For the first two weeks of December, an anthropology professor from the University of Denver who did her dissertation near my town came to do work with girls' and women's groups that she helped create through an NGO that she co-founded. I had worked with her before and so while she and her "team" were here I tagged along with them to all of their activities. I had worked with most of the girls' groups on my own before (with the help of the local women's office to coordinate the meetings), so I knew a good number of the girls that we visited. Since it's summer break for schools here, the timing of the professor's visit was perfect since I wouldn't have had very much to do otherwise.

This girl is from the town where I did the overnight camp.

She is holding a picture that she drew that depicts a dream

she has for her future.She wants to be a bilingual secretary (a common vocation in high

schools here)

I was invited to two weddings while the professor was here. The first was Guatemalan (although the newlyweds will both be going to the States to live permanently)

and the other was "American" (a Peace Corps Volunteer with a Guatemalan, again both are going to the States)

We visited some Mayan ruins that I hadn't been to before.

Me, the professor, and her "team"

And on the way home we stopped to watch an erupting volcano.

A few weeks later, I climbed the non-active volcano from the above picture (the one on the right).

I swear we're on top of a volcano!

For Christmas and New Year's, I went with a Guatemalan friend to visit her family. Since I had friends visiting last year for these holidays, I didn't get to see how Guatemalans traditionally celebrate them. Turns out that on both holidays, you eat lots of these:

These are tamales, which are made out of corn dough, mole (a combination of sesame seeds, hot peppers, and chocolate among many other things), raisins, and a little bite of turkey. They are different from Mexican tamales (aka most tamales that you find in the States) because they are bigger, are cooked in banana leaves instead of corn leaves, and the dough is much softer. I didn't really care for tamales very much when I first got here, but after this holiday season they have grown on me.

Guatemalans also traditionally make "ponche", a hot fruit punch with pineapple, raisins, plantain, coconut, and cinnamon:

My favorite Guatemalan Christmas/New Year's tradition is that everyone (4-year-old kids included) sets off fireworks at midnight on both holidays, resulting in the most spectacular panoramic firework display that the 4th of July can't even compete with. The entire sky is lit up with fireworks, both right overhead and in the distance, while little kids set off roman candles and play with sparklers in the street. It's terrifying, but also beautiful.And of course, most Guatemalans go to church on both holidays. My friend's family is Catholic, so I brought in 2012 (literally, at midnight) kneeling on a tile floor trying to keep up with Hail Marys and Our Fathers, in Spanish no less.

Last week, I led what is, in Guatemala (or at least in my small communities) a very strange activity - an overnight camp. Only girls from one middle school were invited and it was only one night, but even so many parents were reluctant to let their daughters out of their house and supervision for a whole night. Fortunately my school director convinced at least some of the parents that this would be a great and beneficial activity for the girls, and so a grand total of 20 (out of about 40) girls showed up to the camp, which really ended up being a perfect number of participants, especially since I was leading the camp by myself. The theme of the camp was leadership and self-esteem, so we did several activities related to that, and I also threw in some sex ed/abstinence activities, a debate, some guest speakers, and a zumba session, as well as several tried-and-true camp games like red light/green light and the human knot.

The school director did an awesome job of helping me prepare for the camp and was clearly really excited about it -

this is a map of the school with the six different classrooms dedicated to different activities - the "dorm", the game

room, the "nurse's office", the TV/music room, the cafeteria, and the classroom.

The director and teachers brought medicines and emergency

medical supplies, as well as some small books for the girls to read

during breaks (which they actually read, to my surprise)

The teachers also made a volleyball net and made soccer goals out of PCV pipes

The human knot

"My personal flag" - girls depict something they want to improve about themselves, what animal they would be, the

person they most admire, what they like most about their country or culture, their biggest dream or aspiration, and

what is most important to them.

Another self-esteem activity in which the girls write positive

things about each other on papers taped to their backs

This girl is "beautiful, good, intelligent, and fun".The sleeping room/cinema - the "movie screen" also serves to block

out 15-year-old boys who try to peek in the room at 11 at night

All-in-all, the camp was pretty successful. Of course, the girls were screaming and laughing until about midnight and promptly woke up at 5:30 in the morning despite having slept on a hard classroom floor, but both they and the parents keep asking me when the next camp is going to be.

The school's graduation was a few days after the camp - this is me with the graduating 9th-grade class

For this year's All Saint's Day (known as Day of the Dead in Mexico) I passed up the drunken horse races that I went to last year and instead went to a festival of giant kites near Antigua, where I lived during training. Note that these pictures are stolen from my friends because I forgot to bring my camera!

Every year on All Saint's Day, Guatemalans go to the cemetery to decorate

the graves of loved ones. This cemetery was next to the kite festival.The cemetery

The people in the kite festival town are mostly indigenous and

so mostly wear "traje" (indigenous dress) like these girls.

My friend and I in front of a kite - the bigger kites (20-50 feet

wide) are just for decoration, but the smaller ones are flown

later in the day. Supposedly the flying kites are believed to be

a "vehicle for speaking with the souls of departed loved ones".

All of the kites had intricate decorations, and the theme of this year seemed to have something to do with protecting "Mother Nature".

This one says "water is worth more than gold".

(Click on a picture to make it bigger)

Like any proper Guatemalan celebration, the festival had lots of delicious street food!

This is a typical "churrasco" (grilled food) that can be found pretty much anywhere in Guatemala.

Just ignore the greenish-looking meat, I swear it's delicious!

About two months ago, the director of one of my schools receiving computers from the computer project I was raising money for a few months ago asked if it would be possible to get the computers in time for the school inauguration on September 3rd. I didn't think it would be possible since I knew the next shipment of computers wouldn't come until January, but it turned out that the computer organization had exactly 15 computers left of the class that we were looking for, and so two days before the inauguration, we drove across the country for 6 hours (leaving at 4 in the morning) to pick up the computers.

Since Guatemalans don't tend to travel around the country as much as we gringos do,

it's exciting for them to get to see new places, even if the purpose of the trip isn't all

that interesting. We took several rest stops on the way to picking up the computers.

This lady was at a rest stop/souvenir stand on the side of the highway - she is

weaving a guipil, which is a traditional Mayan shirt, like the one she is wearing.My director trying on a funny hat at a rest stop overlooking Lake Atitlan.The computers! All packed and ready to make the 6-hour trip to their new

home. Unfortunately, they were fixing the road in the town where the school is,

so the three men in the next picture had to carry the computers to the school.Me, my director, the 8th-grade teacher, and the bus driverThe inauguration of the new school building - I didn't expect there so be so many people! There are only about 75 students in this school.The computers on inauguration day - Poulsen (on the sign) is my last name. They didn't tell me they were making

that sign, and they said they are also in the process of making a permanent plaque with my name on it!Students using the computers

Thank you so much to everyone who donated to this project! The other school will be receiving their 25 computers in January, when the next shipment comes in, just in time for the beginning of the school year.

In the middle school in my town, 3 girls out of approximately 150 students have gotten pregnant in the last year and a half. One of the girls, according to town gossip, had a self-induced abortion - a potentially fatal procedure but often the only option for pregnant girls who don't want to have a baby, since abortion is illegal in Guatemala. The other two girls dropped out of (middle) school and got married, to other middle school students who I believe also dropped out in order to work to support their new families.

It's hard to tell what exactly could be the cause of so many pregnancies and what could possibly be done to prevent future ones. But, it's hard to sit back and do nothing. Sex ed is already a large part of the Peace Corps curriculum that Guatemalan teachers have been using in that school, and through my teacher observations I have seen that the teacher that gives sex ed does a pretty good job of it - she's not afraid to get into details, and always presents correct information. So, not much I could do there.

Remembering a program that my Peace Corps boss had told us about, I went to a local health agency that specializes in sexual health and family planning and asked for information about their "electronic babies" program. In this program, students "adopt" a robot that literally looks and acts just like a baby - it cries when it's hungry, cold, needs it's diaper changed, or is in pain, and doesn't stop crying until it's needs are met. The idea is that the kids will realize how much work it takes to take care of a baby, and what they would have to sacrifice if they were to get pregnant (schooling, free time with friends, etc.).

The project initially wasn't very popular with the parents, who weren't crazy about having a crying robot in their house overnight. But eventually some of them warmed up to it, and because the director was so supportive of the project, he decided to go ahead and make it mandatory for all of the 8th grade students, even for the ones whose parents didn't approve. We decided that the students would pair up to adopt the babies, and that the baby would spend 24 hours (one night) with each student.

Last week, the director of the program came to the school and gave the students a great talk about early pregnancy, concentrating on the harm that it can do to a young girl's body, including causing death. She also talked about responsible parenting, and how one needs to be economically, mentally, and physically mature to adequately support a child. She prepped the students on the baby project, telling them all of the different things they would need to do to adequately care for their "child".

Then, today: the babies! Although the kids weren't too excited at first about the project, the minute that a baby was whipped out of its box, several of the students (especially the girls) got misty-eyed and could wait to hold it. The students were responsible for bringing clothing for the babies, and for naming him/her.

Presenting a baby to the students after the responsible parenthood talk. (Remind anyone else of The Lion King?)

Even though the students weren't excited about the project

at first, many of them got instant googly eyes when

they actually saw the babies

Two male "parents" with their adoptive baby (notice the Spiderman socks)

The students get no choice in the sex or color of their baby, just like in real life. Although many of the students didn't want "morenito/a" (dark) baby,

instead preferring the blanquito/as, the program director explained to them that it's important to love children equally regardless of their

physical appearances. The students' color discrimination mostly traces to the racism against indigenous Guatemalan people, most of whom have

darker skin than non-indigenous people.

The program director "turning on" one of the babies. Notice it's adorable outfit -

the students were responsible for providing the babies' clothing.

Two happy "parents" - these girls told me that the "only problem" was that they were "lesbians", to which I responded that "it's ok, lesbians can have

families too!" They probably thought I was joking (homosexuality is still pretty unacceptable and taboo in Guatemala), but I hope that the

oh-so-obviously gay male student that was standing next to us was paying attention. Also, note that this baby's shirt says "baby got back".

Two more happy "families". Notice the boy holding the (pink) baby bag in the second picture - who says Guatemalan men are machista?

All of the students knew to bring blankets for the babies, and they all wrapped them in the same way, even the boys.

I think they know more about taking care of babies than I do!

Classes today were frequently punctuated by the sounds of babies crying, but fortunately the teachers didn't seem to mind, and were pretty fascinated by the babies. My only hope is that the kids don't fall too in love with their new "children"!

Part I: Stove workshop

A few weeks ago, my most awesome school director and I got invited to a 3-day workshop on how to build "improved stoves". While I recently got the disappointing news that we won't actually be able to do the project in my community (Peace Corps has a rule that volunteers can't do more than one fundraising project at a time, and unfortunately my computer project won't be officially done until January, which won't leave me enough time to start a new project), it was still cool to learn about the stoves, which eliminate many health risks associated with the less-modern open fire stoves - shown below.

Although this kitchen has good ventilation, the smoke pouring out from

this open fire stove is still likely to produce potentially fatal respiratory problems,

including pneumonia. The smoke is especially harmful to children. Open fire

stoves are common in Guatemala, and most often are found in enclosed kitchens.

Peace Corps requires that family members who are receiving the donated stove help in its

construction. This family also was required to provide this clay, which they found locally,

and limestone (the white powder, also found locally). The woman in the picture is the wife/mother

in the family receiving the stove, and she is using a sieve to separate rocks from the clay.

My school director, who surprised me by telling me that he already

knew how to build stoves (though of course he still gained lots of knowledge

from this workshop), is mixing clay with limestone. The limestone makes the

clay - which is used to cement bricks together - more heat-resistant. Observing

him is the Peace Corps Guatemala Country Director (aka head honcho of all of PC

Guatemala), who made a surprise visit to the workshop.

Local volunteers and Peace Corps counterparts spread

the clay/limestone mixture on the half-completed stove.

I was surprised by how much the Guatemalan counterparts

already knew about masonry and stove-building.

Almost done. The arch-shaped hole is where wood/fuel will be inserted

into the stove. The small size of the hole makes the stove much more

fuel efficient than an open fire stove - another major benefit of this

type of stove, as Guatemala is facing deforestation problems and the

price of wood/fuel is rising rapidly.

We made a house visit to a family who had received an improved

stove six months ago, to make sure that it was being maintained

properly and there were no problems with it. Notice the chimney

on the left, which channels smoke out of the house.

Peace Corps paid for everyone to stay at an "eco-lodge", located in the village where we were working. On the roof, we had a spectacular view of Santa Maria volcano (in the background) and the very active Santiaguito volcano (in the foreground, erupting). The night view of the erupting Santiaguito was especially amazing.

Part II: HIV/AIDS activities with girls' groups

I have mentioned in previous blog entries how much I love teaching sex ed. As if Peace Corps were reading my mind, they recently invited me and a local counterpart to attend an HIV/AIDS workshop. Since this counterpart works for the local municipal women's office, which had recently established girls' groups in around 15 nearby middle schools, we decided to use the knowledge we gained from the Peace Corps workshop to conduct HIV/AIDS activities with these girls groups.

In order to make these activities more sustainable, we decided that the "leaders" of these girls groups should be in charge of leading the HIV/AIDS activities for their respective groups. Therefore, my counterpart and I held one four-hour training for these "leaders" on HIV/AIDS and other sex-ed-related topics, and in the last few weeks, I have been going out to the various middle schools to observe/help the leaders do their own activities in their schools.

In this ice-breaker activity, students identify slang and euphemistic terms for sexual organs

and other potentially uncomfortable topics. We then discuss why it is important to use

proper/scientific names. Obviously, this activity can be embarrassing and/or funny.

In this activity, students differentiate between actions/activities that can and can't

potentially transmit HIV (shaking hands, getting bit by a mosquito, getting a tattoo, etc.)

