Peace Corps Part Two??

It’s official we have lost our freaking minds. A few weeks ago we were checking the e-mail and saw that Peace Corps China was looking for a few good men and women to extend and work for their post. Doubting our credentials but full of hope we applied half joking that we might just make it. Volunteers for another year and a half, why not?

After a few weeks and a few sleepless nights came some news. Our PTO (Program and Training Officer for all of you non Peace Corps savvy people) informed us that we were given the green light for the medical section of our transfer. If all goes well, we will be medically cleared and off to China in June. “Wait… That means we will have to leave here in a month”, you can imagine the colorful language and general freak out that ensued directly after that realization. I am constantly reminded that I could take change better. I will however say this is not 100% as of today, but a very good possibility.

Here we are getting ready to leave. I find myself thinking about China and immediately missing Guatemala. Today we filled out our calendars, realizing all of the things that we have to do between now and then. Meds, classes, conferences, workshops, and goodbyes so many things to do and so little time here. I wish that pulling up stakes and drastically changing your life got easier with repetition, but really I think it is equally hard every time. I feel exactly like I did the first time we joined. Under prepared to say goodbye, worried about language, and hoping the medical exams go well. I suppose the flip side is that we have gone through all of this before and I can see through to the other side. I can see the friends, coming through culture shock and learning to love another country.

So there it is. KandM Guatemala will hopefully be rebranded KandM China by June. Sorry for the short notice to everyone back home and here in Guate. We hope that you will still drop in from time to time and see how we are doing. We will of course still accept any and all care package, presents, well wishes, and love that you might send. We will post a confirmation when we are positive that we are in. We also apologize if there is little information between now and June due to all that we need to get done.

Until then,

KandM

National Emblem of The People´s Republic of China

We Love Ryan!

Mr. Drickey was good enough to hope a plane and come to visit us for a week. While Kelly and I have been ridiculously busy the past week, Ryan was happy enough to tag along and see what our life is like here in PC Guatemala. Aside from just being a cool person Ryan was also great with the kids and very helpful around school.

Thanks to Ryan for playing his fiddle to my students and teaching us all a little about American Folk music, for helping the Peace Corps with a HIV workshop, being silly, jumping off docks with me and for being an overall Gentle Giant.

If you bump into Ryan please reiterate to him that he should use his skills for good (like joining up with us) and that he looks surprisingly good in a clown wig. Perhaps an employment opportunity?

Ryan at the sacred waters of Chicabal

Don´t make him angry, you wouldn´t like him when he´s angry.

¨I love Lago Atitlan!!¨

I love it more!!

Kelly and Ryan after work

Playing for the kids

Semaña Santa

In the US we have Easter Sunday or perhaps even Easter Weekend. If I remember correctly there are a lot of eggs, baskets and candy. Sure there is the whole Christian aspect that we celebrate in the US, but it hardly compares to Guatemalan or Latin American version. That’s right it’s time for Holy Week. Take that Easter Sunday, we rock out for the Lord all week long.

What exactly does this mean, aside from no school/no work?? Semaña Santa (Holy Week) has religious processions through the streets, mock crucifixions, sweet garbanzo bean soup, Samaña Santa bread and everyone dressed to the nines to walk around town and check out the alfombras (carpets). The carpets are made with sawdust and a wide variety of other materials to adorn the streets as the procession passes by. I was stuck by the zen notion of spending a day making these beautiful carpets just to destroy them a few hours later. All of this of course is in the celebration of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Being a very catholic town Salcajá tries to put on a good show. Guatemala, however, seems to lack bunnies that lay chocolate eggs and kids searching for candy, I suppose you can’t have it all.

Kelly and I ventured out yesterday and last night to take a look at the weekend festivities. We were really impressed with what our small pueblito put together. We were impressed not only by the beautiful alfombras, but also by how Salcajá, a relative sleepy town, came to life.
Sure Guatemala is famous for its processions and holy week celebrations, but In Salcajá you get it all with out the high gringo prices. I think the 7 Wonders of the World carpet had to be my favorite. I’m not sure how it was related to the crucifixion, but I would give them an A for creative effort. San Jacinto (the oldest church in Central America) was open and we finally got some good shots of it. All in all it has been a good week and it isn’t even over yet. We hope you enjoy the photos and, as always, we appreciate your comments.

Making of an Alfombra

Street Shrine/Cafe

Kelly's School

Petra

"The Wonders of God Created by Man"
San Jacinto The Oldest Church in Central America

San Jacinto Shrine

Kelly, Berenice & Astrid

Mosiah and Astrid
Socializing in the streets"No More Violence" Constructed of Fruits and Veggies

Another Street Shrine

Alfombra of the procession?

Mangofish

Getting ready to march

"Lets see here. Robe... check, funny hat... check. Looks like we're ready"

The men carrying Jesus

Amazing

The women come in with Mary

Mary

Grandmas, Jovencitas and kids

The alfombras afterward

Ribbon Cutting and HIV Workshop

Last week I had the good fortune to see one of my schools move into a brand new building. Previously they had been sharing a elementary school space (elementary in the morning and secondary in the afternoon). While this might seem like a logical sharing of resources there were many problems with the arrangement. The middle school program is taught via videotapes and DVDs; the problem was is that the elementary school decided not to pay the electric bill so there hasn’t been electricity in over a year. There were also problems with the desks, sharing of materials, etc. Too make a long story short; everyone is excited to have our own school. We hope to start giving classes in the new building after Semaña Santa. This is a great achievement on the part of the school and the parents because the lack of funding to rural schools in Guatemala.

Kelly with my 8th Graders

Who is that handsome guy?

Setting up for the cutting

Some 9th Graders

Thanks to USAID for the tarp and shade

On my way to Totonicopan to teach about HIV

Welcome HIV AIDS

PCV Lynn our organizer

Teachers waiting to learn
Demonstrating the immune system

The same day I also agreed to help with an HIV workshop in another town. In all there were three two-person teams that gave a basic transmission and prevention charla to teachers. It may sound dull but teaching with the participatory method always brings laughter to a classroom.
We taught for about four hours and as always ended with a Q&A open to anything. There were the normal questions “Where does it come from?”, “How is it possible that an infected mother can give birth to a healthy child?” and “Are there more homosexuals infected than heterosexuals?”. This time though we got a question I haven’t had from an adult, “Does sex with a condom feel the same?” Being the only male volunteer still at the event the question fell to me to answer. I had no idea what to say in front of an audience of between 30 and 40 people. No one feels comfortable talking about sex, but this could have been a cultural minefield to maneuver through. Put on the spot I started speaking before I really had time to think.

My translation of what I said.
“Well… Okay… Lets see… Since we are now friends and there is trust between us I am going to tell you the truth. The truth is using a condom… The truth is using it feels... (Light bulb illuminating above my head) The truth is it feels better to be protected from HIV than to be infected by it.”
Perhaps it doesn’t sound all that clever, but when put on the spot and using a second language, I felt both relief and thankfulness that this moment was over.

The difference between HIV and AIDS

Some colleagues

"AIDS"

Having fun with our new friends

Why this is so important

All in all it was a long but fulfilling Peace Corps day. Sometimes I wish they were all that busy but we do what we can.

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