Time for another lovely update on my life in Guatemala…
Since my last blog, there has been quite a bit of drama in my life but also a lot of fun. My sitemate Felicia and I started and have almost completed a world map mural on one of the walls of the middle school in our town. Getting the project started was a lot harder than we anticipated and full of fijese que’s (you wouldn’t believe it but…) and other obstacles such as the 349837438 degree heat (not to mention the fact that of course we chose to do the mural on the one wall that gets the full blast of the sun all day… smart). We also had to deal with the fact that the school is relatively new and still does not have electricity so using a projector to trace the picture had to be done by borrowing a 50 ft extension cord from one of the students, using the building next door for an outlet and dealing with the billions of insects that were swarming around the light from the projector. In the end, we got the tracing done and started painting! Our initial plan was to paint for three hours a day and be done in a week (wishful thinking). That quickly turned into only being able to paint for an hour a day and we are now into our fourth week, but almost finished. There are some pictures up on facebook so you can check out our handy work and admire our extreme artistic abilities (cause tracing and painting inside the lines, as you know, are extremely difficult things to master).
Two weeks ago, I got to take a glorious vacation to Roatán, Honduras and it was so much fun. Emily and I made the trek out there to visit with her mom, who was taking a cruise through central America and making a stop in Honduras for the day so we decided to make a whole adventure out of it and definitely succeeded. It took us about 12 hours to get there via chicken bus (and everyone kept offering us cabs, shuttles, private buses, etc… apparently Emily and I look like tourists, who would have guessed) and one two-hour boat ride (that cost $55 which is 1/8 of our monthly paycheck). Turns out that just cause you can’t feel the sun due to a cool breeze and flecks of water splashing your cheeks, does not mean you aren’t getting burnt. I really hadn’t anticipated sitting in the sun on the boat for two hours (plus I was trying to get a little pre-beach tan) so I didn’t use sunscreen and ended up getting burnt to a crisp before we even made it to the island. It is also worth mentioning that in the town we stayed in the night before we got to Roatán they had a Dunkin Donuts and Wendy’s (which we ate at twice). The island itself was so cute! We stayed in a simple little place (still cost $10 a night, which is a lot compared to the $3 we are used to in Antigua). There were lots of places to eat and go out at night as well as pretty beaches and beautiful views. On Thursday we met up with Em’s mom and went out on a boat and snorkeled. It was amazing! It was my first time so I was a little overexcited but we saw so many cool fish and reefs and even a school of squid (that I swam at aggressively only to have them ink at me in defense). The day ended up being shorter than we expected but it was still great to see Emily’s mom and the vacation overall was for sure a success. Next trip to Honduras will include some more time in Copan to see the famous ruins since we didn’t really get a chance to check that out this time around.
After Honduras, Emily and I made our way to Antigua for In-Service Training (IST) with peace corps. This was actually a great experience. The first couple days were for volunteers and our Guatemalan counterparts (mine could not go at the last minute, which sadly was not that big of a surprise) but I got to work with other groups so it was all good. After the counterparts left, we had a couple of days to do some more hands on training in agriculture, which included building our very own greenhouse, vegetable and medicinal garden and compost bin. The greenhouse took 15 people and two full days to complete so needless to say, I will not be tackling that feat in my site but it was still awesome to learn how it’s done. The gardening tips were also very helpful and I have already started my own worm compost in my house, which I hope to be doing with the women in my communities asap. IST was also great cause we just got to be around our training group as well as a lot of other volunteers, which we don’t really do much of out in the east (seeing as there are only 14 out of 200+ in this area). Now for the drama of IST… Emily basically lost all of her worldly belongings. The first to go was her computer (which also contained her hard drive, internet modem and we would later find out her passport as well). We had just gotten to Antigua and left our bags outside for a friend to watch while we bought four pounds of pasta, butter and garlic powder to make an endless bowl of pasta (we‘re not fat kids), only to return to find that Emily’s computer was gone. At first, we thought it was a joke and that one of our friends really had it and was teasing her but unfortunately it wasn’t. Emily kept it together way better than I would have and just kinda took the loss like a champ, which I admire her greatly for. The next loss (which has since been recovered) was a package sent by her mom containing a computer charger (which she no longer needs) as well as some cash, since we are both destitute after our lavish vacation. Basically it was just one thing after the other during our trip but somehow we still managed to have a good time (duh) and everything seems to be taking a turn of the better now (even though I probably just jinxed it, sorry Em).
Okay, that’s all I have to update on. Hope everyone at home is doing wonderfully and enjoying the summer weather and barbecues :)
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Regresar- To Return
Okay, so it’s been quite some time since I last blogged and I figured I’d go ahead and end all the impatient waiting (I’m just that kind of popular) and write something new.
So I just got back to Guatemala after my first trip back to the States. Home was awesome. Seeing my family and friends and eating all of the delicious food was exactly what I needed, although two weeks definitely did not seem like enough. While home I was able to make it out in Philly with my sfield friends, North Jersey with my school friends, a Phillies game (dollar dog night, duh), Zeta alumni lunch, multiple family dinners (not to mention lunch dates with my sisters), pedicure with my mom and sisters, and much more. I was all over the place during my time at home but did still manage to lay around on my couch (which just so happens to be the world’s most comfortable couch) for a few hours here and there and be a bum. A lot of PCV’s warned me that going home for the first time would be tough and that I would experience some culture shock so I tried to mentally prepare myself for that only to find that it was absolutely unnecessary. Being home felt so normal, almost as if I never lived in Guatemala at all. Even though a lot has changed since I left and a lot of people are doing different things with their lives, I kinda just picked up where I left off. Because of this, I was pretty scared to come back to Guatemala, thinking that it was going to be so tough and that I’d just want to be back home. Weirdly enough, Guatemala kinda feels like home now too. Despite a little snafu at the airport (I’ll explain later), finally getting back to my little casita in San Jacinto was comforting and nice. Admittedly, I have not done an ounce of work since I got back, or left my house really but it is still nice to just be here. Hopefully this feeling will last… fingers crossed.
