After a most incredible, fun, and tranquilo two-week vacation in Panama with my family for Christmas and New Years, I returned to Guatemala on January 3 where I encountered a whirlwind of information, gossip, confusion, and general panic. While on … Continue reading →
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Last Thursday Julio and I crossed the border to Honduras to visit the Copán ruins, the most southern site of the Mayan empire. We took a guided tour of the site which was founded around 100 A.D. and deserted in … Continue reading →
Monday in celebration of the Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe, the Casa de la Cultura had a big cultural celebration with marimba music and cultural dancing. They dressed me traje tipico from Santa Maria Chiquimula, a municipio of Toto, and … Continue reading →
Last week was the busiest of my Peace Corps life. Every day from morning until late at night, Christina and I were hard at work painting and constructing sets, leading practice every day, and running around for all the thousands … Continue reading →
This morning I met with my cooking club in Xenajtajuyup after two weeks apart since they were unable to get hold of me until I had my phone number replaced last Friday and since all their number were lost … Continue reading →
To celebrate Thanksgiving, I and a group of friends traveled last week to the eastern, Caribbean coast of Guatemala to the Rio Dulce and the town of Livingston. We arrived in Puerto Barrios Wednesday afternoon and caught a boat to … Continue reading →
Since school ended at the end of October, I have been keeping busy leading camps. On Mondays, I lead my cooking club with a few girls in Xenajtajuyup. We have met 3 times so far, and crepes seemed to be … Continue reading →
This past week I celebrated Halloween and Día de Todos Santos here in Guatemala. Halloween I celebrated in Antigua last Saturday with a semi-large Peace Corps crowd. Christina and I dressed up, along with our boyfriends, as rockers; it was … Continue reading →
Today Juana – the leader of the girls group in Xesacmalja I work with – and her sister Justa – one of my sixth grade English students – made their confirmation. I had to miss out on the church part, … Continue reading →
Today my girls group in Xesacmalja celebrated the Day of the Child complete with “enchiladas” and dances. Enchiladas are not a very common food here – I actually don’t think I have eaten them once since being in Guatemala, so … Continue reading →
October 1st is a yet another national holiday in Guatemala: Day of the Child. I spearheaded a campaign to bring about a similar holiday in the United States in 4th grade. I wrote a letter to the president, but the … Continue reading →
September in Guatemala, especially in Totonicapán, is a month of cultural activities and celebrations. As the academic year winds down, the Ministry of Education hosts several important municipal-wide events for the schools. Once again, Christina and I led the desfile … Continue reading →
On Sunday, September 4, I successfully completed my very first half marathon. I have been running regularly for the past year, but only in the past two months did I step up my work outs to include longer runs (1 … Continue reading →
Last Friday, August 26, Christina and I held a Feria de Carreras (Career Fair) for our 200 students in Tercero Básico (last year of school before high school). We invited professionals from the community to give a short, general presentation … Continue reading →
July was filled with many gringo-oriented activities, including the All Volunteer Conference and 4th of July Party, and also marked the mid-point of my Peace Corps service. The second to last Friday of July my group that swore-in July 2010 … Continue reading →
In the month of June I did several different activities with a girls group in Xesacmalja (an aldea in Totonicapán) that I teamed up with through the NGO Population Council. Early in the month I did a cooking activity with … Continue reading →
June 1st I returned from a wonderful two-week trip to the U.S. This was my first trip out of the country since arriving in Guatemala in April 2010. I had an amazing time with friends and family in Alexandria, D.C., … Continue reading →
My latest Peace Corps exploits have mainly focused on talking about sex. Christina and I led a teacher training on sexual education for about 50 teachers in April, with the intent that with our help the teachers would then replicate … Continue reading →
Semana Santa and the Cuaresma (Lenten) season have finally come to an end. Every Friday during Lent massive processions took over the streets of Toto with crosses, candles, incense, singing, and iconic statues of saints. Every block or so the … Continue reading →
Here are some pictures from the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary celebration last Friday at the U.S. Ambassador’s House in Guatemala City. It was a beautiful day with a nice ceremony and not enough food to feed everyone present. The last … Continue reading →
This past weekend in celebration of my birthday, Julio took me on a wonderful trip to Livingston. Livingston is a town located on the eastern, Caribbean coast of Guatemala. This region was quite a contrast from the western, indigenous, Mayan … Continue reading →
Exciting news: About a week ago I moved into my very own house. It’s only a block from where I used to live, large, and safe. It’s connected to the house of a family and we both enter the same … Continue reading →
On Tuesday, March 8th Christina and I hosted the most incredible International Women’s Day event. It was a full-day event for 31 of our female students, and we also had the participation of 6 Guatemalan working women, and Claudia Canastuj, … Continue reading →
The last few weeks I have been extremely busy planning and facilitating talleres (workshops) in addition to daily work in the institutos. Last Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 8 AM – 12 PM, Christina and I co-facilitated, along with the … Continue reading →
After being in Guatemala nearly 10 months without climbing a volcano, I am just on a roll. Julio and I hiked up Vólcan Pacaya, between Guatemala City and Antigua, Saturday morning. This is the volcano that erupted last May causing … Continue reading →
This past Saturday I hiked Volcán Tajumulco, which at 4,220 meters (just over 13,800 feet) is the highest peak in Central America. After awakening at 4:30 AM to travel west from Toto to the department of San Marcos, I and … Continue reading →
It’s a little crazy that this will be my only full school year here in Guatemala. I won’t lie – this month was a bit difficult to get going and motivated. But I have a lot to look forward so … Continue reading →
So now a long overdue entry on my wonderful vacation… My family – mom, dad, and brother – came to Guatemala for 11 days to celebrate Christmas and New Years, but most importantly to see me. We started off the … Continue reading →
Last Sunday a few friends and I took a day excursion to Chichicastenango, about two hours away, in the department of Quiche. Chichi is well-known for its huge market, the biggest days of which are Thursdays and Sundays. Because we … Continue reading →
December is upon us and with it some very cold days and nights. While I have not been overwhelmingly busy I am feeling the need for a vacation. I am thinking how nice a vacation from Guatemala would be at … Continue reading →
Last Thursday in celebration of Thanksgiving, I joined 10 other Americans at the home of another volunteer in San Vicente Buenabaj, a rural aldea in Totonicapán about two and a half hours from where I live. We arrived as it was beginning to rain and were able to enjoy a 15 minute hike uphill [...]
