Second Peace Corps Thanksgiving and Panama Vacation

I just returned from an amazing vacation in Panama, where I spent ten days visiting David and his family. It was my first time visiting the country, AND my first vacation out of Guatemala, so I was really itching to get away! Panama felt like a bunch of different places all combined into one. It felt like Chicago in the sense that it has a beautiful city scape and is located right on the coast, plus the nice people. It felt like DC for the international food - and the traffic. It felt like NY because everyone lives and speaks at a quicker pace, especially compared to the snail's pace of Guatemala. It felt like Florida for the vegetation and hot, humid weather. It felt like New Jersey because of the malls. But, all in all, it had a unique vibe that I really loved.

Some of the highlights:
- Eating sushi three times during my 10 day visit, plus amazing Italian food, dim sum, delicious seafood and fried fish on the beach, and ice cream EVERY SINGLE DAY
- The Panama City Half Marathon, which David and I ran on December 5th. It was definitely the hottest race I've ever done, but it was a great course and an awesome way to see the city by foot. They had PLENTY of water, which was necessary to keep us cool, and one of the coolest things was that around mile 11, they gave us sponges soaked in cold water! So I was able to take a mini sponge "bath" while running which felt amazing. His family also came to cheer us on, so it was nice to have their support which gave us an extra boost when we were getting tired.
- Drinking the tap water. Unlike Guatemala where 99% of the water is contaminated, the tap water in Panama is completely safe - and delicious. It felt so liberating to be able to brush my teeth, rinse my fruits and vegetables, etc. without ever worrying about getting sick.
- The warm weather! Although unfortunately it rained during almost my whole trip, it was warmmm. In Guatemala, when I get stuck in the rain, all I can think about is immediately getting to my cold house to change into dry clothes, and then still being cold, yet dry. Although Panama tends to crank up the air conditioning WAYY too high in stores, restaurants, etc. it was nice to not always be chilly.
- Visiting Chitré, which is a small city in the interior of the country (even though it is close to the coast, Panamanians refer to anywhere that isn't the metropolis of Panama City as the "interior") This town is really important because it is where David's family is from and where his grandmother and her nine siblings grew up. It was a four hour drive, on a nice, flat paved highway, where unlike Guatemala, I didn't have to hold on to the bar to avoid sliding off the seat during the bus's sharp turns around the mountains. We had a really nice, short trip there, where I met TONS of David's family, plus ate typical Panamanian food. It was one of the highlights of the highlights, because I got to see something different and meet so many people. I loved the "tranquilo" pace of life there.
- Having dinner with my former coworkers from Partners of the Americas and a bunch of the Latin American youth with whom I worked before joining the Peace Corps, who were coincidentally in Panama City at the same time for a big youth summit. It was so cool to see the kids that I worked with two years ago, plus my coworkers with whom I became very close. The youth were all psyched to see me and hear a bit about Guatemala, which was fun to share with them.
- Cooking "Pepian de Pollo", one of Guatemala's most traditional typical dishes, for David's family. Since there are no "typical" American dishes from the US, besides maybe grilled cheese sandwiches, I wanted to make something Guatemalan to share. It was my first time making it and actually turned out pretty delicious!
- Going to the 24 hour supermarket, where they had good ice cream, cheeses, snack foods like Goldfish and Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn (never before seen in Guatemala!), and other things like quinoa and brown sugar that I can't find here. I felt like I was in Disneyland going into that place...
- Blending in. Here in Guatemala, I stand out like a sore thumb, no matter how I dress, speak, etc. And in Panama, the people look like the "colors of the rainbow", as David described. There are white Panamanians, black Panamanians, Asian Panamanians, and everything in between. It was so nice to walk around and not feel like people were staying at me, or even hardly noticing me at all! Along with this highlight was feeling safe. David and I took nice walks at nighttime, which felt incredibly liberating. Here in Guate and even in my town, I don't like walking around after dark. And when we were in Chitré, we took a nice stroll the first night there, and saw a young girl sitting alone in the park at 9:30 pm, using her LAPTOP. I could not believe my eyes.
- Meeting David's family. It was so special to meet people whose names I've heard so much that I felt like I already knew them. I got to stay at his grandmother's house, where she has lived for 50 years, and see adorable family pictures.

As much as I enjoyed my trip, I missed small things about Guate. Like greeting everyone on the street, which is something that in the beginning, I struggled to remember to do, but have become very accustomed to now. And the local market, where I go almost daily to buy my produce. I love being able to inspect every piece of fresh fruit or vegetable that I buy, tasting samples to ensure their quality, and making small talk with the vendors. But in Panama, I bought everything in the supermarket, and missed my small town mercado. Also, while my Spanish has significantly improved since arriving to Guatemala, certain words that I learned here don't make sense anywhere else besides Guatemala/Mexico. I described something as "chulo" (cute) and David was quickly like, that doesn't mean anything here. So it is hard to know, when speaking normally, what makes sense in general Spanish and what makes sense only in Guatemala.

Only a few days before I departed for Panama, I celebrate my second Thanksgiving in Guatemala. It is my favorite holiday and a big tradition in my family, so of course I was feeling a bit homesick, but it was one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had, thanks to some Peace Corps volunteers in the department of San Marcos who organized a HUUUGE Thanksgiving dinner. I traveled six hours to reach their site, and the night before Thanksgiving, we had pizza, Chinese food, and ice cream cake to celebrate the birthday of another PCV, plus killed two turkeys (I did not do that part, but did watch squeamishly.) Normally I'd shy away from something like that, but I figured it'd be the only Thanksgiving I'll probably ever spend where I see the turkey get killed before consumed by 30 hungry people, and that it would make me appreciate more where my food was coming from. On Thanksgiving day, we prepared LOTS of food and dessert. My friends and I made 10 pounds of mashed potatoes before traveling, which was good because there was lots of work to be done the day of. Spending the day with my friend's Guatemalan host family and 15 other PCVs, some of whom have become such close friends, was really special, especially since we're all so far away from home. I couldn't help but tear up when we all went around the table discussing what we were thankful for, since I have so much to be thankful for this year. I will always remember fondly the two Thanksgivings I spent here in Guatemala!! Now, on to Christmas season :)


