there was also a presentation of each of those nation’s flags. Finally the Guatemalan national Anthem was played (which I am told was voted the 2nd most beautiful national anthem in the world) and the real fun began. Three groups of about 40 students presented what was called “gymnasio” (gym) which was kind of like watching a giant aerobics class. It was meant to be dancing but I am not sure if I would define it as that. The presentations were accompanied by loud, obnoxious American techno music which made me laugh…”what is love, baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me…anymore!” Love it!

Other than the crazy aerobic dances there was a LOT of marimba to go around. The traditional Guatemalan musical instrument is famously made in my municipalidad so it was played all day and all night! And no independence day is complete without fireworks, or “bombas,” as called here. They do not so much go off and explode with beautiful colors and just explode and make a loud bomb noise. I still jump! All in all it was an interesting day to watch and see the wonderful Guatemalan pride.

Some sheep on the road, very common occurrence

The road to Cathaleen's site, about an hour walk from my site

A giant tombstone in a graveyard on the side of the road

Lubu waiting to go outside

This is what happens when we go on walks...not very successful

Lubu curled up in her box

Ready to make her escape

My happy little doggie!

Cathaleen with Lubu and her sister, Puchica.

All PCVs are currently on the alert of STANDFAST which means no traveling out of site due to safety reasons. Guatemala is experience torrential downpours right now and has been the last week. More than 30 people have died because of the storms, mostly due to landslides on the roads. The main Inter-American Highway was closed due to a massive mudslide. The geography of this country is basically mountains with a lot of low vegetation which is the perfect formula for mudslides. A few of my friends are stuck in various cities and unable to return back to their sites because their roads have been closed due to the storms and mudslides.

It is all crazy to take in because the last two days here in northern Huehuetenango have been two of the nicest days since I arrived! The sun has been shining, I haven’t needed to put on three sweaters and I don’t wake up shivering! I am receiving all of these concerning texts and calls from the Peace Corps Office warning us of all the danger with the storms but I am sitting here enjoying a break from the cold and the rain. What is this?!?! However, I should take the warnings seriously. This country cannot handle any more storms. Tropical Storm Agatha did too much damage back in May to have another big storm hit. The infrastructure is simply not sound enough to last another big storm. The bad thing is that it is only the beginning of hurricane season. To everyone in the states that is hearing the news of the damage just know that I am safe and sound!

All PCVs are currently on the alert of STANDFAST which means no traveling out of site due to safety reasons. Guatemala is experience torrential downpours right now and has been the last week. More than 30 people have died because of the storms, mostly due to landslides on the roads. The main Inter-American Highway was closed due to a massive mudslide. The geography of this country is basically mountains with a lot of low vegetation which is the perfect formula for mudslides. A few of my friends are stuck in various cities and unable to return back to their sites because their roads have been closed due to the storms and mudslides.

It is all crazy to take in because the last two days here in northern Huehuetenango have been two of the nicest days since I arrived! The sun has been shining, I haven’t needed to put on three sweaters and I don’t wake up shivering! I am receiving all of these concerning texts and calls from the Peace Corps Office warning us of all the danger with the storms but I am sitting here enjoying a break from the cold and the rain. What is this?!?! However, I should take the warnings seriously. This country cannot handle any more storms. Tropical Storm Agatha did too much damage back in May to have another big storm hit. The infrastructure is simply not sound enough to last another big storm. The bad thing is that it is only the beginning of hurricane season. To everyone in the states that is hearing the news of the damage just know that I am safe and sound!

Check out these sites for more info:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2010/09/flooding-guatemala-mexico-mudslides.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11193592

How is it already September? Where did August go? It is a weird feeling how time creeps by everyday but then somehow the weeks just fly by. I was talking with a friend yesterday and we discussed how we already cannot wait to be done with service. We both love it here, mostly, but at the same time our other lives remain on this awkward pause. We cannot really move forward or back but only finish our two years here as best we can and attempt to maintain our old relationships back in the States.

Anyways, 6 weeks in site and I am getting things going with my work. The 5 volunteers in my municipality are going to start on building an extra room with “eco-bricks” (plastic bottles filled with trash) for the much too small Health Post located in the main town. It is going to be a lot of work but I am so excited about the project! This country is much too beautiful for all the trash it has everywhere so this can be our little part to clean it up!

I have been continuing with home visits this week. I actually really like them! I walk around with a male and female community leader and we visit anywhere from 10-25 houses each day. My community has 6 sectors so we go sector by sector. I introduce myself to the family and give a little information about my job with the Peace Corps and my goals for the next two years. Some people are very receptive and excited to have m and invite me in for food. Others, not so much. Some families only want me to give them money or a project. I get a little annoyed with these people thinking every American is soooo rich, but that is the perception I must fight. I just focus on the interested families and hope they will follow through with their word and come to my charlas.

On a much darker note, I received some terrible news yesterday. I usually try not to put the “bad stuff” in my blog because I do not want people to worry about me, but this has affected me very deeply and I feel I must write about it a little bit. I found out yesterday morning that two of my good friends here in Peace Corps Guatemala were in a deadly car accident. They both survived but 3 people from their Health Post died. I saw a picture of the van in the newspaper and it was disturbing. I do not know how anyone walked away. One of the volunteers did walk away with only bruises, but now has the memory of seeing coworkers dead. The other volunteer was not so lucky and now has numerous broken bones. That volunteer had to be medically evacuated back to the States to receive better treatment for the injuries. I was very shaken up by this whole event. I had just seen these two people a few days prior. I think it hit me that Guatemala is not that safe and I sometimes forget that. There are WAY too many car wrecks and the roads are not properly maintained here. This could have happened to any of us. But more importantly, my two friends could have been sitting in different seats and not been so lucky to escape with their lives. I have made amazing friends here who I connect with and feel so at home with in the land so far away. I had to take a step back and remind myself that the people I am here with are truly making this experience doable and enjoyable. I appreciate my friends here, and at home, so much. I would not be who I am without them. Thank you God for sparing their lives! I can only hope for their quick recovery and return to country 

This weekend I went to visit my friend Claire who lives outside of the Huehue, the state capital of Huehuetenango. I took little Lubu too so she can see the vet and get her first set of vaccinations. She is all of 4.5 pounds and has mange. UGH! The vet gave her some medicine to get rid of it and she should be fine soon. However her little tummy did not like the medicine and she threw up in Claire’s hands later that night. So sad. I am just glad this will get rid of the worms and fleas and lots of other nasty doggie diseases.