Okay so the airport snafu… I left for the airport in Atlantic City (which is an hour and a half from my house) at 4 am and had a fine flight down to Ft. Lauderdale, where I met up with Emily and we caught our flight back to Guatemala. Our seats weren’t together but were only two rows apart and we were both in the aisle so I’m sure we successfully annoyed many of the people around us, as usual. Upon arriving in Guatemala, we headed to the baggage reclaim where I made an offhand comment about how the airline was going to lose my luggage… seems I spoke too soon. As we sat there and watched bag after bag after bag go by, it became clear that mine was not among them. Next, we waited in line for 20 minutes only to find out that the line was for Continental and not Spirit and that Spirit, in fact, had nobody at their kiosk,, or anywhere in site, to help with lost luggage. Now, if you know me at all then you know I am not a crier (seriously don’t think I’ve cried in like 5 years). Well the lucky guy at customs has probably never sent someone through so quick cause I was sobbing like a baby as I passed through his line. The thing I was most upset about losing surprisingly was not all of my clothes, shoes, toiletries and electronics but instead, a beautiful new frying pan that my mom bought for me (silly, right?) I felt bad for Emily cause she was trying to calm me down as best she could but I just wanted that darn frying pan. Like a great friend, Emily stayed with me the whole time and we decided to take a little extra trip to Panajachel (Lake Atitlan… google it, it’s awesome) to try and wait it out and see if Spirit found my bag (which they did, thank goodness). We spent the extra time hanging around and reading by the lake and it was really enjoyable!
After I got my bag back, I headed back to San Jacinto where Lexi was waiting for me with my house keys and some chopped veggies for dinner. My landlord is the man so my house was all nice and clean and everything was just as I left it, which made me very happy. Today my house was fumigated (at least I think that is what the man in the gas mask, holding what looked like a snow blower told me before he asked me to wait outside for 15-20 minutes) so hopefully the mosquitoes won’t be as bad for the next couple weeks. Emily is coming tomorrow for her birthday celebration and I think we are gonna have a pool picnic to try and escape this terrible heat and get a nice little tan going on. I hope everyone at home is doing well and I will see you all again in another 8 months (woah, that’s a long time… anyone interested in starting a bring-kristen-home-for-another-visit fund? Let me know.) Miss sfield already, talk to you all soon!
So I just got back to Guatemala after my first trip back to the States. Home was awesome. Seeing my family and friends and eating all of the delicious food was exactly what I needed, although two weeks definitely did not seem like enough. While home I was able to make it out in Philly with my sfield friends, North Jersey with my school friends, a Phillies game (dollar dog night, duh), Zeta alumni lunch, multiple family dinners (not to mention lunch dates with my sisters), pedicure with my mom and sisters, and much more. I was all over the place during my time at home but did still manage to lay around on my couch (which just so happens to be the world’s most comfortable couch) for a few hours here and there and be a bum. A lot of PCV’s warned me that going home for the first time would be tough and that I would experience some culture shock so I tried to mentally prepare myself for that only to find that it was absolutely unnecessary. Being home felt so normal, almost as if I never lived in Guatemala at all. Even though a lot has changed since I left and a lot of people are doing different things with their lives, I kinda just picked up where I left off. Because of this, I was pretty scared to come back to Guatemala, thinking that it was going to be so tough and that I’d just want to be back home. Weirdly enough, Guatemala kinda feels like home now too. Despite a little snafu at the airport (I’ll explain later), finally getting back to my little casita in San Jacinto was comforting and nice. Admittedly, I have not done an ounce of work since I got back, or left my house really but it is still nice to just be here. Hopefully this feeling will last… fingers crossed.
Okay so the airport snafu… I left for the airport in Atlantic City (which is an hour and a half from my house) at 4 am and had a fine flight down to Ft. Lauderdale, where I met up with Emily and we caught our flight back to Guatemala. Our seats weren’t together but were only two rows apart and we were both in the aisle so I’m sure we successfully annoyed many of the people around us, as usual. Upon arriving in Guatemala, we headed to the baggage reclaim where I made an offhand comment about how the airline was going to lose my luggage… seems I spoke too soon. As we sat there and watched bag after bag after bag go by, it became clear that mine was not among them. Next, we waited in line for 20 minutes only to find out that the line was for Continental and not Spirit and that Spirit, in fact, had nobody at their kiosk,, or anywhere in site, to help with lost luggage. Now, if you know me at all then you know I am not a crier (seriously don’t think I’ve cried in like 5 years). Well the lucky guy at customs has probably never sent someone through so quick cause I was sobbing like a baby as I passed through his line. The thing I was most upset about losing surprisingly was not all of my clothes, shoes, toiletries and electronics but instead, a beautiful new frying pan that my mom bought for me (silly, right?) I felt bad for Emily cause she was trying to calm me down as best she could but I just wanted that darn frying pan. Like a great friend, Emily stayed with me the whole time and we decided to take a little extra trip to Panajachel (Lake Atitlan… google it, it’s awesome) to try and wait it out and see if Spirit found my bag (which they did, thank goodness). We spent the extra time hanging around and reading by the lake and it was really enjoyable!