PCVs celebrating Thanksgiving in San Marcos


Preparing the food
Thank you Turkey, for providing food to lots of hungry people!
Getting into the Christmas spirit with David and his family, as they decorated the tree
Amazing seafood in Panama
Roughing it on my last day in Panama - Playa Bonita
Delicious fried fish
David and I, "reindeer" style
Running the Panama City half marathon

Less than a year to go

I’ve had a hard time getting up the “ánimo” lately to update my blog, mostly because I’ve been in a big funk lately and I know you folks back home don’t necessarily want to hear my complaining or state of mild depression. And, many PCVs will tell you that finishing your first year of service and entering year two will put you in the “second year slump”. This could not have been more the case for me over the past few weeks, but I am happy to report that I am coming out of it! In the past months, I’ve been busy with travel to Antigua for my group’s Mid-Service Conference, a trip to Todos Santos for their famous feria and horse-races, participating in a half-marathon in Xela, and basically just trying to figure out what to make of my second year. I’ve been dealing with some challenges lately, like my boyfriend finishing his service and leaving Guatemala (although there are some visits planned in the very near future), but even bigger than that, losing someone who I thought was a good friend over some dishonesty about money, and more than anything, making the decision to leave the office where I was assigned to work (the Municipal Women’s Office). Those of you who read the blog and especially communicate with me on a regular basis know that I’ve had some big problems with the two office technicians (técnicas)– although the coordinator of the office (my official counterpart) is AMAZING (wish I could multiply these capital letters by 100). They have treated me with such lack of respect and professionalism for the past year, and following a small incident four weeks ago that led me to cry out of feeling so incredibly p---ed off, I decided it was no longer a suitable arrangement for me to continue working there. So, from now on, I will go to the office only when there is a specific reason to do so – prepare for trainings and meetings, work related to the water project I’m still soliciting, and our weekly radio show. But aside from that, it will force me to make a more conscious effort to get out into communities more often and do work that I find more substantial and meaningful in the first place. I tend to take things really personally, so it was difficult for me to just suck it up to the fact that these two individuals are jealous and overall unhappy people, and that I was just an easy target for that. But for the time being, I’d rather be a bit bored at home than in an environment which is toxic to my mental health. I’ve found activities to keep me busy for the time being, and actually find I’ve done quite a bit this month; like training a bunch of women community leaders on gender equality, giving a human rights talk to one of our really removed communities, leading a workshop to male and female community leaders on how to prioritize community needs, and the activity that we did for Día Internacional de la No Violencia Contra la Mujer (International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women) for our network of women’s group leaders. And now, before I know it, it will be December and I’ll be off to a much-deserved vacation in Panama!

I feel like I’ve really reached out to my Guatemalan friends during this time, which has helped me immensely, and especially to remember that for every “bad seed” you encounter, there are a handful of good ones. I’ve enjoyed visiting local friends’ homes more often these days, and planning things like lunches and parties where we get together. A woman around the corner recently taught me to make “pepian”, which is a very typical Guatemalan dish that combines chiles, tomatoes, peppers, sesame and pumpkin seeds with cinnamon and cloves, ground into a yummy red sauce and slow-cooked with chicken. It is delicious and I think I enjoy it now even more after learning how to cook it and all the different steps involved. And, you all back in the states can count on me to make it for you during my next visit in February!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit a really far away community, due to a clothing donation that was put together by a group of wealthier Huehue women. It was my first time getting out into communities for a long time, since all the muni funds have magically disappeared and there hasn’t been money for diesel for the muni vehicles. So these women were nice enough to pay to put gas in the cars, and to invite my counterpart and I along. After we gave a nice talk to the women’s group, the Huehue ladies starting giving out clothing and supplies to the women and children who were present, probably about 150 people. Then, they gave out empty bottles, like gallon bottles of bleach, milk jugs, soda liters, even just smaller sized soda and Gatorade bottles. And the people were all over them!! This is because the women have to walk to the river to collect their water, and these empty receptacles are so useful to them. After having been here in Guatemala for a bit, I have definitely learned to make use of things that one might consider “trash” but this took it to the whole next level. It was really cool to see the garbage being used for something so necessary; collecting water.

And a funny story that recently happened: Many times, on the public buses, people will stand up in the front and talk to the bus in a very loud, annoying voice about something that they’re trying to sell. These people sell “medicines” or special herbal treatments or teas. They always go off on a big loud rant, saying how these remedies will cure all sorts of ailments. Often times, they’ll go into explicit details or show some really gross pictures. I usually roll my eyes at them and try to zone out their yelling as best as I can, but somehow most of the Guatemalans on the bus are actually interested in what they have to say, and people even buy the stuff sometimes! Well, on a recent bus ride between Chiantla and Huehue, a guy was in front selling a “tea” that would help with digestion and overall health. I zoned him out for the most part, until he started talking about constipation, and how we become constipated when we have a bad diet, etc. THEN, he started making constipated noises, and clenching his teeth, closing his eyes, as if he was trying to take a dump right there on a bus. He said something about how “the poop gets stuck when blah blah blah” and I just sat there in disbelief, wondering if I was just imagining the whole thing. It’s moments like that when I am like, “seriously is this my life right now?!”. It may not be those type of moments that make my Peace Corps service “meaningful”, but at least it keeps it from being boring!!

My PCV friend and I recently participated in the Xela half-marathon. Xela (pronounced "shay-la") is Guatemala's second largest city. This was the best organized Guatemalan half-marathon I've done so far, of the four that I've participated in.
My English class students at a birthday dinner we had last week for one of them, where we ate lots of food and played a hilarious prank on the birthday boy :)
A march we did in town for Día de No Violencia
The horse races at the Todos Santos feria

Todos Santos spectators
The PCV Halloween party that we had in Todos Santos. I was a piñata and threw candy at people all night!

When it rains, it pours

Unfortunately, things here in Chiantla have been rather difficult and depressing lately. One day about a week and a half, as I was taking my sweet time getting ready in the morning, I get a call from my counterpart telling me to come to the muni immediately, and to bring my rubber boots because we had to “rescue some little girls from a river”. Having absolutely no idea what she was talking about, I grabbed my polka-dot rain boots and ran out the door. Turns out, with the tremendous rains that we had a few weeks ago, one of our communities called Paquix, located 45 minutes away in the summit of the mountains, was becoming completely flooded. Upon learning more about the situation, many families had to evacuate their homes and were currently waiting out the storm in “safe spaces”.

