¿Qué honda mucho? Things here are going really well. And by ‘really well’, I mean pretty slow. As it turns out, there is a national teachers strike so classes are suspended until further notice (and Semana Santa starts in a week so it might be two weeks with no school). What do the teachers want? Some of them haven’t been paid yet this year (not the case here in Almolonga and Zunil), but in general the government has failed to provide the schools with the resources (aka mula) that it said it would. For example, at public schools each child is supposed to receive a snack, which is a rather important component of the childrens daily nutritional intake considering that Guatemala has an extremely high rate of chronic malnutrition. But the reality is that the government only gives the schools enough money for ten days worth of snack per month (to say the least insuffiecient). Batabing batabang, the teachers went on strike. So any intuitive reader would then ask,’Well what is this PCV (peace corps volunteer) been doing with all her time, especially considering she’s doing it with US tax dollars?’ That is a fine question indeed my dear reader, so here it goes… I’ve been trying my darndest to meet as many people as humanly possible. Walking around with seemingly no where to go has become my new pastime. People here are big greeters, and it’s considered pretty rude not to say good morning/afternoon/evening when walking down the street. I really love this, it makes the community feel very connected and has been a wonderful way for me to meet people. I was able to meet with the Health Centers here (there’s one in Almolonga and another in Zunil), the people who work there are awesome and we’re going to be collaborating in the schools and the community focusing on things such as malnutrition, diarrhea and HIV/AIDS. I also went to visit a womens co-op in Zunil that sells all sorts of beautiful handicrafts. Yesterday I ventured to the swimming pool (owned and operated by the agricultural co-op here in Almolonga), went for a dip and read under the palm trees for the afternoon. Today was an adventure… You see, Almolongueños have an awesome cultural practice of bathing in Los Baños, a little pueblo about 10 minutes down the road. The pueblo has about 8 different buildings that offer prívate romos where for a mere Q15 (a little less than $2) one can enjoy the thermal water and bathe for an hour. Now while you might be imagining a beautiful eddifice with tropical flowers and birds and pristine tile, hahaha do not be fooled! I’m talking rustic (or as my Lonely Planet Travel Guide says, ‘decrepit’), yes in a romanticized way it’s beautiful but really it’s a small room with brown looking tile (that was once white or blue, who knows), a single lightbulb, some nails in the wall to hang your towel and PCV piping to bring in that amazingly hot water. You with me? Everyone here goes at least once a week and most of the houses don’t have showers because it’s not really necessary when people prefer Los Baños to a lousy cold shower in their house. So, I knew that I had to try it out and given my current predicament of excess of time, this morning I decided was the day. And it did not disappoint! The water is amazing, not scalding hot but rather therapudic. My host mom says that the mornings are the best because there aren’t that many people. Sunday is the big day, everyone wants to be squeaky clean for the upcoming week. In other news, on Saturday at the market I bought a mat woven out of some sort of leaves which is serving as a rug in my room. I also got a half hour tutorial as to how to use a washing machine (courtesy of my host dad). Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic to have a washing machine in the house, but having to stand on a plank of wood while iniciating the cycle to ensure my not getting electricuted made me a little less ecstatic. But hey, such is life. Last week I went to a Guatemalan PTA meeting at one of my schools which was entirely in K’iche, so I’m working hard to try and find a teacher to get some formal instruction on the language. I’ve bought a sketchbook and have been writing and drawing more. For some reason the leading guess for my présense in Almolonga is that I apparently married someone here. I get a good laugh out of it each time and it’s a great conversation starter to talk about my work here in the schools. At home my host family affectionally has dubbed me the ‘nuera’ or daughter-in-law, and we love to joke about how I wouldn’t last a minute as a Guatemalan daughter-in-law given the lobsided shapes of my tortillas. I wrote in my journal this week, ‘I just feel so alive here, there’s really no other way to describe it. Alive’. So that’s my word of encouragement to you this week, do something that makes you feel alive…