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

Adventures in Alta Verapaz

Recently, life has just been really fun. I just returned home from a bunch of traveling, which was adventurous, exhilarating, and enough to make me not want to travel until the end of June when we have In-Service Training and the Peace Corps Guatemala legendary 4th of July party (which will be conveniently held on July 3rd, since our lovely PC/G Administration doesn’t want to work on a Sunday). I somehow spent my entire monthly living allowance by May 12th, but everything I’ve done this month has been absolutely worth it. I traveled to Coban, one of Guatemala’s larger cities, located in the northern, drizzly department of Alta Verapaz, to run my first international half marathon, as well as see the well-known tourist destination of Semuc Champey and also to visit a fellow Muni PCV in his site. The adventure started out here in my apartment in Chiantla, where I managed to pack a week’s worth of clothes and such into a backpack. I would not consider myself a high-maintenance person necessarily, but for those of you who know me, it was an impressive feat nonetheless. And makes me wonder what I even used to bring in that overstuffed duffel bag on those weekend trips I often used to make from DC to NYC. Although after a full week of wearing the same jeans to party, travel in the back of pickups, and hike through jungles, I think my lesson learned is to bring two pairs of pants next time.

Anyway, the race: the Coban Half Marathon is a renowned race, both nationally and internationally, and draws a lot of runners and tourism to Coban. While Coban is a great city, I would not say the same for the half marathon. There were literally eight port-o-potties for 4,500 runners. The water stations ran out of water. There were no mile markers along the way. Towards the end, people and cars were all over the course, to the point that we had to ask spectators which way we were supposed to go so that we could find the finish line. It was a mess, and although quite “typical Guatemala” once could say, it was rather shocking to see such disorganization in such a well-known event. But, it was also really fun. It was great to see so many Guatemalan runners and spectators on the street who yelled out lots of positive messages of encouragement, which was a nice contrast to the rather rude men that one normally encounters when attempting a pleasant jog through town. We also received super nice, dri-fit t-shirts, which are always helpful in a majority hand-washing country. I am hoping to run another few races before the year is over, since I will actually have the ability to keep training, as opposed to the past, when finishing a race then welcomes the beginning of winter and I use the cold and snow as an excuse to stay inside and drink hot chocolate for months on end.

The day after the Coban race, I took a vacation day to visit Semuc Champey with some friends. It is best described as Mother Nature’s version of Six Flags Great Adventure. We did a swimming cave tour, which was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. A guide led us through a series of caves in the complete dark, using hand-held candles as our only light source. In some parts, the water was deep enough that we’d have to swim instead of walking/wading through the water, and swimming with a candle in one hand was a challenge that I’d never before encountered. The tour definitely catered to the gringo’s desire for adrenaline rush, by giving us the opportunity to jump through small spaces, climb up a waterfall, and leap off cave ledges into completely dark water below. I actually feel a little scared all over again just writing about it, but it was a truly unique experience that I will never forget!

After experiencing the excitement and rush of the cave tour, our guide lead us out to the river (were we glad to see daylight again!) and as if the pain of bashing our limbs into underwater rocks during the cave tour wasn’t enough, we then jumped off a huge rope swing into the river. This was again a fun and terrifying experience, although less terrifying because at least this time, we could see the water that we were jumping into down below. After falling mostly on my left side and feeling the smack of my abdomen and thighs against the water, I submerged to the surface, assuring that my bathing suit was covering all the right places, and feeling thankful that I had planned the Semuc Champey visit AFTER running 13.1 miles, as doing the opposite would have been disastrous.

We inner-tubed down the river for a few minutes before venturing to visit the limestone pools of Semuc Champey, which is what makes the spot really famous. This part was absolutely gorgeous… and pain free. We swam and relaxed in the pools, and enjoyed the built-in pedicure. See, once you sit still, all these little fish come over and nibble on the dead skin on your feet. I am extremely ticklish which sometimes makes for embarrassing moments at the nail salon, but it felt really cool, and after hearing that people in Japan “pay hundreds” for this weird fish treatment, we really tried to take advantage. After sitting there for an hour, I definitely felt a difference on the bottom of my feet, and especially in this part where I have a mild fungus that the fish really seemed to enjoy (sorry if that grosses some of you out. If it does, you probably shouldn’t consider joining the Peace Corps).

I then traveled to visit another PCV’s site, who lives really far away, knowing that I may not make it back to this part of the country. His site is far, extremely hot (so much so that the gum in my purse literally melted), and as my boss called it, “rústico”, but it was also a really cool place to visit. He lives near a place called the Laguna Lachuá National Park, which is one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in Guatemala (a that list is continually growing). From the entrance of the park, we hiked for about an hour to reach the lake and campground area, where you stumble out of the jungle into this little nature campsite with cabañas to sleep in and a little kitchen. The lake is perfectly round, turquoise blue, completely untouched by people and boats and garbage. The water was warm and smelled a bit like human sweat, which after noting to my friends, I learned that “Lachuá” is the K’ekchi (Mayan indigenous language spoken in this part of the country) word for warm, smelly water. This appropriately named lake is so clear that you can see all the fish swimming around you. We were also able to see a bit of crocodile swimming around the center of the lake, where luckily nobody ventured to.