After I got my bag back, I headed back to San Jacinto where Lexi was waiting for me with my house keys and some chopped veggies for dinner. My landlord is the man so my house was all nice and clean and everything was just as I left it, which made me very happy. Today my house was fumigated (at least I think that is what the man in the gas mask, holding what looked like a snow blower told me before he asked me to wait outside for 15-20 minutes) so hopefully the mosquitoes won’t be as bad for the next couple weeks. Emily is coming tomorrow for her birthday celebration and I think we are gonna have a pool picnic to try and escape this terrible heat and get a nice little tan going on. I hope everyone at home is doing well and I will see you all again in another 8 months (woah, that’s a long time… anyone interested in starting a bring-kristen-home-for-another-visit fund? Let me know.) Miss sfield already, talk to you all soon!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Cascarones- Confetti/Glitter Filled, Decorated Eggs
Holler, time for another blog… Okay, so since the last one some fun things have happened indeed. Last week I had my friend Lexi with me all week. Her counterpart was in Guate and she couldn’t go with because we had a mandatory safety and security meeting in Jalapa, which turned out to be pretty fun. We got some sandwiches, delicious coffee, fruit and a free lunch (I feel like I talk about free/delicious food a lot…) After the meeting, Emily, Lexi, Brynna and I trolled the streets of Jalapa looking for a hotel to stay in for the night (we picked the one next to the bus terminal and it was a little terrifying… big beds though and hot water so I am absolutely not complaining). We also got some pizza hut for dinner (again with the food) and then left early the next morning so I could make it home for my English class. I LOVE being involved with the school in this capacity. First of all, the teacher that I am working with goes on and on about how fast I have picked up Spanish, which never gets old. Second of all, it’s really nice to get to know the students and have them want to include me in activities such as Carnaval (which I will get to later) and third, I like being able to bring something to the table because thus far I have not really gotten a chance to do that so it’s a nice change. I teach classes Thursdays and Fridays and tomorrow is my first time actually doing a lesson by myself so I am a little nervous but very excited… wish me luck!
Yesterday was Carnaval, which I did not know until Felicia and I walked into the tienda next to my house to get ice cream and were ambushed by the “princesa de carnaval” and the owner of the store. This brings me to the cascarones… they are basically hollowed out egg shells that are decorated and filled with glitter and confetti and then cracked on top of your head (that is what they ambushed us with). Felicia and I got hit by probably five or more cascarones within the first fifteen seconds, until we found out where they were stashing the eggs and bought our own… everyone backed off a bit at that point because we had our own ammo. After we used the rest of our eggs on Felicia’s counterparts in the muni,. I headed to the school to meet up with Brenda (I saved a cascaron for her). There were soccer games going on and the game Brenda played in went to a shoot out, which they won so it was very exciting. While I was sitting on the steps watching the game, I got a bunch more confetti and glitter dumped on me (I like to think that I got attacked so much because everyone really likes me… wishful thinking?) Three showers and lots of scrubbing and I STILL have glitter all over the place (but so does the owner of the tienda next to my house so I feel like a winner).
In other news, today was el dia de la mujer in San Jacinto and the muni had an event for it in the gymnasium that went really well. I was able to be involved in the set up/sign-in/clean up, which was great because I got to talk to lots of the women and hang out with them for the day. There were a couple speakers, a presentation about voting and free haircuts/nail painting for all the women, thanks to students from an organization called Intecap. I think the women really enjoyed it and there were a ton that actually registered to vote, which was one of the main goals so that was awesome. All the women also either got a free t shirt, towel or bandanna and I felt pretty cool because I was wearing my bandanna in my hair and one of the women that came through told me it was adorable and when I saw her later she had hers on the same way… I’m such a trendsetter.
Well there are only ten more days until my friends get here for their visit and we will be going to Monterrico (the beach), Rio dulce (the river), my site and Antigua and I couldn’t be more excited! Also, only thirty-five more days till my visit home so I have a lot to look forward too :) I hope everyone has a great rest of the week/weekend! Adios!
Yesterday was Carnaval, which I did not know until Felicia and I walked into the tienda next to my house to get ice cream and were ambushed by the “princesa de carnaval” and the owner of the store. This brings me to the cascarones… they are basically hollowed out egg shells that are decorated and filled with glitter and confetti and then cracked on top of your head (that is what they ambushed us with). Felicia and I got hit by probably five or more cascarones within the first fifteen seconds, until we found out where they were stashing the eggs and bought our own… everyone backed off a bit at that point because we had our own ammo. After we used the rest of our eggs on Felicia’s counterparts in the muni,. I headed to the school to meet up with Brenda (I saved a cascaron for her). There were soccer games going on and the game Brenda played in went to a shoot out, which they won so it was very exciting. While I was sitting on the steps watching the game, I got a bunch more confetti and glitter dumped on me (I like to think that I got attacked so much because everyone really likes me… wishful thinking?) Three showers and lots of scrubbing and I STILL have glitter all over the place (but so does the owner of the tienda next to my house so I feel like a winner).
In other news, today was el dia de la mujer in San Jacinto and the muni had an event for it in the gymnasium that went really well. I was able to be involved in the set up/sign-in/clean up, which was great because I got to talk to lots of the women and hang out with them for the day. There were a couple speakers, a presentation about voting and free haircuts/nail painting for all the women, thanks to students from an organization called Intecap. I think the women really enjoyed it and there were a ton that actually registered to vote, which was one of the main goals so that was awesome. All the women also either got a free t shirt, towel or bandanna and I felt pretty cool because I was wearing my bandanna in my hair and one of the women that came through told me it was adorable and when I saw her later she had hers on the same way… I’m such a trendsetter.
Well there are only ten more days until my friends get here for their visit and we will be going to Monterrico (the beach), Rio dulce (the river), my site and Antigua and I couldn’t be more excited! Also, only thirty-five more days till my visit home so I have a lot to look forward too :) I hope everyone has a great rest of the week/weekend! Adios!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Viajar- To Travel
After quite the hiatus, I am back! Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine’s Day (if it’s possible, that holiday sucks even more in Guatemala because no one gives you candy or flowers…) Despite the fact that all of you up north are suffering from frigid temperatures, it is starting to get really hot down here and I think I might even have to break down and buy a fan at some point. Aside from the heat and sun, I have actually had a lot going on these last few weeks, which has been a pleasant break from not having a darn thing to do!
