Coban y Acatenango
Last week, I traveled to Coban for our second field-based training. We left on Sunday since the trip takes about four hours. We stayed in probably one of the filthiest hotels I have ever stayed at…. which says a lot considering that I have stayed in some pretty bad ones before. Not only did our room have termites, but we also woke up each morning to brand new bites. And here I thought I had gotten used to cold showers, but I think the water at this hotel was straight from a mountain glacier. Even so, we had the whole hotel to ourselves, so we were able to have a little fun during the evenings over a couple of Gallos (the most popular Guatemalan beer – which coincidentally translates to the most annoying animal here, the notorious rooster).
So we were divided into three groups and then sent to our assigned schools on Monday morning. We were given a sixth grade class with 43 students. Each morning (Monday through Friday) we taught a different ‘charla’ or lesson, each one based on basic business concepts. I am pretty impressed with the curriculum that we use - and even more so, that the students were able to understand the material… I know that when I was in sixth grade, I didn’t know what the 4 P’s of marketing were, the definition of overhead, or how to create a budget. Towards the end of each class, we would teach them a couple of words in English – and the very next day, as soon as we walked in the door, they would start yelling out ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Hello’ or ‘My name is’. One thing that cracks me up about kids here is that they LOVE to hear their own name translated to English. They think it’s the funniest thing, and they will ask you to repeat it over and over again. At the end of the week, we were showered with hand-made gifts and cards and about a dozen or so hugs from each of the students. One of the little girls in the class gave me a little box with neon-green earrings inside. And most of the cards I received were written for the teacher that was ‘mas alta’– which translates to the ‘tallest’ teacher!
During each of the afternoons, we visited other business volunteers in the area and their respective organizations or cooperatives. On Monday, we visited a volunteer that is currently working with a women’s weaving cooperative. The cooperative was actually started by the European Union about five years ago, but once the organization was set up and the funds were administered, the EU decided their work was done. The cooperative eventually disintegrated which is why a volunteer was sent to try and help out. This is a common theme here…. lots of NGOs or international organizations funnel in the money but do nothing to create sustainable development.
On Tuesday, we went to visit a volunteer that is working in one of the most remote sites in Guatemala – a coffee cooperative literally in the middle of nowhere. Coban is known for its coffee and cardamom– which interestingly all started when German immigrants moved in and founded vast coffee ‘fincas’ or plantations in the area. Even though coffee is extremely important to this country’s export trade, Guatemala is the world’s largest exporter of the spice cardamom – which is one of the most sought after ingredients to add to coffee. I also found out that Saudi Arabia actually purchases about 80% of the world supply. The best part of the presentation included a free cup of coffee straight from the fields! We also got to visit the volunteer’s dwelling – which was basically a small wooden box. When she first moved to her site, she didn’t have running water for four months, and until recently she had no electricity. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will not get a site that far out!!
We then visited an Eco-Tourism volunteer on Wednesday – who is working for Proyecto EcoQuetzal – an organization that is actually listed in Lonely Planet. They provide ‘ethnotourism’ trips that include guided hikes through nearby cloud forests and accommodation with local Mayan families – and most importantly, the chance to see the national bird, or quetzal (for which the national currency is named). I think I might just have to take one of these hikes while I am down here!
And finally, on Thursday we visited the Caves of Chicoy. These caves are not considered on the ‘tourist track’ – mainly because they are still used today for local Mayan ceremonies. We hiked down to the bottom and were able to observe some of the offerings that were left behind – dolls, candles, liquor bottles, etc. Evidently, there are cave systems all over Guatemala with visible Mayan drawings.
As for this past weekend, I headed to Acatenango to visit my college friend, Mary Liz, who has been a volunteer here for over a year. Acatenango is a town right at the base of both Volcan Acatenango and Volcan Fuego (about two hours south from Antigua). Acatenango is the taller of the two – and supposedly you can look down into Fuego’s summit from the very top. I would say it’s pretty unsafe to hike Fuego – since there has been recent activity and many of the local experts think that it’s going to erupt in 2006! Mary Liz seems to enjoy counting down the days…Unfortunately; we didn’t get to do much hiking since it rained the entire weekend. I arrived on Saturday just in time to see the Argentina/Mexico soccer game and then we just hung out at her place and went to the local market on Sunday. Gringos still seem to be a huge novelty in her town – so we definitely received a good deal of attention…you can’t help but notice that everyone is staring you up and down when you walk down the street. Then it was back on the ‘chicken bus’ for a two-hour exhilarating ride through the mountains in order to get back to my house!