While condom use is relevant to HIV/AIDS education, my counterpart and I also added

some activities related to pregnancy and STDs to really drive home the importance of condom

use. Here, students ask participants to literally move them around, so that the posters they are

holding are put in order according to the steps of correct condom use. We also included multiple

activities related to abstinence.

It's impossible to convey in a picture, but on the way to one of the schools, I had the most spectacular view of San Pedro/San Marcos and my town. Seeing all of the intricate mountains and valleys from an aerial view for the first time made me finally understand why it takes me so long to get anywhere! And also why my town is shaped like a long, skinny peninsula - there are steep valleys on either side of it, on which building houses or planting crops would be nearly impossible.

DAYS 14 & 15 (last two days in Guatemala):

I wake up before any trace of sunrise. Is it morning? 4:30 am. Travel has messed up my night-owl tendencies. Every couple of minutes, lightning bursts silently between the two volcanos on the other side of Lake Atitlán. I wonder if a storm will move toward us and whip up the lake, maybe prevent boats from shuttling people to Panajachel where our day's travels need to begin. Will we get stranded here?

The storm passes. One last time we ride the boat to Pana, where we ask a tuk-tuk driver to take us to the post office. He tells Elizabeth that it's far away and will therefore cost 15 quetzales ($2 US). We agree to the price. The post office turns out to be only a few blocks away. My assertive daughter tells the driver that he lied about the post office being far away and that he's overcharging us. He claims to have said, "It's a little far away." Illogically, he insists on the price that we agreed to. Elizabeth presses the money into his hand with a firm, "Be honest."

I mail off my final box of souvenirs (paying almost as much to ship them as to buy them), and then we board a 9:30 am shuttle van for Antigua. For three hours we read, knit, nap, gawk at the countryside, and chat with the other travelers, who've come from New Zealand and Germany and elsewhere. It's a heady feeling to be surrounded by people with such varied backgrounds and accents, all of us randomly brought together for this moment of shared experience.

12:30. Antigua. Holistico Hostal. This hostel is where we'll spend our last night in Guatemala. We unload, set up our rooms, and make our way to Kaffe Fernando for empanadas.

What a two weeks it has been. Kaffe Fernando has a novel way to entertain its patrons.

The empanadas at Kaffe Fernando are the best we've found.

This Mayan woman, Sonia, has a display in Kaffe Fernando

next to our table. Here, she demonstrates "backstrap" weaving.

Backstrap weaving.

Backstrap weaving (with backstrap).

Backstrap weaving (with cat).

This is the tablecloth I've been looking for. The weave pattern is ajichá,

which is Kacqchikel (Sonia's particular Mayan language) for pine needle.

Sonia calls me Masha, which she says is a nickname for Tomasa.

Brian gets his own room at the hostel.

The courtyard at the hostel. A trip like this challenges my powers of description.

I try anyhow. "Beautiful. Great. Super. Amazing."

Somebody give me some new adjectives. Our last meal.

The 2-for-1 tacos at Frida's turn into 4-for-2s.

Cheese-stretchingly yummilicious,

or as Brian says, scrumtrillescent.

I'm still wearing my friendship bracelet as I write this caption. There you have it, dear readers, my 14-part attempt to share the adventure of a lifetime. I sure have enjoyed writing about it. To any of you who have read all the way through to this final paragraph, you have my admiration for your persistence. Here's wishing you many adventures of your own!

DAY 11 (last day in Champollap):

Sleep, sweet sleep. We sleep in -- what a luxurious indulgence -- until 11 this morning.

It's a day for errands and chores. In San Pedro, we pick up laundry and send off a box of souvenirs at the post office. Back home, we replace the vinyl sheet on Elizabeth's long kitchen "counter" (table) and replace the foil on her countertop stove. It feels good to stay home the rest of the afternoon. Quiet, relaxed time.

Re-covering the kitchen "counter" At 5:00 we meet up with Elizabeth's host family. The six of us squeeze into a van for a ride back to San Pedro, where we walk around the market, the last time for me and Brian. Then we take a taxi (Brian in the front seat, the rest of us packed -- oddly comfortably -- in the back) to San Marcos for dinner at Cotzic.

Dinner at Cotzic. Elizabeth's host family all order sandwiches.

(Mayan women, I'm told, do not smile for photos. They smile plenty otherwise.)

A gazebo in San Marcos Everywhere we go, Elizabeth's two "brothers"

play Let's See Who's Taller.

Back home in "Champo" the six of us have cake, exchange gifts, and then hit the sack. A perfect last day in Elizabeth's home.

Once again, sweet sleep....

DAYS 12 & 13 (Lake Atitlán):

Six hours, six vehicles, $70. That's what it takes to get the three of us to our hotel on Lake Atitlán.

van to San Pedro taxi to the bus stop in San Pedro bus to Xela van to the parque in Xela shuttle (five-seater) to Panajachel on Lake Atitlán boat to our hotel

Yesterday's newspaper showed a landslide on a main road

near our route. Today we're lucky: no landslides for us.

The only way to get to our hotel on Lake Atitlán is by boat. Our guest room at La Casa del Mundo is

on a lush, steep hillside overlooking Lake Atitlán.

On our balcony at La Casa del Mundo

overlooking Lake Atitlán.

All guests eat dinner together "family style"

at La Casa del Mundo.

Decorations abound at La Casa del Mundo. A pamphlet in our room assures us that local spiders and scorpions

are not poisonous, and that the spiders, good sports that they are,

stay on the walls. No word on the sportsmanship of the scorpions.

To describe Lake Atitlán is to sound like a brochure:

beautiful, tranquil, magic.... Brian rules the real estate world at La Casa del Mundo.

Elizabeth on the Casa del Mundo dock. I love this photo.

Panajachel (aka Pana, aka Gringotenango) is all about buying and selling.

While we eat breakfast, three Mayan women laden with

gorgeous fabric items come up to our table.

Teresa, shown here, has just demonstrated how to

wrap long hair with special ribbon to create this "do." This is one of the few areas in Guatemala where men commonly wear traje.

Some of the plants that grow on Lake Atitlán

grow nowhere else in the world.

How do I feel to be here with these fine young adults whom I'm privileged to call my children?

Full of gratitude and awe.

DAY 10 (hot springs):

Six hours, eight bumpy vehicles. That's what it takes to get to and from the hot springs in Zunil. It's worth every bump.

These guys hopped on to the back of the bus and rode with us for several miles.

DAY 9 continued:

Corral Grande might not be the perfect place to live if you're fond of rubble-free roads...

... but if you were a banana tree, you'd be happy to live in this valley. You'd also look like an alien.

In the afternoon, we leave Corral Grande behind and return to San Pedro for some shopping.

Q: What do things cost in Guatemala?A: A lot less that I'm used to.

Examples (in US $):small fashion scarf, $2 square of loose-woven cloth (maletera), $3 necklace, $4 name-brand used clothing in great condition - shirt, $1; vest, $5 big bunch of spinach, 50 cents 1 banana, 50 cents 1 red pepper, 30 cents For $1 you can get two bananas and a smile.

These maleteras ($3 each) smelled like a barn when I bought them.They came through a cold-water wash beautifully.

With a selection like this, how do you choose?

The traje of San Pedro (not counting the boots).

DAY 9 (Corral Grande):

At 7 a.m. we hop in a van full of teachers for our wildest ride yet to Elizabeth's third school. This road, which drops straight down almost at the edge of our tires, is often blocked off during rainy season because of landslides. We got lucky; no landslides today.

We're told that people who live in Corral Grande, our destination, commonly dream of going to America so that they can earn enough money to move out of this bowl-like valley and live in San Pedro where they would have easy access to grocery stores and where the landslides couldn't trap them.

On the road to Elizabeth's third school

The bus can only take us so far. The son of Elizabeth's school director picks us up in his truck and takes us the rest of the way to his family's house. The director's daughter serves us coffee the way Guatemalans assume everyone drinks it: black and super sweet. As we sit in a small room that includes a single bed, the director talks animatedly about the computers that Elizabeth's project will bring to his school. In rapid-fire Spanish, he tells Elizabeth about a man who has volunteered to build the computer tables that the students will need. He smiles often at me and Brian and asks us questions through Elizabeth.

The director invites us to spend the night at their house in the event that the expected rain makes the roads impassable. (Luckily, we don't need to take him up on the offer.)

We walk to the newly constructed school to meet up with Elizabeth's reading group. They've been reading Harry Potter. Today's group is much larger than usual -- the readers have brought a bunch of friends to watch the Harry Potter movie that Elizabeth has brought. One of the boys runs a long extension cord from a neighbor's house over to the school, snaking it through a window to provide power for the TV. (Electricity will be available here eventually; construction is still underway.)

A neighbor lends electricity to the school.

Hooking up the TV for movie time. Harry sounds a little different here. During the Harry Potter movie, the students are

more attentive than Elizabeth has ever seen them. After movie time, we return to the director's house for lunch. Lucky us! The women have prepared a feast. We start with a chicken-and-rice soup with potatoes and carrots. Fresh palm-size tortillas pile up in front of us as they come off the stove. Plates appear full of baked chicken and rice with a cucumber-onion-tomato salad. Delicious, every bite.

A home-cooked meal. No better way to make people feel "We're glad you're here." Making tortillas. Six are baking on the stove top. No fast food happening here.

When we finish our meal, we exchange gifts: I give them chocolate and souvenirs from Oregon; the director's wife presents me with an embroidered tablecloth. I'm grateful that Elizabeth has found her way to people of such generosity and warmth.

The director's wife gives me an embroidered tablecloth

just like the one I've been admiring on the family's own table.

I will never forget these matter-of-fact words from Elizabeth: "The baño is outside. There's no light. Use the bucket to flush."

After lunch, the director shows us some Mayan artifacts that he has dug up in his back yard while planting vegetables.

Imagine finding something in your yard that was

carved by human hands over a thousand years ago.

More Mayan artifacts.

Really, can you imagine holding these things? [Day 9 to be continued]

It's Tuesday. There's been no running water at Elizabeth's place since we arrived Saturday night. We've heard that a pipe has burst in town; the sewer system can't handle all the rain.

Correction: We had water this morning. We thought the pipe was fixed. I got a whole shower. Brian got half of a shower. Elizabeth got a bucket bath with rain water that she heated on her stove.

This unit heats shower water at the point of use --

on days that you have water.

Today we will head out to the second school where Elizabeth works, in Chapil. First, though, we take the now-familiar ride to San Pedro. Elizabeth picks up some poster paper, then the three of us pick up lunch -- huge, delicious sandwiches. The rain drips right into the restaurant as we're eating.

Generous portions at this restaurant.

Cappuccino fan.

The waitress calmly slid this plant to the middle

of the floor to catch the rain.

Money can't buy you love, but in San Pedro

it buys you joy(a)... jewelry.

Mickey, Sponge Bob, Elmo, Pooh... American icons abound. Now that's an entrepreneur.

A half-hour van ride from San Pedro, and we're in Chapil.

Elizabeth's second school.

Elizabeth helps the Social Studies teacher with a lesson on job hunting.

This classroom is shared: elementary students use it in the mornings,

middle-schoolers use it in the afternoons.

Elizabeth supports teachers in the use of Peace Corps materials.

She seems right at home in this classroom.

Before we know it, the day is over, and we find ourselves at home relaxing... or not.

Back home, Brian and Elizabeth wash dishes in the pila.

Outside. In the dark. In the rain. With cold water.

What's not to smile about?

DAY 7 (Champollap):

Today we go to San Pedro to the market. Then we return to Champollap and visit the closest of Elizabeth's three schools. Here's a visual sampling of the day.

We've just gotten out of the van in San Pedro.

Elizabeth explains to this girl that No, her mom [I] can't sponsor her to go to the United States.

(Elizabeth isn't sure who this girl is. She says, "Everyone in Champollap knows who I am.")

Babies ride on their moms' backs tied up in an all-purpose

square of fabric called a maletera (a variant of suitcase).

Beautiful embroidery. Women whip these maleteras

into place lickety-split, like making a pony tail.

There's always time for puppies.

For sale at the San Pedro market.

Guatemalan women start learning to carry things on their heads when they're little girls.

(Boys and men hunch over and use their backs instead.)

To help support and balance the load, sometimes women

twist a cloth into a donut-shaped crown.

Other times they use nothing. (Can't tell in this picture. Didn't ask.)

One of our happiest food discoveries: pupusas.

(This painting is on the wall at the restaurant that we

sought out for these wonderful stuffed fried pancakes.)

Pupusas, hot off the griddle. The whole lunch came to $7.

Jalepeno cole slaw. The bite that keeps on biting.

My favorite photo of the trip.

Back in Champollap, heading to school. The director of the school shows us the room -- complete with bars on the

windows -- where they'll install the computers from Elizabeth's project.

On our walk home, we smell bread and follow our noses.

Is any other smell as enticing?

Back at Elizabeth's house, buns and cookies in hand.

Elizabeth has the whole top floor.

Strangely, all of these buns and cookies had the same slight sweetness.

A view from Elizabeth's window.

You have to watch your step when walking through the corn field

that is Elizabeth's back yard.

Corn toes!

I got shorter here.

A girl from Elizabeth's reading group.

Some roads in Champollap are becoming more passable,

one brick at a time.

No more potholes.

DAY 6 (Champollap):

This is our first day at Elizabeth's place. The wake-up call came from her host family's turkeys in back of the house and the neighbor's cow across the street.

We didn't stay in Champollap long. The three of us -- and 31 other people! -- squished into a 12-person van for a 20-minute ride to San Pedro. That's an intimate group, especially considering the jostling effect of all the potholes. A second van ride, also jammed, took us to Quetzaltenango, aka Xela ("Shay-la").