We were still down in Chianta, warm and dry, while my coworkers were making huge efforts to get us up to the community and provide these people with some help. Unfortunately, the authorities that run my municipality said we that they were unable to provide us with the muni vehicle for lack of funds. Long story short, it took two hours of fighting and phone calls before we finally made it up the mountain to this community. When we got there, the water that was collecting up there was unimaginable, and people were crammed into dry buildings to avoid the flooding. Some of these refuges were rather unsafe, as the 35+ families crowding in them were without food, water, and dry clothing since the night before. of these spaces was an unfinished schoolhouse, which had walls that reached only to shoulder height and no windows or doors. I should also mention that on the summit of the mountains, where the majority of Chiantla’s population lives, it is COLD. Even on a normal, sunny day that I visit communities up there, I wear a down jacket and long johns. So these families were literally sheltering themselves in a room where the wind was completely blowing through. Even when we finally reached the community, the chaos continued, with frantic phone calls going back and forth between Chiantla’s health center, the mayor, the national disaster agency. I felt so helpless watching this chaos occur, and so frustrated that I felt there was nothing I could do about it. Eventually, some food and help made it up to the community, after more than 12 hours since the families first evacuated. By 6 pm that same day, we were back in Chiantla and I was able to go home and rest. It was truly the most difficult day I’ve had here, not only to see the people suffering and some having lost their homes, but seeing the inept and dysfunctional system that prevents things from happening when people are in moments of true need.

However, there is a positive note to all this. During the day while we were up in the community, the local radio was blasting news about everything that was happening, and members of the community sprung to action. When I returned to the muni building later that same day, there was a mountain of trashbags filled with food and clothing donations for the victims of the flooding. When people down in Chiantla’s town center heard the radio news, they literally ran to the muni to drop off supplies. I found this act of community support to be so uplifting, that people will help their neighbors in times of need, even if those “neighbors” live 45 minutes away on top of a mountain. Plus, my two sitemates who live in that same community were evacuated to my house, even though luckily their homes were fine. So, it was nice to have two gringos that I could vent to, while having a beer and eating a wholesome dinner of chocolate bars.

And you know the expression, “when it rains, it pours”? Well, that day really epitomizes it. Because on the same day of the flood emergency, the muni employees went on strike. Basically, there is a lot of discontent with the municipal authorities and misuse of muni funds (without getting into the sticky details, my muni is in debt by 3 million quetzals….that’s $415 thousand dollars. You can imagine what I’m alluding to here). The muni employees went on strike for an entire week, until one of the city councilmen agreed to open a dialogue. So since then, they have been in dialogue and the muni employees are back to work for the time being. I think I actually remained surprising calm during all this mess, probably because I realize I have no other choice. But besides the interpersonal issues that I’ve had with the women in my office, it makes me realize that I need to find other ways to work besides only in the muni. While I do have my literacy class on the side, I know that I need to be able to focus on other areas to make a sustainable impact because things in the municipality are too volatile sometimes and I can’t depend on that type of environment to accomplish my goals. Luckily, there are institutions and NGOs that work in Chiantla, and one of them happens to be run by a friend of mine. So, this past week, I gave my first cooking classes to two different groups of women through the NGO’s community centers. And it was so much fun! With both groups, I taught them how to make Banana and Incaparina pancakes; they had never eaten pancakes before and loved it. Incaparina is this government-produced corn powder that is super enriched with vitamins and minerals for malnourished children and is commonly used to make hot corn drinks, called Atol, which are very popular here, but it can also be used in substitution for flour. I think that by teaching cooking classes to these women will be a great way to earn their trust and then support and train them in other areas.

It is funny how life in the Peace Corps can take you in so many different directions sometimes. If you had asked me prior to August 2009 whether I’d want to teach English and cooking classes when I arrived to Guatemala, I probably would have answered with a big NO. But now, these are two of my favorite things. I have learned that I need to be open-minded to different situations, because they can result in really positive outcomes. And hey, the activities that actually fit my “job description” as a Municipal Development program volunteer aren’t always easily accomplished, especially when the institution for which I work is suddenly hundreds of thousands of quetzales in debt, so finding alternatives is kinda necessary sometimes.

Back to the subject of cooking, it is something that I have grown to appreciate and love while here in Guatemala. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I have a LOT of time on my hands to experiment making new foods. I have learned to make some yummy dishes, like Guate-style Pad Thai, chocolate cake from scratch, yogurt from scratch, and gnocchi from scratch! The gnocchi was inspired by a trip to Antigua, where one can find mostly any desired food item for a highly elevated, beyond Peace Corps-budget price. So I found freeze-packed gnocchi one time, and then cooked a yummy dinner for friends. I suddenly felt inspired to look up a gnocchi recipe online, and seeing that it only involved water, potatoes, flour, and salt, I thought, how hard can it be? So I attempted making it from scratch and it turned out delicious. Plus, I churned out enough gnocchi for at least 6 meals, for the total price of 6 quetzales, as compared to the small package that I’d bought in Antigua for 40 quetzales.

Another new initiative that has been exciting lately is applying for a small grant through USAID to do a project in one of our communities. This particular community is rather small (200 habitants) and has an awesome women’s group. They also happen to live on the summit of the mountains, where water is extremely scarce in dry season. During half the year, they have community faucets where they go to fill up large jugs of water to bring back to their homes. But in dry season, these faucets no longer have water and the women have to walk two hours every day to collect water and bring it home. So we are soliciting a water tank project and I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed that it comes through!! We are in the final stages of submitting the mountain of paperwork but I am hopeful that it will be successful…I’ll update the blog with (hopefully) good news in the next few weeks!

The Municipal Development Program cycle is now at the point where there are new trainees who are soon to become volunteers, my group is now at the mid-year mark in our service (or will be at least on October 29th), and the year before me is finishing their service and leaving. It is weird to see the faces of the new trainees and think that that was us, just one year ago. And to see that the group the year before me is now heading back to the US. It makes me realize that time really will fly by, despite the occasional/not-so-occasional long or bad days, and that I need to take advantage of my second year to really accomplish my goals (and take some MUCH needed vacation).