Last week was my training groups’ three month reconnect in Antigua and it was a lot of fun! It’s always a good time when my training group gets together (even though we are still somewhat clicky between regions… go east!) But it was nice to see everyone and get to spend time with the people who live on the opposite side of the country. We also got to have lunch with the Ambassador, which was awesome (mainly because they gave us pizza and brownies… I had 5 pieces) but also because we got to ask him tons of questions and he is a really nice guy. I also got to have 4 days of Spanish class with my favorite Spanish teacher and it was really helpful! Other than that, we ate way too much food and spent way to much money (as of yesterday I had 20Q left, which bought me a jug of milk and laundry detergent) but it was worth it. I also finally got to meet some more volunteers (out of the 200+ volunteers in Guatemala, only 19 or so are in the east, so we haven’t gotten to meet too many of the older volunteers). There were a bunch of people there for various meetings (including the one about the lifting of the state of siege in Alta Verapaz, which means that most of the volunteers that were evacuated get to go home, yayyy) so hanging out with them was a good time as well. In order to amuse ourselves further, my training group decided to have an "ugly paca party", which basically means that we each had to find the ugliest/silliest outfit we could at a paca (a salvation army but way more outrageous in most cases). There were some hilarious outfits such as Emily's tourist-chic tshirt-dress, complete with whale spout hair-do or Lexi's 1980's floral dress suit, complete with shoulder pads and side pony tale but I am proud to say that I claimed the prize for most ridiculous in my spandex, one-piece, tube top-pants outfit with the globe on it (it had pockets too). I did a lot of lunges that night to show its elasticity and even ended up breaking part of the spandex (which I didn't think was possible). Needless to say, not many people were trying to talk to me that night but it was well worth it.
After reconnect and Antigua, I headed back to Emily’s site to help out with translating for some doctors from the states. It was a lot of fun to show off my Spanish speaking abilities (I looked real good next to the girl that couldn’t say “me llamo”). I also found out that a group of doctors will be coming to my town sometime in March to do the same thing so I am looking forward to being involved in that as well! My sitemate, Felicia, and I also have another project (one of her many, but my first) on the horizon with starting some community gardens. I am so pumped for this because this is something I wanted to get involved with since training. Yesterday we went out with Felicia’s counterparts and a couple other people from the muni and our friend Jesse to sort through some of the seeds (I snagged some eggplant, chives, peppers, zucchini and onions for my own garden). Also, today is going to be my first English class! I am going to one of the schools in my town to work with a teacher in teaching the students English. My friend Brenda is in the class so hopefully she will help me with the Spanish side of teaching (she has such a knack for understanding my broken Spanish, it‘s pretty incredible).
Other than that, I have a few of my best friends from home coming to visit at the end of March, which I am insanely excited about and also a trip back to the states in April to look forward to. Also, my best friend Amanda and her friend Tara bought their tickets to come visit me in October (I’m so popular) so that is amazing as well! I hope everyone has a lovely rest of the week/weekend and until next time, adios!
Last week was my training groups’ three month reconnect in Antigua and it was a lot of fun! It’s always a good time when my training group gets together (even though we are still somewhat clicky between regions… go east!) But it was nice to see everyone and get to spend time with the people who live on the opposite side of the country. We also got to have lunch with the Ambassador, which was awesome (mainly because they gave us pizza and brownies… I had 5 pieces) but also because we got to ask him tons of questions and he is a really nice guy. I also got to have 4 days of Spanish class with my favorite Spanish teacher and it was really helpful! Other than that, we ate way too much food and spent way to much money (as of yesterday I had 20Q left, which bought me a jug of milk and laundry detergent) but it was worth it. I also finally got to meet some more volunteers (out of the 200+ volunteers in Guatemala, only 19 or so are in the east, so we haven’t gotten to meet too many of the older volunteers). There were a bunch of people there for various meetings (including the one about the lifting of the state of siege in Alta Verapaz, which means that most of the volunteers that were evacuated get to go home, yayyy) so hanging out with them was a good time as well. In order to amuse ourselves further, my training group decided to have an "ugly paca party", which basically means that we each had to find the ugliest/silliest outfit we could at a paca (a salvation army but way more outrageous in most cases). There were some hilarious outfits such as Emily's tourist-chic tshirt-dress, complete with whale spout hair-do or Lexi's 1980's floral dress suit, complete with shoulder pads and side pony tale but I am proud to say that I claimed the prize for most ridiculous in my spandex, one-piece, tube top-pants outfit with the globe on it (it had pockets too). I did a lot of lunges that night to show its elasticity and even ended up breaking part of the spandex (which I didn't think was possible). Needless to say, not many people were trying to talk to me that night but it was well worth it.
After reconnect and Antigua, I headed back to Emily’s site to help out with translating for some doctors from the states. It was a lot of fun to show off my Spanish speaking abilities (I looked real good next to the girl that couldn’t say “me llamo”). I also found out that a group of doctors will be coming to my town sometime in March to do the same thing so I am looking forward to being involved in that as well! My sitemate, Felicia, and I also have another project (one of her many, but my first) on the horizon with starting some community gardens. I am so pumped for this because this is something I wanted to get involved with since training. Yesterday we went out with Felicia’s counterparts and a couple other people from the muni and our friend Jesse to sort through some of the seeds (I snagged some eggplant, chives, peppers, zucchini and onions for my own garden). Also, today is going to be my first English class! I am going to one of the schools in my town to work with a teacher in teaching the students English. My friend Brenda is in the class so hopefully she will help me with the Spanish side of teaching (she has such a knack for understanding my broken Spanish, it‘s pretty incredible).