Vans (a popular mode of public transportation here) are tricked out with extra

benches and folding seats to create places for an impossible number of people to sit.

The young man who works the door and takes our money sometimes

has to hang out of the sliding door, holding onto a bar as the van barrels

along through traffic. Babies always get the best seats.

In most of these seats, legs as long as Brian's have nowhere to go.

In Xela, we pick up a replacement blender for Elizabeth (at Wal-Mart) and a bunch of groceries for the week's meals.

Two more van rides later, back home, the three of us use Elizabeth's camp stove to cook up chili and cornbread.

Elizabeth's host family comes up for dinner -- their first time ever eating chili. It's a pleasure to have these delightful people at our table. They stay for hours.

Elizabeth's host mom tells Brian (in Spanish with Elizabeth translating) that he'll never

get used to Guatemala until he finds a girlfriend here.

DAY 5 (Antigua > Champollap):

This morning we'll head out for Elizabeth's village, Champollap, where we'll spend a week. To fortify ourselves for the day-long trip, we hit up our favorite breakfast place, the Bagel Barn. Here's what we order.

Brian: The "Uncle Sammy" (potatoes, eggs, bacon, and cheese) on a sesame bagel, a cappuccino, and a watermelon-mint smoothie. Elizabeth: Half of a sweet-pepper-and-cilantro bagel with herbed garlic butter and a strawberry-cilantro smoothie. Mom: The other half of Elizabeth's bagel and a Maya-nut smoothie.

The nutrient-rich Maya nut used to be a staple food in indigenous (preHispanic) cultures.

The nut is reportedly making a come-back. Good for people, good for rainforests.

After breakfast, we happen upon a parade of Miss Antigua contestants with their escorts and their parasols. Some of the couples are on foot, others in horse-drawn carriages. No use protesting the desire of women around the world and across the centuries to be judged beautiful as long as men desire them accordingly. It's a long parade.

The Miss Antigua parade

11:00 am - Van to Guatemala City (aka Guate). 1:30 pm - Bus to San Marcos.7:20 pm - Taxi to Champollap.

The taxi driver who takes us to Elizabeth's door refuses to negotiate on his asking price -- the only time I ever saw this happen. He wants the full 35 quetzales (almost $5) to make the 20-minute drive to Champollap. The road is that bad, he says.

We thought we had been on bad roads before this. Hah! This is a road that you feel every inch of, no matter how slowly the vehicle is going. There's no avoiding the potholes. (Tomorrow we'll get to see them in the light of day.)

The road to Champollap

Finally, around 8 pm, we're home. Elizabeth's very own place!

Margarita and her new playmate

DAY 4 (Antigua):

In the morning Elizabeth has her mid-service medical checkup at Peace Corps headquarters, which is in the nearby town of Santa Lucia Milpas Altas (St. Lucy of the high cornfields). While Elizabeth gets her checkup, I explore the courtyard. Bumpy green balls litter the ground under an avocado tree. Marimba music wafts from the open windows of the school next door. I'm happy to know that Elizabeth has health care.

By the time we get back to our hotel in Antigua, the hot water has all been used, which Elizabeth discovers during her shower.

Lunch is Middle Eastern: chicken for Elizabeth, kibbeh for me, shawarma for Brian. It's his first time eating this kind of food; he likes it.

Next stop, the tourist market: booth after booth of scrumptious textiles, jewelry, chocolates, souvenirs of all kinds. "You like?" say the vendors. "I have more colors! How much you give me for thees beautiful cloth? My mother embroider it. Take two weeks." I couldn't begin to speak their language as well as they do mine. I'm grateful to have Elizabeth next to me to do the expected negotiating. "Where are you from in America?" asks the woman from whom I've just bought some placemats and napkins. "Tell your friends, when they come to Antigua, come to the market. Stand number one." She points overhead to the number. (Friends, consider yourselves told.)

Mid-afternoon finds us asking for directions to the dentist's office. Elizabeth doesn't want to be late for her appointment. The address is elusive. Five times we stop to ask how to get there. Five times we get answers that turn out to be as wrong as they were confident. "Never ask Guatemalans," Elizabeth says. "They'll answer you even if they don't know."

Finally, we find the dentist. Tooth check, check!

The evening is relaxed. It's our last night in Antigua until the very end of our visit. Tomorrow we'll travel west to Champollap, Elizabeth's home. For now, good night.

DAY 3 (Copán Ruinas in Honduras > Antigua):

It's still dark when I'm awakened by the sounds of roosters and trucks and dogs and birds. No wonder Elizabeth uses ear plugs. Will daylight never come?

And then morning is here. The sun makes for an eerily cheerful welcome to the Mayan ruins. If last night's dancing suspended time, this massive site spins us backward to the eighth century. That's when this ominous civilization was thriving, thanks, so they thought, to the regular offerings of human blood. A run-of-the-mill sacrifice consisted of a mere sampling that the community's own king willingly donated from a pierced ear or other tender body part. For big occasions, like the end of a calendar cycle, a less voluntary sacrifice was required, like the life of a rival community's king. The Mayans were also serious sports fans. Let's just say, you didn't want to lose at a game of "juego de pelota."

During the hours that we walk these grounds, we see well-fed, practically tame macaws flying free. We see giant trees. We see exotic flowers. We see ghosts. Our feet are ready to stop long before we've seen it all. But we keep walking and climbing and walking some more. To think, the majority of these ruins haven't even been excavated for the public to explore yet.

As noon approaches, we hop in a tuk-tuk. This funny little three-wheeled "auto rickshaw" has exactly enough space for the three of us and a driver. It takes only a few minutes to get back to Copán Ruinas -- and to our own century. In the town square, Brian and Elizabeth talk movies with some men selling DVDs. I resist (and then give in to) a hard-selling girl who wants $1 for the ugliest corn-husk doll you can imagine, and that's saying something. Have you ever seen a good-looking corn-husk doll? (Photo below. Tell me I'm exaggerating.)

After all the walking, we're ready for the long bus ride back to Antigua. As soon as we arrive, we grab, of all things, sushi. Wonderful sushi it is too (and sesame chicken) at one of Elizabeth's favorite restaurants: Nokiate Asian Latino Kitchen.

Guatemala grows on a person.

[Post #3 in my mom's account of her and my brother's July visit]

DAY 2 (Antigua > Copán Ruinas in Honduras):

In the morning we indulge in the familiar with breakfast at The Bagel Barn. Like many local eateries, this one gives Peace Corps volunteers 20% off its already low prices. (Restaurant meals rarely cost us more than $5 apiece.) The peppers and cilantro in the bagels and spreads confirm that we're not in New York any more.

While exploring the city, we stumble on the Colonial Art Museum, which admits Elizabeth for free. This Peace Corps thing is coming in handy. I feel honored by association. The museum houses mostly dreary helmeted men on horseback and gruesome tortured saints. Mercifully, the collection is small. My favorite part of the museum is the courtyard, which will turn out to be a common feature of all kinds of buildings in Antigua.

When we return to the Bagel Barn for strawberry-cilantro smoothies at lunch time, the place is closed because the staff are overwhelmed with the making of hundreds of bagels to feed the US Marines landing on the coast (none of us knows why) the next day. The woman who explains this to us in very broken English through a barely open door, and who eventually slips us in for smoothies after all, seems excited at this invitation to feed American troops.

Her enthusiasm relaxes something in me. Only fifty years ago, my country's CIA instigated the overthrow of Guatemala's democratically elected president (more here), setting off a 30-year civil war that stole family members from everyone we meet (more here). Only last October, President Obama apologized for the recently disclosed experiments conducted by the U.S. government in the 1940s, infecting 1,600 Guatemalans with STDs (more here). Time has passed, sure. But this Bagel Barn employee's eagerness to support the U.S. military surprises me. Guatemalans could be forgiven for wanting to keep their bagels to themselves.

At 1:30, we board a tourist van headed for the town of Copán Ruinas, Honduras, home of some of the most extensive Mayan ruins in Central Amercia. Elizabeth has been there before and doesn't want us to miss it. (The more famous ruins at Tikal, her first choice, are off limits to Peace Corps volunteers because of the murders there last May.)

Over the course of the ride, the radio leaps from one era, genre, and language to another. Cat Stevens croons "Morning Has Broken," a song that takes me back to junior high. Rappers belt out who-knows-what in staccato Spanish. We hear marimbas, drums, trumpets. Some songs have an African feel. A man in the front seat occasionally bursts into a singalong. Elizabeth and Brian play Angry Birds or flip through pictures on my iPod or sleep. I read or knit or study the nearly vertical corn fields and the changes in the weather. Halfway to our desination, we stop to stretch and buy food at a truck stop. (Tip: Never get empanadas at a truck stop. Do get the plaintain chips.) At the end of the sweltering seven-hour trip, the AC suddenly kicked in. Welcome to Honduras.

We drop our bags at our whimsically colorful hostel, Iguana Azul. The floors here, as at the Burkhard, are rug-free tile, pretty and cold. The place is refreshingly clean.

We wander back to the main street and walk into the first restaurant we see, Via Via. Elizabeth recommends baleadas: large flour tortillas folded in half, filled with whatever you ask for andserved with the picante sauces that we would come to crave. Our table overlooks the sidewalk, where an emaciated dog (just look at his ribs!) with a grotesquely drooping lower lip (look at his poor mouth!) gazes up at us. We discuss the cons of tossing scraps to our unfortunate neighbor, including the probability that the restaurant owners wouldn't want to encourage vagrancy. The pros prevail. We (and Rover) finish the meal just in time to join, or in Brian's case watch, the salsa-dancing crowd of gringos who are here for the same reason we are: to see the Mayan ruins the next day.

For now, though, the dance is the thing. The salsa teacher — the very man who belted out songs with the radio a few hours earlier — grabs Elizabeth and demonstrates the steps with her through one hootinous, trumpet-blaring, syncopated song after another. All eyes are on the two of them.

Right, together, left, together, spin!

Furl, unfurl, furl.

Right, together, left, together, spin!

Despite my own nine-year-old partner's confusion over which foot to move when, I'm whisked into dance time, a heady suspension of time, a feeling that we could keep on dancing forever, that maybe we have already been dancing forever. Brian must feel like he's been sitting there forever by the time Elizabeth and I finally do stop, slick with sweat and thirsty enough to pay whatever the bartender might want for bottled water.

Suspended time. Vacations give us that. They let us stop the world and get off. That timelessness is a feeling you don't want to let go of, even to go to sleep.

Part of the seven-hour ride to Copán Ruinas goes by quickly thanks to

childhood photos on my iPod.

Other parts of the trip drag.

Half of a baleada with rice, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo

Elizabeth salsa dancing at Viavia.

At our hostel, Iguana Azul, not yet ready for sleep.

DAY 1 (upstate New York > Antigua):

The day has come. Brian and I fly from Syracuse, New York, over the Finger Lakes (including a

clear view of Seneca Lake, where Brian and Elizabeth spent their growing-up years — snap goes

the camera button on his Droid); over the lush, uninhabited hills of Pennsylvania; over the rest of

the east coast to Atlanta for a layover; over the Gulf; and finally over the country that we've been

planning for a year to visit: Guatemala. Now Guatemala City. We're here.

Outside the airport, Elizabeth — how sweet to see her face — rescues us from the crowd of taxi

drivers vying to "help" us with our wheeled suitcases, which require one finger to maneuver. Her

Spanish flows soft and fast. We've got the suitcases, gracias. Gracias, no. No, no "teep." I want

her to keep talking just so I can listen to the music of her words.

Our 45-minute taxi ride to Antigua ends with the driver zooming the wrong way down a one-way

street — backwards — to deposit us at the Hotel Burkhard.

After unloading, we head out for food. Elizabeth, who comes to Antigua often for Peace Corps

meetings and for recreation, knows where to go: Sabe Rico. It's like dining in our own private

jungle. Surrounded by fruit trees, we have to get smoothies. We order entrees that we might have

ordered at home: curry burger, veggie burger, chicken with avocado. Avocados, we learn, are as

common here as apples in New York. The papas (fried potatoes) are delicious: muy rico. When

rain hits, we're glad that our table is under a large umbrella. It will rain almost every afternoon of

our trip. July is the middle of the rainy season, which Guatemalans call winter even though

they're well above the equator.

Back at our hotel room, overseen by two large velvet paintings of distinctly unvelvety

conquistadors, we settle in. Brian immediately gets on Facebook on his laptop courtesy of the

hotel's free wifi. Elizabeth checks out our Droids, her first time touching a smartphone. ("I'm not

ready for this," says this tech savvy girl in one breath, quickly followed by "Mom, when you

upgrade, can I have yours?")

At night, all three of us being "of age" by Guatemalan law, we indulge in margaritas at Frida's

"Cocina Mexicana & Bar." Then we peruse the warehouse-size indoor market, Nim Po't. At

every turn in this narrow-sidewalked, cobblestone-paved town whose very name means "old,"

we discover garishly floodlit remains of buildings that tumbled during the earthquake of 1773.

My camera attaches itself to my hand, where it stays for the next 14 days.

I took this photo as our taxi was zooming backwards the wrong

way. Apparently, the arrow simply indicates which direction the

nose of your vehicle has to face.

Our room at the Hotel Burkhard. What sounded like thunder turned out

to be traffic rumbling down the cobblestone an arm's length from our window.

Our room at the Hotel Burkhard. Brian was happy to

discover that free wifi was everywhere in Antigua.

A Mayan woman selling textiles on the sidewalk outside Nim Po't. Note her

child's feet poking out from the cloth that keeps him securely strapped to her back.

Junior pops 'round to the front.

South Seneca falcon meets Mayan falcon at Nim Po't.

Elizabeth at Nim Po't, home of world's largest retail Maya (indigenous) textile collection.

Frida's Mexican restaurant celebrates the life and art of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, whose work has been described as "a ribbon around a bomb."

