Some horses in a field near my house.

Katie enjoying my most prized possession here-the hammock on my porch.

Katie snapped this photo of a bromeliad while we were on a hike near my house a couple of weeks back. Bromeliads are everywhere out here.

A nice sunset, photo taken from just outside my gate.

The road leading out of El Naranjo.

1. I was walking home from El Naranjo on the road in the picture above when I came upon these men. They are all residents of El Naranjo and are working to improve the road into their canton. Here they have a culvert that they are moving to a point below. The older man in the middle asked if I had a camera and they were all pretty happy to have their photo taken, amid cries of Viva Naranjo!

My buddy, Eduardo, at the school in El Naranjo.

1. A couple of weeks ago I arrived at the school on what I realized was Fat Tuesday, known as Carnaval throughout Latin America. The school had organized some races for the kids on this day and I watched as each group ran. Here a couple of kids get ready, one intense, one disinterested. A small rainbow on the road to Quivala.

Meat at the feria.

Playing some fris with the kids in El Naranjo.

The view from El Naranjo towards San Andres Sacabaja.

Ferias. Every town in Guatemala has one and Chujuyub is no exception. In fact, I would go so far as to say that for its size, Chujuyub’s feria is superior to many others. The people here know how to have a good time…or what passes for a good time here in rural Guatemala. Our feria was back at the end of January and a few weeks before this, I was approached by a friend of mine in town. He asked if Katie and I wanted to participate in the baile de disfraces (dance of disguises). He was pretty stoked about it so we agreed, never wanting to disappoint a Guatemalan or miss out on a chance for some ridiculousness. He told us he would get in touch with us before the feria to talk about getting the aforementioned disfraces. The week of the feria rolls around and in true Guatemalan style my buddy never gets in touch with us. I seek him out mid week and he tells me we need to go to dance practice this week and that later in the week we’ll get our costumes in Quiche, which will cost around 300Q apiece. They are a bit expensive for the Peace Corps budget (I make about 2200Q a month) but we agree that it is worth it. Thursday night comes and we have dance practice. We head up to a house not too far from mine and form lines, listen to blasting banda music and are directed by our illustrious choreographer who thinks that walking and dancing is a very complicated process. We endure almost 3 hours of practice. On Friday we meet some people in Quiche and go to select our costumes. We choose (or rather it chooses us due to monetary and size restraints on my part) the Aztec God and Goddess. The costumes are one of a kind and while we thought that 300Q was expensive, some people paid up to 1000Q for theirs. On Saturday we rise early and head to the covered market in town to don our costumes and dance, dance, dance. We get there and everyone is excited, getting their costumes just so and getting ready to start. It was a warm day and as we could hear Los Conejos Internacionales de Marimba doing a sound check, we knew that the time was upon us. We formed our lines and hit the dance floor….a dirt field that usually houses the market. It was not the most even surface and was very dusty. We danced for almost 4 hours, with a few breaks interspersed and around 1 pm we decided that we wanted to eat lunch and perhaps enjoy a cold beer back at my house. We peeled off our costumes and went to enjoy some beans and rice in an outdoor comedor set up for feria. After lunch we had a beer and decided that 4 hours was enough for us, even though our compadres were still dancing away. We went to pack up our costumes and were told by one of our fellow dancers that we needed to dance until 6 pm. We had already made the decision to stop dancing and this only reinforced that it was in fact the correct one. We went back to the house and rested, enjoying a cool evening with some beers and homemade pizza. The feria took on a whole new twist participating in the dance and we were glad to be part of it, if only to say that we had done it.

Contemplating what moves will be busted once I get on the dance floor. Our dance floor and fellow dancers.

The rocking band, Los Conejos Internacionales de Marimba, and a typical dance move-form a circle and walk around.

Shakin it.

Some of the costumes were disturbing and hard to figure out exactly what they were supposed to be.

Ours, however, were awesome.

Chuchos. Just when you think you have them figured out, they flip it on you. If you refer to one of my first blogs, I declared my undying dislike for Guatemalan dogs after a near death (ok, a slight exaggeration) experience with a couple particularly ferocious ones in Santa Maria Cauque. In my town, over the past 14 months, I've come to a conclusion. Chuchos, aka the dogs of Guatemala that claim no real home and just wander the street, are not the bad ones. These dogs are basically in just survival mode, scavenging what they can to get by and can even provide an occasional laugh when they are seen stuck together after a little baby chucho making-always with an incredibly guilty look on their faces as they stroll along attached end to end. The dogs that are the real culprits in Guatemala are the ones which are actually owned by people, who keep them close to the house and often on very short chains so that when they are released they are very aggressive and want to attack anything that moves. Guatemalans encourage their dogs to be aggressive as a deterrent to intruders, but the dogs will attack anyone who happens to pass within 50 yards of the house. These dogs are the ones who need to be eliminated. 

With that said, since about last September, I've had a couple of local chuchos that scavenge around my house. One of them, who Katie named Mama Bear, showed up with a huge wound on her back, what looked like a possible machete wound. This wouldn't be completely out of the question; Guatemalans can be pretty cruel to animals, especially dogs that they don't want around. When Mama Bear had this wound, she also had some super saggy milkers hanging down-a single mother who was being abused. She was a pretty sympathetic figure and I started giving her my leftovers. Soon enough, one of her puppies started coming around with her and she was christened Blacky by me-Katie's a bit more creative than I am. 

Majestic Mama Bear. 

Blacky licking her chops. 

Well, Mama Bear and Blacky have been hanging around ever since, eating my leftovers and chasing off other dogs that come around. I've discovered that chuchos will eat bananas, avocados, oatmeal and almost anything you put in front of them. They've become my buddies and lately have started to let me pet them. They don't understand fetch and whenever I throw food for them to catch in their mouth it usually just bounces off their nose. They mostly just want to lie back and have their bellies rubbed. They're good to have around though and have forever altered my view of chuchos for the better. 

Vacas. Ganados. Toros. These are just a few of the words used to refer to cattle. In my town, many people have cattle. They raise them mainly for their milk. During this time of year, after the corn harvest ends in November, all the cows are brought back from Tierra Caliente (Hot Land) an area about an hour from my town where the cattle spend the rainy season. Tierra Caliente is quite a bit lower than my town, which is at about 7100 feet elevation, and when it is dry there is not much for the cattle to eat. 

Therefore, they are brought here and put to pasture in the corn fields and anywhere else there is food available. Last year, this meant my garden-a couple of cows knocked down my fence and ate my entire garden of kale, peas, beets, carrots, Swiss chard and squash right before I was able to harvest. It was frustrating and while the cows were the perpetrators of this crime, the blame really falls on the people who own the cows. They don't give them enough to eat and the cows lack the minerals they need. 

Since these cows are lacking in nutrition and during the dry season need as much as help as they can get, I have been encouraging the people in my town to give their cattle vitamin injections and antiparasite medicine. The majority of them are afraid to inject a cow, so beginning last year I became the local vitamin administrator. I buy the medicine and sell it at cost. My boss, Don Lincho, taught me how to inject the cattle and it has been a good project for me. Many people and cattle are benefiting from it and there are even a few people who have learned how to inject the cattle and buy medicine for themselves and sell to their neighbors. 

Every time we attempt to inject one of the cattle is an adventure. Usually it involves chasing the cow with a piece of rope, getting the rope around the horns and dragging the cow to a nearby tree, post, pillar holding up the house or whatever is close and tying it to the object. The vitamins are an injection in the cow's hindquarters and are usually what causes it to lose its cool. The trick is to hit the cow about 3 times with the back of your hand where you plan to inject it and then on the fourth hit, slip the needle in. Sometimes, the needle won't penetrate and it spooks the cow to have a sharp object jabbed into its skin-understandably so. 

