Just Thinking

Well I am sure that most people have heard that we will be coming home in May for a little visit. It is hard to imagine that when we land in Denver it will have been over a year since we have been in the States, a record for the both of us. The anticipation that is building inside of me reminds me of being a kid and waiting for Christmas. The excitement builds with every coming day, and I know that it will be impossible to sleep the night before the flight.
As I lay in bed at night dreaming of carpet, hot water from the choro, driving, bathtubs, and beer from a tap, a question starts to nag me from some corner of my mind. How will I describe the past year of my life to everyone? Most of the time only one-word answers come to my mind. Guatemala is great, frustrating, heartwarming, heartbreaking, amazing, lonely, crazy, boring etc. I suppose that if anyone were to be asked what their past year was like the answer would look much the same. Still, I crave something that could sum it up for people as I anticipate this question to come up.
“So how has the last year been in Guatemala”?
The last year has been sprinkled with just about every emotion that I can think of. I have felt elated after an especially great class and I have felt despair and thought of quitting after a terrible one. I have basked in the beauty of a volcanic lake, but I have also lamented the destruction of the environment. I have felt connected to Guatemalans but others have also robbed me. I think that development works some days and think it’s a farce others. I suppose it all is summed up that my life here is filled with opposing feelings and contradictory experiences. Perhaps that is the Guatemalan experience.
Guatemala is a land of contrast for me. It is a place where the rich and the poor live in relative proximity. It is a place where people wish for security but life is so uncertain. It is a place where ancient cultures live next to and perhaps compete with modern culture. Guatemala is a land of agriculture but also of malnutrition. At times one can feel guilty about living around this but still having the luxury of being removed and only a plane ticket away from escape at any moment.
But that did not answer, “How has the last year been in Guatemala”?
The last year has been… Interesting? Fun?
Those words seem so trite and so far removed from the truth. I suppose it is cliché and again only a one-word answer, but the truth is the last year has been an adventure.

What we´ve been up to

We realize that we have not written a really in-depth post for some time. Sorry. I wish that we could say that it has been because we have been so busy with work, but the truth is that in December nothing really goes on as far as work goes. The truth of the matter is that we have been having too much fun getting to know our new country and sharing it with friends and family.
Dave came down on Halloween and spent about a week with us here in the Xela area. I hope that he had as much fun as we did. It was a little strange having our first guest. Not that it wasn’t a pleasure on our part, it’s just that it is kind of strange to have these two very distinct worlds and lives come together for a short time. I sometimes worry that people wont like Guatemala as much as we do. I think that the highlight of that trip was our journey to Todos Santos for the Drunk Horse Races. It was a truly amazing thing to see and I would suggest that anyone traveling through Guatemala November first make the trek up there to see the colorful and inebriated town.
Our next adventurous visitor was my wonderful mother, Diane. We were honored that we got to steal her away from the family for thanksgiving. I was happy to show her not only our town but also our life here in Guatemala. She was also a trooper through her bout with traveler stomach for a few days. We got to take her to one of our favorite spots in Guatemala for Thanksgiving, Lago Atitlan. Anyone who gets to visit this high volcanic crater lake falls in love with it. Not only for its spectacular views (it is surrounded by volcanoes), but because the people around the lake are so unique and wonderful. I think the highlight of the trip for me was when my host family took a trip to Antigua to visit Diane because she was too sick to leave the hotel. Although I found translating to be harder than I thought, it was great to have my Guatemalan mother meet me real mother.
After Reconnect we awaited yet another visitor. Trevor came to visit about mid December and spent the New Year with us. As our previous post describes we had a great time traveling around Guatemala and Belize. I really don’t think that I can explain to everyone how beautiful the landscape and the people are here. While I can’t say that we will have the time to do the trip that we did with Trevor I would encourage all visitors to Guatemala to take more than a week to get to know this wonderful place.
Well, there is a summery of some of the things that we have been up to in November and December. We are now trying to get back into the swing of things. I have started school again and have high hopes for a more productive year with the kids and the teachers in Cantel. Kelly is trying to expand her role in the cooperative and is meeting with a women’s shelter to see about volunteering. All in all we are having a great experience and I think that we fall more and more in love with Guatemala everyday.

We're Back

Well, we are finally back in Salcaja. We would like to apologize for the lack of posting lately, but with the holidays we have not been in front of a computer much.
We returned last week from a journey around Guatemala with a short boarder jump into Honduras and Belize. We realized when thinking about the trip that we really had not been East of Guatemala City, so we planned to head that way and try to get to Placencia, Belize by the 22nd. We also had the great fortune to have Trevor (from the CU days) traveling with us and our friend Kate (PCV) joined us for Christmas. I would hate to bore everyone with a blow by blow of the vacation, so I will give you the highlights.