Brian and I are dwarfed by one of Antigua's many ruins, reminders of the devastating 1773 earthquake. The Spanish invaders, as shaken as the buildings, moved the capital to its current location, Guatemala City

[Post #1 in a series of guest posts from my mom after she and my brother visited in July]

Hi. Marcia here, mom of Elizabeth, aka Seño Leez or sometimes just Seño. A month ago I didn't know that this title (roughly "Ms.") existed. I had never even wondered how the people who live and work with my daughter address her. It's one of the many things that my son and I discovered during our two-week visit.

I can hardly stand to think that this trip almost didn't happen. Neither Brian nor I had been inclined to go. We had no hankering to see Central America or to travel at all. But Elizabeth wanted us to come down. And other parents of Peace Corps volunteers who had visited their children all came home saying the same thing: Vaya.

So we did it. Brian and I got the passports and the shots and the airplane tickets and the raincoats and the translation apps. I braced myself for the worst. Earthquakes, violence, drug running: here we come.

We never did feel an earthquake, although one reportedly happened while we were there. As for violence, the worst we experienced was getting accosted by vendors who forced armfuls of beautiful weavings on us while we were eating at restaurants or mailing packages at the post office. The closest we got to drug activity was Brian's pursuit of Pepto-Bismol a few days after we arrived.

The worst thing for me was the dirt. Many roads were made of it: hard, corrugated earth. Cars and trucks and buses belched out exhaust the color of coal dust. (On our first day Elizabeth warned us that our boogers might turn black. I'd call it grey.) Some of the "better" hotel rooms — no bed bugs, no cucarachas — sported furry cobwebs and grimy ledges, and they smelled of ancient mildew. Our running water didn't always run: dishes didn't get washed, showers didn't get taken, toilets didn't get flushed. Used toilet paper was universally directed into waste baskets to avoid overwhelming the plumbing systems. Litter decorated the roadsides. What garbage did make it to the dump (including the unflushed TP) got burned, dispersing invisible nasties into the air. You could taste the acridness as much as smell it. The taste attached itself to the back of my throat, where I could almost feel a sooty spot developing. No wonder respiratory problems were common in this country.

But considering the devastating scenarios that I'd been prepared for — in part from reading about the hundreds of thousands who'd been killed in Guatemala in the recent decades of political violence, in part from seeing the movie "Sin Nombre," which conveys the desperation of young people sucked into gangs in a region of Mexico that's close to Elizabeth's town — I didn't mind putting up with dirt and inconvenience. It helped me to think of our two weeks as a camping trip.

In fact, the backdrop of grunge served as an aesthetic booster. It highlighted the brilliant, grime-fighting colors that shouted to us from building exteriors, paintings, tablecloths, hammocks, and the traditional Mayan clothing that many of the women wore every day: shocking greens and oranges, scalding pinks and scarlets, electrifying blues and purples, screaming yellows, piercing whites. A walk through a typical market was blinding, as if a huge box of neon crayons had exploded. The color combinations zinged up my optic nerve to that pleasure spot just this side of pain. The more I saw, the more I wanted to see. I couldn't get my eyes full enough.

Like a weaver of one of those unrelentingly dazzling wall hangings, Seño Leez created an experience for us of one mind-blowing day after another. I plan to describe each day in a series of blog posts so that some of the richness of that visit will be available to all of you who have an interest in Elizabeth's life in Guatemala.

The vendor next to our first hotel (in Antigua).

Sabe Rico, our first restaurant (yes, restaurant). The green fruits growing on the tree to the left are oranges; the fruit hanging from the tree on the right is a pomegranate.

So this one time I didn't update my blog for over a month. However, during this one time, I went to Belize, then an all-volunteer conference and 4th of July party, then my mom and brother came to visit for two weeks, then another friend came for a few days, and then I had another Peace Corps conference. Since my mom will be covering her trip in a later blog entry, I figured I just make this one about Belize.

There's not much to say about my trip to Belize except that it was amazingly fun and relaxing and delicious. I went with one of my Peace Corps friends, and the two of us spent the week lying on the beach, watching iguanas and howler monkeys in the jungle, and discovering our new-found love for lobster: lobster quiche, lobster dumplings, lobster quesadillas, and most of all - red Thai curry with lobster. Sometimes Peace Corps life can be really hard...

The biggest species of kingfisher in the world

I swear it's a manatee!

A termite nest

Bats

More bats

Today, I went to my "favorite" community - the one that's south of me and much hotter then my site, even though it's only an hour away. Lately I've been walking there (about 2 hours) because there aren't busses in the morning, but today I got lucky and got a "jalón" - a ride in from someone who lives in the community. On my walk back I took these pictures:

Baby bananas

Not sure what this is, maybe coffee?

Although as a Peace Corps Volunteer I am supposed to (and do) refrain from any sort of political activity, including even discussing politics, I do think that the current political situation in Guatemala is interesting, and I hope that whoever is responsible for monitoring Peace Corps blogs in Washington will be so kind as to let me keep this post up :)

Legally starting in May and illegally starting many months before that are Guatemalan presidential campaigns. Elections are this September, and since many Guatemalans don't have TVs, radios, and are illiterate, the primary form of campaigning for the approximately 1 million candidates (from what I can tell) looks something like this:

Almost all of the posters in this picture are of political parties and/or presidential candidates

You'll note that the presidential candidate on the left of this picture is named Sandra Torres. A few months ago, her name was Sandra Torres de Colom. This means that a few months ago, she was married to someone whose last name is Colom. Specifically, she was married to Alvaro Colom, the current president of Guatemala. Because the Guatemalan constitution states that relatives (including spouses) of current or former Guatemalan presidents cannot run for presidency, she was legally unable to run for president while still married to Alvaro Colom. So they divorced. So that she could run for president. I generally pick up a few new swearwords when I overhear Guatemalans talking about her.

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but it is taken from inside a bus, looking at a stone cliff on the side of the highway. All of the paintings

are of political parties. Pretty much every highway (and lamp-post, and curb, and mini-store, and anything else paintable) in Guatemala

looks like this right now.

So I lost my camera in March, but the other day I finally got my new one, so I promise to post more frequently now! Here was my day today:

I almost always have mornings free, and this morning I spent reading my camera user's manual (hope you're proud, Mom) and taking pictures out my kitchen window - these are decorations to celebrate the new paved street that was installed in my town, although for some reason they only in the ~1/4 mile stretch of road that is right in front of my house.

In the afternoon, I had classes in the school in my town. These 7th-graders are doing a leadership activity - the boy has to guess which one of the girls

is leading the others in doing different actions/motions, with the teacher (in the black sweater) supervising. Then they did a brainstorm on characteristics

of leaders, and discussed if and how young people could be leaders in their communities.

I feel so lucky to have a job where many times a month, I return home feeling exhilarated and energized, and with a strange urge to tell everyone around me how great life is. This happened to me multiple times this week, including just now as I returned home from giving a parent's workshop in one of my schools.

I arrived to the school (an hour away) only to realize that I had completely forgotten to bring all of the posters that I had prepared for the workshop, which contained all of the information that I was planning to use. So after some frantic running around, calling a Peace Corps friend to quickly e-mail me the materials and hurriedly copying everything onto the classroom whiteboard, I finally (even more nervously) started the workshop.

The topic of the workshop (per the request of the school director) was discipline - a topic which I am clearly no expert on since I don't have children and haven't studied how to be a parent, but thanks to the Peace Corps resources I felt confident that I was fairly sound advice. I explained the drawbacks of using physical punishment as a means of discipline, explaining that giving "appropriate consequences" to children is more effective. I gave examples such as taking away privileges, giving extra housework, charging money for damages, withholding allowance, and grounding. I also explained that consequences are more effective when they are related with the "offense" - if a boy uses his mom's money to buy himself ice cream instead of the rice she asked him to buy, then he should have to pay back the money or maybe get his allowance withheld.

The second half of the workshop was dedicated to an activity in which a group of parents were given a scenario in which a child broke a rule, and the parents had to come up with an "appropriate consequence" to punish the child. In the first workshop (there were 3, each 45 minutes long, with different groups of parents) the parents didn't really get it, saying that they would just tell the child that what they did was wrong, and maybe hit them, "but only a little bit". For the second workshops, I made sure to explain the activity more clearly, and read the examples of consequences out loud a second time since many of the parents are illiterate (which I forgot about during the first workshop).

The first group of parents (in the second workshop), again, didn't really get it. Then the second group got up, and blew me away. They spontaneously chose to act out their scenario, so that two grown women were pretending to be two little boys running around the house who break their parents' mirror. The "parents" calmly admonished them, and informed them that as a consequence, they would have to give the parents enough money to buy a new mirror. The "boys" responded: "Wow parents, I can tell that you must have been going to a parent's school where a nice lady from America gave you some advice on how to be a parent!" I laughed out loud and literally had to restrain myself from jumping up and down out of happiness that someone had finally understood the activity. The majority of the rest of the parents for the rest of the afternoon also gave great answers/consequences, although no one else acted out their scenarios.

Anyway, so obviously this was a small victory, but since victories in Peace Corps can often seem hard to come by, when they do come by it makes me (obviously) quite ecstatic!

Since Guatemala is both a very religious and very celebration-prone country (refer to my previous comments about constant school cancellations), it will come as no surprise that the whole week before Easter is a huge national celebration. Some friends and I decided to take advantage of this time off work by spending the week in Antigua, where Semana Santa (Easter week) is celebrated extra-heavily. I didn’t have my camera on this trip (I lost it a while ago and haven’t gotten a new one, also why I haven’t updated in a while), so all of these pictures are stolen from my friends.

I couldn’t find the story behind these “alfombras”, since the only thing that comes up on Google when I search it is Antigua Guatemala during Semana Santa, but I know that they are common in all parts of the country for various religious holidays. But, the ones in Antigua right before Easter are the biggest and most intricate. We saw alfombras made with colored sawdust, fruits, vegetables, flowers, pine needles, and even bread.

Making the alfombras

The famous arch of Antigua in the background

The amazing thing about alfombras is that although they are so intricate and take so long to make, they are almost immediately destroyed by the religious processions which literally trample over them. This makes a little more sense when one considers the literal translation of alfombra – carpet. These processions took place at all hours of night and day during Holy Thurday and Good Friday, and were accompanied by I guess what you would call a marching band, dominated by (very loud) trumpets.

If it isn't obvious, these men are carrying this large wooden thing with (presumably) Jesus on it. Looks heavy!We snuck into the nicest hotel in Antigua for a little descanso

This picture was my idea so I don't feel so bad about stealing it :)

Dear blog readers –

Exciting news! I am in the process of obtaining 40 used desktop

PCs to be used in two of the three schools that I work in here. 15 of

the computers will go to my smallest and most rural school, and 25

will go to a “larger” (150 students) school in my town. The students

already receive typing and basic computer classes, but since they

don’t have computers in the schools and have minimal access to

computers in the town (there are 2 public computers in the first town

and 3 in the second), what they are actually absorbing from their

books is minimal. Since many middle schools in Guatemala are equipped

with computer labs, and since many jobs here require computer skills,

the students in my communities are at a disadvantage professionally

and academically.

(I'll add a disclaimer right now - I'm going to ask you for money!)

I should mention that the third school I work in also lacks

computers, but I chose not to include them in this project because I

don’t have as close of a relationship with them as I do with the other

two schools, and I’m not confident that they would take the necessary

steps to complete the project and to make sure that it is sustainable.

Conversely, I have a close relationship with the directors and

teachers in the other schools, and am confident that they will put

forth all the effort necessary to fundraise for portion part of the

project, and will provide money in the future for the maintenance of

the computers.

I will be getting the computers through an organization called

Computers for Hope (computersforhope.org), which is based about 4

hours away from me in Guatemala. They have worked with Peace Corps

volunteers many times, and I have talked with several volunteers who

have received computers from them. They all had positive things to say

about the organization. The computers will be donated, used desktop

PCs that we will be buying at $65 each, and they come with a one-year

warranty. Other costs of the project include transportation (to pick

up the computers and bring them to the schools - $187.50) and desks

and chairs for the computer labs ($1,521.25). A little more than 25%

of the costs of the project will be covered by the communities, which

leaves the rest (just over $3,000) to be covered by… ME! I’ve never

tried to raise this much money before, so I’m a little nervous, but

I’m confident that it will come through. If not, they might make me

stay here even longer than two years… just kidding. Also, this is the

only project of this type (asking for large amounts of money) that I

am planning to do during my service, just so you are aware :)

Obviously, feel free to comment or e-mail me if you have any questions. I

hope you all had a great Easter!

Con mucho amor,

Elizabeth

P.S. Here's the link to the project description:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=520-246

You can donate by clicking on the "Donate" button in the sidebar on

the right side of the screen, and you can use a credit card or ACH

bank check (not sure what that is). The donation is tax-deductible.

Among the most “typical” foods that can be found in Guatemala are tamales, and their little brothers “chuchitos” (which literally translates to little street dogs, who knows why!). Both are leaf-wrapped corn-dough-based warm mushy concoctions with tomato-based sauce and a small piece of meat inside, usually chicken for chuchitos and chicken or beef for tamales. While I like chuchitos and previously have been taught how to make them, I am not so much a fan of tamales, which are just a little bit too mushy for me. But, since they are so quintessentially Guatemalan (although tamales can be found throughout Latin America, Guatemalan tamales are a little different than others) I decided to take advantage of my time here to learn how to make them.I learned that the reason that tamales are so mushy is that, unlike chuchitos, the masa (corn dough) must be cooked before making the tamales. This requires constantly stirring the dough for about 45 minutes over the stove, and toward the end of cooking it gets rather thick and difficult to stir – a good arm workout! I also learned that there are several variations on the kind of sauce you can use; our sauce used dried mild chile peppers, tomatoes, sesame seeds, cinnamon, garlic, and onion, which resulted in a strong but pleasantly unique flavor. Strips of red bell pepper and raisins were also added on top of the tamal for extra flavor and decoration before wrapping each tamal in a fresh-cut (and cleaned) “maxan” leaf from the backyard.

