We Made It

Nimen Hao or hello!

We made it. With minimal hassle and discomfort we made it to Chengdu. I will say though that flying around the globe is not good for one’s sleep schedule. I realize that this is obvious, but if you haven’t experienced the 13 hour time difference after a 24 hour trip, you really can’t imagine what it can do to you. Last night was the first night that I slept all night. Que Rico!!

We started our training Thursday and we have been going strong the last few days. We and the other members of China 15 (75 in all) will spend the next 9 weeks learning Mandarin, culture, TEFL techniques, about safety and security, and all we need to be happy and successful Peace Corps Volunteers. One difference, we found out that we will be living together during training. We have decided this is good and bad, but in the spirit of flexibility we can roll with it.

Our overall first impression of China is that it is an amazing and dynamic country. The people seem to go out of their way to talk to you and help you get around. We have already been lost on two occasions and had people walk us around. We were invited to play Ping Pong by a student who saw us watching from afar. All in all it has been a great first impression. Sure we have not seen the sun come out yet, but the people and the organization of Peace Corps has made up for it thus far.

We look forward to updating you all when we can, but I have a feeling that in a few days we are going to get very busy and may not be able to post as often. We hope that you will bear with us and check in to see what is new from time to time. Like always we appreciate comments.

We hope everyone is well.

k&m

Visit us at kandm1.wordpress.com

In San Fran

We have photos of San Fran at our new site. Come check them out. Remember we will no longer be updating this blog once we move over to China.

http://kandm1.wordpress.com/ or click the flag on the sidebar

Blog update

I have discovered that Tumblr is also block in China, so we have moved yet again. You will now be able to find us at http://kandm1.wordpress.com/. I have been assured that this site will work in China. Please visit the site and let us know what you think.

M

The end of K&M Guatemala

Well we have had a good run but it is time to say goodbye. We have discovered that the Chinese government does not much care for blogger, so in the name of harmony we have made a switch. We will still try to bring you a post or two every month, but I think that with this new format it will come even more often. Besides we had to change the name. The new site is called K&M China and resides at http://kandm1.wordpress.com/. Please become “followers” of our blog. Please post your comments about the new format to let us know what we can change. Thanks and we hope to hear from you soon.

K&M China

A Farwell to Jaime

I am really sad to say goodbye to Jaime. Two years ago my host parents decided Mosiah was too hard to pronounce, and bang Jaime was born (a translation of my middle name). He looks a lot like me although he has a propensity to wear cowboy boots, have a beard and he speaks really bad Spanish. Although we look very similarly we are also very different.

Jaime is quick with a joke and quicker to smile and make fun of himself. He feels comfortable in front of a classroom and likes to work with youth. He will try anything to make a classroom laugh especially if it is at his expense. He doesn’t concern himself with career tracks or with the workings of the wider world. He is focused on how his classes are going and if his students understand his lessons. Jaime can talk about sex and give a condom demonstration to anyone without shame or worry, because he knows the growing risk of HIV in Guatemala. Jaime likes the neighbor kids and doesn’t mind putting on the kettle and talking about adolescent growing pains after a long day. Jaime likes to dance! He likes to go out with his wife and listen to music. On occasion he has been seen dancing to Bachata, Banda, and Regaton.

I seem to be much more serious. While I like to have fun I see that I can be more serious and less concerned with laughter. I also see the need to focus more on my future and try to make lasting career plans. While I like who I am I will really miss some of the more carefree characteristics that Jaime embodied. In many ways he and I live different lives and different places. Very rarely do we mix nor do I think we would do well together. For instance, Mosiah does not dance to Bachata. He hates Latin music. Jaime lives in Salcajá and very rarely makes it out of town. Mosiah on the other hand has traveled all through Central America, attends meetings for the Peace Corps and worries a lot. Does this make me sound schizophrenic?

While it took two years to fill in and make Jaime a whole person here in Guatemala sometimes it is hard for me to see him living outside of the high plains. While Jaime has been very important to me these past two years, I don’t see him being well prepared for taxes, 401Ks or job searching. While I know part of him will live on inside me I also lament the fact that much of him will leave me waiting to reemerge in a distant visit to Guatemala. So, goodbye Jaime thanks for the memories and for all of your help (I will wear the boots and beard in respect).

Mosiah

Nick's Music

My neighbor, lets call him Nick, is an interesting man. He is in his sixties, single, as close as someone in this country comes to being retired, but above all I would say that he is a music lover. I have had the opportunity to attend a few social situations with Nick. He is quick to dance, bop his head along with the beat or talk about some old Mexican or Spanish band. All in all he is a loveable old man, except when he wants to share his love of music with me.

It’s not that he is constantly coming over to get me to listen to something. He has a more… I suppose we will call it efficient approach. Usually on a Sunday afternoon Nick will decide that he will want to share some old Spanish love ballads with me and the rest of our colonia. He does this by way of engaging his outdoor speakers on his front porch that point out towards the middle of the street.

I must say that I was really taken aback when I noticed that he had speakers on the outside of his house. This is something that does not compute culturally to the average Gringo. The backyard perhaps, but speakers blaring into the street is just strange. And we are not talking a low volume. Usually it sounds like we have a band of guitarristas in the house with us. What’s worse is that Nick is usually chilling inside (I imagine him dancing with an imaginary women) while his speakers are thumping on the outside.

As far as I can figure the speaker’s sole purpose is to project Nick’s music into the barrio. Okay, but why? Does Nick think that his Gringo neighbors need to expand their musical palate and this is the only way he can inject his tastes into our lives? Have other people on the block come to him to ask him to please lighten up their Sundays with sappy love songs or ear-piercing ranchero music? Something tells me no. The only thing I have come up with is that he likes to have a drink or several, dance with his imaginary Marias and Juanas and turn up the volume for the rest us.

Whatever his reasoning I have figured out a few things.
1. No one seems to care. Never have I seen someone go over to ask him to turn down/off his speakers. Which leads me to believe that it is culturally acceptable to “share” your music as loud as you like with your neighbors.
2. I have also realized that perhaps I would be seen as enojado if I were to ask him to keep his music to himself. Enojado translates to mad which is a very undesirable trait where we live. As annoying as it can be I realize that I can do little about it.

I would hate to wreck our morning greetings and exchanges of smiles and waves because of my cultural inability to appreciate other people’s loud music. That being said, I may have cursed out loud in English the last time I heard the band strike up in the living room. I guess next Sunday I should grab my wife and practice our dance moves. If you can’t beat em join em.