We also visited the eco-park of my friend’s sitemate who is an ecotourism volunteer. He told me that the park is unique for its three “lagunitas” which change color according to the season. I couldn’t really picture what that meant until after hiking about 25 minutes through the jungle, we came upon a pink lake. And really, it was pink, almost Pepto-Bismol color, which I found really cool and surprising. During our nature walk, I collected an insane amount of mosquito bites, including bites through my hair and through my long jeans. But besides the pink lake, we saw howler monkeys, a crocodile, and turtles which made the park visit very cool. When we finally left the park and reached a clearing in the jungle, I sighed with relief that the mosquitoes would leave us alone now. And as I am offering some local kids the Trader Joes dried fruit that Mom had sent in a care package, my friend yells “oh s--t” and dives to brush the biting aunts that were swarming my legs. I was standing right on top of an anthill. My first thought was to tear off my pants and shoes, but knowing that would not be culturally appropriate, I just screamed and tried to convince myself that this is not the time to have a breakdown.

The next day, I traveled 11 hours from his site to Antigua, where I reached our Peace Corps favorite hostel and was told that I would be the only one occupying the two-person room that night. I could have hugged the hostel lady; I was so happy to not have to talk to or look at a single person after traveling so long. The next day I woke up, traveled another six hours to get home, and was extremely content to be back in Huehue. However, with every new experience I feel more and more thankful for where I am right now and the opportunity to travel and do cool things like this. And also to see the dramatic contrasts and realities that we PCVs have, living in different parts of the country. For example, in the beginning, Peace Corps warns you about the potential consequences of things like having members of the opposite sex stay with you and buying alcohol in your site. Once I reached my site, I realized that these concerns really don’t apply to me at all, since my town is pretty large for Peace Corps standards, plus there have been PCVs here for years so people are more used to gringos doing things “differently”. However in my friend’s site, I felt more in the spotlight, especially knowing that his neighbors were all asking who were the girls that were staying with him.

I will end this blog with a funny story dedicated to my sister-in-law Stephanie, who recently graduated with her doctorate from Yale and will now continue to rock the world of cancer research. Recently, I was wrapping up my English class, which I teach weekly to the employees of an awesome youth development NGO in town, when the skies opened up and it poured rain. We all sat around and waited it out, which ended up taking a lot longer than normal. So we were bored, poking around on facebook and looking at photos, and I ended up showing them all photos of Andrew and Steph’s wedding, which they were all psyched to see. However, they were totally confused about the concept of the “rehearsal dinner” and could not believe that there is an entire evening dedicated to “wedding ceremony practice and learning how to walk”. It was one of those things where the more I tried to explain, the dumber they just thought gringos are for following this weird tradition. But I suppose that’s what the beauty of cultural exchange is all about…


The Coban 1/2 Marathon
Getting ready the evening before with other PC-G runners. The race company may have screwed up lots of other things, but I loved having my name in huge letters on my number!


Inside the caves


Relaxing in the natural pools of Semuc Champey

Semuc Champey from above
Beautiful Laguna Lachuá
The pink lagoon in Parque Salinas, with a cute turtle resting on the rock in the middle

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

Yesterday, I had my blog entry all mentally planned, and even knew how I wanted to start it. But then today, I was in a pickup riding behind a bus, and a crate of chickens fell off the top of the bus and crashed onto the ground. Obviously, the ayudante (bus driver assistant) did not do too good of a job (or at all of a job) tying the crate down to the top of the bus. The chickens were squawking like crazy and feathers were flying all over. It was a rather comical and disturbing scene. Yet, typical Guatemala. Nothing ever really goes as planned, but it does all work out okay!

It has been an extremely fun-filled and adventurous past few weeks. First, with the 10-day visit of my parents, which was very fun. They arrived in Guatemala City and we spent the weekend enjoying Antigua, including a tour of a coffee farm coincidentally called “Filadelfia”, visiting a butterfly conservatory, trying traditional food, seeing pre-Easter/Holy Week processions in the street, enjoying restaurants I’d never normally have money to eat at, and marveling at the McDonalds’ beautiful gardens and tableside service (fast food in Guatemala is expensive to eat, unlike in the states, and it is a status thing to be able to eat food here, hence why the nasty greasy establishments are super high class here). Then, they spent five days in my town, which was a great experience. The Chiantlecos and Chiantlecas that I’ve come to know in my 4.5 months here embraced them warmly, and my parents were able to get a taste of my daily life: buying produce in the market, working at the muni, dodging crazy drivers, washing clothes in the pila, napping on my rooftop hammock, taking the bus up the cumbre, bucket bathing when the water gets cut off, etc. Finally, we spent the last leg of the trip at beautiful Lake Atitlan, where we stayed at the most gorgeous hotel I’ve ever been to in my whole life. It is cut right into the mountain on the lake, and up a steep hill – every room has a spectacular view of the lake and volcanoes, and the food was awesome. I really appreciated my parents’ visit and effort to come to Guatemala, and how open-minded they were about everything they saw here. It was definitely a test of my patience at times, and I felt a complete parent-child role reversal…I’d constantly be like, “where are you going? Who are you talking to? What are you saying? Why are you getting off the bus? Sit down right here!” Plus, having to read the menus, translate everything for them, I feel like it was definitely an interesting dynamic.