The rainfall here has been absolutely crazy – especially since the rainy season has just begun! Many people here are worried about the level of water that has accumulated in such a short period of time. This concern stems from the lack of proper infrastructure…a couple of the highways have already fallen through in the past couple of weeks. In addition, a lot of the towns are poorly situated on the sides of a mountain with houses that have no roots to hold onto. (Unfortunately, this was exactly what happened to a town near Lake Atitlan last November during Hurricane Stan. The whole town was washed away by a mudslide and nearly 1,000 people were buried underneath.) This past weekend, we were planning to go to the beach, but evidently they evacuated the whole coast because of huge waves that are causing major deformation of the shoreline. Luckily, I met a volunteer that is located at the very southern tip of the country – so hopefully we will be able to go visit him soon and surf in the Pacific!
My classes this week have been both interesting and unique…. On Monday, I learned steps to most of the traditional dances here in Guatemala (mainly Salsa, Meringue, and Marimba). And then on Tuesday, a US ex-army ranger came to teach us self-defense. Some curriculum huh!
This week is a huge week for me!!! I find out tomorrow where I will be living for the next two years – and then I will go visit the actual site on Tuesday to meet my counterpart. This Friday is a Guatemalan holiday – ‘Army Day’ – so no one has to work on Friday, but we, the Americans, still have class. However, the U.S. Marines are throwing us a huge July 4th party on Saturday at the U.S. Marine house in Guatemala City – and we know how much I love men in uniforms:) I will also get to meet other volunteers across Guatemala that currently live near my future site!
Also, I finally received my first packages in the mail (Thanks Mom!!). So, even though it does take awhile (over a month or so), I do actually receive them. The kids loved the toys and it was so nice to be able to give them something special. They are so grateful for anything that comes their way!
Until next week...
Love,
Carin
Feliz Dia del Padre
First off this week – my host family is terrified that I am going to leave them (since four volunteers have already moved out of my town). I think that I provide a large chunk of their income, so they are doing everything they can to make sure that I stay. So on a daily basis, I am faced with the same questions: ‘Are you happy here? Do you need anything? Do you like the food? Do you have bed bugs?’ etc. It’s starting to get a little annoying, but they are the kindest people you will ever meet.
On Monday, I had a Spanish interview with one of our teachers in order to see how I am progressing in Spanish and where I need to be before the end of training. I’ve moved up three levels since I’ve been here – so I only have two more to go! My confidence is definitely higher than before – which enables me to talk more without feeling embarrassed. I still have a LOONNNG way to go though…
As a part of this month’s training, we have been instructed to seek out a local entrepreneur, do a diagnostic, and then provide recommendations or suggestions on improving their business. I decided to pair up with a lady that houses volunteers every training cycle – and who just opened a salon/spa about two months ago in the same town where I have my classes everyday. Just to give you an idea on how businesses are run here, I’m gonna break it down for ya…1) She doesn’t do any kind of record-keeping – she says that it’s all in ‘her head’. However, she has no clue if she is making a profit. I have a feeling that her costs outweigh what she is bringing in…but we won’t know until we start tracking them. 2) There really isn’t a market for her services…except for maybe the Gringos in town. She owns a salon in an extremely poor town and she hasn’t had a client in ten days…. makes you wonder what she was thinking when she decided to go into business. 3) There is absolutely no way a normal person walking by her store would even know that it’s a salon. She doesn’t even have a sign out front. It’s amazing how simple marketing concepts can go such a long way here… 4) There’s no such thing as fixed prices – she charges each person completely different amounts depending on the day and how she feels.