Bringing the cows in. 

The cow has been tied up and is ready to be injected. 

The antiparasite medicine is a bit easier, at times, as you just have to use a large syringe (no needle) and squirt it down the animal's throat. Sometimes opening the mouth enough to get it in there can be tricky, but most of the folks here have it down. 

Trying to open the mouth for the antiparasite medicine. 

Placing the needle, after which I attach the syringe full of vitamins and inject them. Notice the perfect form. 

During this time of year, I always have my medicine and needles in my backpack as it is not uncommon for me to be walking down the road and have someone to invite to their house for an impromptu cow injection session. I have been lucky enough to get some fresh milk and am usually given some type of parting gift for helping out-avocadoes, oranges, limes bigger than your fist-and I enjoy the work. 

My house is a small adobe structure, with a tile roof and wood ceiling. When it rains heavily, water can drip through and for this reason there is plastic immediately under the ceiling in a few strategic places throughout the house--my bed, my shelves with clothing and food and my table in the kitchen. While this keeps me dry, it also creates a space for some unwanted guests to set up shop--vermin.

While I've been here, I've had the pleasure of housing a few mice, rats and what I believe to be a possum. I've been able to get a few mice with my machete, they take a risk and run out from wherever they are hiding across the room and when they do, they suffer the consequences.

A couple of weeks ago, as Katie and I were sleeping, from the nylon above my bed we heard something crawling. I took my walking stick, jabbed at the nylon and whatever it was took off. After some more jabbing, I realized that this creature had built a nest in the nylon above my bed. We harassed it long enough to see it stick its long, disgusting nose out from the nylon and then scurry away to the side of the house where it can leave. This is what I believe to be the possum. I then started setting poison around the house for him to hopefully consume and die from. He has returned once, but I think he finally got the message that he is not wanted.

Last week, I walked into my kitchen and saw that a good sized furry guy, definitely not a mouse was perched on my stove, eating something. Grabbing my machete, I headed in for the kill. I took a swing at him and he ran into a space between my chimney and the wall. Blindly, I stuck my machete in the space and hacked away. After a few good blows, I was able to extract him from the space and see that he was dead. That was my first and hopefully my last rat.

During the holidays, when not a whole lot of work is being done in Guatemala, Katie and I took advantage of the downtime and took a trip to Mexico. We visited Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca and San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. We had a really good time and if you want to see more about our time there, I advise you to head over to Katie's blog at undresongadventure.blogspot.com. She did a great job chronicling our travels and activities. I'm going to focus on the one truly important aspect of the trip...the beers.

Before going to Mexico, I have had a few Mexican beers that are available in the States: Corona, Tecate, Dos Equis and Pacifico. While they don't measure up to the fine craft brews that one can purchase or make, they are pretty solid beers. In Guatemala, the beer landscape is dominated by light and tasteless beer; namely Gallo. It is the national beer and they have a monopoly on the market here. The one island of dark deliciousness in the sea of blandness is Moza, a bock style beer that is Guatemala's one decent beer. It is hard to find however and usually a bit more expensive. With all that said, when we went to Mexico we were excited to sample their beers. Here's a few that we enjoyed.

The Mexican staple: Corona. It quenches thirst, goes down easy and when you have lime and a bit of salt....it is damn good. Here, we enjoyed a few Coronas while we were waiting for some fish we caught to be prepared.

Superior, another light Mexican beer that is pretty commonplace. Not quite as tasty as Corona, but it did the job with the street tacos that join it in this picture.

Modelo Especial. I guess that Modelo is one of the fancier beers in Mexico, as it seemed to be a bit more almost everywhere we went. At this particular restaurant we were able to find beer on tap, a rarity. Modelo Especial is okay, a step ahead of Superior but not quite as good as Corona.

Leon, one of the dark beers. While shopping in a huge grocery store in Puerto Escondido, we happened upon a six pack of this stuff, which cost 48 pesos. With roughly 12 pesos to a dollar, it was a tough deal to pass up. However, once we got to the beach and sampled the goods, we realized why it was so cheap. Not a whole lot of flavor or body, it has a dark color but drinks like a light beer.

I am not sure who makes this, but this is a specialty beer made for Noche Buena, which is also the name of the beer. Noche Buena is what Spanish speakers call Christmas Eve, which tends to be the bigger celebration rather than Christmas Day. This was a real good beer, probably the darkest one we had while in Mexico. It was real malty and was heavy enough that you could only drink a couple. It was a nice find.

Dos Equis Amber. This is a good beer, not like a true amber that one might find in Idaho, Oregon or Washington; but still a solid beer. Being able to drink it on tap definitely helped.

Negra Modelo. Another beer that we can get in the States, Negra Modelo is a tasty beer. Like Modelo Especial, it was on tap and a bit pricey, but worth the few pesos extra. In my humble opinion, the best of the Mexican beers, Bohemia Oscura. This beer was just right, dark and malty, but still smooth enough to down a few. While we were in Puerto Escondido, this was what we looked for when we stopped in to have a beer.

Duff beer. We didn't buy it because it was expensive, but apparently someone in Mexico is a big Simpsons fan and has the means to brew this as a tribute. Unless The Simpsons took the idea from Mexico. Who knows, either way pretty funny.

We started out at 10,000 feet. That is where the bus dropped us off. While we waited for the rest of our fellow hikers, I pulled out my GPS and we were at exactly at 10,000 feet. So we had that going for us. When everyone arrived, we departed on what was about a 3000 feet climb that would take roughly 4 hours. We started off on a dirt road, following it until we arrived in a big grass field with no real discernible trail. We had another volunteer with us who had done the hike twice before (a fellow Vandal actually) and told us that we just had to cross over the two ridges we saw in the distance. After these two ridges lies Volcan Tajamulco, our destination. We hiked along slowly, inching our way towards camp. I could definitely feel the effects of the altitude; my lungs were burning as I hadn’t felt before. I wasn’t dizzy or nauseous, but deep breaths were not coming easily. After about 4 or 5 hours of hiking, we arrive at camp (13,100 feet) and are greeted by roughly 30 Guatemaltecos, some of whom we had encountered on the way up. One in particular was drinking Gallo, the Guatemalan beer of choice, and tossing his cans on the trail as he went. When we came upon him and his group earlier they had built a fire for lunch on the side of the trail and were walking away with it still lit. When he was asked why he didn’t put the fire out, he told us that this isn’t California and it isn’t hot enough to have a big fire. Needless to say, not the brightest guy in the world. Unfortunately, we would be sharing a campground with some other folks of about the same intelligence level. We made camp, gathered wood, tried to get warm and finally had a nice hot meal of chicken quesadillas and black beans and rice. After we ate, we all wanted to get to our tents and into our sleeping bags as quickly as possible. We planned on making our summit at 4 am, to be on top for the sunrise. We headed to our respective tents at about 8:30, ready to crash. Good and tired after a long hike and full of warm food, plus a splash of rum in my hot chocolate, I expected to fall asleep immediately. However, I did not factor in the drunk guys outside of our tent. Our wonderful neighbors were up talking loudly, playing music from their phones (a favorite pastime) and making a ruckus until about 11. Then again at 2 am, they were up cooking and talking, shouting and playing music. When 4 rolled around, I had neither the energy nor the motivation to get out of my sleeping bag and really did not want to see any of our neighbors. I convinced myself to get out of my bag, put on a couple layers of clothing and headed out into the darkness at 4:30 am. With headlamps we trudged along, step by step for the last 700 feet up to the summit. We got separated from our group and climbed a hill that I would like to think of as the second highest point in Central America. Finally, from there we found our way and made it to the true summit, Volcan Tajamulco the highest point in Central America (13, 854 feet). The view was amazing, the wind was cold and we hung out for about half an hour, eating, taking pictures and complaining about the cold until we made our way down. Well worth the trip.

