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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Dry Season / Back to Work

Summer break is over and so is my birthday vacation. This means that Kelly and I are back into the swing of our normal routine here in and around Salcajá. The clock has started on the last quarter of our Peace Corps service.
I hope that I have hit the ground running with my kids. I have learned that getting back into school is hard for teachers and students alike. I am currently working at two schools and teaching in about 9 classrooms. The kids seem to be reacting well to the course so far.
This year has been especially challenging right off the bat. In one school we have experienced an unexpected raise in enrollment. This in turn means more students per classroom and more effort to keep everyone on track. The first day of school we did not have enough desks for all the kids and one class was held on the basketball court. I can really look back and appreciate the small class sizes that I had growing up. Now I understand why teachers are always reminding people the importance of a small student to teacher ratio, because it makes the process of learning so much more efficient.
Aside from the normal life skills classes, I have been asked to look into what it takes and costs to set up a chemistry/physical science lab for my smaller school. This year we have a new building and the staff believes that these kids need more science education. (Someday I will explain the Telesecundaria education format) If anyone out there knows anything about setting up a simple lab for middle school, please let me know where to start.

This is why it's called the dry season

The end of our street

the Castle of Salca

Random old machine

The View on the way home from school

The road between home and work

Making Collages

Sharing goals

sharing

The clouds rolling into the valley

My Students

On the playground

Playing Games

Break

Chillin on Don Ricardo's Van