Week 4: OBAMER in Guatermaler!!!

So we've survived our first month in Guatemala and what a month it has been!

OBAMANIA!!!

It was hard being away from family and friends for such a momentous occasion in American history, but I´m thankful we had good company with fellow progressives from around the world. We watched Obama´s acceptance speech at a Democrats Abroad party held at a local bar/cultural center. There was a large projection screen and a crowd of expats from all over the world gathered to cheer on Obama with lots of excitement and booz. It felt like we were right there with the crowd in Chicago!!

Obama´s victory was the main headline in all the Guatemalan news. People here are very happy that he won, though many people I´ve spoken with don´t really believe Obama will change America´s relationship with Latin America in any substantial way.


El Campo!! The Country!!



Last weekend, we had the opportunity to hike with Sandra and Martín (our landlords)to their house in the mountains. Just an hour hike from our apartment they have built the most amazing house with their own 2 hands. Their plan is to move there and allow foreigners to live there with them, sort of a mountain retreat center.

The hike was gorgeous: wildflowers everwhere, fresh vegetables growing on small plots, stunning views of the volcano and the city below. Sandra is friends with some of the campesinos who live on the mountain and they let her pick their vegetables, so we picked our own coliflower, beans and corn and cooked them that night for dinner! MMMM!

Sandra´s sister, daughter, 3 grandchildren, and 2 dogs accompanied us for the day. Last weekend was a national holiday called Dia de Los Muertos or Day of Dead. Most families spend the holiday in Xela visiting the cemetary to remember their loved ones. Sanda and her family preferred not to visit the cemetery, but instead spend time together at the country house. We ate fiambre, a beet salad tradionally served on Day of Dead. The kids (that includes Bryce and Martín) flew a kite, which is also a tradition at this time of year in Guatemala.

Sandra showed us her vegetable garden and told us about the frustration of having the trees next to her property cut down illegally by poor campesinos, to use or sell as firewood. She is afraid if she reports the problem there will be violent consquences, so for every tree they cut, Sandra plants a tree. She brought a group of school children to the property and showed them what was happening to the land they will someday inherit. They helped her plant trees and she encouraged them to talk to their parents about the importance to protecting their land so that it can support future generations. Beautiful.














Dia de los Muertos!! Day of the Dead!!

Dia de los Muertos is a religious holiday celebrated in parts of Latin America to honor and remember the dead. Families bring a special flower grown just for this occasion to the graves of their loved ones. In Guatemala, they also make decorative wreaths to place on the graves(see photos below). Because we were with Sandra and Martín on Saturday we didn´t get the opportunity to visit the cemetary, but we did stroll around the fair that was set up outside the cemetary. We drank ponche, a warm milk drink with cinnamon and liquor. There was food, music, games and carnival rides! Before last weekend the very same fair was set up in Central Park for another holiday. Basically, it´s always a holiday here! Always something to celebrate in Latin America!







Volunteer Update

Bryce started a 5 day work week at the clinic this week. He´s starting to take on the responsibilities of his new position as clinic manager. He also got to spend a day shadowing a doctor as he saw patients. Today was the current director´s last day at the clinic. The new co-directors started this week, and they are very nice. Antonette is from the States and Francisco is from Xela. I think they will be a dynamic duo.

I am still on a 2 day/week schedule at the clinic, reading over the curriculum binder which is becoming less and less intimidating the more Spanish I learn. I´m looking into spending some of my free time teaching English, either on a volunteer basis with children, or for pay at a private school for adults. I´m leaning toward working with children, since I am considering a career as an ESOL teacher in US public schools. The pay at the private school is only 2 dollars/hour, so money isn´t much of a factor in my decision.

I´m starting to do some grant research and grantwriting for Voces de Cambio, the organization that empowers teenage girls through photography and writing. I´m excited to help them out, but I don´t want to spend too much time in front of a computer writing in English so I´m trying to limit that work to 10 hours/week. In additon to the grant writing, I get to attend weekly meetings with the other volunteers who only speak Spanish, which is great. I´m also helping them organize and publicize the upcoming photo exhibit and will be attending a meeting with some past graduates of the program this weekend, to discuss their interest in participating in a week of awareness about Violence Against Women. Violence against women is a huge issue in Guatemala and the fact that women´s groups are organizing week of awareness is very exciting and very bold of them.

Bryce Update

Bryce volunteers at the clinic in the mornings. He has become famous already for his addiction to "choco bananos", frozen bananas dipped in chocolate. He has a choco banano lady who he buys from every morning. She hand dips the bananas and Bryce pays extra for a triple dipped banana. He takes two hours of Spanish in the afternoons. Then he goes to the markets and buys an obscene amount of vegetables every...single...day. He spends much of his time in Spanish class learning the names of obscure vegetables and inquiring about the appropriate prices for various items. Then once he gets to the market he inevitably falls in love with one of the women selling her wares. For example, he came home with 72 candles last night because ¨the woman was so sweet¨ and ¨it was a great deal¨. We cook delicious meals of fresh veggies almost every night. In summary: Bryce is very happy here. We have a lot of fun together.

La Paz Update




Spanish school continues to go well. I have a new teacher who I hope to stay with permanently. His name is Marvin, like the martian. He is an excellent teacher and very nice (he´s the short guy in the silly picture above). Marvin is interested in improving his English so we may arrange a free exchange, one hour of Spanish in exchange for one hour of English.

Last week Bryce attended a public event in Central Park with the Spanish school. Below is a picture of him with the 11 year old, Reina Indígena of Xela, the Indigenous Princess of Xela. She is the daughter of our school´s director. To win the contest she had to write a speech about what it means to be an indigenous woman in Guatemala. Her mom is interested in getting her involved with Voces de Cambio, the organization for which I am volunteering/grantwriting.




Last week Bryce and I attended a conference on Racism in Guatemala, with our Spanish teachers. The guest of honor was supposed to be an indigenous Guatemalan woman who earned an anthropology doctoral degree in the US. She is only the second woman in Guatemala to earn a doctoral degree and is also famous for winning a lawsuit against a Guatemalan company that wouldn´t let her through their doors because she was wearing typical indigenous clothing. Unfortunately, she couldn´t make it , but they read a letter from her. I can´t say I understood most of what was said, but I was happy to be there nontheless.

Tomorrow Bryce and I are cooking an Italian dinner for the teachers and students of La Paz. Our two closest friends here, Gaby and Tom, are leaving next week and we want to send them off in style. I dont´t have any pictures of Gabby yet, but Tom is the guy with glasses in the pictures above.

NEXT WEEK WE MOVE INTO OUR OFFICIAL ROOM IN THE NEW APARTMENT. HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF THE BUILDING!CANT WAIT TO POST PICTURES OF THE ROOM ITSELF!!