Plucking Out the Feathers

Hello to all! This is my first blog post in quite some time, so there much to tell. Over the past 5 months, I have changed sites, integrated into a new community, developed a work routine, and have made many friends and work partners along the way. Suffice it to say that I am still content with living and working in Guatemala, and I look forward to the new adventures that lay ahead.

First things first, I am now living in a relatively large community in the department of Chimaltenango, a place that has a municipal population of 15,000 people and a community population of 50,500 people. There are taxis, public basketball courts, a gym, market days 3 times a week, a supermarket, and even a small park with Wi-Fi! Needless to say, I am roughing it no more. 

Healthy Schools

Regarding work, I am the first Peace Corps volunteer to be working in school district 14, a district that contains 23 rural to semi-urban schools that are only a micro ride away (plus several miles of walking depending on the school). Thankfully, the supervisor of the district, Bonifasio, is a great person and work partner that is dedicated to his job. This has made my life so much easier, as I know this can be a rarity in the world of Peace Corps. 

During the first couple of months in site, I visited every school in my district to present myself to the directors and explain my responsibilities as a Peace Corps volunteer. Much of my time was spent waking up at 5:30am, taking the wrong bus, asking the lovely village-folk for directions, and getting to know the lay of the land. Then came the school map activity. 

School maps with Xeatzan Bajo

The school map activity is an activity I facilitated with the students in each of the 10 schools I chose to work with, the names of which are Chuinimachicaj, Chichoy Alto, Paraiso Chichoy, Xeatzan Bajo, Xepatan, Chuchuca Alto, Chipiacul, Mocolicxot Alto, Chichoy Bajo, and Popabaj. Anyway, the activity required that the students break into groups and draw a top-side map of their school, indicating areas that they liked with smiley faces and areas that they didn't like with sad faces. After several hours of vigorous drawing, 2 representatives from each group were asked to present their map to the rest of the class. With much coaxing, each group elaborated on why the drew smiley faces and sad faces where they did. Typical sad faces meant no soap or water in the bathroom, the lack of a school garden, or the need for an improved "Rincon de Salud," a term used to describe an area in each classroom that contains the toothbrushes, towels, toilet paper, and other items essential to a healthy lifestyle. Happy faces almost always indicated the soccer field, learning in the classroom, the principles office, or healthy habits like sweeping before class or a designated time during the day when everyone brushed their teeth. This activity was a helpful way for the students to engage in peer education, a fun and interactive way of learning the importance of healthy habits and analyzing the school they attend. 

Perhaps the most rewarding work I have taken part in is the facilitation of three workshops for the directors (principles) of the two school districts in my town. With the help of another Peace Corps volunteer in my site, Annie, we taught and facilitated the directors of our districts to learn about leadership, the Healthy Schools project, information on services provided by the health center, and environmental preservation. These three workshops were a great success thanks to the staff from the local health center and other speakers that came to present. 

Health Center awareness activity

Other honorable mentions regarding work include assisting in a BRO-camp in Quiche and facilitating an aerobics class for the nurses of the local hospital, the later of which may or may not be actual "work" per say. A BRO-camp is a youth camp for young males that covers various topics and youth-led activities regarding health. These topics include leadership in the community, sexual health, puberty, avoiding male chauvinism, HIV/AIDS awareness, and team-building exercises. One of my favorite activities was something called a changing Mario Maduro. In this activity, a blank outline of an adolescent male, Mario Maduro, was drawn and placed in front of the kids. The campers were then asked to step forward and draw a different change that occurs during puberty, and explain it to their peers. Needless to say, this was a fun and giggly activity where everyone learned the normal changes that occur during puberty. Regarding the aerobics class, I assist my friend, Gustavo, in giving various exercise instructions to the nurses that meet several times a week in the town gym/weight room. Attending abs class in college has finally paid off!