So I ended up visiting her this week, and in order to build up some ‘confianza’, I got my hair cut and colored – which by the way, turned out really nice and only cost about 2 US bucks. During this time, the owner shared with me some of her problems in running the business. What’s sad is that her main problem is pretty darn difficult to solve – and that’s the lack of WATER. I’m not sure if I shared this in a previous post, but the availability of water is pretty scarce. For example, I know that if I don’t get up early in the morning and take a shower, I won’t be able to take one for the remainder of the day. The water does not run from around 8 or 9 in the morning until around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. So needless to say, the shortage is detrimental to a salon/spa that needs water in order to provide its services. I have to admit, this is one problem that I’m not really sure how to bypass. Anyways, a second trouble that she is having is that her business takes time away from her home and children. Now this I find a little bit humorous, mainly because most businesses here in Guatemala are actually connected to the owners’ house. Every time I have been to visit her, 3 or 4 kids are running around inside the store. And most days when I visit, she doesn’t even have the salon door open, so I have to knock on the door to her house. So it’s interesting to note what she thinks her biggest problems are and what I have been able to observe. In mid-July, I will have to write a report for her and my trainer and present my findings to the class.
On Thursday of this week, my friend Cecelia threw a ‘Pizza Party’ at her host families’ house for all of the volunteers. We ordered pizzas from Domino’s (which is considered a luxury here) and I thought I was in absolute heaven! I didn’t realize how much I missed American food…
This weekend is a special weekend in Guatemala because of two separate holidays. On Saturday, we have the ‘Dia del Padre’ – or Father’s Day. This is pretty much treated the same way as in the U.S. Then we have Corpus Christi on Sunday – or the ‘Rising of Christ’. I will not be in town to see this – but evidently there is a huge parade that goes through the town and ends at the church. There is supposedly a ‘discoteca’ or dance that will take place tonight in the center of town to start off the festivities. I have a feeling it won’t get too crazy…
Next week is our second field-based training, so we will be leaving tomorrow for Coban – a town that’s in central Guatemala (about four hours from Antigua). We will be staying in a hostel all week, and will be visiting not only current volunteers but also different NGOs and host agencies in Guatemala that we will be partnering with during our time here. We are also going to be teaching in the local schools each morning. We have been given supplies for teaching the ‘Fundamentals of Business’ and will be giving a different presentation each day to a group of 6th graders. Luckily, kids are a pretty easy audience since they don’t really care if you mess up on your Spanish!
Education here in Guatemala is very different from the U.S. The majority of students do not go to school after the 6th grade. A student that finishes high school is considered extremely exceptional. After the 6th grade, most kids will work in the home or work in the fields with their families. Our volunteer group gave a presentation to the local school on Friday that was centered on the theme of ‘Planning your Future’ – basically looking at ‘Mi Presente y Mi Futuro’. We found that this is one of the most effective lessons in the schools – to get students to think about where they want to go in life and what they have to do to get there. Opportunities are not just handed over to them like we are used to in the US; if they want further education, they have to gain both the financial and emotional support from their family – which seems pretty hard to come by here in Guatemala. In the US, we have been indoctrinated to follow our dreams because no dream is unattainable. But here, it’s almost like having a dream is futile and a complete waste of time – kids are taught to ‘settle’ for what they have and basically follow in their families’ footsteps.
Alright, I have one last random topic for this week. So I have been here for over a month now, and feel like I have integrated into the community pretty well. So much so, that I am now a part of the community ‘chisme’ – or gossip. Evidently, the women in my town are confounded by the idea that I am 26-years-old and single. It’s unheard of to be that old and not married here. Most women are married by the time they are 21. In addition, I mentioned to my host family that I would be living by myself once I moved to my new site – and they thought this was absolutely crazy! Again, it’s unheard of for a woman to live all alone. The gender roles in Guatemala are VERY different than in the U.S. and much more defined. Women are expected to stay at home, raise the kids, and be at the husband’s beck and call – they have learned to be subservient and silent next to the man. This is most evident when a man just walks into a room…. all the women will cease talking and cower into the corner – It’s like they have been taught to be neither seen nor heard. The ‘machismo’ in this country only enforces these roles. While eating dinner the other night, my host dad asked me what I did in the U.S. before I came to Guatemala. So I explained my previous job to him and some of the things that I had worked on. Yet, he kept coming back to the same point - ‘So you worked as a secretary!’ I really don’t think he was able to comprehend that a woman could be anything else BUT a secretary. I guess this will just prove to be one obstacle I will have to overcome out in the field – especially if I am working with all men. On second thought, instead of small business development, maybe I should just work for the empowerment of women during my two years here:)
Until next week...