A view of the peak.

Countryside below on the way up.

Our group.

Katie and I at the summit.

A great view of the volcanos, one of which is smoking.

Another volcano.

View after the sun came out.

On the way down.

Still working our way down.

An empty field on the way down.

Katie, "going rogue" like our good friend Sarah Palin. If you look closely you will see that Katie is sporting a Rogue hat, not of the Sarah Palin ilk, but more of the Dead Guy Ale type. She thought that having a photo of her wearing this hat on the highest point in Central America may garner some good favor (free beer) with the folks at Rogue Brewing Company. Well, we forgot the hat on our summit, but decided to take a photo anyways. So, yes, this is the highest point in Central America.

Drunken horse riding is no joke. In Guatemala there is no real celebration of Halloween like there is in the States, however, there is All Saints Day/Dia de los Muertos during which they honor the saints and also their relatives who have passed away. As you can see from my blog around this time last year, where I lived when I first came to Guatemala celebrates the event by constructing enormous kites. This year we headed out to northwestern Guatemala, the department of Huehuetenango, to the town of Todos Santos. Todos Santos is located in the Cuchumatanes mountain range and is a beautiful setting in the Guatemalan highlands. In this almost purely indigenous town the men still wear the traditional garb, unlike the greater part of Guatemala where the women will still wear the traditional clothing but the men will not. Although it was not Halloween, one definitely could have thought they were dressing up, as the clothing is very bright and includes chaps and a hat. They wear this clothing year round though and it is recognized that anyone wearing this traje is a Todo Santero. In Todos Santos there were no giant kites similar to those in Santa Maria Cauque. The celebration here manifests itself in a horse race on the morning of November 1st. The race is more a test of endurance rather than your typical horse race. There is a fenced in track of about 150 yards on which selected men will ride their horses back and forth, in an all out sprint. The feat is no small one, as it gets very crowded on the small track and wrecks are common (although there was only two that I was aware of). The men are aided in their courage by drinking large amounts of alcohol; before, during and one would surely assume after the race. During the actual riding, many of the men ride with no hands on the horse, demonstrating their bravery to the curious onlookers. How and if a winner is determined is unknown to me, as we were only able to stick around for a couple hours in the morning. The event attracts tourists worldwide and this year even the US Ambassador to Guatemala, Stephen McFarland was spotted in the crowd. We also saw some photographers from Reuters there documenting the event for their news organization. The town itself was an incredible place and it amazed me to see how much diversity exists in Guatemala’s ecology. As we left in the back of a pickup on Sunday, we were bundled up and even covered with a tent rainfly for part of the trip, however, less than two hours later we arrived in the city of Huehuetenango and it was extremely warm, in an almost desert setting unlike the pure mountain climate we had just left. The different climates that exist in such a small area are one of the many things that make Guatemala unique. The event in Todos Santos is one that I am definitely glad I attended and is one that cannot be replicated anywhere else.

Chiantla, outside of Huehuetenango before you begin the climb into the highlands. The landscape looks a bit like Idaho to me.

The view as we climb....

....and climb.

Katie makes fast friends with a Todo Santero gentleman.

Here the racers congregate with the men of importance in the pueblo. This was also the starting point for the race.

A drunken rider.

Too fast for my camera.

And they're off!

Here, Katie turns a blind eye to the race, trusting me to tell her when the horses are getting too close for comfort. Did I tell her?

All is well that ends with a peanut butter cookie.

In November of 2008, I arrived here in my site. As I approach November 2009, a lot has changed. When I first arrived work was short, my Spanish was noticeably slower and less advanced, and I had very few acquaintances outside of the members of my association. I can’t believe that a year has passed already and now as I look at my calendar full of work, visitors and trips I know that the coming year will pass even faster. Evaluating where I am today compared to last year, it is an entirely set of different circumstances. My work is abundant, my Spanish is much better and I have numerous friends in my town and others nearby. As I look back on the first year of service I can see what I have achieved here and still have a lot that I want to accomplish. There have been projects that have been very successful and others that have not been. I am working towards finding ways to ensure that those projects which have been successful continue to be once I leave. The phrase to describe this idea is one of the buzzwords here and in Peace Corps worldwide: sustainable development. How can a volunteer work to make certain that the progress achieved does not fall off once he or she leaves? It is a difficult question and one that I am certain all of us struggle with daily. We are here as facilitators, helping others to achieve rather than doing for them or giving things away. This is easier said than done, but it is something that can be done if both the volunteer and the person being helped approach the problem correctly. Living and working in another culture has been a great experience thus far. Although there have been frustrations, setbacks and barriers; there have also been numerous occasions where I have learned, taught or had the chance to experience something completely new. The good times definitely outweigh the difficult ones. Work here is unlike anything I have ever done, at times very slow and at other times only kind of slow. Actually, my days here are now pretty well filled, there are days when I leave my house at 7:30 am and don’t get back until 6:00 pm. While that may not be an extremely long day, when you add in the fact that you are speaking in another language the entire time and walking miles and miles; it can be both mentally and physically exhausting. In a good way though. Certainly, I can look at my time here thus far and know that I made the right choice in coming here. There have been times when I have felt differently, but it has been a great experience and I look forward to the challenges that my second year will bring.

The day began as most days in Guatemala do….waiting. We were supposed to all meet at the school at 7 am, on the road to the school at 6:45 I encountered some parents waiting who told me that the teachers had not yet arrived and we would be leaving through this road anyways, so rest and wait here. I did, expecting the teachers to arrive shortly and roughly an hour and a half later they did. When they arrived with 2 Toyota pickups we all piled in the back—the backs of these pickups are equipped with racks allowing everyone to stand up and also fit an extraordinary number people in them—and headed out for the day. The trip was with an elementary school I work with in canton El Naranjo. They invited me to join them on their field trip for the 14th of September. The 15th is Guatemalan Independence Day and the day before seems to be the day that all of the schools get out to run around and have a good time. Here is how it went:

We leave El Naranjo in the pickups, about 40 of us in two pickups and make the 45 minute trip into Santa Cruz del Quiche. Once in town we head to Comedores Solidarios, a government subsidized nutrition program where you can purchase breakfast for 1Q—about 12 cents. The breakfast consists of beans, plantains, a small roll of French bread and a small “pan dulce” which is sweet bread with a bit of lard and sugar sprinkled on top (“It’s the lard that makes it so delicious”—another nugget of Guatemalan wisdom from the one and only David Castillo, our tech trainer). The one thing they do not provide is tortillas, which can be purchased across the street at 4 tortillas for 1Q and any way you cut it you will not find a cheaper breakfast.

One of the pickups, loaded down with folks on the way home.