Other than that, I have a few of my best friends from home coming to visit at the end of March, which I am insanely excited about and also a trip back to the states in April to look forward to. Also, my best friend Amanda and her friend Tara bought their tickets to come visit me in October (I’m so popular) so that is amazing as well! I hope everyone has a lovely rest of the week/weekend and until next time, adios!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Los Muebles- Furniture
Hi All,
Big news this week… I found a house! I hope I am not jinxing myself by writing about this but I am just so excited so here it goes… my casa nueva is in the center of town, right next to a Sarita (delicious ice cream place… sorry belly and thighs) and across from the Centro de Salud (health center) so the location is perfect. The front room of the house has some type of clay shingle, which keeps the room super cool and is going to be so clutch during the coming months when the heat is unbearable. My house is also coming fully furnished. I have a fridge, microwave, water dispenser, stove/oven (living large), a couch, loveseat and chair, dining room table, small tv in my room with cable that I do not have to pay for, two bathrooms with actual toilets (no running water except for a couple hours in the morning but so much better than a latrine) and a little courtyard full of plants that makes it look like a jungle. I also made my first purchase for my new casa, which was an awesome hammock that is huge and pink so I am extremely excited to hang that sucker up and relax all day (I am considering hanging my mosquito net around the hammock instead of my bed and just sleeping there… might give me serious back problems later in life but I think I am willing to risk it). The one drawback is that the house is right on the river so apparently the mosquito situation is a little intense (I feel like if I can deal with the scorpions, I can kinda deal with anything but I guess we’ll find out just how bad it gets). If this is the only drawback though, I consider myself extremely lucky! Hopefully everything goes smoothly with getting it approved by Peace Corps and I can move in in the beginning of February (just in time for our feria here and superbowl weekend… woo for American pastimes!) Other perks about moving out of the aldea are: 1. More people to talk to and practice Spanish with 2. Easier access to everyday necessities such as food and water 3. Closer proximity to my sitemate, Felicia as well as the municipal building where I am trying to find work (I though I left the states so I wouldn’t have to job search…fail.) 4. I am really hoping this takes some of the stress off of the relationship with my host mom. I think she is a really nice person and am hoping that we will be able to work better together once we have our own space 5. I can keep things exactly how I like them (if you know me at all then you know this is probably what I am most excited about… I am so cool.) Overall, I am pretty pumped and can’t wait to put up some pictures on face book so everyone can see where I will be living (hopefully).
In other news, this past Friday we had a meeting with the Peace Corps office about two programs that are going to be discontinued (one of them, of course, is the program I am in… go figure). It really is not going to effect any of the current volunteers too much in the projects that we have been assigned but it will effect us in that if we start a project with a lot of potential, there won’t be anyone coming in after us to keep it going so that is a bummer. It also means that we probably will not be getting any more volunteers out in the east so after the group that came in before my group leaves in October, our number will dwindle to 9 in the whole region, which should be buckets of fun. Luckily, I will still have a couple relatively cool people near so I am sure we will all be just fine and that is like 7 months away so I am gonna go ahead and not worry about that until I absolutely have to (that mentality has been working out for all the problems I’ve faced so far so why stop now?) The meeting was also a good excuse to get to see lots of other volunteers so I can’t complain about that either. We all spent the night after the meeting in Antigua and had a lot of fun doing that. The next day I went to Emily’s with Lexi to celebrate Em’s host nephews 2 year birthday (I have learned that we do not know how to throw parties in the states…piñatas are so underrated). It was so much fun and I showed all of the guests (there were SO many people there) that I can blow up balloons and pop them with my butt faster than both Brynna and Lexi (I am realizing so many hidden talents here, its eye-opening).
Okay, that is all the news I have for right now. I hope everyone had a great weekend and hopefully it won’t be so long before I get a chance to post another blog (this one was very delayed and I apologize). Adios!
Big news this week… I found a house! I hope I am not jinxing myself by writing about this but I am just so excited so here it goes… my casa nueva is in the center of town, right next to a Sarita (delicious ice cream place… sorry belly and thighs) and across from the Centro de Salud (health center) so the location is perfect. The front room of the house has some type of clay shingle, which keeps the room super cool and is going to be so clutch during the coming months when the heat is unbearable. My house is also coming fully furnished. I have a fridge, microwave, water dispenser, stove/oven (living large), a couch, loveseat and chair, dining room table, small tv in my room with cable that I do not have to pay for, two bathrooms with actual toilets (no running water except for a couple hours in the morning but so much better than a latrine) and a little courtyard full of plants that makes it look like a jungle. I also made my first purchase for my new casa, which was an awesome hammock that is huge and pink so I am extremely excited to hang that sucker up and relax all day (I am considering hanging my mosquito net around the hammock instead of my bed and just sleeping there… might give me serious back problems later in life but I think I am willing to risk it). The one drawback is that the house is right on the river so apparently the mosquito situation is a little intense (I feel like if I can deal with the scorpions, I can kinda deal with anything but I guess we’ll find out just how bad it gets). If this is the only drawback though, I consider myself extremely lucky! Hopefully everything goes smoothly with getting it approved by Peace Corps and I can move in in the beginning of February (just in time for our feria here and superbowl weekend… woo for American pastimes!) Other perks about moving out of the aldea are: 1. More people to talk to and practice Spanish with 2. Easier access to everyday necessities such as food and water 3. Closer proximity to my sitemate, Felicia as well as the municipal building where I am trying to find work (I though I left the states so I wouldn’t have to job search…fail.) 4. I am really hoping this takes some of the stress off of the relationship with my host mom. I think she is a really nice person and am hoping that we will be able to work better together once we have our own space 5. I can keep things exactly how I like them (if you know me at all then you know this is probably what I am most excited about… I am so cool.) Overall, I am pretty pumped and can’t wait to put up some pictures on face book so everyone can see where I will be living (hopefully).