I also finally visited some ancient Mayan ruins! I feel somewhat guilty that I have been in Guatemala for 4 months now and these are the first ruins I have visited. Claire and I went to the ruins of Zaculeu located right outside the city. The United Fruit Company was responsible for doing some “restoration” in the 1940’s…aka covering all the ruins in cement. We were thinking they would not be that impressive but we both thought they were great! I could see the whole city layout from the top of the largest tower. We took a bunch of pics and it was a gorgeous day. I love history and I have studied the ancient Mayan civilization extensively in college so it was awesome to finally see some of the things I have studied.

I really had a relaxing and chill weekend with Claire and the doggies (she has a puppy too!). However, this weekend involved a little too much vomit. First, I was crammed into a seat with a lady on the 4 hour trip down to Huehue on Friday and she clearly did not feel well. I do not know why she did not just open the window next to her but she didn’t and she puked on me! Mostly I just got the splatter was it was nasty! Then this afternoon on my trip home little Lubu also did not feel well. She slept most of the trip but I do not know if it was car sickness or still a reaction from her vaccinations but she also threw up on me. Luckily she is so small and it wasn’t much. Other than a little vomit I had a fabulous weekend and I look forward to the next time I get to relax with my friends!

Me on top!

The big structure

Claire looking like a model

soooo excited!

The white part on top is the obvious covering of cement done in the 1940s

We got to play all over the ancient ruins :)

Claire and me in front of some of the ruins!

Last night Cathaleen and I attended the Miss Salubrista pageant. This is an annual beauty pageant where one woman from each municipality in our region competes to be crowned Ms. Salubrista and then later goes on to compete for the department/state title. There are 4 municipalities in our region. This year the pageant was help in San Miguel Acatan. We crammed all the health post staff into two microbuses and we bumped along a rough dirt road for about an hour to get to the town. We really had no idea what would happen during the night but we were along for the ride. We arrived in the town and went to watch some soccer games. Then my health center women tell me they need more players for the women’s game and of course I can’t say no to a little futbol! I played in my tight jeans and nice shirt and looked ridiculous BUT I scored two goals and we won 5-1!!!! There were a bunch of people from other health centers and a LOT of men so I had to show that the gringa can play soccer too. I had a blast!

After the soccer games we ate dinner at a little family-run place. We all crammed into a small comedor and it was clearly going to take a while to prepare the food. The doctor from our health post, aka the head honcho, went into the kitchen and started helping the women cook. This was crazy for me to believe because most men here do not cook and would never do so willingly. That is a woman’s job. Not this doctor! He spent most of his time helping prepare the food. It was great to see a Guatemalan man that breaks the usual and unfortunate stereotypes. He then proceeded to pay for my and Cathaleen’s meal to say thank you for being in Santa Eulalia and volunteering. I was very appreciative and realized this is a great guy and I am glad to not have a machisto asshole of a doctor and this forward thinking man instead.

It was fun for all the health post staff to join together and cheer for our competitor, Nancy. First the 4 women came out in “traje tipico” or traditional Mayan dress. Then there were a few dances by different groups of kids, some mildly disturbing for the booty dropping in this conservative culture. Next the contestants were escorted out in the evening gown. Each had to answer the question “What does Miss Salubrista mean to you?” They contestants had to answer in Spanish and the native Kanjobal. Then came one of MY highlights for the night. My counterpart, Aurelio, apparently is an amazing singer. He went up in front of the huge crowd and busted out a great rendition of some love song. He was just loving the spotlight so he sang two more! I was highly impressed and it was fun to see a different side to him. Finally the moment everyone had been waiting for…the crowning. It was actually very confusing and no one really knew who won for a few minutes, typical Guatemala, but finally a woman from another town won  Maybe next year. It was great to see the Santa Eulalia health staff cheer on Nancy and pop balloons and throw confetti and cheer LOUD!

After the pageant came the dance. Now I must also say that we were originally told the whole night would end by 11pm which is already 2 hours past my bedtime but I sucked it up and went anyway. We later find out we are not leaving until 1am! O man! The dance barely started by 11pm. I am not a huge fan of dancing but I figured I would watch and enjoy the music and the company. Boy was I wrong. The two gringas in the room were the sought after prize. I had so many men ask me to dance. Some were nice and not too creepy but others were just…ugh. I went out there with one guy and he proceeded to spaz out on the dance floor. I felt like it was a joke and I was on a hidden camera show. This 5 foot tall man looked insane with his arms flailing and his body shaking. I did not know what to do other than to pray it was going to be a short song (and go figure it wasn’t)! I probably danced with 10 men and for those of you wondering, no there was no potential in any! I just went out there and moved my feet and shook my hips and looked like a rhythm-less American. O well. We finally made it home by 2am and crashed and went to sleep.

The judges for this year...the contestants from last year.

Dancing with the contestants in their Traje Tipico.

Our judge from Santa Eulalia

Middle School students dancing

Disturbing dance with crossed dressing and too much booty-shaking and shimmying for most Guatemalans

Our contestant, Nancy, on the right

My counterpart, Aurelio, belting out the tunes

Santa Eulalia health staff cheering on Nancy

Today we luckily did not have to get up early for Kanjobal class. I got to sleep in a bit after my long evening. This afternoon I went to Temux to help Cathaleen with an HIV/AIDS workshop with middle school students. Becca also came to help since the whole thing is about 3 hours long and takes a lot of work. Everything went well overall but we finally understood the true lack of health and sex education in this country. These students asked what the words breasts, penis, testicles and sexual relations meant. We were shocked to realize no one had ever talked about these body parts and they literally had no idea how they work or where they are. We were there to talk about HIV/AIDS but that is next to impossible without understand the body parts. The students were very interesting in all the information but it was just too much for them to grasp. They asked us intense questions like, What is a homosexual? When can you have sex? What is a condom? Where are your breasts, penis and testicles? What is an okay age to have sex? Some of the question we stumbled through the answer because we have to give the correct information while still being very sensitive to the religious, conservative, closed culture. We decided this group of students needs a puberty and sexuality talk. I think we are going to try and set something like that up in the future. It was an eye-opening afternoon to say the least. The days like this make me realize what I am doing here. I realize I am helping the people and if we are not here to educate about these sensitive subject, who will?