On another positive note, I am looking forward to the upcoming visit by my Aunt Patti, Uncle Kenny, and two cousins Michelle and Jeff; and then by my friend Stefanie just a few days later!! I cannot wait to share Guatemala with them and enjoy some fun travel and vacation as well. And finally, I am happy to say that while rainy season certainly went out with a bang this year, it has not rained since the flooding a week and a half ago. So dry season (or “summer”, as Guatemalans call it) is officially here and I am so happy to retire the raincoat and umbrella until next year.

Second Guatemalan September

Often when one travels to another country, people have many ideas of what the US is like (or what they think it should be like) according to movies and pop culture. And often, Americans abroad encounter anti-Americanism. One thing that one can’t avoid as an American living in Guatemala is the incredible influence that the US has on Guatemala, especially because out of a country of 13 million people, there are an estimated 1 million living in the States. I can’t even describe how huge this is…remittances from abroad (the states) account for a large percentage of the country’s GDP, which in real life terms, means that people have money to build their houses, send their kids to school (or even private school), and live a much more comfortable life than the majority of Guatemalan citizens. There is a stark contrast between normal homes and which houses are built from money from the states. This is especially the case in the rural villages, where you’ll see some nicer, well-constructed homes, in literally the middle of nowhere. I recently attended a photo exhibition in the Spanish embassy in Antigua, which showcased "remittance architecture". On the very front of the all brochures is a photograph of a hotel here in my town in Chiantla called "Chicano’s Hotel". It is the only hotel in my small town and is very obviously remittance money - big, shiny tinted glass windows, four stories high...it definitely stands out next to all the surrounding small homes.

And as for anti-Americanism, that pretty much doesn’t exist here, which is surprising given how the US has an ugly history of meddling in Guatemalan political affairs. I have never once heard a nasty comment about my country here. When I say that I’m from the states, the reaction is usually, "I love the states!", or "I lived in the states!", or "My brother/son/cousin lives in the states!", or "hmm…Philadelphia…is that near Los Angeles?" It also means that I have to be careful when speaking on the phone or to other volunteers in English, because a lot more people here understand and speak English than one would think. And it’s interesting because people’s experiences in the states can lead them to have a lot more opportunity once they’re back in Guatemala. For example, a man who worked in an Italian pizzeria in Portland, Oregon for three years owns a small comedor near my house. His pizza is by far the best pizza I’ve ever had in Guatemala - even better than the fancy pizza places geared towards tourist consumption in Antigua. And then there’s one of the Municipal Policeman who lived in the states for a few years and did mostly construction and repair type work. He worked in the states until he made enough money to build his house, and then he returned to Guatemala. While his job working as a muni traffic cop certainly doesn’t pay too well, he now knows all these handy skills that allow him to do extra small jobs on the side (like fixing my sink when it leaks). One of the current city councilmen worked as a cook in a chain hotel restaurant in Michigan. He told me that there were "a lot of black people" where he worked and that he knows every single word in English related to making waffles and omelettes. It’s so interesting to think about having what seems like a very low class job in one country can lead to having one of the most important jobs on a municipal level in another country.

Being surrounded by so many people who either personally know the states or have family there has been a really interesting experience for me. Most Guatemalans live around the California and LA area, so a lot of people don’t know where Philadelphia is, but I imagine that Guatemalans know a very different picture of the states than if I were a Peace Corps volunteer in most other countries around the world where PCVs serve. I always took a more liberal perspective towards immigration policy, but even more so after living here. It’s so sad that illegal immigrants are treated like criminals when all they are trying to do is improve the lives of their families. I know that sounds really cliché, but for anyone who thinks that argument doesn’t have good reason, come live in the campo and see for yourself…people literally have no other option. But in any case, it can be fun to have people to chat with in basic English now and then, and to learn about their different experiences.

But despite the rapid globalization and influence of the US on Guatemalan life and culture (like the guys walking around in Hollister and Abercrombie shirts, signs on car repair places that say “car wash”, and the growing number of Guatemalan friends on facebook), there are still things that shock my Guatemalan friends in common conversation. For example, my counterpart Rosario was astounded that in the states, nobody goes home for lunch. I told her that the only people who would go home for lunch are those who actually work from home…otherwise, people’s workplaces are usually too far away for them to return home to eat. She asked what my dad does for lunch, and I told her that he doesn’t even work in the same state and that his commute is an hour long drive, so he usually brings his lunch because it gets expensive to go out to eat (at least $8, I told her, and she was shocked. I’m not actually sure she believed me...)

And then emerged the subject of hired help. Here, even people who are not financially well off have hired help, who either lives in the house or comes and does chores and takes care of the children. It is so inexpensive that it’s not even necessarily a status symbol to have babysitters or cleaning ladies, because so many people do. My counterpart, for example, does not have a high paying salary but it only costs 400 quetzales ($50) a month to pay a young woman to live in her house and look after her baby. And for the past few months, I’ve been paying a woman to come wash my laundry every other week…she charges me between 25-40 quetzales ($3-$5), depending on how many clothes and sets of sheets there are. It is insanely cheap, but I am happy to pay the money to someone who needs it, and it saves me about 4 hours of hand washing…plus, I will still probably never figure out how to properly hand wash bed sheets. When Rosario asked me who is in charge of cleaning in my house, I told her that my parents share everything, and that when my brother and I were younger, we’d have assigned chores that rotated according to the day of the week. She really liked this idea and thought it was “muy correcto” and said that she admired my parents for sharing all the work in the house, because here, that probably happens in about 1% of households. And then she said, “So how do they manage all the housework if the both have jobs?…oh wait, you have washing machines over there.” To think that I used to dread laundry day, which came about every two weeks, and consisted of me dragging my clothes hamper into my apartment building basement, throwing some money on my laundry card, waiting for empty machines, running four loads at once, and then spending 45 folding everything when it was all over…seriously, I used to complain about that?! And now, even though I’m no longer washing my own laundry, I still have to worry about everything getting enough drying time in the sun before the downpours come in the afternoons. One of the things I’m most looking forward to about going home (besides eating sushi and Thai, playing with Toro, and drinking water from the tap) is putting my clothes into a washer/dryer and the wonderful smell of downy that I will enjoy afterwards.