In other news, this past Friday we had a meeting with the Peace Corps office about two programs that are going to be discontinued (one of them, of course, is the program I am in… go figure). It really is not going to effect any of the current volunteers too much in the projects that we have been assigned but it will effect us in that if we start a project with a lot of potential, there won’t be anyone coming in after us to keep it going so that is a bummer. It also means that we probably will not be getting any more volunteers out in the east so after the group that came in before my group leaves in October, our number will dwindle to 9 in the whole region, which should be buckets of fun. Luckily, I will still have a couple relatively cool people near so I am sure we will all be just fine and that is like 7 months away so I am gonna go ahead and not worry about that until I absolutely have to (that mentality has been working out for all the problems I’ve faced so far so why stop now?) The meeting was also a good excuse to get to see lots of other volunteers so I can’t complain about that either. We all spent the night after the meeting in Antigua and had a lot of fun doing that. The next day I went to Emily’s with Lexi to celebrate Em’s host nephews 2 year birthday (I have learned that we do not know how to throw parties in the states…piñatas are so underrated). It was so much fun and I showed all of the guests (there were SO many people there) that I can blow up balloons and pop them with my butt faster than both Brynna and Lexi (I am realizing so many hidden talents here, its eye-opening).
Okay, that is all the news I have for right now. I hope everyone had a great weekend and hopefully it won’t be so long before I get a chance to post another blog (this one was very delayed and I apologize). Adios!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Llorar- To Cry
Feliz 2011 everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is excited that 2010 is over (mostly because of my hatred towards even numbers… that’s not weird). My holiday season was interesting, to say the least, and I must admit that I am a little relieved it is over. Being away from home for Christmas for the first time in my life was a little tough (Emily cried on a bus full of Guatemalans… it was awkward) but I think I am ready for whatever obstacles this next year has in store for me (it’s easy to say that now) so bring it on 2011!
For Christmas I was able to spend some time with Emily and her host family, which was awesome because they are super sweet and have tons of energy so there’s never a dull moment. Emily and I both got some snazzy new wedges (shoes) from her family and they are very chapina so I am excited to buy a matching shirt, eyeliner and earrings so I can rock them at the next baile (dance). On one of the buses that Emily and I were on, we were obnoxiously singing feliz navidad at the top of our lungs for the majority of the trek (the other passengers did not love us) but then all of a sudden I look over and Emily is crying. I was pretty alarmed by this sudden change in emotion so I asked her what was wrong and through sobs she told me that she was crying because a family just got on our bus and she was sad that we weren’t home with our families. I went from heckling her about crying on a bus to tearing up in about 3 seconds (I didn't actually cry though, don't worry). I guess it was just the first time it really hit us that we were riding on a chicken bus in Guatemala by ourselves and not at home with our families. We instantly started laughing at how ridiculous we must have looked and I’m pretty sure we scared all the rest of the Guatemalans because they were inching away from us and deboarding the bus as quickly as possible (I’d be scared too if two crazy gringas were sitting next to me screaming the words to a song, crying hysterically and then laughing maniacally all within the span of 5 minutes… musta seemed a little odd). Other than that little embarrassing moment though, Christmas was a lot of fun and I am glad I got to experience my first one away from home in Guatemala :)
Now on to New Years… so fun! First, I got a chance to go back to my host family in Sumpango and see them, which was the best (although it kinda made me sad because I don’t live with them anymore and only get to see them once in a while). When I rang the doorbell my four brothers came running outside screaming my name, it was so cute! Once I got inside my madre told me that they had been doing that every time the doorbell rang since the 23rd because I didn’t tell them exactly when I was coming and they kept thinking it was me. We all hung out for a while and then my madre told me that she had all the ingredients ready to make fettuccini alfredo, which is what Emily and I made for my family during training and she knew it was my favorite so she got it for me. It was really hard to say goodbye to them but I am so happy I got to visit and hang out and I definitely won’t wait so long before visiting them again. After that I headed to Patzun for the night and Thomas made some delicious beef barbecue (you’re allowed to eat like a pig during the holidays, right?) The next day we headed out for new years, which was a ton of fun. I got to see a lot of the people from my training group, who I haven’t seen in two months so it was really nice to catch up with all of them.
Coming back to my site this week was a little tough, I won’t lie. Things have been getting progressively worse with the family that I live with (which is horribly inconvenient seeing as my host mom also happens to be the president of my organization…no dice) and it’s basically to the point now where they just completely ignore me. Normally this would suit me just fine because I have no problem entertaining myself and keeping busy but it’s proven to be pretty tricky because I did join the peace corps to actually do things and be productive (go figure) and it’s been a challenge to say the least. I am really excited that the holidays are over for the simple fact that I think now it will be easier to find other groups to work with and other ways to get involved in the community (as well as be around people that want to talk to me and get to know me… seems like an unreasonable request, I know, but a girl can dream).
Well that is the update on my life at the moment. I am off to write a letter to my host mom, hopefully explaining my frustrations and hopes for reconciliation (since apparently hand gestures and my five word vocabulary didn’t get the point across last time… can’t imagine why). I hope everyone has a superb weekend :) Talk to you all soon!