Cathaleen with HIV/AIDS vocab words

The skit about how HIV works

Me trying my best to give a breif overview of the anatomy of a man and a woman

What is HIV?

I truly hope these students took something away from today. They were very intelligent and eager to learn.

It is said that losing a child is the worst pain one can feel. No parent should ever have to bury their child. However, that is so common-too common- here. Last week, I was waiting in town in the bus to head to my aldea and a funeral procession came through town. I was looking for the pallbearers and the coffin when I suddenly realized the coffin was merely two feet long and rested on the single shoulder of a father. I immediately felt a ping of pain in my heart at the sight of this family walking with their dead child to the graveyard.

Also, this week there was a death in the extended family of my neighbors/host family. A 15 year-old boy was shot dead by robbers in Guatemala City. He was the nephew of my neighbors. His family is originally from here in Pett but they have been living in Guate for their jobs. The boy was so young. The family transported the cadaver the whole 10 hour car ride so the boy could be buried here. Almost all of the neighbors continuously came by the house and there was a constant wake going on. I went over and talked with the family. The boy’s parents and his two younger siblings were in town. I noticed right away there was not the overwhelming, hovering sadness that accompanies wakes/funerals in the States. Everyone said they were sad but they did not show it. It was more of a time for the family to gather. I was invited to the burial but could not go due to Kanjobal class.

This afternoon the parents invited me to visit the grave with them. I am not a fan of death and graveyards but I went because I felt that it was an honor that the family invited me. We walked up to the graveyard and the son’s grave was covered with beautiful Guatemalan flowers. There was still the fresh dirt and fresh sadness. The mother started rearranging the flowers as the father added more. The mother started speaking and crying under her breath. I stood back as I did not know what to say or do. I have not felt that sadness in a long time and I did not even know this child. The father turned to me and said “My boy is in heaven now. He has left this earth.” How do I respond to that? I could see the pain in this man’s face. His first child, his son is now gone due to the reckless violence that plagues this country.

These two things have really forced me to look at death. Here in Guatemalan, death is expected. Death is a part of life. A woman has a baby with the expectation that it may not live. Families send their children to work in Guate knowing it is one of the most dangerous cities in the Western Hemisphere. If someone gets sick, death is the expectation. I have a hard time grasping this concept because in our culture we fear death; we mourn death; death is a tragedy. Here, death is just a stepping stone for another life in Heaven. Here, death is sad but the happiness the soul feels in Heaven outweighs the sadness. I just find it terribly sad because so many Guatemalans do not have to die. The violence is one thing but the infant and child mortality rate is heartbreaking. It reminds me that I am here to do a job and I hope that maybe one family will learn something to prevent senseless death from happening to them.

I started my home visits this week. In my Healthy Homes program I am required to go around and visit the families in my community to introduce myself, explain my work and see in what condition the families live. On Tuesday morning I walked around with the President of the COCODE, like the city council, and a lady who is on the Comisión de Salud (Health Commission). We walked around Sector 1 of Pett. We literally hiked up and down these huge mountains in more mud. I was carrying Lubu most of the time and I had a few close calls but I managed to stay on my feet all day! We visited about 20 homes. The first house I introduced myself and tried to ask if the family had any health concerns and they were like “No, we are very healthy.” A little more prodding revealed that one child has a respiratory infection, the number one illness in children in Guatemala. I quickly realized though I would need a different approach in going to these houses. The families, mainly women, were all very weary of me. I decided it was just best to present myself and my work and not ask about any illnesses. I tried to take a mental survey of the condition of each home. The main thing I noticed is a lack of a cement floor and also a clean latrine. One home just had a wooden seat constructed over a hole in the side of the mountain as their latrine. I think Sector 1 has the most need of the whole community and this gives me “ganas” (excitement/happiness/desire) to start work. I still have 4 other sectors to visit and after I see the whole community I will be able to assess the community and how I will begin my work.

Today I also met with my counterpart at the health post in the big town. He is going to meet with all the community leaders and discuss our problems and also try to give more information about our jobs just to clarify a few things. Also, he talked about my idea for doing a Recycled Plastic Bottle Health Post. I originally wanted to do it in my community but they want to start building soon so it wouldn’t work. My counterpart wants us, Rebecca, Cathaleen and myself, to have our communities help gather bottles and then expand the health post in the main town of Santa Eulalia. I think this is a great idea because the health post needs to be much bigger and then it will also serve as an example to other communities how the whole process works. I am SO excited to get started on this project!

Finally, I played soccer…err Futbol! Cathaleen and I played with the women who work at the health post in Santa Eulalia. It was an indoor game and I had so much fun. Some of the women were very competitive and aggressive but the little soccer player who still lives in me came out and I showed them a Gringa can hold her own on the soccer field. I even scored two goals. I had a blast and it was nice getting to know the staff better outside of work. Cathaleen and I are going to play on the official Santa Eulalia Health Post team in September when we have a whole gathering of all health posts in my state! Represent!

Guatemalans give compliments much different than in the States. Example:

ME: "Good morning!"

HEALTH WORKER: "Ah, hello, how are you?"

ME: "Well. And you?"

HEALTH WORKER: "I'm well also. You are getting so FAT!"

ME: "What?!"

HEALTH WORKER: just laughs...