Currently, Annie and I are planning a science class curriculum for the off-season, as the Guatemalan school year has now come to a close. These classes will cover topics in Biology, Chemistry, Geography (volcanoes and plate tectonics), and environmental preservation relating to Guatemala. Thankfully, we have locked in the attendance of students and have found helpful directors that are willing to let us utilize their schools during the vacation time. Also, I am helping another Peace Corps volunteer in a nearby town in creating a BRO-camp for the students of his schools. We have received financial help from an NGO and the local municipality for transportation and materials that will be used during the camp. If everything goes to plan, November and December should be rewarding months for us all. 

Integration and Adventure

Now to the fun of integrating into Guatemalan communities. Over the past several months, I have made many friends playing basketball and volleyball in the town tournaments, going to the gym, and integrating with my neighbors and host family. When you are over 6' tall and stand out like a sore thumb, it is not hard to get recruited to sports teams in Guatemala. That being said, I am enjoying many nights training and playing games with my friends.

In the afternoons, I usually go to the gym, which is filled with Guatemalans blasting Reggaeton and pumping iron with handmade barbells and old equipment from the US. Luckily, no one seems to mind when I plug my ipod into the speakers and go about my business. This is a huge stress reliever down here. 

Another stress reliever is spending time with the other Peace Corps volunteers. To say the least, we have had wonderful adventures seeing the sites of Guatemala and have become great friends throughout our service. Last weekend, we went to Tulate, a beach on the western coast where we relaxed and watched baby sea turtles begin their journey waddling to the sea. 

Sea Turtle hatch-lings

Tulate

Monterrico

As for my host family, I am currently renting a living space from the Ixens, who are incredibly hospitable people. The immediate family is composed of 8 individuals living in a nice house close to the center of the municipality. There is running water, hot showers, privacy in my mini-apartment, and a new grill on the roof that overlooks the active volcano (Volcan de Fuego). I am extremely lucky to be living in their household, and look forward to spending the next year and a half of my service with such great people. Life is good.

Grill on the roof

Plucking roosters with the host family

A Typical Saturday

Today I was invited by my work friend, Eli, to go eat lunch at his sister’s house a few miles down the road. I agreed, and met him and his sons in front of the courthouse for a ride to the house. Upon arrival, I saw that lunch was going to consist of pork because two full grown pigs were hanging from a center beam of pine in between a pair of clay buildings. Behind the two pigs was a giant metal bucket used to fry many small pieces of pig fat. There were hundreds of chicharrones in the bucket, and I began to see just how healthy the meal was going to be. Before lunch, a few of us went for a walk behind the house. The walk was about a mile through riverbeds and pine trees, and finally ended up in a small clearing. There, some of the kids and I had a slingshot competition to see who could hit the water bottle the most. Needless to say, I will be buying a slingshot at the market tomorrow. After I lost the competition with bruised thumbs, we all returned to Eli’s sister’s house to eat lunch. At the lunch table, Eli and about 15 of his family members congregated around the table, said grace, and laughed at the tall gringo for not being able to stand inside the small house. The meal consisted of whole chunks of grilled pork, rice, tamalitos, and hot sauce. It was a delicious meal that ended up satisfying my appetite, and left no portions remaining. After lunch, us men sat around the table and talked about cutting lumber. It seems my old job at Fine Lumber and Plywood has nothing on these Guatemalans, who use machetes and axes to cut down the trees, then long saws to make planks out of the pine (I just said we had machines that did the job for us). Once the conversing was over, I went outside and played soccer with the neighborhood kids. I taught them how to open a Pepsi top with the end of a water bottle, then how to make cannons out of the many plastic bottles that were lying around. Once everyone was ready to go, I was given a bag of green apples and avocados, and we were on our way.

After I was dropped off at the courthouse, I went home and began writing this blog post. After the first sentence or two, I get a call from my host mom telling me to go the town complex for a Quinceañera. This glorified birthday party ended up being a huge success because I got some quality face time with the community and free food. The whole town was in attendance, including the mother of the 15 year old girl (or woman) who was in the United States, displayed from an overhead projector, and using Skype. I’d say that’s pretty fancy for this small town in Quetzaltenango.