After we finish eating, we load back up and head out to Balneario Pachitac, a small park with swimming pools about 5-10 minutes outside of Quiche. As we drive out to the park, we see many trucks, buses and vans crammed with students heading back to Quiche. As we pass them the kids yell, wave and generally just behave like kids. As we pass one especially large truck they began squirting us with water and suddenly I was hit in the face with a sandwich bag full of water. Everyone in the truck was wet and laughing, thinking of how we could get some water to be able to fight back. Shortly thereafter we arrive at the park and while there was more than one pool, all of them were overrun with kids. Except the deep end of the largest pool which was relatively free of people. In the deep end there is a platform for people to dive off of. I stand watching people dive when I notice that there is a rope hanging from the platform. I soon discover what it is for when one of the divers (not really diving, more jumping I guess) puts the loop around his hand as he prepares to jump in. As soon as he hits the water, he comes back up, pulls the rope tight and uses it to pull himself back to the safety of the side of the pool. There it is, the Guatemalan life preserver for those who cannot swim, which is definitely the majority. We leave the park and head back to Comedores Solidarios for lunch—3Q. After lunch we go to Gumarcaaj, the Mayan ruins outside of Quiche. As we approach the ruins there are buses, trucks and vans parked along the road for a mile or so. It seems that all of the schools in the area went to the park and then to the ruins. We park and walk into the ruins, briefly exploring them before the main event of the day: the running of the antorchas. This is the same event that took place in an earlier blog for the school anniversary, diesel fueled torches and this time we would be covering a much further distance while running with them. Also, it is not just the group that I was with who take part in this. All of the schools have this event, along with the fireman, police, hospital workers, and what appeared to be almost all Guatemalans within the vicinity. The kids get into groups, light one torch, prepare their banner and take off. We run out of the park and towards Quiche, all of the adults and kids running with the pickups following behind. Once we are near Quiche, we implement a system of having one group of kids run then switching to another once that group was tired. Those who were waiting would follow in the pickup. As we approach Quiche I am in the pickup. Now as we come in from the ruins into the city, there are quite a few students and people lining the roads. As each group of runners and vehicles passes, the onlookers are grabbing cups, buckets, hoses and whatever they could get their hands on to soak them with water. Especially when we get into town, there are people on top of their roofs waiting with buckets of water to soak us. I am wet from head to toe as we come into town. I believe that given that I am a “canche”, have a beard and am about a good 6 inches taller than the average Guatemalan male and was riding in the back of a pickup full of elementary school kids; I was a target. I heard the laughs and cries of satisfaction as they pelted me with water. I like to think that I really made some Guatemalans’ dreams come true when they got a chance to soak the gringo. Just giving back in any way I can.

At the ruins with the kids, teachers and parents.

The kids running out of the ruins with the antorchas.

Approaching the plaza and church in Santa Cruz.

Lighting all the antorchas before heading into town.

The objective of the running of the antorchas is to make it back to your canton, running the entire way. Well, in true Guatemalan fashion we are way behind schedule and will be arriving very late if the kids run the whole way. Our driver, thankfully, tells everyone that he is cold from getting soaked during the drive and wants to get home before dark. We load up and resume the running about a half mile outside of Chujuyub, about another 15 minutes of running to Naranjo. As it is getting late, I hop off the pickup, stop by the tienda to buy some eggs and head home for the evening. It was definitely one of the best times I have had here in Guatemala. The best part was that the parents of the kids who came along seemed to be enjoying it as much if not more than the kids. They stopped and bought bags of water so we could fight back, they were taunting the people were lining the streets and looking for cars with open windows passing by that we could target. As a vehicle approached, one of the parents would alert everyone and tell them to prepare their water. The kids seemed to be having the time of their lives and I was really happy to be able to take part in it. It was a long day and 12 hours of a Guatemalan elementary school field trip is something that I can now mark off of my list of things to do.

And then 2 within 3 days. Andrew went home on Tuesday and then on Friday, my cousin Stephanie was passing through on her way to language school in Nebaj and numerous other adventures during a 6 week trip. In her short stay here we were able to do some hiking, eat some good food and just enjoy the relaxing lifestyle that living in the middle of nowhere provides. A few pics from Stephanie’s couple days here…

Stephanie and I before we began our descent back to town.

Main Street Chujuyub...in all of its glory.

Katie and Stephanie playing Frisbee in a field after lunch.

So, I have been here in Guatemala just over a year. I arrived last August 13th and didn’t actually begin my service until November 1st and although I have over a year of service left I have been living in Guatemala for over a year. With that said, I have not had any visitors thus far so when my brother Andrew came to see me over the last couple weeks it was a good experience for both of us…I hope. Andrew arrived with numerous gifts, one being a laptop on which I am writing this very blog. This laptop will make my life much easier, as I am beginning to find a need for typing up lesson plans, reports, handouts for the schools, etc. Also, there is a fast food restaurant in nearby Santa Cruz del Quiche, Pollo Campero, which offers free wireless. This makes getting podcasts, checking email and all the finer things the internet offers more accessible. When Andrew arrived we were in Antigua for a short time and then headed to my site. Andrew stayed with me for a few days, had the chance to meet some of the kids at the school I work with, meet a couple families that I work with and see how life in the Guatemalan countryside goes. After staying at my place for a few days we headed out. Our first stop was Gumarcaaj, some Mayan ruins outside of Santa Cruz del Quiche. These ruins were the home of the Quiche Mayans and were the site of the battle between Tecun Uman and Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. We wandered around for a couple hours and went into a cave, outside of which there was a Mayan ceremony being performed. Unfortunately, we were a couple minutes late; as we walked up a woman was dripping the blood of a chicken’s freshly slit throat onto a fire. After the ruins, we continued on to Chichicastenango and the artisan market there to buy souvenirs and gifts for family. From there we continued on to Katie’s site and Andrew was introduced to the one and only Hendrick, Katie’s host brother. They became fast friends and Hendrick took over Andrew’s Ipod Touch for a couple days, playing games. After leaving Katie’s, we headed to Lago Atitlan for some leisure time. On Saturday, we went to a eco park above the lake for some ziplining with some other volunteers. One of the ziplines was 400 meters long and 200 meters off of the ground. It was good times. After the lake, we headed back to Antigua for a couple days, hiked an active volcano (of which Andrew has all the photos) and then Andrew headed home. It was a fast trip and we were able to see a lot of Guatemala in a short time. Andrew was able to experience chicken buses, comedores, markets, paca and pretty much all that comes with living in Guatemala. Thanks to him for bringing everything down; between the computer, scotch and books my time has become much more enjoyable.

Andrew and I at Cafe Sky in Antigua.

I quickly discovered that much like your average Guatemalteco, Andrew has the ability to fall asleep just about anywhere in under 3 minutes. Here he is sleeping on a bus.

Here Andrew is above the house of a man I am working with in one of the cantones near my aldea, Don Lolo. We are working to make a demonstrative garden using all organic methods to show people in surrounding cantones what can be accomplished.

Of course I had to take Andrew to meet my friends Don Pedro and Dona Tina. We had lunch, chatted and just hung out for a couple hours with these folks. After lunch, we were relaxing outside when Andrew walked by their dog, La Mancha (spot in Spanish), and they noticed he was a bit afraid. This is completely normal, as the dog is huge and they keep him on a short leash next to the chicken coop to ward off intruders. Well, they thought it was funny and next thing you know, they want Andrew to have a picture with the dog. Andrew obliged and it was a good laugh for everyone.

Here Andrew is at one of the altars in the cave at Gumarcaaj.

Andrew, spreading the Frisbee skills worldwide.

Andrew and I preparing to zip on a line.

The ziplining group, L to R, Charlotte, Sara, Kayla, Andrew, myself and Katie

Andrew diving into Lago Atitlan.

(Disclaimer: This blog was started about two months ago and just now is being published. My bad)

Lately the schools that I work with have been taking up more and more of my time. This is a good thing. I really enjoy working with the kids and they seem to enjoy it also. There are always the constant reminders that I am working with 15 year old kids--for example, they decided that they wanted to work on the garden at 5 am one morning. I show up at 5, wait until 5:30 head home and then come back to find them working away at 7. They of course tell me that they were there right at 5 and when I explain I was there it suddenly becomes 5:30 and then when I say I was there till 5:30, it becomes 5:35. Maybe the time frame is more of a chapin issue than a 15 year old kid issue.