Roasting some of the sauce ingredients

Toasting more sauce ingredientsMixing ground corn with water to make the corn doughCooking the chickenThe finished sauceStirring the masa/corn doughHow to tell if the dough is cooked: put a teaspoon of the dough in a cup of water - if it sinks, it's doneAssembling a tamal - first masa/dough, then chicken, then sauce, then two slice of pepper and two raisins.

Then the tamal gets wrapped up in the leaf and cooked for a half-hour.

I forgot to take a picture of a finished tamal, but it basically looks like a beige rectangle - nothing too exciting.

I know that sunset pictures never look as cool as the actual sunset, and I know that you can't see the lightning that is filling this huge storm cloud, but tell me this isn't still a little bit awesome!

As far as I know, almost every town in Latin America has a several-days-long annual celebration ("feria") near the date that the town was founded. The size of the feria corresponds with the size of the town - a large-ish Ecuadorian town that I went to had a 3-day bullfighting event during their feria, and a feria I went to in Costa Rica had several rides and activities that lasted through the night, concluding with a parade at sunrise. Like fairs in the States, ferias generally include food stands, rides, small games (like foosball), and lots of drinking. My town's feria was celebrated last week.I didn't partake in or witness any drinking in my town (I would never drink in or near my town, and I happened to be out of town during the biggest/drunkest days of the feria) nor did I ride or even see any rides; since my town is pretty small (2,000-3,000 people), the feria was also small. I did, however, attend one staple feria event: the town parade.

Proof that the cutest kids in town are from my host family - the smiling boy is my host mom's nephew

The third kid from the left is my super-adorable little host brother

In addition to the students marching in their school uniforms (as is normally done in parades here), this parade also featured the middle school students (aka "my kids") marching in different costumes. This is a little difficult to explain, but here's how the costume thing worked: the students that appeared first were the month of January, and they dressed in costumes that had to do with a holiday that happens in January. I don't remember the holiday for January, but February for example was Valentine's Day, March was Carnaval (which apparently is celebrated here?), etc.

March - Carnaval

April? - Don't know what holiday - notice the boy's fake beard

May? - Teacher appreciation day

Some month - wedding month?? I don't know

November- Saint's Day (celebrated with kites)

December - Day of the devil - Everywhere in Guatemala, fake devil

scarecrow-type figures are made and then burned. I somehow missed

this day this December!

Girls wearing the San Pedro traditional outfit ("traje") - something that no girls in my town would actually wear on a daily basis, but that some older women still do wear often or daily. In many other Guatemalan towns, all women, including girls,

wear the local "traje" every day. These tend to also be towns where a Mayan language is spoken, since the traje is a

symbol of Mayan heritage. My town used to speak a Mayan language (called Mam) several generations ago, but now nobody knows how to speak Mam.

A women actually wearing traje, not as a costume

This school year, which started in January, I am starting my “real” second-generation work. This means that I’m officially (meaning we had a formal serious meeting about it) expecting teachers to do 90% of the work in the classrooms, meaning leading lessons from the “Peace Corps” curriculum. This is as opposed to first-generation work, in which a volunteer was directly in charge of leading the lessons, with moderate to minimal teacher support. I split the 212-page curriculum into three parts, and gave the parts to the social studies, sciences, and language teachers in each school that I work in. I also gave each teacher a list of dates (about one day a month for each teacher) on which they would be expected to lead “Peace Corps” lessons in their classes. The lessons aren’t actually created by Peace Corps, but rather come from a collection of textbooks, at least some of which were created in Central America and were designed specifically for youth in this region. Again, the topics in this curriculum are leadership/teamwork, self-esteem/identity, decision-making, goals, careers, communication, sexuality, drugs and alcohol, and violence (ranging from domestic violence to human rights). To make the curriculum integration a little easier for my teachers, I agreed to be responsible for bringing all of the materials required for the lessons, which generally means making photocopies and a poster or two.

Since most of the lessons in “my” curriculum correspond with national educational requirements, I don’t feel so bad about asking teachers, who often already have a tight schedule, to dedicate one day a month to “my” curriculum lessons. To give an idea, this “tight schedule”, for many teachers, means that they have a full-time elementary-level teaching job in the mornings before coming to their afternoon middle-school jobs. Many teachers are also in the process of getting an advanced degree, as this (as I understand it) is a requirement for teaching. Also, their classroom time is limited to 5½ hours per day, which is generally actually under 5 hours per day since both students and teachers habitually arrive late to classes (I suppose this is sometimes understandable, given how exhausted some teachers must be and the fact that punctuality is not a major cultural point here). Classes are also cancelled for events such as week-long teachers’ sports events (next week), week-long Easter celebrations, week-long Independence day celebrations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Day, impromptu soccer tournaments, and many other Days and events.

Apart from my concerns about the lack of class time, there were other things that I was worried about in starting this second-generation work. First was that my teachers would be unwilling to do it, as some were last year when I first experimented with asking them to be in control of the classroom. Some teachers simply either pretended that they didn’t hear anything that happened during the meeting where I discussed in detail what my (and their directors’ and educational supervisors’) expectations of them would be (aka that they, not I, would lead lessons), or simply chose not to be present at the meeting, and so they often walked out of their classroom to socialize in the teacher’s lounge as soon as I came to school. Some did stay with me in the classroom, but still expected me to lead the majority of the lessons. Luckily, some of my more awesome teachers started the second-generation work right away, without any problems.

A teacher (left) overseeing a human-knot leadership/teamwork exercise

I was also worried that teachers wouldn’t lead the lessons in the “right” way. During our Peace Corps training, we learned that participatory learning and asking for critical thinking are rare here – students are asked to listen to the teacher teach/ramble, to copy dictations, to do homework that only requires the simplest regurgitations, and are rarely asked to form or share their own opinions, or to even speak in the classroom at all. Although all of the lessons in the “Peace Corps” curriculum include participatory activities and several discussion questions at the end, I was worried that the teachers would either spend too much time on the “fun” (participatory) stuff and not leave enough time (either because of arriving late, limited lesson time, or because they spent too much time “preaching”) on the discussion questions. Furthermore, I was worried that some teachers might simply not understand some of the material in the curriculum. Last year, for example, a few teachers completely blew the lessons on being assertive, telling the students that assertiveness was bad and that everyone needs to be passive. Also, some of the teachers gave some wrong information in the sex ed chapter, even though the information was clearly stated in the curriculum. I feel that a problem like this would be hard for me to “correct”, as both cultural and informational barriers get in the way: I am neither an expert on Guatemalan culture nor science, and so don’t know that I’m well-versed enough to be able to change the solidified opinions of a middle-aged Guatemalan.

Students weaving through desks in a leadership/teamwork exercise

BUT. So far, (crossing my fingers and knocking on wood), my teachers have been SO. AWESOME. Every time I’ve gone to school this year, I’ve left feeling energized, happy, and so excited about the Youth Development project. It’s clear that the students are entertained and engaged by the lessons, and it seems that the teachers like teaching them. None of them have skipped the discussion questions, which I didn’t even prompt them about, and the “preaching” has been kept to a minimum. When the teachers do preach, they tend to stick to the points that are suggested by the curriculum, and also add in relevant real-life examples that I never would have thought to talk about, sometimes with slang vocabulary that I don’t even understand. Some teachers veer a bit from the lesson plans, which sometimes makes me nervous to the point where I literally force myself to sit on my hands and not say anything (since the point is that the teacher figures out for him/herself how to make the lesson work), but they always seem to know what they are doing and finish the lesson before the bell rings. One teacher, for example, asked the whole classroom to work on putting together a small skit that was only “meant” to be for two volunteers, and in another class gave the students 30 minutes to complete an activity that was “supposed” to take 5, but in both cases I think the students ended up getting more out of the lesson than if he had just followed the written plan. Being an established teacher and Spanish-speaker also does wonders for classroom management, and I find that lessons are going much faster this year now that I am not single-handedly trying to control 45 hyper 12-year-olds with words that surely sound hilarious coming out of an annoyed non-native Spanish-speaker’s mouth (aka mine).

The human-knot experts

There are still some benefits to me being in the classroom with the teachers. For one, they actually do the lessons; if I just left them the curriculum (that they’ve never seen) and a schedule, they would likely not be motivated to do the lessons. I suspect that the effort that they put into the lessons is also augmented by my presence. Also, seemingly at least once a class period, teachers are pulled out of the class for one reason or another, often for only a few minutes but sometimes for several hours. In these cases, I can continue the lessons where the teachers left off instead of leaving the students hanging and unsupervised. Anyway, long story short: 2011 is starting out to be a great year in my Youth Development world!

Sunsets are always better in person, but you get the idea. (This picture was taken from my roof.)

In talking with fellow Peace Corps Trainees during my training last April-July, I found that many Peace-Corps-Volunteers-to-be read blogs written by current Guatemala volunteers to help them prepare for their own life as a volunteer. Although this wasn't something that occurred to me to do (and I don’t regret not reading blogs - you'll see why shortly), I figured that there might be some prospective volunteers reading my blog in an effort to glean some information about their own future lives. So, I figured I’d make their search a little easier. I do have one caveat, though: please keep in mind that everyone’s Peace Corps experience is different. My advice might not work for you – this is just what worked for me, and is what I would have wanted to hear before coming to Guatemala.

First, some advice, in order of importance:- - DON’T have expectations – don’t research the crap out of Guatemala, don’t blog-stalk, don’t try to imagine what your life/house/work/colleagues/food/fellow volunteers will be like – try to have as blank of a slate as possible. Most aspects of life here will be different that you will imagine them to be, and that difference can lead to disappointment if you had something else in mind. So, best to have nothing in mind! You will get all of the information you need when you get here, and it will be more meaningful learning it here than reading it out of a book or blog.- DON’T pack light if you don’t want to! Peace Corps will be helping you carry your stuff everywhere it needs to be carried to, so feel free to bring as much stuff as you want (within reason). I pretty much packed my suitcases to the limit for both of my Peace Corps stints and both times I was glad that I did. There is some stuff that I will probably never use (mostly clothing) but it’s much better to have something here and not use it than really want something and not have packed it. This is your LIFE for two years – try not to get caught up in the “I’m going to live simply because I’m going into the Peace Corps” mindset, because that might not end up being what you really want. You can always decide to live simply once you get here. And, getting stuff shipped from the States is pretty expensive, so don’t rely on that option. However, do try to stay under the airline baggage weight limit, because the overweight baggage fees are pretty hefty (and really, who wants to be the Peace Corps Volunteer that brought THAT much stuff?) Also, go by the AIRLINE baggage limits, not Peace Corps’ – the airline limits are the only limits that count (and are usually more generous than Peace Corps’). And if it’s not already obvious – ignore that statement somewhere in the Peace Corps literature that says you will be responsible for carrying all you baggage so only bring as much as you can carry – not true, there will always be people to help you carry your bags.- Don’t be worried by what you read about Guatemala in the news – by far, most of the violence here occurs in the capital city, and Peace Corps Volunteers aren’t allowed to go there. Peace Corps keeps an eye on “problem departments” (departments = provinces) and will pull you out if there is any security concern.- Don’t buy a whole lot of extra clothes to bring with you – there are great used clothes stores here. But, do bring enough clothes to comfortably make it through training – laundry day is more like laundry DAYS here so you won’t always have access to all of your clothes – bring lots of underwear!- This isn’t advice, but just in case you were wondering… almost every volunteer here (as far as I know) has electricity and running water in their houses. If they don’t, it is probably because of a personal choice to live without these amenities, not because there is no availability of these things in their sites. That said, both electricity and water are subject to outages, which can last several days. - Brush up on your Spanish as much as possible before getting here – many people find the language training during training to be entertaining at best, so if you can do some self-instruction ahead of time it will go a long way. - Start saving your training allowance from day 1 – you will need that savings when you get to site- There are Walmarts (and similar stores) all over the place here, so you can buy pretty much everything you could want EVENTUALLY, but you probably won’t have access to these places for the first several weeks of training (and it’s often easier to just bring something with you rather than having to spend your allowance on it)- There is a lot of theft here, so you might want to consider getting the property insurance offered by Peace Corps – that said, I haven’t had any incidents and don’t personally know anyone who has- Many people find living with a host family during training to be somewhat difficult – stick with it, you’ll be on your own soon! Note: PC Guatemala also requires volunteers to live with a host family for their first few months at site, although often this can mean that a volunteer has their own house (including kitchen and bathroom) within a family compound, or has their own level in a family’s house.- Establish a Power of Attorney in the States so that they can sign things for you in your absence (checks, documents affirming that someone did indeed use your ATM card without your knowledge, etc.)