How is it that all my life I am told I have great balance and I am athletic and then I arrive in Guatemala and I am a complete klutz? Is gravity different in Central America? First issue, lose gravel and hills. Self explanatory. Second, MUD! I am not talking about a little mud mixed in with rocks and grass I am talking about thick, clayish mud that is everywhere. After I picked up Lubu on Wednesday one of the girls in town told me the “quick way” to get back to the main road. Umm ya I should have just gone the long way, it would have saved me time. The “quick way” involved what looked to me like a mud flow that had peeled down the mountain side earlier in the week. With Lubu in my bag I carefully slid my way down the mud. I was sliding this way and grabbing on to bushes and half-way fell at least a dozen times. I had mud all over my pants by the time I actually made it to the road. I do not know how these Guatemalan women walk up these muddy mountains in plastic shoes with a baby strapped to the back and 20 pounds on their head- now that’s balance! Finally, the real icing on my unbalanced cake occurred this afternoon when I was exiting a camioneta. I had my backpack with Lubu in and a crate with some veggies in it. Luckily I was carrying all of this in front of me because I took a step to get off the bus and the next thing I know I am going clunk, Clunk, CLUNK down all the stairs on the bus. All of the Guatemalans on the bus immediately stood up and tried to look out the window at the Gringa that can’t walk. The people outside the bus on the sidewalk just start laughing. I started laughing too but it hurt. My elbows were bleeding and now I have a bruise on my back. Basically the bottom line is that I can’t walk in Guatemala.

Aside from my embarrassing mishaps I think I have been “integrating” a little bit. The guy who kept waiting at my house invited me to his mother’s birthday and I said I would go with his FAMILY and I would only go in the afternoon. I just pretended I had something to do later. He and his two sisters came to my house and I followed them up a mountain to their house. When I got there I realized it was much more than a birthday. There were lots of people, at least ten women cooking in huge pots and a band playing…and the party didn’t even start for 3 more hours! The man (who originally creeped me out) told me it is his mother’s birthday but also a catholic celebration of life and his family because the mother almost died while having an operation last year. I talked to the father and he told me he wanted his son to invite me because he wanted me to share with his family. I immediately felt horrible for thinking this man was a creeper/stalker. However I have to err on the side of caution. I sat around and listened to the band play for a while and then the Catholic mass started. The priest who serves the whole municipality came to this small house packed with Guatemalans. I sat and kind of knew what was going on since I know the mass. I said the prayers in English under my breath and got a few strange looks. After the mass most people left expect the special guests, about 35 people, including myself. We sat and ate dinner and everyone spoke in Kanjobal and sometimes would all look at me and laugh. I am getting very used to that. I just smile and laugh too. All in all I was very glad I decided to go. I felt like they family really extended a hand to me to invite me to such a special event in their lives.

Also, I have been making friends with ALL the children in town. I have been working in the schools and I make every class repeat my name so they know me and now whenever anyone walks by my house they call out my name. Two girls have started coming by regularly and they are so sweet. I give them 3 English words to practice every night and when they come back the next day they usually remember all of them! It may turn out to be that some of my best friends here are 6-14 years old! But I will take any Guatemalan friends I can get!

Finally, an update on the latrine situation. They finished my latrine and then it filled with groundwater!!! The water table is too high here for a regular latrine. I talked to my boss and he explained to the town leaders what a dry composting latrine is. He is going to help me with the money and supplies to build one. So now I have a latrine but I can’t use it…back to the Milpa for me!

Anyone wondering why I up and left everything for two years?!?! This is a great video done by to volunteers who just finished their two year service. My program is called Healthy Homes (formerly Rural Home Preventative Health) and this shows why I am here!

I got a puppy! It wasn't one of those spur of the moments, I am sad and lonely and want a puppy. No, I have wanted my own pup for quite some time now. I brought little Lubu home this afternoon after a few complications. Cathaleen got another puppy from the same litter on Sunday and told the family I would be back to get one too. I really wanted a girl and there was a girl and a boy left. I fell in love with the girl right away. The family said I could just have her so I left with her and went to visit another family in the small village. While I was at that family's home a lady came and told me that the girl had already been sold so I couldn't have her. I was really sad as little Lubu has been sleeping in my arms the last 30 minutes. I didn't want it to be an issue so Cathleen took little Lubu back and brought me the boy. The boy was also cute but I really wanted a girl. After another 30 minutes I was about to leave with the boy and then the same lady said she talked to the boy who bought the dog and he said I could have the girl and he would take the boy. At this point I didn't even care. They kept playing games with my heart! In the end I left with the girl and now Lubu is sound asleep in her bucket bed. I think she may be a bit sick and underfed. I had to hand feed her tonight and she hardly ate. I am hoping she eats more tomorrow. I am just so excited to have a little friend in my life!

If you are wondering where the name came from let me explain. There is a candy bar here named the Bubu Lubu. It is not in every store but somehow it was in the Peace Corps training office vending machine. One day my friend Sam and I were SO hungry but neither of us had any money. We look in the machine and the absolute cheapest thing is this Bubu Lubu candy bar. We then go on a machine to scrounge up the Q2.50 to get the candy bar. After asking a bunch of people and realizing the machine doesn’t take 10 cent coins we finally got our Bubu Lubu. I don’t know if it tasted so good because we worked so hard to get it or if it actually is good. Now Sam and I are addicted to Bubu Lubus and mostly we just like saying the name really fast a bunch of times in a row. So that is how my little baby girl became Lubu.

This past weekend was the welcome party for El Quiché and Huehuetenango volunteers. I was so excited my state was combines with El Quiché because most of my best friends here are in that state so it was an excuse for all of us to get together. The party was held in my state capital, Huehue. Also a few other volunteers from Quetzaltenango made the trip up just because they knew it would be a good time- and it was!

Becca and I traveled the 4 hours south early on Friday morning. We have been more or less stranded up north for 3 weeks so we had a lot of errands to run and needed to hit up the big supermarket to get some important things, like cumin and chili powder! Friday night my loves from El Quiché, Susie and Sam, got into town. I think I almost knocked them over when I hugged them. It is such a great feeling to be reunited with my friends here. My friends keep me sane, give me the advice I need and understand what I am going through because they are here too. Without their support this whole thing would be impossible for me. Anyways having them there this weekend made all my stress from site disappear. Friday night we had dinner and went out to a bar in Huehue.

Saturday some more friends came into town and all the volunteers, old and new, went to these pools in Aguacatan, a nearby town. It was amazing to finally get in a pool. I have spent every summer of my life in a one piece suit either with swim team or guarding and the last few months just haven’t felt like summer without that. Sam and I were like kids in a candy shop when we saw the pool. We dropped our bags and dropped our pants and jumped right in! There was a slide and a Guatemalan style diving board and I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon. I hardly got out of the pool the entire day. Ahhhh sooooo fun!