Anyways, it is going well and at the end of the week, they invited me to join in a celebration of the anniversary of their school. They mentioned torches, but not many other details. I show up Friday at 5 and we begin to walk out of town, about 3 miles where everyone convenes. We have all the kids (about 90 or so), teachers, various members of the community and all the recent alumni there for the social aspect. A truck with a generator, amp and two enormous speakers blasts ranchero and banda music, along with the classic "What is Love" from SNL fame. This noise is also competing with the school band and all of the students chanting, talking, yelling, etc. And of course the torches. It seems that the school has a tradition of having the kids construct torches with empty cans tied to a stick and then filled with diesel soaked rags. Keep in mind this is a school sponsored event so safety is top priority.

The banner of the school, specifically the secondary school. The school itself has been around for some 40 years or so, but the secondary school has only been here for about 7 years according to the teachers.

Lynch mob? Luckily no, the gringo lives to see another day. This is where we all met up to start the march back to town.

Here one of the students, Lester, reignites his antorcha. Yes, that is a water bottle filled with diesel fuel. The other student behind him was helping to light another torch before this when I noticed that his hand was soaked in diesel, which seemed a bit dangerous to me but he didn't seem too worried about it when I mentioned it.

The school band, part of the marching brigade to town.

A view of most of the torches from a hillside.

Good times with diesel fueled fire.

One of the many things I appreciate about Guatemala is the simplicity of it. Although there have been more than a few instances when I have wished that I could hop in my own car and make haste for the next destination, it is nice being able to take the time to stroll at a leisurely pace as I make my way to work...or anywhere really. This dawned on me as I was taking a route to a small village where I work with the school, about a half hour walk I make once or twice a week. I imagine that this commute will probably be the one by which all others are measured throughout my lifetime and none of them will compare.  Take a look...

The trail begins here, about a five minute walk from my front door. 

Rush hour traffic can really be overwhelming at times. 

 A creek for me to cross, which I have only fallen into once. 

A nice meadow along the trail. 

Young corn growing on a hillside. 

This is what most of the trail looks like, nicely shaded. 

Buena vista. 

The trail to the left is my path.  

As the rainy season technically began in May, but seems to have begun officially in the last couple days, everything is nice and green. 

The road to the village. 

View from the village looking east. 

As you can see below, I had an unexpected and sudden family emergency that required me to travel to the US on April 26th. It was not ideal circumstances for a trip home, but it was great to be able to be there during this time. I had not planned on traveling home during my service, but really enjoyed the opportunity to see family and friends. 

So, upon my return to Guatemala I am ready to get home and get settled back in with all of the new books, food and other luxuries I brought with me from the US. I arrived in Guatemala on June 2nd, made it home on the 4th due to protests at some main thoroughfares on the highway and was well on my way to making myself at home when on Saturday June 6th, this happened:

Nope, that is not Quasimodo, that is yours truly. On the fateful day, Katie and I were on a walk when we stopped to visit with a friend of mine, Don Paulino, and his sons who were working in their corn field. As we were talking, a bee was buzzing around my head. I swatted at it with my  hat a few times and thought that I had scared it away. As I was talking to Paulino (and thinking about what the hell I was saying in Spanish--it took a bit of adjustment after 5 weeks of English) I saw this monster of a bee zoom in towards my face and land on my forehead for a direct hit. I once again swatted it off of my head, while Paulino's sons burst into laughter at the gringo flailing at a bee. Paulino asked me about 3 times, "Pica, verdad? Pica?", which means basically "It stings, right?". And yes, yes it did. That evening as we were making dinner, I noticed that my face had taken on a strange shape, more swollen and disfigured than normal. I contacted our nurses who recommended Benadryl and if the swelling hadn't gone down in the morning, then to contact them. Well, the photo above was taken the next morning and therefore, I contacted them to see what my next step was. The next step: traveling 4 hours to Xela to go to the hospital! I pack my bag and head out, get to the hospital and talk to the doctor. They tell me they will give me an injection and send me on my way with some stronger antihistamines, which would leave me enough time to travel about halfway home to Katie's place, but cut my trip in half. Well, it turns out that an injection is hooking me up to an IV for an hour, so I am then required to stay the night in Xela. Needless to say, this was an unexpected yet appropriate adventure upon my return to Guatemala. This country definitely keeps you on your toes. 

Daniel Marc Miller, 23, passed away on April 25, 2009 in Moscow, Idaho. Daniel was born in Bremerton, Washington on January 20, 1986 and lived there until 1991 when his family moved to Homedale, Idaho. Daniel attended elementary, middle and high school in Homedale, graduating from Homedale High School in 2004 before attending the University of Idaho.   Daniel was a son, a brother, a cousin, a grandson, a nephew, and a friend to countless people during his life. Daniel had a positive outlook on life and a faith that no matter how great the problem was, it would be resolved. His attitude and demeanor made those around him realize how special life could be and that time should be taken to enjoy it. Daniel had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit, neither of which he ever hesitated to share with those around him. Since he was a young boy, Daniel loved to make others laugh and to share the joy that he had. He was an eternal optimist and his enthusiasm for life was apparent to all who knew him. Daniel had a passion for music and loved to attend concerts with his brothers, cousins and friends. During his middle school and high school years Daniel had no greater joy than playing football and always enjoyed watching games to cheer on his two favorite teams, the Idaho Vandals and the Dallas Cowboys. Friendship and friends were gifts that Daniel treasured and he always surrounded himself with those he loved.   Daniel, although you were taken away from us suddenly and too soon, we know that you knew Jesus, are in heaven with our Lord and have a peace that is unknown to us in this life. We treasure the time that we had with you and cherish all the memories of you. Daniel, in your short time here you made such an impact on so many people. Your quick smile and zeal for life spoke volumes to everyone around you.  In your short twenty-three years, you made your mark on this world.  Your kind nature and love for others were qualities that always shone through. Daniel, you will be missed greatly and even though you are gone, your impact on our lives has only just begun. Our memories of you and the time we had with you will continue to live on in our hearts and minds.   Daniel was preceded in death by his grandfathers Roy C. Miller and U.D. Asumendi, and by his uncle Mark Miller. He is survived by his father and mother, Bruce and Benita; his brothers Nicolas, Benjamin, and Andrew; his grandmothers Dolores Asumendi and Madelaine Miller; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins who were all very close to him. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers that you make memorial donations in the name of Daniel Marc Miller to University of Idaho, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences.    I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33  

The past couple weeks have been pretty busy. Work has started to fill more and more time which has been a welcome change. I have still been able to get out on the weekends and visit some great spots in Guatemala. It has been a fast couple of weeks and the next two will be even faster. I have a trip to the beach planned and then we have Reconnect at the Peace Corps center, a chance for our group to reconvene and discuss challenges, problems and solutions. More updates to come soon. 

Crazy clouds on Friday evening. Photo taken from my front yard. 

This is Don Pedro standing with freshly butchered meat. He and his wife have become good friends of mine and I stop by a couple times a week to work on gardens, composting and trying to find enough people with chickens to vaccinate. One benefit for me is that every time I stop by they feed me a meal and send me on my way with a bag full of tortillas and homemade cheese. I stopped by their place on Friday on my way to Don Teofilo's house and ate lunch with them. I had to leave early, but they asked me to stop back by to pick up tortillas and cheese on my way home. When I returned, the scene above is what I found. It seems that one of their cows had fallen and broken a leg, so Don Pedro busted out the knife, skinned and butchered the cow right there in front of the house. They leave the meat out for a day or so to cure in the sun, wrap it up in the cowhide (on the ground in front of him) and store it in a dark room to eat later. They were nice enough to give me a couple good sized chunks of the meat which I took home and grilled that night. Delicious. 