What to bring – again, in order of importance:- Your computer! You can always opt not to use it once you get here, but I don’t know of any volunteers that don’t regularly use a computer, and they are more expensive to buy here than they are in the States. Also, you will probably be able to have internet in your house via a USB modem, but only if you have a computer.- A Nalgene (or similar durable water bottle)- Some type of backpack – doesn’t have to be a fancy backpacker’s backpack, but it should be relatively big. You’ll be doing lots of overnight (or over-several-nights) trips, and market trips, and bring-lots-of-materials-to-your-schools/communities trips, etc. A backpacker’s backpack might be more comfortable for long-distance traveling, but you will look funny going to school or the market with it, so that choice is up to you. I only have a normal backpack have gotten by fine with it. Maybe bring both if you really want to be prepared. - Clothes you like, including professional clothes. Don’t think that your style will change just because you are in the Peace Corps – you will want to wear what you normally wear at home. In other words, don’t leave your “good clothes” at home, and don’t bring your ratty clothes here.- Warm clothes – many places in Guatemala can literally get freezing – don’t leave those sweaters and thick socks in the States!- Some snack food for training – trail mix, granola bars, etc. – you may not always love your host mom’s cooking, and dinner might not always be ready when you are hungry!- Earplugs – dogs, roosters, teenagers, and churches make noise at all hours of the night.- One pair of sturdy sandals or flip flops – Teva and Chaco both give 50% discounts to Peace Corps Volunteers, so take advantage! Here is a list of other companies that give Peace Corps discounts: http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Volunteer_discounts. However…- You don’t need ANY fancy brand-name camping/wilderness/traveling equipment, but go ahead and buy it if it makes you feel better (and sometimes it may make you feel more comfortable).- Duct tape - A Guatemala guide book – Lonely Planet is pretty good- An external hard drive – if you don’t have one, buy one (if you can afford it). Lots of free time = lots of movie-watching time, and you will very quickly fill your drive up by swapping with other PCVs (That said, my external just broke, and I have been getting by alright without it…)- If you have a hobby, bring materials to continue that hobby here – you will have the time for it! Knitting and crochet needles can be bought here, as well as yarn, but it’s hard to find good quality yarn. Musical instruments are a good thing to bring if you have space for them.- Bring a journal, unless you plan to journal on your computer. You’ll be surprised how quickly you forget what happens in your life here, and it’s nice to have documentation! Try to get in the habit of journaling at least every few days.- A raincoat – it will probably be pretty hard to find one here during training, and if your training is during the rainy season (April-October) then you will need it just about every day!- Bring a few books to get you through training – the Peace Corps library is usually pretty picked-over, so the selection isn’t always great. (The real selection is in other volunteers’ houses, so make good friends!)- If you have any favorite toiletries (face wash, conditioner, make-up, etc.), bring those with you. There are lots of American brands of toiletries available in Guatemala so it’s likely that “your” brand is here as well, but it may take you a while to figure out where you can buy it.- You probably won’t live on just the Peace Corps living allowance (yes, I know they strongly suggest that you do, but honestly I don’t know many volunteers who can! Note: this varies greatly by country; I’m just speaking for Guatemala) So, bring your credit card and ATM cards from your home bank account.

Optional:- A cookbook – Peace Corps will give you one, and you will likely have internet in or near your house, so you can look up recipes online. But, I did bring two cookbooks with me, and I use them frequently.- An alarm clock – your Peace Corps cell phone comes with one, but you may want a back-up for your first few days in country or for times when you can’t use your phone for whatever reason.- A Spanish language instruction book - Peace Corps will also provide you with one, but it never hurts to have more - your ability to communicate will greatly affect your life here!- You will definitely be using a sleeping bag at some point(s); you may be able to borrow one from another volunteer (I didn’t bring one and I inherited three) but they may not be the best quality. Also, you may not be as lucky as me, so maybe best to bring one if you can. Get a warm one!- You may want to bring something to decorate your walls, but keep in mind that pictures (on a USB drive) can easily be printed out here. You might still want to bring some pictures to show your training host family, and other wall/home decorations.- I brought rain boots because I had room for them in my suitcase – you can get them here, but they won’t be very cute. You’ll definitely need them during the rainy season.- A headlamp makes climbing volcanoes in the dark and getting around your house during power outages a little easier, but then again your cell phone flashlight works pretty much just as well.- A sewing kit - needle and thread can be bought here, but it may be more convenient to just bring it with you

Things NOT to bring:- A Spanish-English dictionary (Peace Corps will give you one)- A cell phone (also provided by Peace Corps)- Sunscreen, aspirin, acetaminophen, tampons, chapstick, Pepto-Bismol, birth control, insect repellent, floss, and pretty much any other medical thing you can think of. Peace Corps will be providing these things to you as part of your med kit, which you’ll receive within a few days of being in country (this is true for any PC country). Here are the full Guatemala med kit contents: http://www.peacecorpswiki.com/Health_care_and_safety_in_Guatemala#Your_Peace_Corps_Medical_Kit. Pretty much any other medical item can be specially ordered through the med office.- Any type of electricity or outlet converter – everything’s the same as in the States.- Any type of water sanitation device – drinking water is easy to come by here.- A solar charger – you will have electricity in your house.- A mosquito net – provided by Peace Corps

Leave a comment if you have any questions!

Since finding out that Tajumulco, the highest point in Central America, is in Guatemala (and two hours from my house), it's been a dormant goal of mine to climb it sometime during my service. Sometime, meaning, when I was in better shape, when I had climbed lots of other mountains/volcanoes, when I had adequate time to mentally prepare myself for the task of climbing this huge thing, etc. But last week a fellow volunteer friend called me up asking if I wanted to climb it with her and a group of other volunteers, and not wanting to miss my chance, I said something along the lines of "why of course, I would love to spend this weekend in exhilarating pain, mental humiliation, and bone-chilling freezing temperatures." (Actually I just said yes.) So Saturday morning a group of us headed out from my house, tents and several pounds of granola bars in tow, and commenced our trip to the (extinct) volcano.

Our hiking group - six Peace Corps volunteers, Luna the dog, and three California Park

Rangers/experienced mountain hikers/our unofficial guides.

View from the bottom

It turns out I didn't die. Although the ~20 pound backpack that I lugged up didn't exactly make the hike easy, it turns out that there were only a few sections of really steep terrain, with the rest of the trip being a relatively shallow incline. And I was not at all humiliated, as I somehow managed to sometimes keep up a faster pace than some of my fellow hikers. We also we weren't in any hurry to get to the top, taking several 15-20 minute breaks along the way.

(click on the pictures to make them bigger)

We arrived at our camping destination in just under 5 hours on the first day, then woke up early the next morning to hike up the rest of the way to the top to see the sunrise. This was the hardest part of the trip, as it was the steepest climb (more of a on-all-fours crawl in my case), it was freezing cold (6 layers of shirts was not enough), and the altitude had finally gotten high enough where I was feeling dizzy after every few steps (although I think living at 7,500 feet for the last 9 months has slightly acclimated me to high altitudes, as many people notice the reduced amount of oxygen earlier in the trip). Even though I felt like a breathing icicle when I finally got to the top, the view was absolutely worth it. Almost every volcano in Guatemala is visible from the top, all lined up along their volcanic ridge. You can see Mexico only 10 miles away, and the ocean would have been visible if not for the clouds. Unfortunately I accidentally had my camera on a weird setting (ISO stuck at 1600) so some of the pictures didn't come out as nice as I had hoped, but of course the best images are in my memory.

The volcanoes furthest to the left are near a city called Antigua, which is about a 6 hour trip from my townTaking in the view (these smart people brought their sleeping bags up to the summit)

Not my pictureOn the way down - again, not my picture

Some stats: We hiked a total of 1189 meters/3900 feet/3.5 miles on the way up. The volcano is 4220 meters/13,845 feet above sea level. It is the 356th highest mountain in the world in terms of altitude above sea level, but it is the 24th most prominent peak (prominence is the altitude compared to surrounding terrain, if I understand it correctly, meaning that Tajumulco is not near any other major peaks or high grounds).

Somehow, even though I could barely walk the day after climbing a much smaller volcano, I was barely sore in the few days after climbing Tajumulco. Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure won't be climbing it again any time soon!

Answer:- One to tie two rickety ladders together- Five to climb said ladder and climb head-first through a 16" wide window to enter the building- Four of the above five to hold a ladder supporting the bulb changer- One to take out and replace the bulb- Four to observe the feat (plus four of my students and me - possibly the only thing that could distract us from watching Harry Potter)

* Warning * - This blog entry contains pictures that may be considered gross, or really cool, depending on your perspective.

So it seems that it's now cow season in Guatemala. The corn and potatoes have been harvested, and beans were planted so recently that all plots of land still appear brown and barren. Minus the cows, that is. I don't know where they all came from - maybe they were secretly hiding in between corn stalks all this time - but I am now surrounded by cows. Five in my back yard, three across the street, and many more visible from my roof. My sleep is constantly disturbed by moo-ing.

But, one plus-side of lots of cows is baby cows! I got to see my first ever live animal birth yesterday, by a big mama cow in my back yard. Since the moment my host mom told me she was pregnant, I'd been constantly reminding her that I reeeeally wanted to see that little baby cow come out, doesn't matter if it's 2 in the morning just come wake me up (she repeated that detail to my neighbor, haha) and so yesterday she shouted my name from the back "yard" and I ran out to see the event.

The neighbor/my host mom's best friend came over to help, and while we waited for the more "interactive" stages of the birthing, we whispered about various giving birth stories, and both my host mom and my neighbor concluded that I should definitely not ever get married so that I wouldn't have to give birth.

My host mom pouring on vegetable oil to help the baby come out

Tada! Only took about 20 minutes

She immediately started drying the baby off with a towel so it wouldn't be too cold

My host mom sprinkled salt on the baby so that the mama cow would be enticed to lick her, thus keeping her warm

My neighbor keeping watch over the baby

while my host mom brought food for mama

This afternoon - already walking

Margarita and baby cow in a stare-off

So I've also begging various people to show me how to slaughter a rooster. I don't really know why, but slaughtering animals is kind of fascinating to me - dissecting animals in Biology class was definitely a highlight of high school. Kind of strange, I guess, considering my various bouts with vegetarianism.

But anyway, there's this family I visit about once a week, and lately they've been teaching me to cook. When the subject of chicken soup came up, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to ask them to show me how to kill and prepare and chicken. And today, less than 24 hours after seeing the baby cow birth, we joyfully (but respectfully) slaughtered pretty little Johnny the rooster, below.

Johnny the rooster

Self-explanatory!

Pouring on boiling water to make the feathers come out easier

The feathers come out like magic! Also, I never realized I was taller than this woman until I saw this picture.

Naked Johnny

Holding Johnny over fire to burn off extra little hairs that we couldn't pull out

Starting to take out the insides

The "crop" - like a stomach before the stomach. Obviously it's hilarious!

A lung, still with air in it

The outside of the stomach

The inside of the stomachHeart

What I got to take home - half of the meat (thigh, breast, wing,

and undetermined part), the stomach, the liver, and

the heart. Most of this will probably be donated to

my host family because uhh... liver = gross

Yummy!

The new, corn-less view out my kitchen window (click to see the whole picture). Not sure what those droopy trees are, possibly banana trees.

A short and sweet and picture-less blog entry, picture-less because I feel awkward asking a student or teacher to take a picture of me during a meeting or class...

English club - We had our last meeting a few weeks ago, since it was a "vacation" thing - we ended with a big Jeopardy game reviewing all of the topics that we did over break. Some of the students really nailed everything, and most of them seemed to have learned at least a little bit...

Harry Potter reading groups - Still going strong, all three groups said they wanted to continue even though classes started this week, and two groups are about to start the second book (after we watch the first movie!) The students don't really mind the vocab tests as much as I thought they would - I think the point chart keeps them motivated, maybe partially because I accidentally made the prizes way to easy to get...

Working with teachers - This year, I won't be doing any teaching. Three teachers from each of my three schools (the social studies, science, and language teachers) will be in charge of implementing the Peace Corps "curriculum", aka the book of all of the lessons that I and the previous volunteer were using to teach. The topics in this book are: leadership & teamwork, self-esteem & identity, making decisions, goals, careers, communication, sexuality, alcohol & drugs, and violence (which encompasses both domestic violence and human rights). I'll be spending three days a week, starting mid-February, observing a teacher give lessons from this book during his or her normally scheduled classes. Teachers will earn a diploma, which somehow benefits their salary (or so I've been told, not sure exactly how that works) for each six lesson evaluations that they turn in to me.

I also did a teacher workshop yesterday on the importance of basing academic planning on learning objectives - aka, don't waste time having the kids do a project where they make a Guatemalan flag out of paper-mache, because they aren't actually learning anything by doing that except for how to use paper and glue. I got some dirty looks for that one! But I placated the teachers with free sweet bread and coffee, so it all worked out.

I have lots of other project ideas, some of which I'm trying to get underway already, but I don't want to write about them until they are actually being carried out because I don't want to jinx myself!

...or Chicabal, or Chikabal... I guess no one really knows how to spell it since it's spelled differently everywhere, maybe because it's Mam (Mayan) name and Mam didn't used to be a written language. Anyway, so this lake is... wait for it... on top of a volcano! An extinct volcano. And it happens to be within walking/hiking distance of the town where one of my friends/fellows volunteers lives. Turns out that this hike was probably the hardest hike I've ever done before - took about 2 hours to get up to the lake, and then we ran most of the way down so as not to be late for a meeting we had that afternoon. This definitely isn't among the hardest hikes in Guatemala, I'm just not in very good shape :P My goal, though, is to hike Tajumulco - the highest point in Central America, and it happens to be in my department (province). So obviously I can't leave here and not have climbed it.Anyway, this lake has "spiritual significance" for many Mayan people, specifically the Mam people, who are the "sub-group" of Mayans that live in that area. My area is also technically considered Mam, but no one speaks the Mam language where I live, although many people do wear the traditional Mayan clothing. I don't know of many people in my area that practice Mayan traditions, though, like the ceremonies that are performed at this lake. I'm not sure what all the ceremonies entail, but we did see several small fires at "altars" around the lake.

Finally at the top!

An altar? maybe? or a picnic? who knows.

A Mam woman weaving traditional cloth (on the way up the volcano)

My host family decided to sell the brown puppy that appeared in an earlier blog entry in favor of two other adorable puppies, below.

My host mom de-kerneling corn while watching Toby (the puppy)

My 7-year-old host brother (Gonzalo) and Toby

A creeper picture (they didn't know I was taking it) of my

host mom and sister (in the foreground) and some neighbors

Fuel for my host family's wood-burning stove in the background, 7-year-old with his

camera phone in the foreground. This puppy's name is Oso (bear) because he's fat and

white and therefore looks like a polar bear.