Saturday night we went out to the same bar and took over the place. The bar tenders let us put on our iPods so we had control over the music and we were all getting down on the dance floor. After a few drinks there we went to another dance club. I did not stay long since I am sick and was losing my voice. But I had a great time this past weekend. It was the break I needed. I am here to work but I am also here and fun can be had so I am going to have it! I now have the energy to work hard for another month until I can see my friends again!

Sam and Susie putting on sunscreen...safety first!

Me and Sam having WAY too much fun! I need to work on my air time (but i did only jump off the side, not the board).

This is an action shot of me jumping out of the water but my face is just so extremely hideously comical I felt everyone needed to see it. We laughed for a good 10 minutes straight after seeing this one.

I am just SOOOOOOO happy to be in a pool!!!!!!!

Sam and I underwater

Fountains

Melissa and Sam

Susie, Sam, me, Cat and Melissa loving life.

Sam and I acting like 9 year-olds at the public pool. We had to do the George Washington hairstyle.

Sam on the slide...SO happy! SO much fun!

Yesterday I began working in the elementary school of Pet. There are 19 teachers and a LOT of students. Each grade has 3 sections of about 30 kids per classroom. I met with the school director in the morning and he told me the classes I would teach in and then he sent me out there. I did my lesson 4 times to 3 classes of 3rd graders and one class of 4th graders. The kids paid great attention while I was speaking but the trouble came when it was time for questions. The Peace Corps teaches us to use the Experiential Learning Cycles which requires the active participation of the students. Unfortunately, here in Guatemala children are taught to sit quietly, copy notes and not participate in any way. Because of the years of this type of teachers the kids are too embarrassed to speak in class. It is especially noticeable with the girls. I asked a very general questions and one girl muttered what I thought was the right answer so I asked her to repeat it for the class to hear and she just shut down and put her hands over her face and would not even look at me. Women here are taught to be so submissive it kills me. I want to just tell all these girls they are smart and they should be proud and they are just as good as the boys. However, society is a much stronger influence than my tiny little voice and so many of these girls will never feel proud to be a woman.

Today I was supposed to return to the school to give health talks in 5 more classes. I arrived and found the director and he told me, “oh today they actually have exams so maybe you can come back next week.” So typical. I really wasn’t that disappointed though because I have plenty of time here to do health talks. I did stay and chat with the director for about an hour. He turns out to be a very forward thinking, down to earth man. He talked all about the corruption in the government here and how it affects the education system (negatively, obviously). He talked about how sad it is that Guatemala is slowly losing its culture. He has worked at the school in Pet for 17 years and he described the changes he has seen within the town and with the school itself. I feel very luckily to be in this site. So many other volunteers live in big town where most of the population is ladino (not indigenous) and there is not the striking culture difference. As many challenges as this site has already given me and will continue to give me I am thankful to be here. I am learning all about this culture by really living with the people. This is very truly Guatemala is all of its beauty.

I am finally getting to do some work! Yesterday I went to the school and met with the principal about doing some charlas with the students. Of course the only thing he actually wanted me to teach was English but I told him that I am only here to teach about preventative health. Every conversation is becoming a replay of the previous- I am here to teach preventative health NOT English. One of the male community leaders came with me too but arrived late. I will continue that story later. I held my ground about why I am here and I am giving charlas to 8 different classes over the next two days. They did not seem to understand doing the same charla 8 times in a row was just too much. However I think I have the support of the principal and I am excited to work with the kids. Some know my name and yell at me from across the school yard while others look at me and run away giggling.

In the afternoon yesterday I met with all of the community leaders. It was a group of about 20 people that belong to different committees and commissions that I will be working with. To my delightful surprise the majority of the leaders are women! This is very unusual because men dominate society here in every aspect of life. Some Guatemalan women are even forbidden by their husbands to leave their houses. To see that many women with power made me smile a bit because it will make my job a little easier! During the meeting I presented about what the Peace Corps is and what my job entails. However during the two hours I maybe understood all of 15 minutes of discussion as the leaders all prefer (and some only know) to speak their native Kanjobal. I sometimes could understand the gist of the topic but mostly I was lost. The same male leader who went with me to the school in the morning translated everything for me but I know I was missing some details since it came down to 10 minutes of translating for an hour of discussion. At the end of the meeting it was decided I am going to meet with the whole community again and then start doing home visits next week. The meeting felt productive and at least it got the ball rolling a little bit on my job. I told them I want to focus on health promoters, womens groups and youth. Afterward, one of the female leaders, Candalaria, who works as an auxiliary nurse, invited me to accompany her on her rounds the next day. I jumped at this opportunity.

This morning I walked uphill for 45 minutes to a very small and remote village named Onona. Candalaria and her team gave vaccinations to many of the town’s children. One of the men in town asked me if I wanted to work there too and I said yes I would be more than willing to come give some charlas. I hope this doesn’t fall through as it was apparent to me this village has a much greater need than Pet. After the vaccinations we visited the small two room wood shack of a school house. They asked me to “entertain” the kids so I went in there and sang a health song about washing your hands to the tune of Frere Jacques. The kids loved it! They wanted me to stay and sing more but I do not know any more songs! I told them I would learn more and come back. I had a mini discussion after the song and we reviewed the most important times to wash your hands. Hopefully at least one of them will remember!

After the school visit we went to visit two “senoras” who are widows and are taking care of a mountain of children. The first lady was 79 years old and was very sick with respiratory infections. Candalaria took her blood pressure and gave her some vitamins. The worst part was that she had some sort of flesh eating infectious disease on her nose. He middle bridge part of her nose was utterly gone and only black, caved in flesh existed in its place. I can only look at this woman and imagine the lifetime of struggles she has endured- losing a husband, losing children, a civil war, diseases, no food, no bathroom, barely having a place to sleep and who knows what else. It makes me appreciate all the small things I do have.