A giant lemon given to me by Don Teofilo after I injected his cattle and horses with vitamins. Put next to the Nalgene for scale, this thing is pretty enormous. 

Here is my latest enterprise. I have become the local seed salesman of my town. What I do is buy large quantities of seeds and split them up into lots of 1Q (just enough to cover the costs of the seeds, no profits) which makes them affordable for just about everyone. I sell these seeds to people and then help them plant their gardens, so it works out well for everyone. 

Planting a garden with the family of my landlord's sister, Doña Tina. This is her son Dimas and he is ready to plant a garden. 

Here are the kids planting radishes. They were pretty excited about having a garden and seemed to be able to stay on task...

...until the chicken feathers started going into everyone's hair. Then all hopes of work were over. Luckily we had completed most of the work by that time.

Doña Tina's daughter Kimberly. 

First things first, arm every Guatemalan schoolgirl with a butcher knife. Actually, this was from a project I am doing with the school in my town. We are making a garden and have not found any suitable land yet, so for the time being we are planting inside of tires. This requires the knife this girl is ominously hiding behind her back. 

Here I am talking to a few of the kids about how we are going to cut the tires and plant the gardens. 

Showing where and how to cut the tires. 

And chaos ensues...no, here the kids are trying to flip the tires. This can be a hassle, our trainer David likes to say that the tire is laughing at you and that seems to be about the most accurate description. These kids were not having luck with this tire. 

Here, myself, my neighbor/schoolteacher Hugo (on the right) and Paulino (the cowboy hat) were wrestling with a particularly difficult tire. We finally did get it flipped. The tire gardens work like this. You get an old tire, cut two  holes on opposite sides (for handles) and then cut all the way around the tire. Then you flip the tire inside out to give yourself more surface area for your garden. If a tire still has a good amount of tread or loose wire, this can cause problems. This particular tire was small, compact and had a lot of tread on it, but we still whipped it. 

A timeless classic in both Guatemala and the US. This is probably the only pickup in my town that is not a red Toyota. Almost identical to the Nic Miller original. 

This ferocious looking creature is someone that Katie and I mistakenly encountered a couple of weeks back. We went to Lago Atitlan for the weekend to meet up with some friends and we arrived earlier than they did, so we figured we would walk a trail down to another hotel we had heard about and check out the swimming area. We asked around for directions, were told it was about a ten or fifteen minute walk and started on our way. We stumbled along and finally found what appeared to be a hotel. Nice stone walkways, cabanas tucked in along said walkways, it seemed clear to us that although there was not a sign this was what we were looking for. We let ourselves in through the gate, walk down a bit and come to a blocked part of the path, which had a wooden plank running up to another level. Katie looked up, informed me there were two really big dogs, I turned and told her let's get out of here. As we turned and started walking, I heard the wooden plank rocking back and forth and here come two massive German Shepherds our way. We turn and run, it is about 50 feet to the gate. One of the dogs was going nuts and was out for blood. The other more docile dog was nuzzling the crazy dog and just watching the scene unfold. So, we are trying to get out without being bitten and running away from this dog, while trying to fend him off with a towel and a water bottle. Finally, we got to the gate, locked it and I was able to get this picture of our foe from the safety of a locked gate. Eventually we found the hotel, another 10 minutes down the path. 

This is the hotel we were looking for, as you can see they have a great area set up down by the lake for swimming and jumping in. Although we were not guests, if you buy a drink they are happy to let you use this area, so we were obliged to enjoy a couple of cold Mozas by the lake. 

This is a shot of a mudslide that took place a couple months back near Chicaman. Basically the side of the mountain collapsed, wiping out a village and killing around 130 people, I believe. It was pretty amazing to see. 

Enjoying a drink and learning to play canasta at the hostel. 

Semuc Champey is a natural reserve in Guatemala, the most popular attraction being the limestone pools. It is a beautiful spot and made for a great trip. Getting there was a bit of a hassle, as it was 8 hours and 3 buses from where I live to get there. We made the most of it though and spent the weekend in Lanquin, about an hour from Semuc. We rode out to Semuc in a pickup that was driving around town with a 10 year old kid in the back yelling out "Semuc Champey!!!". This kid, Julio, was quite a character and seemed to be part of the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, as he knew all the tourist hot spots. As we made our trip he and his buddy were staring at my beard and eventually began calling me Osama. They also picked us up to return to Lanquin and when they saw me, again greeted me with shouts of Osama, although one of them mistakenly said Obama. I guess Fox News aren't the only ones who makes that mistake. 

A shot of the pools from the view point above. It was about a 45 minute hike to this spot and was worth it, as you can see. 

Here we found a nice perch to jump off of into the cool limestone pools of Semuc Champey. 

So, lately I have become acquainted with a concept that was a bit foreign to me for awhile there...work. When I arrived things were a bit slow and I have been doing a whole lot of getting to know the community, just talking to folks and seeing whether they have interest in my project. Recently, some of those talks have begun to pay off. 

Currently, I am working with 3 schools in the area, teaching the kids about the environment, composting, making a school garden and various phrases in English. All of the schools are great, although one of them is a 2 hour walk from my home and on the way back I gain over 1000 feet in elevation in about 3/4 of a mile. It is hard to complain though, as on of my co-workers lives in this town and makes this walk just about every day. 

This week, I began administering vitamins to cattle also. As I have said, many of the residents here believe that I am a veterinarian, so I figure even though I am not one I can take this on and confuse them even further. This was definitely a learning process. Here there are no real corrals, basically the cattle are set loose in the cornfields after harvest and graze there until it is time to plant, then they move them to the lowlands, near a river, an hour or so from here. Anyways, as they are roaming free, it presents a small challenge to get them and give them injections of vitamins. The guy that I was doing this for just grabbed a regular piece of rope, went out and lassoed a cow, running along with it so as not to be drug along and finally found a pole to use as a bit of leverage against the beast. We then proceeded to tie the cow's head to the pole, to keep it somewhat stationary while I injected it in the rump. I think we injected 5 cows with this process and I only had one close call--the first one, I didn't slam the needle hard enough, he got spooked and I almost caught a hoof to the shin. Lesson learned, make sure the needle goes in on the first try, apparently cattle don't enjoy being jabbed with sharp objects. 

Recently, the office of the association I am working with had their computer taken to the main office in Quiche and we are now using an older computer. After hooking up this computer, I discovered that after about 15 minutes, it fails. Every time. Which is nice. Also, when I looked at the manufacturer of this computer....none other than Micron, from the great state of Idaho. Thanks Micron. Small world, huh? 

Sometimes here in Guatemala, you encounter challenges in places where you would never expect them. Recently I was in Katie's site, walking to her house along a path that is just a dirt trail in a maze of corn fields or what was a maze of cornfields now that it has been harvested. As I am walking along, I pass a house with a young man and a few kids standing outside, I greet them and continue walking. As I am passing the door to their home, a little guy no older than 4 comes storming out with an angry look on his face. I think nothing of it, move a bit on the trail for him to pass and just as he is passing me he reaches out with his tiny little fist and punches me. In the balls. Luckily there was not a whole lot of force behind this fist, but still the audacity that this little tyke had shocked me. I was honestly speechless, I looked back in amazement as he continued his march of terror down the path and just continued walking towards Katie's house. Needless to say, I am going to keep my guard up and approach all Guatemalan children with caution from here on out.