I realized that I've never posted a picture of my host family, so here they are. From left to right: Gonzalo (age 7), me, Evelyn (age 12), and Doña Fide (age 32). Note: Doña translates to something like "woman of the house".

I realized that I've never posted a picture of my host family, so here they are. From left to right: Gonzalo (age 7), me, Evelyn (age 12), and Doña Fide (age 32). Note: Doña translates to something like "woman of the house".

When I first got to site, the plot of land behind my/my host family’s house was a cornfield. The corn harvest happened sometime soon after I arrived in site, although I guess I didn’t really notice it happen. Potatoes were planted right after the corn was taken out (the “seeds” were potatoes that had been saved from last year) and yesterday, the new potatoes were ready to be harvested. My host mom requested that I take some pictures of the harvest, and she also took some of her own.

From the potato harvest on this plot of land, my host mom made 14,000Q - $1,750. She has another, slightly smaller plot that will be harvested today.

My host mom and her potatoes. On my way to Xela yesterday, I passed by dozens of trucks filled with these exact red bags of potatoes. I guess everyone got the memo that yesterday was harvest day! My host family's dog died a few weeks ago so this is the new, adorable replacement (in my shadow, oops). Her name is Shasta.

One of my Facebook friends has recently been posting about something called the DREAM Act, urging people to call their representatives to ask them to pass this proposed piece of legislation. Having been out of the States for a while and not being one to follow politics too closely in the first place, I had never heard of the Act before, and therefore didn’t pay much attention to her posts. She kept posting, however, and I finally clicked on the link in her ~17th post just to see what the Act was all about. This is what I learned… The title of the act, first of all, is an acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors, and it is intended to aid illegal immigrants who were under the age of 18 when they arrived in the States, usually brought there by their parents. Many of these minors have lived and been educated in the U.S. for several years, and some may have immigrated at so young an age that they do not even remember their “native” country and may not speak that country’s language. Current law states that these minors have a right to education through high school; the problem, though, is what to do after high school. I’m kind of going from vague memory and common sense here, but I think it would be pretty hard for illegal immigrants to get federal loans to attend college, if colleges would even be able to accept them, and I’m guessing that enlisting in the military would be impossible. So basically that leaves young illegal immigrants, who may very well have been outstanding students in high school, no option for further education (or military service if that’s what you really want to do). As is well known, one cannot get very far on a high school degree in America, and therefore the current system leads to a cycle of poverty and dependency, which is unnecessary given that many of these minors would probably choose to further their education if they were allowed. Anyway, so what the DREAM Act would do is allow these immigrants (the ones who were brought to the states as minors) the opportunity to apply for “conditional permanent residency” if they complete 2 years of college or serve two years in the military. The “immigrants” must also show proof that they were brought to the U.S. when they were under the age of 18, that they have lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years, and that they are of “good moral character”, which is a legal term basically meaning that they don’t have a criminal record. After 13 years, they could apply for citizenship. Even as I’m writing this entry, my mind keeps going back and forth on how I feel about this act, and about the issue of illegal immigration all together. So I’m going to divide the next section into one of my favorite decision-making tools: a pro and con chart, starting with cons.

Cons of the DREAM Act (in my opinion):- It may encourage future illegal immigration, especially that of children, which is bad because:a) Illegal immigration is dangerous. I have been (twice) to the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona, where illegal immigrants from Latin America often choose to make their crossing into the states. I was there in early spring, and it was already hot – summer temperatures there, from what I’ve heard, are nothing to mess with. Secondly, there are huge, uninhabited swaths of desert, which are generally chosen for crossing since that means less people to turn you into Border Patrol, but that also means that there is nowhere to buy water, and dehydration can (and often does, especially for children) mean death. Even if one does not choose to cross through the desert, perhaps choosing instead (if they have the option) to pay a coyote to somehow drive them over the border, there is still no way to know whether the coyote is trustworthy, or whether this alternate path is safe.b) I almost hate to put this is writing because I don’t want people to associate me with a certain political category that tends to argue this point (*cough* Republicans *cough*), but illegal immigration puts a strain on our economy, and we happen to be in a recession at the moment. As a disclaimer, I’d like to state that I realize that I could be wrong about this, and in fact I wrote a research paper in high school arguing exactly the opposite point – that illegal immigrants are good for the economy, since they take jobs that “no one else wants”, and they work for under minimum wage which is also somehow good economically. But with unemployment being so high right now, it’s hard for me to believe that there are jobs SO horrible that absolutely no American citizen would be willing to take them. Again, clearly that’s arguable. Also, illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes, although again, I assume that they are ineligible to reap many of the benefits of taxes: food stamps, welfare, etc. But, they do use some resources (schools, roads, etc.). I realize that the strain put on the system by the use of these resources probably isn’t that large when you look at the big picture, but I don’t think you can completely exclude this point.- Related to the above point is the fact that once the said immigrants arrive to America, life may not, in fact, be so good. Jobs are especially hard to find right now, and if one came all the way to the U.S. (an expensive trip, with the coyote-paying and all – most Guatemalans I know of have paid tens of thousands of DOLLARS to get smuggled in) it would be a shame to be out all that money for no reason. Also, there is no guarantee that one will make it to the States. On my first trip to Arizona, I saw a group of about 10-15 immigrants, many of them children equipped with small, colorful backpacks, being loaded into the back of a Border Patrol van to be deported, only miles after crossing the border. I’m pretty sure that coyotes don’t issue refunds.- Many immigrants come without their children which leads a slew of developmental problems for the left-behind kids, but since this is about the DREAM Act, then I’ll talk about the negative consequences of this to the children who do get brought along. For one, being unemployed or working for less than the minimum wage leads to a life of poverty for the immigrant and his/her family, although I’ll grant that this poverty may still come with more opportunities than a given immigrant child would have had in their own country. I assume that illegal immigrants aren’t eligible for health insurance, and although everyone must be offered emergency services, other potential health issues would be a huge financial problem and might just get ignored. (Again, I realize the health situation in the “home country” night not be that much better.) Also, many families immigrate alone, meaning that the child would grow up without the presence of an extended family, although again, the absence of a grandmother might be outweighed by the “benefits” of living in America (which again, however, are basically limited to getting a high school degree and working for inadequate wages). - I just want to point out that the argument that “illegal immigration is wrong because it’s illegal” is NOT anywhere in my thinking. Black people sitting in the front of busses used to be against the law. Gays aren’t legally allowed to openly serve in the military. The fact of something being illegal doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s actually wrong.

The Sonoran Desert

Pros of the DREAM Act:- The human angle – it’s not the kids’ faults that their parents decided to bring them to the U.S. They didn’t have a say in the matter, and therefore, in my opinion, they shouldn’t have to suffer a lifetime of punishment. Yes, a lifetime. Not having a college degree in America, especially when you have the ability and the desire to get one, is punishment, economically and emotionally, for the youth in question and their future children.- The benefits to America – More people with college degrees means a better economy (again, I wasn’t an econ major, but isn’t this common sense?). Also, we’ve been having a tough time getting military enlistment up to the numbers we “need” (to “fight terrorists and spread democracy”, but that’s another issue), and I for one am not jumping to have the draft system reinstated. Why not let people who actually want to serve go ahead and enlist?

Anyway, so that’s what I can think of. Also, the size of the pro and con lists are irrelevant to how I feel about the Act – I actually think I mostly support it (see “the human angle” above).The Act was passed by the House of Representatives last week, and will be passed to the Senate sometime this week. It’s unclear whether or not Senate will pass the Act.

Also, I just wanted to add a quick, related anecdote from this week. (Can you tell I have a lot of free time today?) Yesterday, I visited a nearby city to buy a printer (No more going to San Pedro and paying $.12 to print things!) and as I got in my micro to go back home, there was a man talking to the passengers, asking for money. This happens quite frequently, especially at this bus terminal, so I tuned him out at first, until he mentioned that he was from California. He happened to notice me at this moment and started talking to me in perfect English, explaining that he had lived in California for 17 years and had just gotten deported. His story, which may have been partially or completely fabricated (although I am inclined to believe that it contains more truth than lies) is that he was an anthropology professor at UC Davis (or some school in California), was sent by this school to Japan to talk about Mayan culture (this detail added for credibility – he also had paperwork from the university to back his story), has a three-year-old daughter, and didn’t have any money to get to Huehuetenango, where his family is from. I gave him 5Q - only the second time I have given someone money on a bus - and thought about his story the whole way home. If this guy’s story was true, then I would guess that he arrived in the States when he was under 18 - he looked pretty young. This means that more than half of his life was spent in the U.S., and probably most of the people with which he has meaningful personal relationships also live in the States. His daughter is there, his house is there, and his (prestigious, I might add, if he really was a professor) job is there. Then one day he was told that he couldn’t have any of that anymore, that he wasn’t even allowed to come back to visit (I assume) – he just had to suddenly leave his life behind him and start over, because he (or his parents) broke the law 17 years ago. I tried to imagine being told that I had to leave my life in America (granted, I kinda did leave my life in America, but only temporarily!) and found that it was too heavy a subject for me to think about while sitting in a micro. Even not knowing what side of the illegal immigration issue I stand on, I do know that situations like these are hard, and stories like these are what everyone (I would hope) wants to prevent.

So my English classes and reading clubs are going along slowly but surely, with English clearly being the most preferred of the two subjects, since everyone thinks it's "so cool" to learn English (definitely in contrast with the general attitude toward learning foreign languages in the U.S.). Also, several mothers have pushed the classes on their kids, and so at the last meeting there were 27 students, in contrast to the 7 who showed up for the first class a few weeks ago. At the last meeting there were also several kids that weren't old enough to be able to read or write, so I am trying even harder now to keep the focus on verbal learning, having them repeat things I say or name things they see, for example different colors of construction paper. I am also trying to change activities about every 10 minutes in an attempt to keep their attention. This week I also showed a video about colors in class, which was a video intended for little American kids who are just learning to talk, but my kids seemed to like it. I figured that in Youth Development we always preach about using different teaching methods and media to accommodate different learning styles, so I might as well listen to my own advice, hence the video.

If it hasn't already been obvious, the place where my heart really is over this "summer" break is with my reading groups. I was nervous about getting them together - worried that kids wouldn't show up and if they did that they would be bored and wouldn't keep showing up, but I finally have all three groups together (the last one just started last week because their school year ends later) and although attendance is a bit lower than I hoped for (I was shooting for 10-15 kids in each group but there are only 3-6 in each) the kids that do show up seem interested and motivated, which makes for a good group dynamic and makes me happy. We start our meetings with a vocab test, which at first I was doing individually and verbally but now have switched to a written test to save time, and for every word that a student gets right, they win a point on a prize chart. Then we might do another activity (a wordfind, some other game) or we might go straight to reading, everyone taking turns reading about a page out loud, and after about a 1/2 hour of reading I assign a chapter or two for homework. THEN comes the fun part - the real reason why these kids keep coming back to me (and it's not even the prizes from the point chart). I've come to realize that these kids probably don't actually think of these clubs as reading clubs, but rather as coloring clubs. Every meeting I bring coloring pages (printed from the internet) of something that happened in the chapter that we are reading: Hagrid on a motorcycle, Dumbledore, an owl carrying a letter, Harry buying a wand. The volunteer that was here before me left me awesome coloring supplies, so every week after our reading time, we pull our desks a little closer and I pull out the boxes of 96 crayons and 64 markers and we get to work. Until the kids figured out that this was going to be a weekly thing, some used to tell me that their moms told them they had to be home right about the time when we were going to start reading. But lo and behold, when I told them there would be coloring after reading, their moms suddenly didn't want them home anymore.

This isn't to say that they don't like reading - they all do the reading homework that I assign them, and some even asked me for additional homework because they were bored and had nothing to do at home. So last week I gave a homework assignment to one of my groups - "choose a character from the book and describe how they are physically and their personality". The first girl wrote about Harry Potter, starting with an accurate summary of his mental and physical characteristics, and then branching out (to be able to fill the whole page per my requirement, I suspect) to describe his eyelashes, fingernails, and knees, which are long, oval, and round, respectively. The second girl who did the assignment chose to write about Aunt (Tia) Petunia. Her description went something like this: "Tia Petunia used to be nice in the past and now she still is nice. She is tall and blonde. Tia Petunia is a nice woman who loves God. God is the creator of all things and he makes miracles. God is great. Everything is possible through God. Thank you God." I didn't have the courage and couldn't think of the words to politely explain to this girl that while I'm glad she did the assignment, nowhere in the book was God ever mentioned and furthermore Tia Petunia is not even a little bit nice, so three points went onto her point chart and we continued with the reading. Oh, Guatemala.

Yay coloring!

