Zunil

 Zunil

 Almolonga

Lake Atitlan

My wonderful Aunt Leslie came to visit in February and we had a blast waltzing around Guatemala!  It was so special for me to be able to share this place and the people that have become a part of who I am... Thanks Aunt Leslie, you made all the difference!


A visit to Guatemala, to Xela, Almolonga, and Zunil, the “lake” and Antigua.  Magical places.  Amazing sights, sounds, experiences.  But nothing topped seeing Samantha, and seeing her in the setting that has become so precious to her.  A beautiful young woman in a special place.  Learning much, much to learn.  Strong opinions being chiseled and formed by opportunities far beyond what most of us will ever experience.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this niece of mine.

Public health was my profession, and seeing Samantha embrace and teach some of the most basic messages of public health was a delight.  To see her in the classroom, all eyes glued to her, certainly because of the enthusiasm she brought to the room; perhaps helped by the long blond hair and light complexion rarely seen in that part of the world, was a hoot!

To see her interact with friends and acquaintances, to hear her language skills praised by local professionals, to see her struggle with the loneliness that comes with the separation from family and long-familiar friends, to see how she deals with it all; that was a big part of the joy of visiting.

For me, it was a second visit to Guatemala, the first being about 40 years ago; a time when young women could travel safely anywhere in the country.  To see/hear of the dangers now to tourists (and Peace Corps volunteers) is so sad, especially since much of it is likely related to drug trafficking to the U.S.  To see how little has changed in the lives of the people of southwestern Guatemala, to see what seemed to be very limited teaching going on in the rural schools I visited, to see only the very basic level of water and sanitation available to the people, to see the seemingly limited impact of the Church in the lives of the people, was sad.  To see the resilience and graciousness of these amazing people, the fruits (mostly vegetables!) of their hard work, the curiosity and playfulness of the children, the beauty of their traditional textiles, the spectacular beauty of the countryside, all this was amazing.

Kudos to Samantha, and all young people who, in giving two years and working hard for others through organizations like the Peace Corps, gain so much themselves.  Sam, you will never be the same!

You know when you´ve hit that point.  All the little things make you smile.  The extra errand to the store for toilet paper or icecream or whatever it is that was forgotten.  But it's not a bother.  Sure it could have been easier, but there's something about these little things.  The parking lot, the long aisles mostly filled with things never bought, the tabloids in the checkout line.  But it's not a bother.  It's life.

And when it comes to that.  To accepting that an extra trip to the store won't kill you.  It might be the trip when you finally decide to buy greek yogurt or the expensive cheese and life from that moment on will never be the same.  Such small things can step by step change the course of a life.  Okay, fine.  Maybe not.

So I confess, I miss that.  Well sort of.  I hate parking lots (there is really no word strong enough in the English language to express that).  I hate lines (a lesser hate).  But there's a familiarity about it.  You just know that the woman in front of you will have about a thousand coupons (half of which will be expired) and you standing there with one item and billion other things to do.  You just feel it in your gut.  Because that's how it always is.  But you can anticipate it.  You know the store.  You have known it for years.

While a year is enough time to get used to things, it's not enough to feel used to it.  Sure, I know where to get the freshest bag of potato chips, where the nail polish is cheapest, where not to buy anything.  The owners know me.  But it's not the same.

I know what you're thinking.  'She's gone over the deep end'.  Let's just say that I had a life changing moment as I stood over an egg that was falling in slow motion and watched it break onto the floor (and yes I tried to quickly transfer it to a pan without the yolk slipping out) before I sat down on the floor in a house somewhere in the mountains of Guatemala and cried.

Eventually I pulled myself together.  Threw the remains in the compost pile, grabbed a coat and went to the store.

These are the little things that make my life mine.  The little dissappointments.  The yellow guts of an egg to remind me that you can't win every battle.  And that sometimes, the extra errand isn't the end.  It's not a bother.  It's life.

Georgiana

Hi G,

So funny thing, as it turns out, your name is in fact, not Georgiana. And one day when you read this you'll probably be thinking 'thank god'. But you see, we've been waiting for you for a while. Ummmm... like about 9 months. And your name was a conversation topic all of that time. And all of a sudden, you're here. And the world is a better place because you're a part of it.

So I wrote you a little lullaby. I hate that I'm not there to sing it to you in person but I want you to know that I love you and that you're going to be great. And I have a feeling, given your cool name (which is still a secret to the rest of the family), we are going to share a love for the divine (that is Bob Dylan)...

Dream your dreams

and dream them big

watch them fall

and see you'll live

through it all

Oh Georgiana

Fall asleep if you wanna

cuz I'll be thinking of ya

Oh Georgiana

Feliz Semana Santa! I'm what we would call, staycationing, here in Almolonga and having lovely week full of food, processions and lounging in bed with Pia and Che...
Yesterday (Good Friday) whipped up a storm in the kitchen, or rather, my host mom did. She made fried fish....
Garbanzo beans in a sweet sauce...
And a delicious salad of green beans, onion, carrots, beets and peas.
The catholics had a beautiful procession Friday morning.
Trajes!
Okay, so these guys use real whips to beat the actors. Extreme?
Carrying the image of Jesus...
Women shading their faces from the sun with their scarves...