Beautiful background, right? You ask, where can I find one of these for my next family photo? Well, this is definitely a Guatemalan original, and can be found at my town's feria. Once Katie and I saw this, it went without saying that there would be a photo, complete with the Guatemalan expression found in all photos--stern face, no smiles. This is what people enjoy, a true slice of vida chapina. 

Over the past week and a half, there has been quite a bit going on. In my town we had our feria, which is the annual festival honoring the patron saint, ours being San Juan Bosco. The feria is basically a chance for the town to have a party lasting a few days complete with band, ferris wheel and carnival food. It was pretty impressive, my town is usually very sleepy and it was strange to see it come alive for a few days. Also this week, I helped in Santa Cruz Del Quiche with a vision clinic put on by Luxottica, who owns Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision, Sunglass Hut; among others. They travel to numerous countries and put on full vision clinics where they check sight, consult for cataracts and other problems, and give out free glasses to those who need it. The glasses are refurbished, the glasses that people donate when they no longer need them. Here are a few more pictures from both of these events. 

A picture of my town from the ferris wheel. The building below is the school and where all the people are gathered is the school basketball/soccer court where the band was performing. 

The band for the feria, complete with dancing people in costumes. Los Conejos was the name of the band, and for some unknown reason it is not satisfactory to have them up onstage performing in their lime green suits, we also needed to have about 30 people in a variety of costumes down below performing some type of choreographed dance. To be completely honest, it was a bit freaky. 

A view of my town from a hill above my house.

Another view of my town. 

The south entrance to my town, this is the main street into town. The poles with the bromeliads hanging from them are only for the feria. Gives it quite the festive feel, no? 

This is the organization that we volunteered for. 

Here I am with a Luxottica employee, who is from Twin Falls and lived in Boise for 8 years before moving to Utah, and an older lady who received glasses for the first time and her son. When she put them on, she told me that she felt as if she just took a couple shots of whiskey, that as long as her vision was like that, she might as well take a couple. It was pretty funny to hear this coming out of this lady's mouth. 

Here is Katie explaining to a kid that the pink glasses he got were the only ones left of his prescription. He was a trooper and took the pink glasses without complaint. 

Over the course of a couple hours, I became a highly skilled optician. Here, I am helping this young man fit into his new glasses.

Here is a young kid that I helped fit into a new  pair of glasses. Another pleased customer. 

Many of the kids didn't need glasses, but being kids, wanted to walk away with some type of glasses. Luckily, they had an endless supply of Ray Ban shades and the kids loved them.

Here is a young girl who got glasses and also a sticker right on her forehead. 

Here is a kid getting his eyes examined by one of the doctors. I would help translate for the doctors at this station, telling them to look forward, don't look at the light, etc. This kid was obviously a huge Kevin Bacon fan. Tough to argue with that. 

Here I am with a few of the many kids who we worked with over the course of the week. Good times. 

As far as adjustment to a new culture goes, I feel as if I have done well thus far. I enjoy the food, have friends in my town, am able to converse with the locals and am not making too many mistakes to offend people, at least that I am aware of anyways. I am enjoying Guatemalan culture and adjusting to the slower pace of life. When I say slower pace of life, I am referring to literally everything moving slower. People, traffic, meetings, all of it. There have been a few occasions in which the slow pace really presented itself to me in all of its glory. In Guatemala there is a phrase, La Hora Chapina, literally meaning, the Guatemalan hour. It basically means that there is real time and there is Guatemalan time. Needless to say, la hora chapina tends to lag a bit behind real time. This has become painfully obvious to me, if I was not fully aware of it before.

For the past few weeks, I have been trying to get water delivered to my home, as opposed to riding in the back of a pickup for 45 minutes, buying 5 gallons, riding back in the pickup to my town and then lugging the jug of water up the hill to my house. The water company here, Salvavidas, has a truck that goes through my town so I have been talking with them to coordinate a time for the delivery. After a few conversations, I finally got a call this week from a guy in a truck, saying he would be in my town around 730 pm and what is my address. This question caused some difficulty, as I do not have a proper address. After trying to describe where I live, he said that I could wait by the road around 730 and he would stop when he saw me. So, 730 rolls around, I stand there for about 45 minutes in the pitch black with an empty water jug and no one shows. I try calling him a couple times and still nothing. So, I head back up the hill to my house, waterless and a bit frustrated. It is getting close, if not past, my usual bedtime and although I want water, I also desire sleep. I decide that I will hang out in my yard, watching the traffic below to see if he comes by for another 15 minutes. 15 minutes is about up when I hear a truck, look down and there he is, driving past my house no less than an hour after he said he would. I call, he answers, with ranchero music in the background at about 150 decibels. I tell him I just saw him drive by, if he stops now, I can be there in a minute. He tells me he will wait for me in town, just a bit up the road. I grab my jug, head up and exchange it for a full one, price 15q, about two bucks. Of course there is no sorry for running late or anything like that, it is pretty much expected that one will be later than one says. He tells me for the future he will call when he is near my house and we can take care of our business. He also gave me a free calendar, which really made it all worth it.

As I reviewed my blog, I noticed that I have updated you all on my travels, a bit of work and training, and little else. With that said, I had a topic come up over the weekend that had an effect on my plans and is a prevalent one here in Guatemala. I am referring to the crime problem in Guatemala.

As some of you may have read, heard or even learned the hard way; Guatemala can be a dangerous country and has a fairly high crime rate. While I have yet to experience this, not counting the ayudantes trying to take a few extra quetzales here and there, it is a problem that others have had to deal with. This past weekend, Katie, myself, another volunteer named Sara and Katie's friend John from the States were planning on hiking Volcan Acatenango and spending the night on top. Sara's counterpart, a Guatemalan gentleman, was going to accompany us and he had made the trip before so we were assured that everything was secure. As we talked to a few people about it, it came to our attention that this volcano has been the location of numerous robberies, usually involving guns. So that was nice. As we talked to our security officer at the Peace Corps office about it, he said it was our call, but he would prefer if we had a police escort to the top, which always makes for a nice hike. Usually, I really enjoy having an armed police officer around me, but this just did not seem like one of those times where I would want that. So, we called the municipalidad (city hall) to see if they could provide one, they could not, therefore we decided to postpone our trip until either they can or we feel better about making the hike. It was a very strange experience to think that in order to go camping, I would need a police escort. So, it was dissapointing to not be able to make the trip, but encouraging that I still have all my possessions and did not have to hand them over at gunpoint.

After we decided not to do the hike, we went to Antigua for the day. We went to the bus terminal in Sara's town to find a bus to Antigua, when the ayudante told us that there were no buses to Antigua today, as the owner of the buses running this route had been killed. He obviously did not go into details, but just said that the always mysterious "they" had killed him. Here in Guatemala it is common practice for gangs to extort bus drivers and/or owners for money. If they do not pay up, then "they" kill them. While I am not sure, I believe this to be the case of why we could not find a direct bus to Antigua, having to travel 15 minutes out of the way and backtrack. It was odd how the criminal element could have an effect on my weekend, luckily not a direct effect, just by their actions towards others.

Having said all of this, I want to make sure that I mention that my site is one of the safest places not only in Guatemala, but probably on the face of the earth. My biggest threat is chuchos rummaging through my trash or figuring out new ways to sneak in my fence. The volunteer before me has been in Guatemala six different times with Peace Corps (tough act to follow) and told me that he thinks this place is the safest he has been in Guatemala. So while crime is out there, it has not been a problem for me thus far and I intend to keep it that way. Still, crime is a major problem in Guatemala and has an effect on all of the people here in one way or another. It is a pity, but a fact of life here.