Copan Ruins (Honduras) – Just a skip across the Guate boarder you can see some amazing Mayan stone carvings.

Livingston – While still in Guatemala you get a great feel for Caribbean and Garifuna culture. Just don’t stay in a hotel that is throwing a party for the owners girlfriend

Placencia, Belize – A great place to swing in your hammock and dip in the Ocean. Kelly and I also had a great time at the Christmas eve Reggae dance party on the beach. We spent Christmas day relaxing, eating, drinking Belizian rum and playing cards with Trevor and Kate.

Tikal – A breathtaking Mayan site full of temples and wildlife. Any visitors to Guatemala should make the trip up to the Peten

Lanquin - A great place to hangout for New Year's and close to Semuc Champey and cave tours.

Holidays in Guate and Belize

Waiting for the Holidays

One thing that we learned in training was to always look forward to something, anything. It could be as small as a trip into town to eat Taco Bell, but just have something on the horizon to look toward. Now that school is all but over for the year and I have some time to plan for next year (I mean procrastinate), I find myself needing things to look forward to.
Things I am looking forward to…

1. The Rockies winning the World Series

2. Having healthy bowels again

3. Dave coming to visit

4. Having too much fun in Antigua

5. Mom coming to visit

6. Thanksgiving in Guatemala

7. My next pay check (I am getting really hungry)

8. Someone to call from home

9. Seeing bolos asleep in the gutters

10. Going to Belize and being warm again

11. Christmas in a hut on the beach

12. School starting again

13. Riding my new bike around Salcajcá -- Thanks Uncle Sam

I would love to hear what people back home are looking forward to.

Best Day Ever

A few days ago I went to bed feeling like hell. Apparently, when I get a fever I start acting strange and shivering speaking gibberishy Spanglish in my sleep. After a day of being kind of unconscious Kelly convinced me to go to the hospital to have a… well a poop sample analyzed.

Aside from having cramps, a head ache, fever and a mean case of the boom booms I was feeling fantastic! To make matters even better the microbus that we got on to go back home was jammed packed with people. Now for the average Guatemalan standing in a micro is no problem, but for giant gringos such as myself you have to be an armature contortion artist to fit. So there I was smushed between the huddle masses with my head crammed up against a handrail holding on to the sides of the seats trying not to fall over onto the other passengers.

I would like to say that I had my guard up and that security was the first thing on my mind, but it wasn’t. My true thoughts were probably closer to “Oh my god please stomach… Please cooperate!... Who smells like tamales… Please god let me find a restroom soon!!” So in all the hustle and bustle I barely noticed the group of guys get on the bus cramming in behind me. At the next stop the guys all got off the bus and I dove into a newly empty seat.

Then it dawned on me. Wallet! Crap! After checking I found I was right, the guys who got off lifted my wallet. Then the passenger next to me added insult to injury by saying “Those guys stole your wallet”. She said it like she was saying “Hey, can you pass the salt”? If I had the strength and the language ability I would have said something, but all that came out of my mouth was “yes they stole my wallet”.

Kelly was good enough to jump right up and cancel the bank cards and inform the officials. I made it home with an aching belly and a wounded ego excited to get back in bed, when the phone rang. The medical office informed me that I was feeling bad because I had a bacterial infection and not one but two types of amebas. So it was pretty much the best day ever.

First 45 Days

Sorry for the delay with the new posts. We have been “Adjusting” to life here in the Peace Corps. With so many new things surrounding our lives we have found it hard to find time to post.

We have been in site now for about 45 days. In this time we have been consolidated twice for Hurricane Dean and Felix. I would have written about them if they had been more exciting, but they did not really affect us up here in the Altoplano. These events turned into social gatherings where we had a great opportunity to meet our fellow Volunteers and spend some real quality time doing all the things that Volunteers love to do (I’ll leave that to your imagination).

In between consolidations we had an opportunity to go to Panajachel and see Lago Atitlan. It is one of the most breathtaking places that I have seen here in Guatemala. We meet up with casi everyone from our training group to celebrate Marissa Lopez’s birthday. For all those who want to come visit the Lake will have to be on your itinerary.
We have also started working in our jobs. Kelly is working for Coop San Luis. She has started with an inventory project and is working to help them improve their computer skills and systems. Kelly also has a secondary project. She along with the infamous Marissa (our casi site-mate/hija) are working with a women’s group and are going to start a medicinal garden project.

I have been working in INEBOA or National Basic (middle school) Institute with an Orientation in Agriculture. I have started to teach a class here and there, but I am trying to figure out how I can best help the school. I am also working in the administration trying to build a database. If anyone has ideas about projects, let me know.

Hopefully as we get to know more people and how things work around here we will have more to report. We will also post more photos soon.