For Christmas I was able to spend some time with Emily and her host family, which was awesome because they are super sweet and have tons of energy so there’s never a dull moment. Emily and I both got some snazzy new wedges (shoes) from her family and they are very chapina so I am excited to buy a matching shirt, eyeliner and earrings so I can rock them at the next baile (dance). On one of the buses that Emily and I were on, we were obnoxiously singing feliz navidad at the top of our lungs for the majority of the trek (the other passengers did not love us) but then all of a sudden I look over and Emily is crying. I was pretty alarmed by this sudden change in emotion so I asked her what was wrong and through sobs she told me that she was crying because a family just got on our bus and she was sad that we weren’t home with our families. I went from heckling her about crying on a bus to tearing up in about 3 seconds (I didn't actually cry though, don't worry). I guess it was just the first time it really hit us that we were riding on a chicken bus in Guatemala by ourselves and not at home with our families. We instantly started laughing at how ridiculous we must have looked and I’m pretty sure we scared all the rest of the Guatemalans because they were inching away from us and deboarding the bus as quickly as possible (I’d be scared too if two crazy gringas were sitting next to me screaming the words to a song, crying hysterically and then laughing maniacally all within the span of 5 minutes… musta seemed a little odd). Other than that little embarrassing moment though, Christmas was a lot of fun and I am glad I got to experience my first one away from home in Guatemala :)
Now on to New Years… so fun! First, I got a chance to go back to my host family in Sumpango and see them, which was the best (although it kinda made me sad because I don’t live with them anymore and only get to see them once in a while). When I rang the doorbell my four brothers came running outside screaming my name, it was so cute! Once I got inside my madre told me that they had been doing that every time the doorbell rang since the 23rd because I didn’t tell them exactly when I was coming and they kept thinking it was me. We all hung out for a while and then my madre told me that she had all the ingredients ready to make fettuccini alfredo, which is what Emily and I made for my family during training and she knew it was my favorite so she got it for me. It was really hard to say goodbye to them but I am so happy I got to visit and hang out and I definitely won’t wait so long before visiting them again. After that I headed to Patzun for the night and Thomas made some delicious beef barbecue (you’re allowed to eat like a pig during the holidays, right?) The next day we headed out for new years, which was a ton of fun. I got to see a lot of the people from my training group, who I haven’t seen in two months so it was really nice to catch up with all of them.
Coming back to my site this week was a little tough, I won’t lie. Things have been getting progressively worse with the family that I live with (which is horribly inconvenient seeing as my host mom also happens to be the president of my organization…no dice) and it’s basically to the point now where they just completely ignore me. Normally this would suit me just fine because I have no problem entertaining myself and keeping busy but it’s proven to be pretty tricky because I did join the peace corps to actually do things and be productive (go figure) and it’s been a challenge to say the least. I am really excited that the holidays are over for the simple fact that I think now it will be easier to find other groups to work with and other ways to get involved in the community (as well as be around people that want to talk to me and get to know me… seems like an unreasonable request, I know, but a girl can dream).
Well that is the update on my life at the moment. I am off to write a letter to my host mom, hopefully explaining my frustrations and hopes for reconciliation (since apparently hand gestures and my five word vocabulary didn’t get the point across last time… can’t imagine why). I hope everyone has a superb weekend :) Talk to you all soon!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Matar- To Kill
Feliz Navidad (almost)!
It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me but I am finally getting a chance to sit down and relax so I thought that I’d go ahead and update my blog as well (look how efficient I am!)
So this last weekend I got a chance to go to an exposition in Guatemala City to help my women’s group and to also learn a little bit about where they sell their products. It was really interestinga and the exposition was huge! It is called Interfer and is held in a big park in the city where tents are set up as well as rides and booths with food and games. There was a big fountain where they set up these huge plastic bubbles that people could go inside and roll around without getting wet that Emily and I were extremely tempted to do but because the only other people in line were under the age of 10 we decided to refrain (we are so mature). The whole fair is for artisans, chefs and vendors of electronics and other such products so there was a ton to see there. My group was there for a week and did really well with selling through products so I was very happy about that. The one thing that is still frustrating me about my group is the communication between group members (or lack there of). When I got home from my trip and asked my host mom about how the rest of the exposition went she told me that she didn’t know because she hadn’t heard from the woman that was at the expo selling our products (who is also my official counterpart but who I haven‘t seen or heard from more than 3 times in the 2 months I have been here…). I asked her if she could call her and she said that she doesn’t have a phone. I wanted to point out that it was kind of important to see how we did/make sure my counterpart wasn’t dead but instead decided to just shake my head and suggest that we visit her in the next few days to make sure all is on the up and up. I really want to work on the level of communication but it’s proven to be quite a difficult goal considering my lack of the ability to speak Spanish… I’ll keep working on it though.
After visiting the expo, Emily and I went on to Antigua and spent two nights there, which were so much fun! The first night it was just the two of us but we stayed in a really nice hotel that even had hot showers so that was an extremely nice treat! The next night we stayed in a hostel called the black cat (el gato negro) and met some interesting travelers (one was an Austrian with dreadlocks that spoke fluent Spanish and English… of course Emily and I became best friends with him immediately. We even took our friendship to the next level by purchasing friendship bracelets from a little boy on the streets of Antigua… try not to be jealous of how cool we are). A bunch of other volunteers from our training group came and met up with us at our hostel and we all got to hang out and have fun together, which was very nice cause most of them live really far away so we don’t get to see them much. The next day I went to a town called Patzun to see Thomas and being there reminded me so much of being in Sumpango! Being back in the chilly weather with all the women in trajes made me miss my first family so much but hopefully I will be getting to see them in a week or so, which will be awesome for sure J Yesterday I just traveled all day back to the east where it is hot and sunny and was actually glad to be “home”.