Also, there was an interesting 2 part series on NPR about crime and vigilante justice in Guatemala a couple of weeks back. Check it out here:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98614371

That is all for now, take care.

Pinata carnage from above. This was definitely the safest place to be at that point in time. Getting between a Guatemalteco child and their candy can be an extremely dangerous proposition. 

More of the countryside around my house. 

Katie and I with her host brother, Hendrick, who is quite the kid. Usually, this kid can be found covered in whatever he happens to have in his hands at the time. This can range from suckers to peaches to an entire cantaloupe. Seeing him this sanitary is a sight that few have had the pleasure of, so I felt quite honored and was compelled to get a photo. He was cleaned up and dressed up for his birthday, he turned 5 and we were able to help out with and attend the festivities. Over the course of 2 days, there were 8 cakes prepared by Katie for the birthday and on the day of the party two pinatas were completely destroyed by a number of children. Good times for all. 

More of the festivities in Chichicastenango. These guys were paraded around town throughout the day. 

The church in Chichicastenango. This was when Katie and I visited during their feria, when the whole town celebrates their patron saint. There were supposed to be men flying from a 80 foot pole, "los palos voladores", but we never saw them. It was still a pretty wild scene with non-stop music, firecrackers and thousands of people in a space intended for hundreds. 

Riding in the back of a pickup to get tamale dough for Christmas Eve. I spent Christmas in Katie's town with her family and we went with them to get tamale dough, which was located in a town near Lago Atitlan. So, this was on 12/24, and it was a balmy 70 degrees--a bit different than the weather most of you are experiencing in the States I imagine. 

Yes, I have been able to locate a grill here in Guatemala. Very nice. I was having trouble finding charcoal, so I asked a person in the market in Quiche if he knew where I could track some down. He directed me to "la puerta azul, cerca la carniceria"--the blue door next to the butcher, of course how did I not know that. So, I knock on this random door, and lo and behold, the guy comes out and asks how much I want. I get a good sized bag for 3Q, less than 50 cents, and this has provided two meals off the grill. Excellent. Also, as there is no lighter fluid, we use something called "jocote" which is basically a pine tree that is super sappy and when it finds flame it keeps it. It is pretty handy stuff and can be found in just about any market. 

That is all for now, enjoy the photos. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year. Hasta 2009.

The view of the lake from our hostel. 

Hiking into a meadow for a break during our hike. 

A view from my "office" for the next couple of years. 

Ola a todos y todas. I am about one month into living in my site and while it has been an adjustment (it was pretty easy to get used to someone cooking and cleaning for me) it has been going well. Work is a slow process, I have been able to visit several communities and meet a lot of people who have interest in my project, but we are still working to determine when and how we are going to get started. A great deal of the work is just getting the people to feel comfortable with me and forming a trust there, so it takes a few visits to make this happen. I am settled into my house and am really enjoying it so far. While not having my laundry done and food prepared for me is a drawback, being able to determine my own schedule and having a bit of privacy is definitely a plus. A couple tidbits from the last month:

A couple of weeks ago I was outside at my house doing laundry when a man approached my gate. He told me that he was from a community close to mine, had family that lived up the hill from me, and that they had informed him that a veterinarian lived here—me. It seems that his cow was not producing milk, but instead had blood coming from her udders. He was in my town today and was very happy to discover that a veterinarian, a gringo veterinarian nonetheless, lived here now. After clarifying that I was not in fact a veterinarian, I invited him in and we began to consult some books given to me by Peace Corps about animal husbandry and health. While looking for information, he mentioned that he thought the illness was called mastitis and not 30 seconds later I happened upon a recipe for remedying mastitis in a book of homemade animal remedies. I wrote the recipe down, gave it to him and asked him to let me know how it goes. He asked me how much he owed me, which was nothing since this is what Peace Corps is paying me for. Plus, I don’t need a lawsuit for practicing veterinary medicine without a license, despite the apparent rumors in Guatemala of my qualifications. For Thanksgiving, I was not able to celebrate due to a meeting with my Junta Directiva on Friday morning, but after the meeting I was able to meet up with a group of other volunteers in my group at a hostel on Lago Atitlan and stayed there for the weekend. The lake was pretty amazing, on Saturday we rented kayaks and paddled out to the middle for a while and took a dip. One of the communities that I am working with is about a 2 hour hike, after a 25 minute ride in a pickup, from my house. There is a road in from the back, but from where I am, it is a hike. While that may seem like a bit of a chore, the scenery on the way there is amazing. So much so, that when a friend of mine visited a couple weeks back we decided to make the hike on a Saturday afternoon, just to check it out. She took some pictures which are posted above. Actually, all the photos on this blog are credited to Katie, as I forgot my camera on these trips. Well, that is about all for now; I will try to get more updates/photos on here when I can. Enjoy the photos and if I don't get back on here in the next few weeks, a happy holidays to all. 

A couple of the kites in Santa Maria Cauque. The youth of Santa Maria Cauque preparing for the kites. 

Dona Anacleta, myself and Don Francisco at the Ambassador's house. 

The Food Security group with our trainers on the left, David and Jacobo. 

All of the volunteers that I came to Guatemala with. 

All of the volunteers of Santa Maria Cauque and our families. 

Myself and one of the technical trainers David Castillo, who is quite possibly the funniest man on this planet. 

Being sworn in as volunteers by the US Ambassador. 

So, after three months of training, we were sworn in as volunteers on 10/31 at the Ambassador's house in Guatemala City. That was a great event, the home itself was amazing and the Ambassador was very welcoming. All of the families that housed trainees during our training were able to attend also, which was great.

On 11/2 we all parted ways for our respective destinations in Guatemala. I made it to my aldea on Sunday around noon and was able to track down my landlord and get the key to my house. Unfortunately for me, the well that my house is on was out and remained so until Wednesday afternoon. I was a pretty dirty guy for those few days, but it seems like a fairly appropriate start to Peace Corps I guess. Once I got there, arranged a few things and began to settle in, it dawned on me that I was going to be here for 2 years, the closest volunteer is at least 1 hour away and I am not sure how to get ahold of this person. The closest Americans I do know are 2-2 to 3 hours away. Training was definitely much easier than adjusting to life on your own in Guatemala, without Americans around to converse with, a family to do your cooking and cleaning and Peace Corps to schedule everything for you. So far, so good though. I have my house in some semblance of order and was able to get out to some other aldeas in my area to meet with people who are interested in my program. On Wednesday, my counterpart and I went out to an aldea, which was about a 2 hour hike from my aldea, passing through mountains covered in pine and oak trees. It was very scenic and I was kicking myself for not bringing my camera. I will have plenty of opportunities in the next two years though. After we worked in the village all day, we headed out a bit late and got to the main road as it was getting dark, 5:30ish. We began walking back, about an hour or so, but luckily were able to find a ride in a pickup. However, the pickup was filled with wood, so we had to ride on the bumper, holding on for dear life for the remainder of the trip. It was quite a day and I was beat by the time I made it home. I am very excited about my work and my location, I am sure things will get tougher, but for now, everything is going well. 

Also, on 11/1, All Saints Day, the towns of Santa Maria Cauque, Santiago, and Sumpango have a tradition of constructing enormous kites for display and some for flying. We were able to check them out and they were pretty impressive. I have attached some pictures of the ones for exhibition, they were all built by kids and looked great. 

If anyone wants to get in touch with me, I have a cell phone and you can call me from the States on www.skype.com for 10 cents/minute. My number is 502-4091-9468 and I believe you have to dial an international code to get out. I am sure you all can figure it out. That is all for now.