Hi G,

So funny thing, as it turns out, your name is in fact, not Georgiana. And one day when you read this you'll probably be thinking 'thank god'. But you see, we've been waiting for you for a while. Ummmm... like about 9 months. And your name was a conversation topic all of that time. And all of a sudden, you're here. And the world is a better place because you're a part of it.

So I wrote you a little lullaby. I hate that I'm not there to sing it to you in person but I want you to know that I love you and that you're going to be great. And I have a feeling, given your cool name (which is still a secret to the rest of the family), we are going to share a love for the divine (that is Bob Dylan)...

Dream your dreams

and dream them big

watch them fall

and see you'll live

through it all

Oh Georgiana

Fall asleep if you wanna

cuz I'll be thinking of ya

Oh Georgiana

Lots to catch you up on...

This is a shout out for Ben, my awesome sitemate who lived in Zunil. He decided to wrap up his service and head back and it was sad to see him go, It was great to have him closeby, like a crazy older brother. Zunil's gonna miss ya pal!

Also please note my finger in this pic. Yup, you see right. Medical tape. Funny story of the week: I fractured the knuckle playing basketball with the teachers in my district. That meant guatemalan hospital and lots of radiation exposure. Worst of it? we lost.

I finally got my traje (the word they use for the women's dress here). After more than half a month's income and lots of patience, it is finally done! Now to give you a little background, the women here wear this everyday. The shirt, called a guipil, is handwoven and the design is specific to Almolonga. The skirt, called a corte, is made in another town but has to be sown together here.

The neckline was hard to decide on. Women here often have an embroidered collar, but to be honest it comes out super expensive. So I decided to do some simple bling and call it a day.

The guipil comes as two pieces of woven cloth and then it's sown together with embroidery to cover the seam. It's looong! But only the patterned part shows when you wear it. (more pics to come when I sport it throughout this year!)
Here is Pia, the lovely pup that has warmed her way into my heart. Her previous mama was a peace corps volunteer who was incredibly mature and decided to look for a good guatemalan home for her rather than let her live the American life.
Precious, right? She and I take long walks in the fields every afternoon, where she rips apart every single trash bag she finds. Everyone asks me if she bites. At first I thought this was so strange. I mean, what was I going to say, 'Yes, I enjoy taking my vicious dog out into the streets where she can prey on young children'. But dogs serve a purpose here, they stay tied up in the houses and bark. Job description: scare the living daylights out of everyone, friend or foe. So as if I wasn't enough of a freak, add a dog on there. And yes, she sleeps in my bed!

You wanted to know how you could help make a difference in Almolonga....

HERE'S YOUR CHANCE!

Earlier this year I worked with two of my schools (two that share the same building) to apply for funds through an organization called 'Water Charities' to get some more faucets built at the school. Our project just got approved! The great thing about Water Charities is that they work exclusively with peace corps volunteers and prefund all their projects- we'll be getting $555 to construct faucets, add a water deposit and fix the toilets.

If you would like to help, check out the project here.

This week has been filled with a deep saddness as I and all of PC Guatemala mourns the loss of my boss, Director of the Healthy Schools proyect, Dr. Sergio Mack Rivas.

I had much respect for Dr. Mack in his guidance over my project, he was the mastermind and devoted 14 years to the project. He was one of the few Guatemalans that I found inspiring, one that was dedicated to making his country a better place. Dinamic, professional and an expert in development and public health.

The funeral was last friday in Guate, I went with the other healthy schoolers and PC staff. The services were hard and emotional for us, but demonstrated the impact that Dr. Mack made in this world. There's just this whole, this void, as I think of his beautiful family (three older children and wife) and the hurt they are going through.

I know that you don't know them but if this happens to recross your mind later today please keep the Mack family in your thoughts and prayers...

rough week... but such is life. no matter where on the planet you make your life. and i guess i'm learning these things bit by bit. but at the end of the day, the heart of life is good.

news:

1.) dog! her name is pia and she is a two year old mutt that eats meat and is completely content to sleep all day on my bed.

2.) work is a bummer. somehow i thought that this year would be easier. or rather that i would hit the ground running from where we finished last year. i. was. wrong.

3.) i may have broken the window on a bus. yeeaaahh...

4.) my wonderful aunt leslie came to visit last week! we had a fun time around almolonga and enjoying each other's company. i can't thank her enough for coming

for those thinking of coming- watch this video and you will be convinced!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9cCPQVPv8o

sometimes it hits me that i live in guatemala:

-i am now a plumber. well, not really. but i fix toilets. and i know all the lingo. in spanish.

-hairblowdryer? why bother. just jump in the back of a pickup truck

-marriage? easy. the woman who sells me potatos is helping her 18 year-old son pick out my ring (no gracias?)

-no toilet paper? dude, that's what old newspaper is for.

-trash. oh, the battle against the trash.

-fried eggs.

-almolongan coffee- delicious but more like sugar water than coffee. but, it. is. gooooood.

-i bought a traje! yup i did. and it is going to cost me around what i make in a month. totally worth it.

-there is this smell that hits me sometimes in the street, not a foul smell, but not exactly agreeable either. and when i smell it, i know that im home.

and it's all of these things. and all of this still matters.

on a serious note i was thinking this week (shocking right?) about what i want to stand for. my core. my center. because sometimes we spin wildly around and never quite get there.

i want the world to be a better place because i was a part of it.

whatever i do, where ever i go, it has to come back to that.