At the beginning of the month Alejandra turned 2. Rosmeri went all out, renting out the salon in the municipalidad and having not one, not two, but three piñatas, all of different characters from a TV show called the Backyardigans. The week of November 8th I was back with the rest of my training class [...]
Last weekend I took a fabulous trip with my friends up to Semuc Champey, near the city of Cobán in the department of Alta Verapaz. I left home at 5 AM and arrived in Cobán at 3 PM after transferring in Cuatro Caminos and again in Guatemala City. There is a much faster route that [...]
Today I will share some more positive news. My English classes are incredible. Not to toot my own horn, but they are legit. My first class was last Tuesday. I have 25 students attending each of two sections – Beginner and Intermediate. My beginner class meets Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Intermediate on Thursday. My flyer [...]
Today was the Foro on Salud Sexual y Reproductiva. I have some words to share about this event. So yesterday we met at the Municipalidad for an 8 AM meeting with the mayor. He came into the meeting around 9:30 AM only to deny the group’s request for money. Today the event was held in [...]
This morning I had a meeting at 8 AM. I called for directions yesterday and my counterpart gave me excellent directions: he told me the SOSAM building is right at the site of my infamous accident down the drain. That is exactly where it is; I just didn’t notice it before. I showed up at [...]
This week I had my site visit from my APCD Gonzalo. It came at a good time when I was feeling a little uninspired. We had a bunch of meetings, one with each of my schools, as well as with the Population Council, an organization in Toto. We also had a few meetings with all [...]
The Feria season in Totonicapán has come and gone (finally). We had an entire week of parades and the town of Toto was transformed into an enormous crazy, carnival. The streets were literally clogged with people and vendors selling just about everything, and the main terminal was converted into an amusement park with thrilling rides. There [...]
Peace Corps encourages volunteers to participate in the World Wise Schools Correspondence Match program where you are a pen pal to a class of students back in the U.S. You have the option of choosing your own teacher if you know someone, or they can randomly match you. I’m very excited to be a pen [...]
September is a busy month in Guatemala, especially in Toto – Independence Day on the 15th, Feria in Toto, the end of the school year, Feria in Xela. It’s an exciting time of year, especially for someone new, although I will admit that walking in parades and listening to school band performances gets old pretty [...]
As I’ve previously mentioned, we’re in the rainy season. Just to give you a sense of how rainy – we have had more rainfall this year than any year in Guatemala since 1949. And we haven’t even gotten through September and October, which are predicted to be the wettest months of all. Typically, the mornings [...]
A few weeks ago I began teaching two sections of 5th grade English Friday mornings in a primary school in Xesacmalja. I can honestly say these are my most fun classes! The kids are extremely enthusiastic and I get an overall really positive vibe from this school and all its teachers. I’ve been reviewing the [...]
Today on my way to teach in Xantún I passed a funeral procession – what appeared to be the entire town on foot – carrying a casket. I arrived at the school early and by 3 o’clock only three students had arrived. The teacher informed me that the brother of one of our students had [...]
Nimapá Tuesdays I’m really glad I stayed up until after midnight Monday night to plan my classes for Tuesday. I arrived on time and was waiting at the school when, thankfully, a student passed by and informed me that they had moved to a new building down the road. I followed him to the school [...]
Today I led my first classes in Xena. (Last week I just watched them dance for many hours in honor of their aniversario.) School starts at 1:30 PM. I arrived at 1:15 and was the first person there. One student – the smallest, most mischievous student of all – showed up soon after, so we [...]
Two weeks in site and I must have logged about 20 hours sitting/standing watching dance performances. Some are quite beautiful, but they tend to get repetitive after the first couple hours. I look forward to many, many more.
Thursday I visited my school in Xantún which is by far my smallest school: 18 students in all three grades combined. I had the students make name tags and then took a picture of each of them with their name so I can begin learning their names. I’m doing this with my other students too…there [...]
The first few days were a little stressful, my mind in a hundred places, wondering what I should do, where I should start, how, when, where, etc. On Monday I visited my school in Nimapá where I attended a staff meeting about the week’s activities in honor of the school’s aniversario. Tuesday I set aside [...]
The last week has been a whirlwind of good-byes and celebrations. Our last week of training kept us busy in the Peace Corps center with a visit from a State Dept. representative and an emotional “commitment to service” sharing/discussion. In our training town Wednesday night Doña Rosa threw an early birthday party for Grace; the [...]
Thursday afternoon, Casey’s and Lynn’s schools threw a despedida & bienvenida. There were many dance and music performances by students, the highlight being 3 clowns who invited Casey and Christina up to dance with them. Friday morning we went to Xela (1 hour by bus). Lynn and I worked out at the gym and then [...]
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