On September 15^th, Guatemala celebrated its 189^th day of Independence, which was fun and special. Like the states, it is a very important holiday, filled with parties, fireworks, and parades. Unlike the states, it always falls during the school year, so the kids are busy decorating the schools with their national symbols and practicing for their parades. The muni employees had a parade, which consisted of us walking behind a banner. Pretty simple compared to some of the other parades, but it was really fun because I got to carry the flag. It made my arms really tired by the end, but it was also a really cool experience.

It is cool to be at the point in my service where I can look back and remember exactly what I was doing and how I was feeling a year ago. A year ago at this time, I still had no idea where my site would be and what my life in site would be like. And although the year in country mark makes one reflect on the service thus far, and goals met or goals that have yet to be met, I feel proud of where I am at this point and excited for things that I hope to accomplish in Year Two.

Independence Day pardes
Carrying the Guatemalan flag for the muni parade


My counterpart´s baby´s first birthday party
Baby´s first piñata. I was in charge of buying the piñata, so of course, I opted for the panda

The baby, who now loves walking, taking me for a stroll around his party
Chiantla´s hotel

Bailando y Corriendo...Dancing and Running

I am happy to report that two things I recently did lately turned out to be a huge success: “Corriendo por la Juventud”, the Fundraiser 10K that I organized for ADESJU (the local youth development NGO) and the Convite Femenino for Chiantla’s September Feria.

Since the Convite was the more recent of the two activities, I’ll start with that. So every Guatemalan town has it’s own saint or virgin, and every year, there is Feria on that saint/virgin’s birthday. Guatemala has two celebrations for the same Virgin Mary: La Virgen de Candelaria (February 2nd) and la Natividad de la Virgen (September 8). So the February Feria was my first time experiencing a Feria in my town. They stretch the virgin’s birthday into a weeklong celebration, with street vendors taking up every walking inch of the town. There is block after block of people selling food, sweets, DVDs, clothes, kitchen items, etc. They even take the school gymnasium and convert it into a mini shopping mall for a week. It is really crazy. There are some rickety rides as well, and even inside my house I can hear the kids screaming in sequence every 20 seconds or so. There are also concerts every night and fireworks at all hours of the day, even more so than usual. Anyway, there is both a men’s and a women’s “convite”, which I am roughly translating to “procession”. The men’s is two weeks before, and consists of a group of men putting on huge, cartoon character-style costumes, and dancing all over town, from 7 am until 10 pm. The women’s is a bit different, in that it has different costumes, more elaborate dance steps, and goes from 3 pm to 8 pm (dances in less areas of the town – only in the urban center, as compared to the men’s which goes to more rural areas too). Anyway, I watched the Women’s Convite in February with David and my two sitemates, and it looked so fun, I immediately told my counterpart Rosario that I wanted to participate and she told me that I am crazy but that it’s a good idea. And so I asked one of the women involved if I would be able to join their group, and they happily accepted. This is back in January or so. Then, about six weeks before the actual Convite day, we started rehearsal. We practiced every weeknight, from 8:30-10 pm. All the dance steps were relatively easy to learn, plus we did each one a million times so by the end I felt really prepared. It was a mix of marimba, reaggaeton, cumbia, duranguense, and hip hop music.

So basically, we put on these crazy costumes, and dance a combo of three songs on different street blocks throughout Chiantla’s urban center. Then, after dancing in seven different little sections of the town, we go to the central park in front of the muni to do the “homenaje”, or tribute, to the Virgen. The homenaje is different every time, to keep the whole thing new and fresh. This time, we each had to bring a little girl, dressed in white, with a basket of flower petals. We formed an aisle, the girls threw the petals on the ground, and then they walked the Virgen through the flower carpet aisle. After that, we dance in a big line, and the MC called each of our names, at which point we pulled off our masks and reveal our faces to the crowd. People gave huge cheers when I pulled off my mask – I think a lot of people didn’t know I was participating and were really surprised, which was fun.

But there were basically two crazy things about this whole ordeal. First is that, even though we practiced all the dance moves for six weeks, we practice un-masked, in sneakers, on one of the women’s even-leveled garage floor. So add this huge mask with small slits for the eyes and nose, makes seeing and breathing much more difficult, plus big high-heeled boots, plus the unevenness of the street…I literally felt like I was drunk the whole time from my inability to see or walk correctly. And then, the really really crazy part: so during our rehearsals with the little girls (mine is a friend’s adorable niece), they told us what to expect for the homenaje….that that they were going to set off a series of 36 fireworks for 36 different petitions to the Virgen Mary (love, peace, health, etc etc) and then a man wearing a “Torito” would run around the center of the big aisle that we had all formed. A “torito” is basically a cage that one places over their head, with a painting of a bull on it, and all these wire racks that shoot off sparklers and fireworks. Then the person wearing the Torito runs all around, while the fireworks and such shoot off. And the woman in charge of everything told the little girls not to be scared, that the Torito wouldn’t get close enough to burn anyone. WELL. In reality, the guy who did the Torito was completely drunk, could barely walk straight, and the fireworks are shooting off in every which direction. Two of the little girls actually got burned and of course my little girl was scared as s***, which I don’t blame her at all for…the only reason that I wasn’t totally freaked out is because I was wearing this huge mask and costume and felt that it would protect me from getting burned. I think that my sitemates facebook status from that day best describes it: What I just witnessed at the Chiantla feria just made my "Top 5 craziest things I've ever seen" list... Picture this: Drunk Man, wearing a cow covered in fireworks, stumbling through a crowd of 500 innocent civilians and children, exploding for five minutes, to screams and applause...