Finally, back to the story about the male leader. This man has been on point with every meeting and was one of the community men who came to Xela to meet me for Counterpart Day. He is a smooth talker and gets things done. Without him I would have already been in a few sticky situations. He clearly understands my job here and helps me explain to the people who I am and why I am here. He is a great ally to have. So yesterday morning he shows up to the school meeting late and clearly hung over. My suspicions were confirmed when the principal made a joke that he was sick with “Fiebre de Gallo” or Beer Fever. I was upset because I had hoped and hoped that he was not like every other Guatemalan man and did not drink too much. Unfortunately he falls prey to the Guatemalan alcoholism. So many, and I mean almost all, men are binge drinkers. It is very unfortunate to see and hard to deal with. I have a hard time trusting any man who may or may not show up drunk. He did profusely apologize to me but still…GRRR! However that afternoon he redeemed himself at the community leader meeting when he remember all the facts about the Peace Corps with JFK and 1961 and 1963 in Guatemala and 200 volunteers here now. That impressed me and showed me he does care about my job and takes it seriously. It is just frustrating for me to never know when one of these great men will fall off the bandwagon. I wish there was some lesson I could give about alcoholism but it is such a huge problem and I do not know if I have the “ganas” to deal with it. As long as this man can keep his head on straight most of the time that is all I ask for.

I finally have a latrine with my house! Now I do not have to pee in the cornfield or run to my neighbor’s bathroom 100 yards away. It took 2 weeks to get everything settles with money and materials and labor but once it was started it went right up. A man worked on it for about 3 days and now it is all done. The style of the latrine is about as simple as possible- a deep hole in the ground with a little wood hut on top. And when I say little I mean LITTLE! It is probably about 5 feet tall which means I have to duck every time I use it. It also has this weird backward tilt to it so I feel like I might slide off backwards. However those are minor annoyances. I am just so thankful to finally have a latrine.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Finally DONE!

I have officially been in site 2 weeks and a few realities are setting in. First, I may never learn the Kanjobal language. I am trying to study but it is so difficult and I doubt I will ever become conversational in it. My host grandmother does not speak much Spanish and whenever I am over there she just talks like I understand her. Maybe this will help me learn it but who knows really.

Second, I am very isolated out here. A little bit of loneliness has been setting in. I am sometimes surrounded by people who want to talk but the problem is I cannot share completely with them how I feel due to language and cultural differences. Sometimes during the day I have nowhere to go, no work to do and I get a little too lost in my thoughts. I am trying to journal to help with this but it is difficult. The one good thing is that I now have internet all the time. It is so ironic that people out here have nothing but everyone has a cell phone and with cell reception I can use my internet modem. I have been able to Skype with people and send e-mails which I think is going to keep me sane the next 2 years. On that note…I would love to hear from all of you via e-mail, Skype or regular mail! Keep me updated on what I am missing in the states!

This week I started classes to learn Q’anjob’al, the native Mayan dialect they speak in my region. Becca, Cathaleen and I have four hours of class every morning in the main city of Santa Eulalia. We are working with a man, Pedro, who was recommended by the former volunteers. We started with the basics of the language- pronunciation and the alphabet. The language has lots of sounds that are made in the throat and almost sound exactly the same to the untrained ear but I am slowly picking up the differences. Also the grammar structure is completely different from Spanish and English. I am really trying just to get a basic understanding of how the language is set up and also the basic phrases. I have no intention of trying to become fluent but I just want a working knowledge since I know it will help me gain confianza with the people. Pedro says we are catching on faster than most so he thinks we will be able to progress quite rapidly.

I have been trying to get someone to talk to me about actual health work but I am struggling. The fact that my town lacks a Health Post/Center is proving to be one of my biggest struggles as far as work goes. No one really understands why I am here. I tell them my title- Preventative Health Technician- but that doesn’t mean much to them. I also keep bugging the community leaders to schedule a meeting so we can sit down and I can fill out my schedule but that also is next to impossible. One of the male town leaders was supposed to take me to meet the school director this week but then the town decided to do work on the main dirt road so all the men in town have been preoccupied with that. I guess that is Guatemala for you.

On another continued note-Guatemalan men. I am not sure how to act when men come by my house just “to chat.” I have been warned by almost every volunteer that most men have bad intentions as far as young American women go. This one younger man came by my house once when Becca was still staying with me. He said he just wanted to chat with me. I thought it was a little weird and I did not invite him in (that is a big no-no here…no men alone with you in your house). Today he was back at my house waiting for me just to chat. I do not get a bad feeling from him but my nature is to just assume he is a good person until he proves me wrong. I think I made it pretty clear this time that I was very busy and I did not want to chat with just him. Then he invited me to his family’s house in August for his mother’s birthday celebration. I am not sure what to do. I do not know him and cannot trust him but he may just be innocent and his family may just want to meet the gringa. I do not want to put myself in a bad situation but I can’t feel this one out. UGH. I have until August 12th to decide what to do! Also, Becca told me today that ANOTHER man in town has been asking about me. He told her he really likes talking to me and wants to “pasear” with me (spend time with me). NO NO NO!!! I think I need to put my ring on and start making it a point to talk about my fake boyfriend who lives in the states. I do not know how much more of this male attention I can handle.

A different view of my house. I live in the little green part.

A view of the large municipality, Santa Eulalia.

Another view of Santa Eulalia.

A view of my aldea (village),Pet, where I live.

Another view of Pet. Notice how all the houses are so spread out and surrounded by cornfields. There is no real "town center" except the school which is the large-ish building in the center in the distance.

Every afternoon the huge storms blow in. This afternoon looked so beautiful with the storm and the sun still shining.

A rainbow right outside my front door!

Here are some more pics of my home and some of the kids in my huge extended host family:

My host grandmother, Magdalena, bringing in the pig. She speaks almost no Spanish and speaks to me in K'anjobal like I understand it perfectly.

The part on the left is the corner of my house. The house in the distance is my "host family." The field there is where I play soccer with the kids...with sheep and streams and all sorts of obstacles

My little house. It used to be the kitchen of the bigger part of the house on the left. I only live in the one room though.

Looking out from my front porch as the clouds start rolling in. I literally live high up in the clouds

Tico and Fermin...two kids from my host family. Fermin is at my house everyday all day.

More of life in the clouds...

