Hace dos semanas que vivo en Guatemala!

So, I am still not sure how I want this blog to unfold or what type of story I would like to tell.  I don’t have consistent internet access—not sure if I ever will—so I’m currently writing this at my desk at *home and I will eventually upload this online when I can get to the internet café!  For right now, I’m thinking I may just jot down some stories from these beginning days!

Of course I can carry my suitcases!

Well, sort of….two 50 pound suitcases and a hiking backpack ready to split at the seams.  I think my arms were about to fall off, but I came prepared!

 We landed in Guatemala in the late afternoon after a day of traveling, most of us running on less than five hours of sleep.  We were very fortunate to be greeted by a handful of PCV’s and our program directors.  They helped us navigate through security and eventually got us on a bus to the PC headquarters about 45 minutes outside of Guatemala City.   We stayed the first three nights in Guatemala with a host family within walking distance of the office.  I can’t tell you how much my Spanish has improved since those first three days…and we’ve been here less than two weeks.  I’m pretty sure that first host family laughed their butts off at me, but they were very patient and hand gestures worked just fine.  I am so grateful to the other volunteer that I was living with me in this home—she translated for me almost the whole time! 

During those first three days we had our language interviews and did a bunch of semi-interesting (but not really) orientation stuff.  We were placed in our training sites according to our language levels, those with lower language levels being a bit closer to the office than the volunteers who rocked their language interviews—definitely not me! Hahaha! I’m about a 15 minute camionetta ride from the PC office.  We travel to the PC office usually 1-2 times per week and then we have language classes in our communities when we are not in the office.  Our technical trainings are sprinkled in there as well.  This will pretty much be our schedule for the next 9, well now 8 weeks.  

 DC Airport Sunrise!

Me llamoLicda Cristina y soy unafacilatadora de capatacion en salud.

Interesting factoid: only 3% of Guatemala’s population has a college degree, hence my introduction as Licda Cristina (or licenciada Cristina).  A high respect is placed upon people with college degrees thus the extra title.Once I’m placed in my final site, an aldea or puebla probably in the highlands, I will be working with local health centers and with the municipality on Maternal and Child Health education.  I will mostly be working to help train health educators with an occasional class with pregnant mothers.   I am so excited to help build people!

I’m not sure how true this is, and by no means am I relying on this statement, but I have been told by both my host mom and the PC staff that just by being a gringa in Guatemala (who is also Licda) we will have some sort of reverence in our communities.  Gringos in Antigua are tourists, but gringos in pueblos and aldeas are usually doing some sort of community restoration or mission work.  We have been told that in many places, most Guatemaltecos will assume this and not give us too much trouble….again, this doesn’t mean much as the number one crime reported by PCVs in Guatemala is theft, but it means that we won’t get too many questions about why that gringa is always walking down the street!

On another note, I will be known in my placement sites as ‘Cristina’.  Cristina is a very common name here so even when I introduce myself as Christine, I still end up getting called Cristina or Cristi.  I figured I’ll just change it and reduce some confusion! And EVERYBODY learns my name fairly quickly.  Partially because most of the pueblo is related in one way or another, but as a pale blonde gringa, I stand out pretty well.  It is not uncommon for whispers of “ellaesmuyalta” to follow me around—this is the only place I have ever been where my 5’2’’ frame is considered tall.  I’m still not 100% used to the staring and pointing (an offense usually committed by the niños), but I suspect it will get better as I get more familiar with the community!

Some of the PCTs

The wheels on the bus go round and round and the passengers definitely go UP and DOWN!

The 15 minute camionetta trip from my training site to the office costs Q3.00 round trip, or about $0.38 USD.  Camionettas are old US school buses that now function as the main transportation for many guatemaltecos.   I’m pretty sure the only training the drivers have was learned while watching Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in Speed.  Last Saturday, the camionetta we road to the PC office had a single LED strip placed just above the windshield that started flashing in time to whatever techno music the driver was playing.  The roads in many of the pueblos are cobblestone/brick but the interconnecting streets and highways are all paved.  When driving in the pueblos, be prepared to have your teeth rattled and your lunch tossed!

At what time exactly do you stop saying “buenastardes!” and start saying “buenasnoches!”???

I don’t think I have ever met a more genuine group of people.  I think the attitudes change from pueblo to pueblo, but you greet everyone on the street with a “buenosdias/tardes/noches”.  Although this is a cultural tradition, it has also been my most effective strategy for diffusing the wide-eyed stares!

Prayers are said at every family gathering and before every meal.  After every meal, you say “gracias” before leaving table and there is a chorus of “buen provecho” that follows.  Or if you are walking through a room filled with people eating, you shout “buen provecho!” and get a chorus of “muchas gracias!” back.  I love it!

Mucho amorpor los madres!

On my first Sunday at my training site I got to see my host family’s campo in the mountains.   I went with another volunteer, my host dad, grandpa, and my host family’s four grandchildren.The farms are gorgeous, up in the volcanic mountains with flowers around every corner.  The most common crops are corn, snow peas, zucchini and cucumbers-I think.  We learned that most of the snow peas and zucchini grown here will eventually be exported to the US.  I got to see my first arbol de aguacate, or avocado tree!! Me gusta avocados mucho! In the market, you can usually get an avocado for 1-3 quetzales (13-38 cents) depending on the size. 

Anyways, back to our walk, there was a gorgeous red lily that my host father picked for his wife.  After the kids saw what he had done, they all wanted to pick flowers for their mothers as well.  So adorable!

On our hike back, I got to learn my first Guatemalan children’s rhyme/game!

