Almost Nine Months In

A week from today will mark my nine month anniversary of my arrival in Guatemala. While there are no official plans for a nine month celebration, to me it really does feel like a special accomplishment. As much as one can try to research a country, read random PCVs online blogs, talk to people who have visited a place, etc. there is really no way to completely prepare for what Peace Corps is and to live in another country. But all the unexpected and learning process is also what makes moving to another country fun. And challenging. There are certain things I don't think I'd ever be able to completely get used to, like the idea of eating spaghetti with tortillas, and how people give coffee to little kids at nighttime. And there are other things that I can't imagine myself living without...like the current price of mangoes at 15 cents each, having the convenience of little tiendas (stores) every which way you turn your head, knowing nobody would think twice to know I haven't showered in three days, and saying "good morning/good afternoon/good evening" on the street to every single person you see. I think that the experience thus far has without a doubt made me appreciate my life back home, but also has made me appreciate my life here. Whenever I go away for the weekend, I feel like when I return here to Chiantla, I am home. I feel that I am also starting to form more friendships, which has been probably one of my bigger challenges along the way.

The end of March was a really special time for me, because my best friend Becca came to visit, and it was Semana Santa (Holy Week) before Easter! Semana Santa is a really big deal in Guatemala. All over the streets there are processions and alfombras (carpets) made of colored sawdust and flower petals. It is all very dramatic and beautiful. I enjoyed traveling with Becca to Antigua and to Lake Atitlan, but the best part was having her in my site. We went hiking and running, she visited my English and my literacy classes, walked around town and ate "helados locos", which translates to "crazy ice cream"...it is really pineapple juice pops with lots of lime, salt, sugar, and chile. yum!

Only five days after Becca left, my friends Fiorella and Alex arrived. Their itinerary was quite similar, helados locos and everything, except with a "detour" to Tikal, which is a huge national park with really expansive Mayan ruins. It is in the northern part of the country, where it is a flat jungle HOT area...I think I might have even had culture shock, compared to my cool climate in the highlands. Tikal is expensive to get to, but it was either an hour flight or a 15 hour bus ride...so it was well worth spending over half of my living allowance on the flight! But Tikal is really quite incredible. As I said, it is in the middle of a jungle, with absolutely huge temples. There was also some very impressive wildlife, like exotic birds, monkeys, and "coati" which are like raccoon/dog/squirrel kinda creatures. Even though it is a super touristy place, it was well worth the visit. When you're sitting atop Temple V looking out onto the jungle below, you can't help but marvel at how the Mayan people built these structures so long ago.

The best part of my visitors were not the wonderful treats they brought me or having the excuse to visit awesome places with them, but the fact that I was able to share my life here and that they now have an understanding of what Guatemala is like. Alex and Fio, for example, said that visiting my English and literacy classes were their favorite part of the trip, because it's something that one could never do just visiting a country as a tourist. And how Becca helped me pick the theme for my literacy class to go along with the letter "t" (which ended up being "tiempo" with a discussion on how to manage ones' time well). Certain things that I think made the experience really worthwhile for all of us.

Something exciting we did recently in my English class was holding a baby shower for one of my students. I should mention two things: the Guatemalan word for "baby shower" is "baby shower", which is pretty hilarious, and just like in the US, mostly just women attend baby showers in Guatemala. My class consists of two females and seven males, so I think it was a "first" for all of us to have a majority male attendees baby shower. And it was a hysterical experience...I can say now why most baby showers do not invite men :) They got a little physical with all the silly baby-themed games, ran around popping the balloons, forgot to buy gifts, and being in charge of the food, brought nachos and orange soda. But they were also really sweet to Nohemy, the mother-to-be, giving her lots of encouragement and advice, and were so excited to sharing in their first baby shower with her.

Things in my office have been going well, although every week seems to have its different ups and downs. One thing I really miss from my old job was the ability to print whenever I wanted. Given that our Municipal Women's Office doesn't have a budget, nor does the mayor really care about what we do, when we run out of toner and paper, we're kind of s--t out of luck. My coworkers couldn't hardly believe it when I told them that in the states, when you run out of paper or ink, your boss gives you more. Sometimes I can't help but laugh about the differences in the professional environment between the US and Guatemala. In my old job, if you wanted to schedule a meeting, you had to consult everyone's calendars on Microsoft Outlook, and properly send an email with the meeting request, schedule the conference room, etc. Here, you send a little note (like, physically on paper) to everyone, and you are lucky if people show up within an hour of the meeting being scheduled. Most of the time, the note will say "8 o'clock sharp", people always show up around 9:30, then at 10:00 it is time for a 15-30 minute snack break since everyone hasn't eaten since breakfast, and then the meeting might go on for an hour or two before people get hungry again and want to leave to go home for lunch. Whenever I ask myself, "why does it take so long for anything to get accomplished here?!", I almost laugh at myself for wondering.

But on a positive note, my literacy class is excelling pretty well - we have now done all 5 vowels and 7 of the consonants. It is the most incredibe test of my patience to teach this subject. I am constantly repeating what the letters are called, what sound they made, and how to write it. And the women still have a hard time. For example, one woman can't remember what the letter "T" is called, but she does remember that the letter that makes the "t" sound looks like a cross. Although I've started learning little tricks to make it easier. I'm sure that if I were to learn Arabic or Hebrew or another language with a different writing system I would confuse letters that look the same also, like "O" and "D", or forget what they're called and what their sound is.

Another fun thing recently was Earth Day, which a bunch of us in the muni and different environmnental organizations planned an activity for kids. In front of a total of 700 kids (400 in the morning, 300 in the afternoon) I made an ass of myself by singing an environment song and doing a skit with my counterpart to show how water sources, like rivers, become contaminated. So that was really fun, and it was exciting to spend the whole day with kids, which sometimes I enjoy a lot more than working with adults (shh). We are going to plan another environment day activity in early June, so hopefully we can learn from this day and improve on the activities we did.

I hope that everyone back at home is doing well and enjoying springtime, which makes me homesick to think about, despite how much I hated the DC metro swarming with tourists for cherry blossom season. It's been raining like crazy here, and hopefully one of these days when my house floods, I'll actually take advantage of the opportunity to mop my floors, which my mom hasn't stopped bugging me to do since my parents' visit :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading and continue to write to me and keep in touch!

P.S. Happy birthday Aaron!
P.P.S. When Becca sends me her pics, I'll post them on the next blog! (hint hint, hehe)


Temple I in Tikal National Park

Climbing down the steps of Temple IV, which was almost as terrifying as my first skydiving trip

Amazing view out over the jungle from the top of Temple V

A typical tourist shot, but I couldn't resist. Temple I is probably the most photographed site in all of Guatemala.

With my friends Alex and Fiorella on the day they arrived in Guate...celebrating with cold cervezas at the lake

My English students competing at one of the games - to feed your "baby" blindfolded. It got kind of violent at the end!

Nohemy at her baby shower!

Creating alfombras in the street

The cemetery in Huehue, so colorful!

The ladies in my literacy class, with "N" which was the letter of the day

The sound of Howler Monkeys at Tikal National Park