To get anything done here that would take maybe an hour in the states it takes at least 2 days. For example, my stove. I bought the cheap two burner stove and when I got home found out it was missing a part. Okay, so I had to go back, not a big deal. I traveled back to Soloma yesterday and talked to the store and said they did not give me this part. It turns out this stove actually doesn’t come with the part. All of the employees were fascinated by the Gringa so they all felt the need to help me. I had the whole staff trying to figure out how to put together the connection piece for my stove. During this whole time the men are talking about whether or not I was from Spain or Holland. They assumed I didn’t speak Spanish so I chimed in and said yes I speak Spanish and I am actually from the States. It definitely shocked them all. So after about an hour in this store they fastened me up with this make shift connector that looked like it would work so I headed back home. At this point I am feeling very proud of myself for going and getting this all done by myself. However that feeling soon ends when I get home and try to use the stove. I start boiling some water when I hear a WHOOSH sound and look over and see my whole stove on fire! I turned off the propane tank and ran outside. I looked at the stove and decided things just needed to be tightened. I tightened everything and tried again. This time it was after about 10 minutes I hear another but smaller WHOOSH! I decide this stove piece does NOT work. There was propane leaking a little bit from one part which caught on fire. At this point I am pissed and frustrated. I just wanted to boil water so I can drink without getting diarrhea, is that too much to ask?! I basically give up at this point and feel defeated for the night. Today, I asked Cathaleen to come with me to the store to figure all this out. She has a very strong and forceful personality and I needed someone like that when dealing with the store people. We traveled the hour back to Soloma and went to the store. The people there immediately tell me well of course it leaked it didn’t have the plastic protector stuff on it. WHAT! Why did they let me leave yesterday knowing I could potentially blow up!?!? I tell them they either need to fix it or I want to return it. Cathaleen tells them too we are not leaving with the stove unless we actually get to light it and try it out. After another hour and lots of input from everyone the stove was set to go and worked! I came home this afternoon and boiled water without incident so now I finally have a stove and can start cooking for myself. The whole situation really tested my patience but in the end it all worked out. I often have to remember to just stop and take a deep breath here when dealing with things.

Aside from the stove issue I have realized being an American here makes you kind of a celebrity. Everyone that walks by comes over and wants to talk to me and all the cars always honk at me. Also, one day this last week Becca and I were sitting waiting for our microbus to take us home and these two ladies in front of us were speaking Kanjobal and turning around and looking at us and clearly talking about us. We were chatting with this guy we had met at a restaurant earlier so we asked him what the women were saying. He told us that the people of the town have been talking and the gossip is that the American girls eat all the food they are served. This was hilarious to me! Gossip here is huge so it was no surprise we were the topic. The fact that we eat all our food is also a plus because it is rude not to eat what you are served. The whole thing was just great because I had never seen these women before but they clearly knew us. Also, today in Soloma the guy that delivered my gas tank walked by me yelling my name. I had no clue who he was at first but then I placed him. Pretty much I am very memorable and fascinating to all Guatemalans. Everyone stares and everyone wants to talk to me. I just have to be careful the intentions of the people…especially the men.

I am all moved into my house now. The walls are painted and semi-decorated, my bed has sheets and my clothes are on some shelves. I consider all of that a huge success! The last week has been one of the hardest and most stressful weeks I can remember. It is never fun moving but trying to furnish a home with a Peace Corps salary is a challenge. Luckily my amazing host family had an extra bed they don’t use so they are letting me use it. That saved me mucho dinero! On Thursday Becca, Cathaleen and I went to Soloma, a larger nearby town, to buy some other things we can’t get in Santa Eulalia, our muni. I decided the wood burning stove is not going to work for me so I bought a cheap little two burner propane stove. Unfortunately today I found out they forgot to give me the “fitting” part which connects the hose to the stove so tomorrow I am going to try to find the part in Santa but I may have to go all the way back to Soloma. Grrrr…not the way I want to spend my Saturday.

About my living situation here…I technically have a host family but I am not in the same house as them. I live about 100 yards away in one room of another house. The family used to use this room as just a kitchen but they have since left for the US so it has been unoccupied for a long time. My host family consists of about a thousand people…not really that many but a LOT. Marta Lidia is the woman who is more or less my go to “mom.” As far as I know she is a single mother and has a 6 year old son named Fermín. Fermín absolutely loves me which is a blessing and a curse. He always wants to play and hang out with me which I like but it has been hard to have a little privacy. Also in the family are the grandparents. Magdalena is the grandmother and she only speaks Kanjobal. The grandfather is a deaf, crazy evangelical who always repeats himself. He asks me every time how many states are in the US then proceeds to tell me how many states are in each different Latin American country. He also tells me every day I need to accept Jesus Christ in my life and I just keep telling him I am Catholic. I have a feeling this conversation will never end. Also within the same family but in a different house there are two other families but they are all related and I have no clue how. There are about 10 different kids all under 10 running around here. I am not sure on all the names yet and I can only hope in two years I will be able to figure out which kids belong to which women.

Also, nothing has been done about building a latrine me for. I am going to really have to get the ball rolling on this one. Luckily I am highly motivated to have a latrine so I will make sure it gets done in the next month…until then, Milpa here I come!

As far as work goes I have my job cut out for me. I have no Health Center or Health Post in Pet so I don’t have anywhere to base my work out of. I am really going to have to be proactive to try and find some groups that want to hear health charlas. The town really wants me to work with the schools so I am excited to start there. Becca, Cathaleen and I did do one Dengue charla yesterday to 275 students at an elementary school in the next aldea over. It went well for our first charla here. It was nice to get something under my belt but I really need to focus on my own community and getting started here.

O and one final thought…do not give your number to anyone who seems even slightly interested in you. I received 4 calls from the ambulance driver today and it was awkward and I need to steer clear of him! Why do all Guatemalan men think every American woman will sleep with them…NOT TRUE!

The last few weeks have been crazy busy. I finished up all my final projects, took my final language exam and packed up my room. The week was a roller coaster of emotions. I was so excited to get out to site and start working and living on my own but at the same time I have made some amazing friends here and I was so sad to leave them. My San Luis group hosted a good bye dessert party last Sunday for all of our families. Then on Thursday night the families made us all dinner together. My host mom said some "palabras" to the group that almost made me cry. Melissa's host dad talked about how we are all human beings and there are no borders between us. It was really nice and I could tell how much our families enjoyed having us the last 3 months.