Groupo: “Cristina come pan en la casa de San Juan!”

Cristina: “Quien? Yo?”

Groupo: “Si! Tu!”

Cristina: “Yo no fui!”

Groupo: “Entonces, quien?”

Cristina: (say the another person’s name and start over)

I think we must have played this game for a good thirty minutes while walking back...

                                                             Some of the local huertos

                                                             Un aguacate en el arbol!!

                                                                 Getting the aguacates

Oh, the things children say…

So I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my host parents, their parents, another volunteer and her host parents (who happen to be my host siblings, so technically this other volunteer could be my host-host daughter…I’ll have to draw a family tree!).  My host parents’ 3 y/o granddaughter is sitting on the living room couch which backs up to the kitchen.  Suddenly we hear:

“Unatortugita,

diceperezosa,

meduele la cabeza,

tengoganas de dormir!

(A little turtle, says lazily, my head hurts, I feel like sleeping! )

My host mom in turn says “Lilly*, mucho ruidosa!” (too noisy).  So what does Lilly start doing? Of course, she starts singing/screaming at the top of her lungs about the little turtle with the headache.  I don’t think I have laughed so hard!

Lilly’s third birthday is this week.  She knows that her birthday is coming up and is pretty much convinced that every family gathering is her birthday party.  She also insists on being called “Linda princesa Lilly”. All of the other niñas son feas, perolinda Lilly esunaprincessa! 

This is the same child that after precariously studying my arm, asked why I had so many bug bites.  After my host dad stopped laughing, I had to explain that my freckles weren’t in fact bug bites, only spots from the sun.

*Lilly is not her real name……

So this is why everyone says I will gain weight here!

One word: Tortillas.

Tortillas, tortillas, y mas tortillas.  At every meal.  Oh, we’re having rice with potatoes and chicken? Not nearly enough carbs, let’s get you more tortillas! In this culture, there is actually a specific verb for making tortillas: tortillar.  I learned that one of the first things a mother will do to her daughter in-law is send her off to make tortillas to see how circular she can get them.

Just to tip the calorie counter over the scale, someone in my host family runs the panaderia in town, so in addition to the heaping stack of tortillas in the middle of the table are the most delisioso fresh sweet rolls, and French bread I have ever had.  Every once in a while my host brother sends back a banana bread muffin especially for me!

A basic meal is usually some rice and either beef or chicken with veggies (usually carrots, zucchini or guicoy-a type of squash).  Lots of fresh fruit too! Pineapple, passion fruit, lychee, dragon fruit and granadías.  I’m not sure what granadías are called in English, but the kids here call them mocos—boogers.  Granadías have a tough yellow-orange skin and are a little smaller than a baseball.  You crack/tear open the fruit and on the insides are little sacks of juicy, gross-looking tastiness. It’s one of those things where you can’t really think too much about what it looks like, because it really does look like you are scooping boogers up into your mouth, but it tastes really good!

I get up in the morning and usually get a bit of grief for not being very hungry at 7:30 breakfast—panqueques, eggs, or cereal with hot milk.  At 10 am, one of the volunteer’s host moms serves us ‘rafe’ a tea/café and snack break.  By snack, I mean a rather large chuchito (a type of tamale).  Then lunch at noon, the largest meal of the day—rice with pollo or carne, veggies, tortillas, bread, and juice.  Dinner, at 8pm, has been sopa or soup the past few nights. 

I went with my host mom to buy meat the other day.  That was an experience.  Not necessarily good or bad, only different.  The butcher shop was an unrefrigerated storefront about the same size as a ticket booth and was set up in much the same way.  Patrons walk up to the window and peer into the store to see what type of meat is left.  From what I could tell, on this particular Sunday, two cows were slaughtered and the various cuts were hanging from meat hooks.  How do I know it was two cows, you ask? Well that would be because there were definitely two skinned cow heads hanging by hooks right in front of the window. 

Another thing every volunteer has commented on is the amount of seasoning guatemaltecos use! There is a lot of salt used in seasoning meats and sauces.  And the sugar. Oh my gosh! The instant coffee mix that they buy here usually already has sugar in it, but it is not uncommon to see someone dump another giant tablespoon or two into their café or tea or juice.  Café is also regularly given to the kids here.  It’s not strong by any means, but it is still coffee!! Pepsi is also a staple at any family gathering. 

And speaking of family gatherings….Family is HUGE here! Many families often live together in the same house or on the same street.  Everyone constantly jumps from house to house for meals and just to visit.  Lilly’s 3^rd birthday party this Sunday will have 150 guests.  And every family gathering includes food! This past Sunday, after eating lunch I went with my host mom to a baby shower.  (Two other PCTs were also there…).  At one point, I was sitting there holding two giant chuchitos on one plate, a piece of cake balancing on a plate on one knee and a cup of Pepsi between my legs.  I looked across the room to the other two volunteers and after we made eye contact we could not stop laughing! We had the same horrified expression on our faces, wondering how in the world we were supposed to scarf all of this down after just finishing a giant lunch! Leaving food behind is a big no-no in this culture. 

I’m still trying to think of what ‘traditional’ American food I can cook for my host family.  The biggest problem is that I’m not sure what ingredients I can find in the tiendas.  The only thing that keeps popping into my head are fajitas, and while not a common meal in Guatemala, they definitely do make fajitas.  I’m thinking that if I can find some ground beef, I can make meatloaf and mashed potatoes! 

Carne Asada con arroz 

 The family celebrating my host abuela´s 85th birthday