Okay, so now I will explain the title of this blog… when I got home yesterday, I was chatting with my host mom and we were talking about our weekends blah blah blah when she drops the bomb that someone was murdered in my aldea. Apparently December is really dangerous because robbers and hooligans think that people have pisto-money during this time of year and she was telling me that walking around (even into town, which I basically do every day) is not a good idea. She said she wasn’t sure of exactly what went down but it happened like three houses away from where I live and the police have not identified who did it so I shouldn’t be alarmed if there are officers around for the next few weeks (as if I would be scared of the men patrolling the aldea to PROTECT us…). Also, the man was 50 years old and murdered with a machete. As she told me this she made a chopping motion through the middle of her head, which I’m sure you can imagine was absolutely terrifying. I immediately decided that running with an Ipod in the mornings was no longer a good idea and I probably will need more than a pocket knife as a weapon when coming home from Chiquimula after 2pm. Needless to say, I slept with one eye open last night and will probably continue to do so until December is over (or until I get home). In all reality, my aldea is a really safe place and I don’t know why that went down but I’m sure I am perfectly secure here as long as I don’t venture out after dark or walk around with money hanging out of my pants/wearing all my bling so don’t worry too much (especially you mom). Definitely a pretty crazy story to come home to, though but that’s life here so gotta love it.
I can’t believe Christmas is this weekend, time has gone so fast! I hope you all at home are ready for the holidays and have all your shopping done. I would also love to know what everyone’s new years resolutions are because so far the only ones I can think of for myself are to lose my tortilla belly, learn to speak the language of the country I live in or learn to do more in the kitchen besides boil water and add things to it (pasta, oatmeal or tea usually… sounds healthy, right?) I hope everyone has an awesome holiday though and I miss you all!
It has been a crazy couple of weeks for me but I am finally getting a chance to sit down and relax so I thought that I’d go ahead and update my blog as well (look how efficient I am!)
So this last weekend I got a chance to go to an exposition in Guatemala City to help my women’s group and to also learn a little bit about where they sell their products. It was really interestinga and the exposition was huge! It is called Interfer and is held in a big park in the city where tents are set up as well as rides and booths with food and games. There was a big fountain where they set up these huge plastic bubbles that people could go inside and roll around without getting wet that Emily and I were extremely tempted to do but because the only other people in line were under the age of 10 we decided to refrain (we are so mature). The whole fair is for artisans, chefs and vendors of electronics and other such products so there was a ton to see there. My group was there for a week and did really well with selling through products so I was very happy about that. The one thing that is still frustrating me about my group is the communication between group members (or lack there of). When I got home from my trip and asked my host mom about how the rest of the exposition went she told me that she didn’t know because she hadn’t heard from the woman that was at the expo selling our products (who is also my official counterpart but who I haven‘t seen or heard from more than 3 times in the 2 months I have been here…). I asked her if she could call her and she said that she doesn’t have a phone. I wanted to point out that it was kind of important to see how we did/make sure my counterpart wasn’t dead but instead decided to just shake my head and suggest that we visit her in the next few days to make sure all is on the up and up. I really want to work on the level of communication but it’s proven to be quite a difficult goal considering my lack of the ability to speak Spanish… I’ll keep working on it though.
After visiting the expo, Emily and I went on to Antigua and spent two nights there, which were so much fun! The first night it was just the two of us but we stayed in a really nice hotel that even had hot showers so that was an extremely nice treat! The next night we stayed in a hostel called the black cat (el gato negro) and met some interesting travelers (one was an Austrian with dreadlocks that spoke fluent Spanish and English… of course Emily and I became best friends with him immediately. We even took our friendship to the next level by purchasing friendship bracelets from a little boy on the streets of Antigua… try not to be jealous of how cool we are). A bunch of other volunteers from our training group came and met up with us at our hostel and we all got to hang out and have fun together, which was very nice cause most of them live really far away so we don’t get to see them much. The next day I went to a town called Patzun to see Thomas and being there reminded me so much of being in Sumpango! Being back in the chilly weather with all the women in trajes made me miss my first family so much but hopefully I will be getting to see them in a week or so, which will be awesome for sure J Yesterday I just traveled all day back to the east where it is hot and sunny and was actually glad to be “home”.
Okay, so now I will explain the title of this blog… when I got home yesterday, I was chatting with my host mom and we were talking about our weekends blah blah blah when she drops the bomb that someone was murdered in my aldea. Apparently December is really dangerous because robbers and hooligans think that people have pisto-money during this time of year and she was telling me that walking around (even into town, which I basically do every day) is not a good idea. She said she wasn’t sure of exactly what went down but it happened like three houses away from where I live and the police have not identified who did it so I shouldn’t be alarmed if there are officers around for the next few weeks (as if I would be scared of the men patrolling the aldea to PROTECT us…). Also, the man was 50 years old and murdered with a machete. As she told me this she made a chopping motion through the middle of her head, which I’m sure you can imagine was absolutely terrifying. I immediately decided that running with an Ipod in the mornings was no longer a good idea and I probably will need more than a pocket knife as a weapon when coming home from Chiquimula after 2pm. Needless to say, I slept with one eye open last night and will probably continue to do so until December is over (or until I get home). In all reality, my aldea is a really safe place and I don’t know why that went down but I’m sure I am perfectly secure here as long as I don’t venture out after dark or walk around with money hanging out of my pants/wearing all my bling so don’t worry too much (especially you mom). Definitely a pretty crazy story to come home to, though but that’s life here so gotta love it.
I can’t believe Christmas is this weekend, time has gone so fast! I hope you all at home are ready for the holidays and have all your shopping done. I would also love to know what everyone’s new years resolutions are because so far the only ones I can think of for myself are to lose my tortilla belly, learn to speak the language of the country I live in or learn to do more in the kitchen besides boil water and add things to it (pasta, oatmeal or tea usually… sounds healthy, right?) I hope everyone has an awesome holiday though and I miss you all!
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