Luckily, the women who are in charge of everything also agreed that it was a bad idea. Which worried me, because sometimes things I see here that greatly concern me have no concern to Guatemalans (like all the Feria electrical wires lying in puddles). But all in all, the Convite was a great way to participate in all the Feria things, plus experience part of Chiantla’s religious culture, which is really important here. There will be two more Feria’s during my service, and I will gladly participate again. It is really fun, plus something to do to occupy my time. Something that I was hoping to achieve by participating was making some new friends. I definitely feel like there are now 31 more women whose names I know, but in some senses during all the practices I totally felt like the new girl at school, since they are all already friends and know each other. But I think that after this experience, I feel more comfortable to be myself around everyone and hopefully be a little more outgoing.
The whole group of the Convite Femenino before departing for the dance procession

The first stop along the procession
With Marcela, my little girl for the tribute
La Natividad de la Virgen
At the end, after the revelation, with my counterpart and her baby


The other big thing that took place recently was the youth race that I organized. After a lot of stress, it turned out really well. We solicited different businesses and people for prizes and water, so that we didn’t have to spend too much money out of pocket. The inscription fee for every runner was 10 quetzales, and all that money went directly to the organization. In the end, we had 63 runners from all different age groups, plus 4 PCVs who ran which was fun. We had been expecting more runners, but I was happy with the turnout and the focus of the whole event. The attempt was to make the event more focused on achieving goals instead of winning, so we gave diplomas to every runner, and during the awards ceremony, asked each of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place runners what message they have for youth and improving the lives of youth. We also had a marimba playing, the help of the police to direct traffic, and volunteers to hand out water, direct the runners, and keep time, which all made the whole event run more smoothly. I was very happy and relieved once it was all over, and am already looking forward to planning next years! Plus, my friends at the NGO have promised to keep this an annual thing, meaning I guess I’ll have to come back to Chiantla every year on International Youth Day to keep up the tradition!






On a more sad note, Guatemala is been receiving a much stronger rainy season than normal, resulting in many landslides and deaths (apparently reported as the worst in 60 years). Currently, the Pan-American highway between Huehue/the Western part of the country and Guatemala City is completely blocked by a landslide. Lucky for me, I don’t have any travel plans this month, but it does really complicate things and is tragic that so many people have lost their lives. The president declared a state of mourning and national emergency and Peace Corps has put us all on “standfast” which means that we aren’t allowed to leave our communities until further notice. This is something that will not last much longer and I am confident that in my part of the country, things will be fine, but I am hoping that it will not cause further damage everywhere else.

Did you all know that Peace Corps has three goals? They are:
1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

So by writing this blog, I am actually trying to accomplish more of Goal Three: Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. So if there are things that you are curious to know about Guatemala that I haven’t touched on, please ask!

Year in Country!!

It has been over a month since my last blog entry, but not due to lack of things to write by any means. Last Thursday, August 12, was my anniversary of arriving in Guatemala. I feel like I want to say that the time has flown by and it feels like I just left, but to be honest that really isn’t true at all. The past year has been filled with so much discovery, confusion, happiness, sadness, loneliness, and enjoyment of the company and sharing with new friends, all at the same time. Which is probably why Peace Corps is also known not only as “the toughest job you’ll ever love” but also a 27-month emotional roller coaster. A year ago, I arrived in a country that I knew only by newspaper, film, guidebooks, and stories. And now, it feels like home (kind of). There are certain times where I feel like I have enveloped so much of what is Guatemala, and other times when I feel that there are certain things I will just never be able to accept or understand. But I have undoubtedly learned a lot. I now know how to board a bus even while it is still in motion, and then argue with the bus ayudante who collects the fare when I know he is trying to rip me off, and then bang on the wall of the bus when I am ready to get off. I understand that unless you have a personal relationship with someone, no matter what your title is or how educated you are, they won’t want to work with you unless you have “confianza”. I no longer cringe (as much) when I see the de-headed chickens and tubs of chicken feet in the markets. The list goes on and on..

But even though there are some times that I find myself very homesick or wondering what I am really doing here, I know that the journey is far from over (15 months to be exact) and that I still have a lot to learn and accomplish. Another Muni PCV a year ahead of me told me that the first year is “figuring it out” which now I can totally understand to be true. I arrived here, thinking I spoke excellent Spanish, thinking that I already knew about development work, thinking many things that in the end turned out to completely not be true. Just because I could speak Spanish well didn’t necessarily mean that I could effectively communicate certain things to Guatemalans in a way that they were able or willing to understand. And just because I had a couple years of work in development didn’t mean that I was prepared for confronting a strong machista culture and completely corrupt and inefficient local government.

But in any case, my Guatemalan friends congratulated me on my first year and expressed their happiness that I would still be here for a little over a year more. Which made me feel really good. One thing that is really easy to do here is focus on the negative: the machismo, the unprofessional work environment, the noise, the pollution, the leaky walls during rainy season, the snail’s pace manner in getting work done, the people who don’t show up to meetings, the repetitive beans/eggs/tortillas, the extreme poverty.

But there are also many positives of which sometimes I have to remind myself on the days when I am sad or annoyed. Like the beautiful mountains where I live, the people who warmly embrace my presence, the relaxed pace of life, the 10:00 snack break, the ability to buy fresh fruit and vegetables every single day, the support and company of other PCVs who deal with the exact same frustrations that I do.

One really interesting cultural difference between the US and Guatemala is the collectivism. In the US, I feel that people take the attitude of wanting to have “their own” of everything: their own personal space, their own food, their own house, their own belongings. Here in Guate, it is the total opposite. You can see someone board the bus and sit right down next to another passenger, even though the bus could be practically empty. Snacks and food are meant to be shared, no matter how small or messy the portion. One recent example is when I had some friends over and one of the women brought her baby. The baby was crying and fussy as we were eating. I was holding him for a moment during this crying, when my friend stuck her fingers right into my plate of coconut sticky rice to try and offer some to the baby. Turns out he wasn’t hungry, since he didn’t accept the rice, but in that moment, I kind of lost my appetite as well. If this had happened back in the states, I probably would have proclaimed, “What are you doing?! Get your hands out of my food!” but here, she would have likely thought I was either crazy or extremely rude for even suggesting that what she did was gross.