The view from Panajachel, a town across the lake from where my PCV friend lives

So I've been meaning to take my camera along with me for months now when I go my school that is south of me - about 45 minutes and 15 degrees hotter south. Literally, the weather there is so different that they grow entirely different crops than they do in my town - coffee, avocados, little Guatemalan fruits called jocote - and the trees are distinctly more jungle-like. It's one of the prettiest drives I have been on in Guatemala, and I do it about once a week. This school (and the trip there) also happens to be one of my few "real Peace Corps" things that I deal with, meaning that it is slightly difficult to get to and the school is pretty small and rural. Let me diverge a little bit here (and let me also say that it is approaching 9:30pm, aka past my bedtime, so sorry if this entry is a little scattered): according to pretty much every stereotype that most people have about the Peace Corps, I am not really in the Peace Corps. I live on the second floor of a huge house, with tiled floors, running water and electricity (neither of which ever go out, except for when I accidentally knock my bathroom sink off the wall and have to frantically search for my host mom to get her to turn the water off because my bathroom is flooding, while wearing a towel and sporting still-soapy hair, mind you, but that's another story), I have access to pretty much whatever foods I want (I can't even think of things that I would want to receive in a care package, unless anyone can find a way to ship an endless supply of Ocean Spray cranberry juice), all of my work counterparts are respectful and supportive of me and my work and the majority of them are enthusiastic about doing their part to participate in the Youth Development program (not that they have a choice, their boss says they have to, but that doesn't always keep people from dragging their feet) and what's more, most of them are more than competent enough to do what I am asking them to do. If you put all these things into a list and asked your average Peace Corps volunteer to check off what they had, most people, even in Guatemala, probably couldn't check half. Oh, and also I have an always-functioning always-super-hot shower, not that I use it all that often... I am a Peace Corps volunteer after all! A hot shower may sound like a silly luxury if you are in America, but in the Peace Corps it's a pretty hot commodity. OH also, I have a host family that I love love love. I don't always spend a ton of time with them, but when I do they are great to hang out with, and they never fail to show their support for me, be it for my summer English classes ("why don't you put a big sign out front?") my need to buy appliances for my house (my host mom accompanied me and bargained prices way down lower than I would have ever had the guts to do), sit with me for hours to tell me about the various fruits and vegetables in the market that I had never seen before, sell me me a tortilla press when I was complaining about how the town tortilla lady is never there and so I couldn't get my tortilla fix, stopping whatever they're doing to clear out the pila each and every time that I go down to do dishes, even though I tell them it's ok, I can do it myself... and if I do happen to want to spend a lot of time alone, or I just happen to be out of the house a lot and so don't see them for a few days, that's fine too. I don't feel at all obligated to spend time with them, but I always know that they are there if I need to or want them for anything. Wow I'm diverging a lot. I think I'm just on some crazy high point in my service right now and I gotta get it out! Newsflash, everyone: Life is good!Anyway, so this school. It's down the hill from me, there is one class for each of the three grades, and one teacher for each grade. They don't wear uniforms because the "administration" (teachers) decided that it was an unnecessary economic burden for the students, many of whom are (slightly) poorer than your average Guatemalan. Most of the girls wear skirts, because as one girl told me, "my mom doesn't like when women wear pants". (Pretty much all the girls in my more-"progressive" town wear pants, although most of their mothers still wear "traje" - traditional clothing). Also, the transportation to this school is a little iffy. I did make friends with the one bus driver that makes several daily trips from this town to San Marcos, but sometimes he doesn't happen to be going where I want to go when I want to go, so in those cases I just set off on foot and wait for the first thing (bus, pick-up truck full of people standing in the back holding onto an improvised metal frame, etc.) that goes by and I flag it down. I took this picture (the one below, which I meant to start writing about a half hour ago but apparently got distracted) on my way back home today, obviously from the back of a pick-up truck, which may or may not have been driven by one of my 8th grade students. Along the mountain that you see in the background (which is farther away than it looks) is the continuation of my route home - you can sort of kind of tell where the road is if you look at the right side of the mountain, where the bell-curve-shaped dirt section is flat on the bottom (flat part = road). The point of this picture is to show the landslides on this mountain, aka all of the dirt-colored sections. The bell-curve-shaped landslide was there when I got to site, although I think it progressively worsened throughout the rainy season, and busses wouldn't run on that road if it was raining for fear of being squished by a falling boulder (a very real possibility). The narrow, vertical landslide to the left occurred while I was in site - that part of the mountain was entirely intact and green as of a few months ago. You can't see the full extent of the landslide from this picture, but it runs down the entire length of the mountain and ends in the river below the mountain. Unfortunately, this landslide had impeccable aim, and happened to land square on top of one of the few tourist attractions in this area (mostly local tourists, not too many gringos would venture down this far) - a collection of natural hot springs, which had been spruced up by the addition of cement pools and was, apparently, pretty nice (by Peace Corps/Guatemalan standards). I wouldn't know, because I wasn't able to visit there before it got land-slid on top of. Supposedly they are going to rebuild the pools/hot springs on the other side of the river, so maybe before the end of my service I will be able to see what they were all about. Anyway, just wanted to show some of the effects that this year's crazy rainy season had here, since the rains were actually important enough to make it onto American news a few times (although actually, I'm pretty sure the BBC probably reported the most on them... go BBC!) But, at least for now, the rains are over so I just gotta concentrate on soaking up this sunnnnn :)

So this Thanksgiving I decided to make the trek out to visit a fellow volunteer/friend who (unfortunately) lives on the other side of the country from me. I woke up at two in the morning on Thanksgiving morning to catch a bus to the capitol, and then caught another bus up to her site - since I was traveling so early and since no spontaneous Guatemalan interruptions arose, it only took me about 8 hours to get there. Then, after hanging out for a few hours and waiting for a few more friends to arrive, we took another 2 hour bus ride to another volunteer's site (well, a site that two volunteers share) and met up with yet more volunteers, most of whom I hadn't met before, to partake in a Thanksgiving dinner that had been 3 days in preparing. Since the power had gone out on Thanksgiving morning in that town, and since a large part of the meal was prepared in one electric-powered toaster oven, we didn't end up eating until around 10pm, but the menu made up for it: we had roast duck (!), garlic mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (of course), apple cranberry stuffing, tamarind chutney, roasted sweet potatoes, wild rice casserole, corn bread, avocado bread, pumpkin bread, apple crisp, and the most delicious of all - pumpkin cheesecake! Beat that, America! Turns out the next night we had another Thanksgiving dinner (minus the turkey though, unfortunately) - the hostel that we stayed at got a little confused on which day exactly was "day of the turkey", and so they had served an Italian dinner on Thursday, and then when we got there on Friday (and informed them that Thanksgiving had been the day before) they were having a Thanksgiving buffet. Can't say I was complaining.

On Friday we headed up to a famous site in Guatemala called Semuc Champey. Semuc is kind of difficult to describe, since there's not a whole lot of other places like it in the world, but it is a 1000-foot-long limestone "bridge" that goes over a river. You can't see the river from on top of the bridge, which is made up of a series of calm pools, but you can go to the entrance and the exit of the river as it it flowing into and out of the "bridge". The pools are also great to swim in - the water is perfectly clear and dark blue/green colored, very beautiful. The hostel we stayed in was pretty nice as well - it was set on a huge terrain along a river, had hammocks, a great bar/restaurant, and a sauna, and was only $4.25 a night. Yep, dollars!

Pictures.............

In the pools on the "bridge" above the river

Getting ready to dive in...

Cocoa pods!

This area is also known for its caves

Hitching a ride in the back of a truck (it's safe, I swear!)

View of Semuc from above

Tell me you aren't jealous of my life... (also, to the right of the waterfall is the cave where the river exits the "bridge" that we were swimming in)

Hello! Just a quick update about work, since I feel like I don't write about work very much (I swear I'm doing real work and not just watching drunk horse races and fawning over cute piglets!) Last week we had a small training event at the Peace Corps office, and to prepare for it we had to make a detailed summary of the work we'd done during our first three months in site, and I realized I have done: 48 "charlas"/lessons on topics of decision-making, sex ed, goal-setting, good communication, HIV/AIDS, and leadership (either by myself or with Guatemalan teachers, most lessons repeated more than once for different class sections), one 3-hour teacher training, one 1/2 hour parent workshop on good communication, 1/2 of a "life book" project (the volunteer before me did the first half, the project concentrates on getting students to learn about their and their family's past as well as looking into career/educational options for their future), and I've had 3 reading group meetings so far (will have two more today) and one English class, which will be continuing weekly. Yay! This is considering all the school cancellations we had due to independence day (two weeks!), landslides, surprise early end-of-the-school-year, etc. I have some ideas for things to do over the school break, which will last until mid-January, but I also have some travel plans so we'll see what I can fit into my schedule. Feels good to be getting "real work" done, though - I'm definitely not in Niger anymore!

Giving an HIV/AIDS workshop during training - these workshops are a special "side project" and last from 2-4 hours

This past weekend, a bunch of volunteers rented a house in the mountains of Huehuetenango, in a town seemingly hundreds of miles away from (and above) any semblance of “civilization”, and also seemingly many miles away from where any foreigner had ever set foot. Nevertheless, the 20 of us arrived in Todos Santos and were met with several other PC volunteers, as well as Australians, Brits, Israelis, and many other unidentified definitely-not-Guatemalan travelers. Why? Because Todos Santos was in the midst of celebrating its annual “feria” – a 3-4 day celebration/fair that most medium-large sized towns in Latin America put on every year to commemorate the anniversary of the town’s foundation. This feria happened to coincide with “El día de los muertos” (“Day of the Dead”), which isn’t really a big deal in most of Guatemala (I think it’s more of a Mexican holiday?) but which is celebrated in this town – not sure if the name of the town (“Todos Santos” – “All Saints”) has anything to do with that or not.

A tradition specific to Todos Santos is an annual drunken horse race. Yep - drunken. Horse race. It seemed to be a rule that any male in Todos Santos over the age of 18 had to be drunk beyond the ability to speak for the entirety of the feria, and the men competing in the traditional race were no exception. To experience the race was at once entertaining and terrifying – men were dressed up in the most colorful traditional garb, with feathers and flowers flying everywhere, racing horses back and forth on a narrow wooden-fence-lined “track”. All were drunk beyond belief, and one man was literally SLEEPING on his horse, eliciting several gasps from the crowd whenever he appeared to be falling off. Apparently, the legend behind the race goes something like this: When horses first arrived in Todos Santos, the men there were told that horses were so dangerous that riding one would mean instant death. Therefore, everyone was afraid of horses for years, until one man got so drunk that he forgot his fears and decided to ride one of these dangerous creatures. He didn’t die, and so from that day people decided that maybe horses weren’t so bad after all, but maybe you should get a little (or a lot) drunk before you get on one, just in case. (How the drunkness decreases your chance of death I really couldn’t tell you.)



Another reason why PACAs (used clothes stores) are so great - $3 last-minute halloween costumes

Every feria has a collection of terrifying, decades-old fair rides,

which are amazingly fun to ride

Even though “dia de los muertos” isn’t really a big deal here, most towns still celebrate a little by bringing flowers to loved ones’ graves, and by flying kites. The flying kites thing more has to do with the fact that it is windier now than it used to be, and less with any connection to the dead, but kites are still associated with the holiday and can be seen flying around in the distance in most parts of the country.

The cemetery in Champollap

An abandoned kite

So the big, cute smiling pig from my earlier blog entry got sold and will probably be going to pig heaven sometime soon, but no worries, there are three more pigs in my backyard, and they are little bebecitos! They used to be smaller but I was too lazy to take a picture earlier...

Apparently they never heard the fairy tale about themselves because they quite literally live in a house of sticks, but the only big, bad wolf around here is my host family's dog Tomás, who won't even respond to the other street dogs (owned and stray) who try to pick fights with him (what kind of Guatemalan dog is he, anyway?) He's kind of the coolest dog ever.

The big, bad wolfGetting ready to go spend three whole nights out of site for a halloween/feria/day of the dead celebration, should be interesting!

Hello friends and family (and random other people reading this blog). I just wanted to dedicate an entry to all of you who were so kind and wonderful as to send me donations! It has really helped me to feel more relaxed and productive in my work knowing that I have the funds to cover my work-related expenses.I realize that it's kind of "bad manners" to talk about one's income, but I'm hoping that those rules don't apply to Peace Corps volunteers... Due to a variety of factors, including the fact that I'm still in Peace Corps' lowest pay bracket even though my rent is higher than many other volunteers' (they seem to keep making excuses as to why I can't get bumped up - dear Peace Corps staff member who is paid to read PC blogs: please help me!) aaaand the fact that I occasionally like to indulge in things like oh I don't know, yoga classes (only a dollar, how can I pass it up?), mozzarella cheese, and used American books, I'm still struggling a little bit to get used to my income. BUT, thanks to all of you, my work is NOT suffering, and I have several upcoming projects that I am very excited and not stressed (at least money-wise) about. To give you an idea, here are some things that I have used the donations for:

- Transportation to and from my schools - Print-outs and photocopies for lessons (when there's too much information for the kids to copy down in one class period)- Paper, pens, markers, staplers, folders, etc.

And, starting this Wednesday, I will have several "summer vacation" activities going, including three Harry Potter reading groups (one in each of my schools), and two groups of weekly English classes, which potentially could have about 50 participants each. Therefore, your donations will also be going toward:

- Notebooks for everyone in the clubs (to write down new vocabulary, discussion questions, class activities, homework, etc.)- Coloring supplies (for Harry Potter!)- Supplies for the "prize bin" to be used in the reading groups, where kids will earn points for attendance, learning new vocabulary, and participation- The occasional snack for the reading groups (snacks are popular here and are usually provided at any type of meeting)- Any other costs in maintaining these groups that I can't think of right now but that will surely come up

I'm super excited about these clubs (especially Harry Potter!) and my hope is that the kids will want to continue with them once school starts up again in January, but we'll see what happens. If they did continue, it would be a good way for me to stay occupied during the transition to getting Guatemalan teachers to pick up Peace Corps materials, because that means that (hopefully) I wouldn't be giving lessons during class time anymore, and instead would just be observing the teachers giving the Peace Corps lessons. Which isn't exactly very stimulating. If the clubs don't continue, I'm sure I'll find something else to do - world map/mural projects are near the top of the list right now... I'll also be doing lots of teacher and parent workshops, which I haven't had very much time to do this year.Anyway, point of all this is to say THANK YOU all of you who donated, you are all amazing! And to those of you who can't/don't want to donate right now for whatever reason, thank you for following my blog! I'm grateful for any and all forms of support :) Que Dios les bendiga...

Giovanni (on his "boat") thanks you too