Friday was the official swearing-in ceremony. The US Ambassador, Stephen MacFarland, came and swore us in and gave a speech. He gave us some advice- never lose our curiosity of the world. I will take that to heart with me out here in site. A bunch of other people gave speeches and then we received our diplomas! It was all very exciting. It is hard to believe I have had this goal for so long and I am a real volunteer! After the ceremony we all headed to Antigua and went out to the bars and dancing. It was a fabulous night spent with some fabulous friends.

Saturday I got on a camioneta/chicken bus and headed as far as the Huehue state capital for the night. Then Sunday I arrived in my site but I had to sleep in Cathleen's site because I had no food and no bed or anything. Yesterday Becca and I came over to my new house and cleaned most of it and got it "ready." We ate dinner with my host family and also made a bunch of tortillas and I must say I am getting better at it! Later we went to bed and we still had to sleep on the cold, wet cement floor last night. This is real Peace Corps.

Today I have just been hanging around my house and people keep dropping by. Most of the people speak some Spanish but a lot do not. I had a whole conversation with a lady with me speaking Spanish and her speaking kanjobal and I have no idea what went on. I think this is how it will be for a while. I also started painting the inside of my house. Two walls are purple now and I am going to do the other two green. Still no word on whether or not I am going to get a latrine! My fingers are crossed! So far one day down...729 more to go!

This is my FBT group "Equipo Mono" (team monkey) and the Ambassador happened to be standing there talking to us when we wanted to take our traditional monkey shot so he just joined in! This guys is AWESOME!

The whole San Luis Family. (Kim sadly decided to go home early and she will be greatly missed)

My San Luis group with our Program Director Basilio.

Me receiving my diploma.

Some of my best friends here! Shannon, me, Lindsay, Susie, Sabiha and Sam

Out at the Antigua bars- Tony, Peter, Megan, Dirk

Me, Melissa and Mary...with Lindsay in the background

Lindsay, Me, Melissa P and Brittany...the first people I met in the Peace Corps! Airport buddies!

Me bed the first night in my house

All of mine and Becca's stuff and Becca heading to bed after cleaning all day.

We had a Healthy Homes BBQ yesterday at a park and we all got to hang out and play and relax (finally)!

This is my improved wood burning stove that I will be cooking on for the next two years.

My baby "sister" Camila. Her hair is always out of control!

The nicest McDonald's I have EVER seen is in Antigua!

Here is my new permanent address for the next two years!

Kelly Knapp, PCV

Cuerpo de Paz

Aldea de Pet

Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango

Guatemala, Centro America

Notice how there are NO numbers...I love Guatemala. Pretty much this man at the post office just nows I am the Gringa who lives in aldea Pet. There are no mailboxes. Pablo the post office guy just saves the mail for me and let's me know when I have some. Hopefully I'll hear from ya'll soon!

I left San Luis on Sunday with almost all of my luggage and we all drove up to Xela for the night. Monday morning was “Counterpart Day” where all of our counterparts (the Guatemalans we are assigned to coordinate our work with) drove down and we met up for most of the day and got to know each other and started planning our site visit work. I share my one counterpart with two other volunteers who are around Santa Eulalia now and then also with Cathaleen and Becca who are assigned to aldeas around Santa like I am. Also two representatives from my community and two representatives from Becca’s communities drove down with my counterpart. The day was mostly presentations and expectations of the PCVs and the counterparts. I did start to learn a few words in Kanjbol but I have a LONG way to go before I actually understand anything. From Xela my site, in car, is about 5 hours away so they decided we should only go to Huehue, the capital city of Huehuetenango, for the evening.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and finally headed to our site. Pet is about a 10-15 minute drive from the bigger town of Santa Eulalia. It sits high up in the mountains in a little valley. It is very Sound of Music-esque. Everything is so green and beautiful and it is definitely cold. We went around to each of our new sites on Tuesday and met with the entire town since as a community they all voted to have me come. First we went to Becca’s site and we had to hike down this huge hill then back up another one, trek through some cornfields and finally arrived at the town meeting. They almost all spoke Kanjbol instead of Spanish. And they had us sit up front as the honored guest at a little table with an American flag towel draped over it. O yes. I really have no idea what went on at that meeting but then we had to hike back up the giant mountain and we continued on to my village.

The aldea Pet is much bigger than Becca’s site. We drove up to the town hall area and when they saw us they immediately started setting off fireworks for us. Then the whole town (about 300 people) filed into the meeting hall and I had to get up and introduce myself in Kanjbol with a microphone. After I said a few words in the Mayan dialect they all started talking amongst themselves. My counterpart told me they were saying how impressed they were with the few words I knew and that I would be fluent in a month…ya right! It was a very nice welcoming and I can tell they are very excited to have me work with them. It is definitely going to be a challenge though because they have barely ever seen Americans before.

This whole site visit we have been staying with Jim and Emily who are a married couple who are finishing their service next week. It has been very helpful talking to them because they were the first Peace Corps presence here ever. They know a lot of the important people and they worked with my new counterpart. They also helped find our housing and everything. I have also got to eat some delicious food whole staying here. So yesterday we all went to the official inauguration of the stove project in an aldea that Jim and Emily worked in. The whole town gathered and there was lots of speeches and music and dancing. The little kids dressed in Halloween masks came out dancing and they pulled all the gringos out in front of everyone. We were out there dancing for like 10 minutes and people kept clapping and loving watching us make fools of our selves. If this is what I have to do to integrate I will do it. After the whole ceremony we went and had a delicious lunch. The whole day was interesting and overwhelming at the same time. I felt welcomed but I felt like I also scared them. It really just made me so anxious to get working in my own site.

This afternoon I am moving my stuff into m house and checking out Pet a little more. I will put more pictures up soon of my new home!

Me, Lindsay and Sam "rearranged" our hotel room for a cuddle fest!

The mountains of Huehuetenango

Walking through a cornfield in one of the aldeas near my site