Right after my parents left, we celebrated International Women’s’ Day. This day is something I barely knew about in the US, but throughout all Guatemala there were celebrations for women – and with good reason. The women here have it TOUGH – not only because their lives are difficult in their daily labors, but also how they are so devalued in society. Here in Chiantla, we did a parade through the streets, a motivational talk to our women’s groups leaders, and had a nice little concert. The following day, there was an event in Huehue city that was also really nice. In the US, I take my liberties as a woman for granted and most of the time, barely even notice a gender difference or inequalities in gender. But it is really important to recognize that most women in Guatemala, and the world for that matter, do live with tremendous discrimination and deserve a day (or every day, for that matter) to celebrate their gender, and contribution and importance in society.

Two weekends ago, I visited one of the most incredible places I’ve ever seen in my life: Volcan Tajamulco, which is the biggest volcano in Guatemala and the highest point in all of Central America. Seven other friends were also crazy enough to want to hike the thing and spend the evening on the top (and three of the seven were crazy enough to be doing it for the second time!). As much as I love the outdoors, I have very limited camping experience, but this will be hard to beat. We hiked from the base of the volcano up to the top, reaching an altitude of 13,850 feet. I felt like I was literally gasping for air the entire way, and could barely take more than baby steps the whole time…probably the reason that it took us 5 hours to hike what is the equivalent of two miles. However, the views at every single point during the hike were absolutely breathtaking. Seeing the surrounding mountains and villages, and finally reaching a point where we were looking down on a layer of puffy white clouds, and FINALLY, at four in the morning, when we woke up to hike the rest of the summit in the pure dark, we saw the sunrise and the entire landscape of Guatemala and the neighboring part of Mexico, and a dozen of Guatemala’s spectacular volcanoes off in the distance. Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen to my brain, but I could feel tears forming when I thought about where I was standing at that moment and how opportunities to do things like climb the highest place in Central America make the whole Peace Corps experience totally worth it when I am frustrated with work, missing home, and craving some good pad thai.

In fact, there are many times that I am still surprised about how different my life is here and how I’ve changed with respect to that. An example: recently, a neighboring PCV’s brother was visiting, and she wanted to make a trip to a spot in my municipality called Laguna Magdalena. This lake is situated in the mountains, three hours from my house in the centro urbano of my town, on a very steep and rocky unpaved road. We drove three hours there and three hours back in the back of a pickup truck, and spent a total of 1.5 hours at the actual lake. Now, three hours is the distance driving between Philadelphia and Washington DC, a trip I did very often, and I would get so antsy and impatient to just “get there already”. I cannot imagine ever having driven home to PA from DC just for a 1.5-hour visit! But here, it feels like not a big deal at all.

I have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks, including the arrival of my best friend Becca next week, then Fiorella and Alex soon after, the beginning of rainy season which means my water probably won’t get cut off so often, work being rather busy lately, and a half marathon which I just signed up for in the city of Coban. It is a nice 700 meters below my town in altitude, so hopefully it will feel rather easy despite the fact that I’ve been a huge exercise slacker lately.

Finally, I’d like to make a shoutout to Tricia, another Huehue PCV who just returned to the states to have knee surgery. Tricia – we miss you and can’t wait for you to recover and get back soon!



Mayan ruins in my town that I recently saw for the first time
The bus ayudante putting the fallen crate of chickens back atop the bus

International Womens Day celebration
School girls in the Chiantla International Womens Day parade
My mom with my counterpart Rosario's adorable baby boy

Mom and Dad at the luxurious gardens in...the McDonalds in AntiguaaView from halfway up Volcan Tajamulco

On the top of the volcano, watching the sunset. The view shows all of Guatemala's volcanoes in the distance, surrounded by a sheet of clouds
As the sun rose, the shadow of the volcano on which we were standing was cast onto the sky below
So glad to finally be at the top (and freezing!)
After a bit (or few hours) of hiking, we were above the cloud line looking down below on it

At the base of the mountain, about to begin the adventureAnd at the end, exhausted and excited for a shower, but thrilled to have finished it and spent the weekend on top of the highest point of Central America!