Running is something that has definitely kept me busy lately. While it can be stressful at times, it has also been a good way to help my integration (plus the tortilla and arroz con leche spare tire which I have acquired since arriving here). A few weeks ago I ran a half marathon in Antigua, in preparation for a race that I did on August 8th called the “Ascenso a los Cuchumatanes”. It was the physically and mentally hardest race I’ve ever done. A fellow runner friend here in town had told me about it, and when he first described it to me, I thought he was kidding. The race started in Huehuetenango city, passed through my town of Chiantla, and climbed the mountain until reaching a point at the top called El Mirador. Huehue city lies at 6,500 feet and the Mirador at 11,000 feet. It was a complete half marathon of 21 KM/13.1 miles (although prior to the race, when asking people about the distance, I heard answers between 17 and 23 kms. Go figure). When I finally reached the top, after having what felt like a civil war between my brain and my body, I was greeted by some of the women in my literacy class and fellow PCVs who ran. The altitude hit me right away and I felt a strong tingling in my head, even in my nose and eyes, which I had never felt before. But after some watery hot chocolate and some deep breathing with my head between my knees, I felt incredible satisfaction along with the lightheadedness. And although it was very challenging, it made me feel so good that so many people came out to support and cheer me on during the race. And ever since, I’ve had people stop me on the street and in the market and say, “you’re the gringa who ran the Ascenso!” So it was a pretty cool accomplishment. Especially since there were only 32 women who ran out of 800 people, so you can bet I’ll be participating in this annual race again next year!

My passion for running also inspired me to organize a local race in my town. The youth development NGO where I volunteer and teach English to the employees is falling on some hard economic times. So, in a meeting where we discussed moneymaking strategies, I presented the idea of coordinating a race to benefit the association. They all liked the idea, so I promptly put everyone to work and began planning logistics and promotion. The race will take place in two weeks and is called “Corriendo por la Juventud”, or Running for Youth. I wanted the race to have less focus on winning and more focus on achieving, so we are going to give a diploma to every participant. We are soliciting different businesses to give us water, prizes, etc. and I am trying to remain calm that things will come together; that people will actually show up to run, that we will have enough water, that it won’t end up a disaster.

While I do feel that I am accomplishing more things at work, certain obstacles have become more outstanding in recent weeks. Our mayor, who barely supports our work, has proclaimed that the municipality is completely broke and now there is no gas money for us to go into communities and train women’s groups. Going out into the villages and meeting the women’s groups is one of my favorite parts of my job, so it is a real bummer that we have to cancel all trainings until further notice. And two of the three women who work in my office have not been so nice to me ever since I arrived here, and it is really starting to take a toll on me. The situation is that they are basically very trivial, jealous people who are only in these jobs as political favors. So it definitely makes for a difficult work environment but I have recently resolved to try as hard as possible to not let their pettiness bother me, and if necessary, I will find a new place to work. I definitely don’t want to have to resort to that last option, but I am also unwilling to let myself be unhappy on account of two difficult people.

Friends and family back home often ask what I’d like to receive in care packages. The answer used to be “I am fine don’t send me anything” but I changed my mind :) Chocolate of any sort and Annie’s Naturals Mac and Cheese are more than welcome anytime! And, I have recently created this wall of cards and letters that people have sent me, and I love mail!

Thanks to everyone who has supported me during the last year. It is one of the things that helps me along this journey and I appreciate knowing I can count on so much family and friends for the next year and three months to come!

My mail-from-home wall. Keep those cards and letters coming! :)

With some other Huehue PCVs after finishing the Ascenso a los Cuchumatanes race
We started the race in that city wayyy down there
With more PCVs in the Antigua half marathon
Celebrating "Día del Empleado Municipal" (Municipal Employee Day). The muni sponsored a day of soccer and drinking at these pools and gave us three days off. Gotta love the made-up holidays..
Some training runs in my town. Is it not beautiful!? Visit me and I'll take you running here :)

PCV ladies from my training group after having a "girls night" at my house. I am lucky to have a great support network of other volunteers!

And more PCVs at David's surprise party at La Mansion del Taco in Huehue

Babies!

Well, as I left off in my previous blog post, I had some news that I was excited to share, and now I am finally able to…I am going to be a TIA! My brother and sister-in-law told me about two weeks ago that they are expecting a baby in January. I am soo excited and happy! While it will be difficult for me to be far away from family during all this, I am trying to keep perspective that joining Peace Corps, I knew I'd "miss out" on certain things, but that it will be worthwhile in the end. Plus, as a fellow PCV told me, I need to stick around Guatemala so that I will have lots of ridiculous stories to tell my little niece/nephew :)

And actually, I think that returning home to what will then be a 10 month-old will help with my reverse culture shock. I am constantly surrounded by babies and kids here. Everyone has young kids and they bring them everywhere. Whereas in the states, it would almost be considered rude to bring your children somewhere like a dinner party, at least without asking first, here it is expected that the children will attend. This past week, I had a dinner party with my English class students for the US Independence Day. And everyone got all disappointed with my friend for not bringing her two-month old baby girl! And not only is it socially acceptable to bring your babies/kids to a professional meeting, friend's party, or whatever the gathering may be, but people make a huge deal over kids. It is a very youth-focused culture and people will even treat stranger's kids like a member of their family, telling them how cute or beautiful they are, giving them a snack, playing games with them on the bus, etc. And it's not at all seen as weird.

Something that is really interesting in Guatemala is not just the kid-friendly culture but also how people here treat kids. They are babied in the sense that people are always making a big deal over them, but at the same time, kids are expected to act like adults much more than in the states. They aren't fed kiddie food, on kiddie plates, on kiddie chairs when they eat meals. They don't have a "bedtime". Women bring their kids to meetings without the army of snacks, toys, books, and games, as they would in the US, and the kids (for the most part) sit quietly while the moms receive trainings and such. I've only even seen strollers being used on very rare occasions, as most women carry their babies on their backs tied in a shawl.

Another really interesting thing in Guatemala which struck all of us when we first arrived is how openly women will breastfeed here. I've seen women standing on the bus, holding their baby and breastfeeding. I've been in meetings where a woman will get up on stage to speak to the audience, holding her baby and breastfeeding. I feel like if I told my Guatemalan friends that those actions would be looked upon as strange in the states, they would think that we gringos are absolutely insane. After all, babies need food and formula is extremely expensive, as it is in the states, and people here couldn't afford to spend $30/week on baby formula when breastmilk is free.