Coffee, Religion, and Healthy Schools

It has been almost a month of training, and it feels like time has slipped away. With all of the activities Peace Corps has us doing, it feels like everything is happening rather quickly. On the other hand, when I think about all of the different things I have done, it feels like I have been here forever. In any case, you won't hear any complaints from me, as each day brings with it a new adventure.

Coffee:

Coffee Blooms

This past weekend, each PC training group met at a coffee and Mayan music museum (Cafe Azotea) for a cultural experience and understanding. In reality, this ended up being a caffeine-filled day of laughter and catching up with other trainees. That being said, I now have a justifiable reason for being a coffee snob (along with the rest of the Kennedy family), and a much greater knowledge regarding coffee production in Guatemala. The secret: red beans are better than green beans! Juan Valdez would be proud. 

Regarding the music, Guatemalans absolutely love their marimba bands. Thanks to my employment at Fine Lumber and Plywood (respect...), I found Rosewood to be the type of wood used to make these instruments. 

Religion:

Shrine of Jesus

On Sunday, my family and I went to the church to see a catholic procession during the day, then later from 9pm to midnight. At the beginning of the procession, men were selected to carry a large shrine of Jesus on the cross out of the church, and parade around town with a group of marchas (which are like marching bands) for the majority of the day. Later that night, the men and the shrine made their way back to the church, greeted by many townspeople taking pictures and eating junk-food in the streets, much like a fair. Though impressive as this may have been, the real culture was in the alfombras.

Family's Alfombra

In Guatemala, processions are filled with alfombras, which are carpets made by families usually of painted sawdust using different molds of religious figures. Luckily, I was able to help make our family's alfombra in front of the church before the shrine of Jesus returned around midnight. Our family's alfombra was made with pine needles as the base, roses, and another type of plant I can't remember at the moment. After its completion, many townspeople began to congregate around our alfombra, at which point I took much pride in being a gringo taking part in such an important cultural event. After the procession, we returned home nearly frozen, I took a shower, and woke up bright and early to begin class that morning.

Alfombra Made With Sawdust

Healthy Schools:

Throughout training, Peace Corps requires us to visit various schools in different areas to see the health situations of the kids first hand. I must say, the first school we visited in el campo was much different than any school I had ever seen in the US. For the sake of optimism, I will just say that much work was being done to improve the health of students, but more work was needed. It is in rural (or semi-urban) areas such as these, where PCVs serve to improve health conditions.

A PCVs role in the healthy schools project is to facilitate teachers, staff, and community members to help improve health conditions in various schools. Perhaps the most important role we will have as volunteers is to improve communication between the ministry of education and the ministry of health to help reach various goals that the healthy schools project sets forth. However, this is easier said than done, as the responsibilities of each organization are not set in stone, and it is difficult to differentiate which ministry will carry out what task. Thus, a facilitator (PCV) is needed to smooth out the discrepancies. 

Other Experiences:

-MCAT score is a keeper!
-Tomorrow I get sized for some custom boots.
-Side project: Making a slideshow of stray dogs (chuchos) to put to the music of Sarah McLachlan.

The First Week of PCT

I have now finished a full week of official Peace Corps training and am pleased to say that my homestay and training is going well. Guatemala is truly an amazing country, and I am grateful to be staying here for my 27 months of service.

El Volcán de Agua

My host family placement for the first three months of training could not be better. I live 30 min away from the city of Antigua with Doña Lupe, Don Luís, and their son Fernando, who is 22 years old. The town itself is very small, with many boot stores along the main drag. There is a small cement park composed of a basketball court, and an open slab in front of a catholic church not too far from the house. All in all, I’d say that I lucked out. My house is very large compared to the others I’ve seen, with a perfect view of The Volcano of Water, HOT SHOWERS, and internet access 24/7 (which is almost unheard of in these parts). Still, I try to stay off the interwebs and talk to my host family and townspeople as much as possible. This past Sunday, my host parents celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary, and had a party in their backyard. There was a live marimba band and many family members in attendance with whom I attempted to dance.