Anyway, my Guatemalan friends were as thrilled as I was to hear that there is going to be a new baby in my family. Allow me to describe a typical conversation with a Guatemalan upon meeting for the first time: After introducing myself, explaining that yes, my name means "face" in Spanish, I am a Peace Corps Volunteer, the conversation usually goes like this:

Guatemalan: Do you have any siblings?
Me: Yes, an older brother.
Guatemalan: Just ONE?!?
Me: Yes. Just one. He is married.
Guatemalan: Do they have any kids?
Me: Not yet.
Guatemalan: They DON'T!?!

So as you can see, I am a disappointing person to Guatemalans who tend to have many siblings and many nieces/nephews to go along with them. And not to over-generalize, but a huge percentage of marriages occur here because of accidental pregnancy. So I think a lot of people are surprised to learn that Andrew and Steph are married for almost two years without any kids on the horizon. But, now that is all going to be different, and hey, maybe my little sobrinito/sobrinita will help increase my cultural integration.

On a quick note to end, I recently spent a week in Antigua for some Peace Corps trainings, then the annual All-Volunteer Conference and 4th of July party. Peace Corps had a big party for us, with lots of food, bbq, music, and beer, and it almost made me forget that I wasn't in the states. There was a departamental basketball tournament, where I made the smart move to assist my Huehue team by NOT playing and instead cheering on the side. We made really cute t-shirts that say "Huehue - the happiest place on Earth". Curious as to why? Well, I'll invite you to come visit then!! :)


With my English class students and fellow Huehue PCV at my casa for my 4th of July dinner party

Getting into the Independence Day spirit!

And what would the 4th of July be without refried black beans? Or more appropriately stated, a meal in Guatemala isn't a meal without black beans...

PCV Huehue basketball team

Representing the happiest place on earth and strategizing for the basketball tournament

My friend's very cute and chubby newborn baby

My counterpart's 10-month old baby, who she calls my Guatemalan nephew. Adorable!

I have discovered that the best way to make friends in Guatemala is through food. Which I can totally empathize with, because eating is my favorite pastime. But the Guatemalan diet, oversaturated with things sugary, salty, and greasy, is also rather monotonous. So they really love being introduced to new foods, even if they sprinkle bbq-flavored Tortrix (corn chips) in the fettuccini alfredo that I made, I try not to get insulted…

I’d say the things that most helped me to “win over” friends in my site are banana chocolate chip bread, my mom’s recipe which I could now make in my sleep, and choco-crispie treats. I have made these on many occasions, and people always ask for the recipe and how to make it, so it is a nice excuse to create conversation and invite oneself to people’s houses. Anyway, I had some baking dates with some of the muni ladies and their young daughters, where we made Valentine’s cookies back in February, and then more recently made pizza. They were so excited because they’d never made pizza before. And the experience is one that I will definitely never forget. I told the ladies that I’d be in charge of the dough if they took care of the sauce, cheese, and toppings. I show up to the house, and see they have bought, among mozzarella and cheddar cheese, Kraft American singles and “queso fresco” which we PCVs call Campo Cheese. It is very pungent and delicious cheese made from fresh cow’s milk. But it isn’t quite what you would want to put on a pizza, especially since it’s quite strong-tasting, crumbly, and greasy. There was also sliced ham, ground beef, and turkey hotdogs (they were kind enough to get the turkey kind, knowing I don’t eat red meat, and not knowing that I’d find the idea of turkey hotdogs on pizza somewhat repulsive). But with the help of seven little girls, we kneaded the dough, and threw on the sauce and very over-processed cheese and toppings. At one point, I pulled the pizza out of the oven to see if it was done. I gave the crust a poke, and it was, in fact, crusty. So as I am taking it out, the ladies say, “wait, no! It’s not done! The cheese isn’t melted yet!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the Kraft American singles would probably never melt, because there is barely a trace of real cheese even in there. But they were all ecstatic when we served the pizza, and proceeded to cover it with ketchup, which is how Guatemalans love the classic Italian dish. It was a very funny and memorable experience, to say the least.

World Cup fever is definitely keeping everyone busy and excited around here. I am actually surprised that my muni didn’t completely close for the month so that everyone could watch the games, but most of the muni employees have moved TVs into their offices instead. The World Cup is also a great way to start conversations with any type of person, because fútbol is a passion that permeates throughout Guatemalan society as a whole. When I went to give a training at a women’s group today, we usually sit around for a while in the beginning in a rather awkward silence while we wait for people to show up, and chit-chat about whether or not it will rain that day. But I asked them if they had been watching the games, and they exploded into conversation! Guatemalans are all rooting for Brazil, and were all cursing the Mexico team. Even though I live really close to Mexico, people here have contempt for the country…I think that it has a lot to do with how Guatemalans are treated when they immigrate through Mexico in attempt to cross the border into the US.

I received emails from a lot of people back home asking about the condition of things after tropical storm Agatha passed through a few weeks ago, days after the eruption of one of Guatemala’s most active volcanoes. It was not a very good week for Guatemala. A lot of people were killed in the floods and landslides from the storm, and roads, homes, and bridges were destroyed. I’m sure many of you have seen the massive sinkhole in Guatemala City that looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. But my part of the country was very fortunate to have minimal damage during the storm. Thanks to everyone for your concern.

One of my most recent projects at work has been starting a radio show with my counterpart. We are doing a weekly, one-hour program on issues related to women, families, and youth. When I first arrived to site, I was not at all interested in radio, but it is a really important means of communication here, especially when most of the population is illiterate, and many times women listen to the radio all day while at home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the kids. So as time went on and I realized how hard it is to have an impact, especially since I have a really large town, I got more excited about the idea. So far, we’ve done themes like jealousy in relationships, tips for being environmentally friendly, integral health, etc. I am looking forward to having something new to devote my time, energy, and ideas!

Tomorrow I depart for the Peace Corps headquarters, where we have a training for my program, and annual All-Volunteer Conference, and legendary 4th of July party, which should be really fun.

I also have some exciting news to share, but I feel that it is worthy of its own blog post, so stay on the lookout!

My internet is really slow to upload lots of pictures, so here are a few…

My counterpart and another muni colleague and I, planting trees for Tree Day, on one of Chiantla's lower mountains overlooking the town


Our overloaded pizza

Lots of little hands helping to flatten the dough