Lunch with Farah (PCT) and Chepe

A typical day as a trainee begins with waking up at 7am, eating Corn Flakes with hot milk, and drinking a cup of instant coffee. Two things: (1) Apparently “Corn Flakes” is used to describe all brands of cereal, much like Kleenex is used to describe all brands of tissues in the US. (2) If Guatemala is the capital of great coffee, why does Nescafe make an appearance down here? I digress. After breakfast, I make my way to one of the other volunteers’ homestay to begin our daily Spanish lesson (Level: High intermediate). The lesson itself is with 3 other trainees and our Spanish instructor, Chepe Chapín. Chepe is a 38 year old Guatemalan instructor that is one of the best people, and characters, I have ever had the opportunity of knowing. After chatting in Spanish for the majority of the day, we say our goodbyes to Chepe, and usually go to the park and play games around 3pm. Yesterday, we played Go Fish with a Guatemalan woman and her daughter, who had a baby chicken that we greeted with open palms (I really need to start taking more pictures).

This past Tuesday, all of the PCTs met in the Peace Corps office in Santa Lucía. There, we learned how to avoid unwanted attention and had more ice-breaker sessions with our fellow “allies (PCTs).” Thankfully, a new era is upon us. We now have cell phones! With these platonic devices, we can now communicate with the other trainees living afar. The possibilities are endless.

Other Experiences:

-Rabies vaccination: 60% of all volunteers serving in Guatemala have been bitten by stray dogs.

-Many animals live with host families: It is truly aggravating to learn vocabulary from a parrot. 

-Camionetas: These death machines are chicken busses (school busses) used as public transportation.

-Mice: While I was writing this blog, a mouse came into my room and almost gave me a heart attack. 

The Arrival

Hello everyone! All I can say is wow. Between Peace Corps training/orientation sessions and 2 different host families in 4 days, there is little time and effort to blog. Nevertheless, I figure I should let family and friends know that I have arrived safely, alive, and well.

Pre-service training was is Washington, DC for a full day of get-to-know-you introductions and ice breakers involving other Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs). There are 29 of us working in either the healthy homes or healthy schools project, the later of which I am assigned. The training day was meant to give everyone a taste of what was to come the following morning, which came way too soon, at a whooping 2:00am! As group leader, I was "responsible" for getting everyone to the airport on time, which entailed tipping the bus driver for taking us to the airport 2 hours early... Sigh.* We finally made it to Guatemala.

The Peace Corps office in Guatemala is located near the city of Antigua, which is surrounded by beautiful countryside consisting of forest, hills, and volcanoes, nestled under a thin layer of clouds. The office itself is in a guarded complex of barbed wire and concrete walls, which seems a bit extreme for the incredibly friendly country of Guatemala. It seems the town is used to seeing gringos walking about, and greet you with a friendly "buenas tardes" after each training session. The first three sessions consisted of an overview of medical and safety information along with several shots that were not administered in the United States. Now to the essence of Peace Corps: Integration!

My first host family was with Don Mauro and Doña Irma, who were incredibly hospitable people, regardless of the loss of a family member earlier this year. They had 4 kids, and a dog they called Lulu. After dinner, we would sit down and talk about various topics, ranging from my suspected amigovias in the states to the duck duck goose games I had played earlier in the park. Although it has only been 4 days in Guatemala, I must share a memory that I will never forget on the first night of my homestay in Santa Lucia. After much discussion about family over dinner, I had asked Doña Irma if I could take a shower. She grinned, and proceeded to tell me that I could bathe myself in a little bit. Continuing to sip my coffee, about 10 minutes of discussion had passed, and Doña Irma said that I could now take a shower. I then go to my room, get my towel, and proceed to the bathroom. Upon arrival, I realize that there is a shower, but it doesn't work. I throw on my clothes and return to the pila (glorified sink), where I find Doña Irma, bucket in hand, waiting to greet me with a "Bienvenido a Guatemala!" The first realization that I am not in Texas anymore.