Much love,
Carin
Photos from Lake Atitlan
http://www2.snapfish.com/share/p=279161150470015586/l=104394837/g=50536731/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALBCheck out the link above to view some photos from our trip to Lake Atitlan! Sorry for the lack of captions - but it took me about 2 hours just to upload the photos...
Enjoy:)
Tengo 'Gripe'
After this week, I have decided that it’s going to be pretty impossible to stay ‘healthy’ while living here. If it’s not stomach issues (due to the parasite-infested water or uncooked meat covered with flies) then it’s ‘gripe’ – which basically translates to an extremely bad cold. My whole town – including myself – seems to have caught the same thing….which basically stems from walking in the pouring-down rain 2 hours a day for five days in a row and not having any dry clothes (or shoes) to wear. I washed my clothes in the ‘pila’ – our outside sink – on Sunday, and unfortunately, none of them have dried out because of our daily ‘bucket baths’. And then to top it all off, all of the clothes I wore this week are completely wet from ‘swimming’ upstream to get back to my house. So, for anyone that plans to come visit me while I am here, try not to make your travel plans during June – September…you might regret it; )
I must say though – I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else after this past weekend. As some of you know (alright, mainly my brother Brian), World Cup games started on Friday – and this country has gone absolutely crazy!! Guatemala isn’t even in it, but these people are addicted to ‘futbol’. The next month should be pretty funny – because basically everything shuts down during the games and people stay in their houses glued to the television. In fact, my Spanish teacher actually stopped our class on both Friday and Saturday, so that we could watch the Germany/Costa Rica, El Salvador/Poland, and England/Paraguay games. Crazy!! In addition to watching it on tv, the men in my town hold a soccer match in the street almost everyday.
But aside from World Cup, a couple of volunteers and I went to Guatemala City today to see two Guatemalan teams play – Guatemala City and San Marcos. It was the championship game – and thankfully Guatemala City won, because the whole stadium was filled with Guatemala City fans. It was a pretty interesting experience – and needless to say, we were the only GRINGOS there. We waited in line for tickets for over an hour – in a complete mob of red and white (Guatemala City’s colors). It was scorching hot and we all got fried. Once we finally got into the stadium, we discovered that they pack people in just like the ‘chicken buses’. There were fans sitting or standing anywhere they could find space, people selling all kinds of street food and drinks, and men singing team chants for two hours straight. There were also multiple fights out on the field between the two teams – and it’s the first soccer match I have ever been to, that they had police with huge rifles stationed on both sides of the field.
Yesterday, I went to Antigua yet again. This is the most popular spot for volunteers to hang out on the weekends and to get away from our host families for a little while. There are definitely a lot of ‘gringo’ hangouts – and we have made one particular place our home away from home – it’s called Mono Loco (the Crazy Monkey) and it’s a great place for a cold beer and yummy nachos.
Several of you have sent me emails asking about the other volunteers in my group. I spend most of my time with the other 8 business development volunteers – however, there are 21 other folks that are going through training right now too – but they are in what’s called ‘Appropriate Technology’ and they are here to help put in water systems and build family stoves. As for my biz dev group, there are 4 guys and 4 girls – and we have all become extremely close in one month. One girl is from Wilmington and one guy went to Duke – which I thought was pretty crazy! Everyone lives in a different town from me – except for this guy named J.P. who lives right next door. Needless to say, we hang out a lot since there’s not much to do in my town. Then there’s Olivia who I have Spanish with everyday – our personalities are very much alike and we definitely have a lot of fun together!! Also there’s Jim – who is the most happy-go-lucky person I have ever met in my life. And finally there’s Kara, who has become my ‘Carly’ or Rach’ – but sadly, she moved out of my town this week…which brings me to another subject.
There were six volunteers that were placed in my town – and three of them have moved out of their host families in the past week and moved to another town. One moved out because of bed bugs and just general hygiene issues, another moved out because he was continuously sick from the food, and the other moved out because she didn’t have a door for her bedroom (it was just a part of the family room). So, I guess I can say that I have been blessed – because my host family is great and my living conditions are par compared to the others. Now there are only three of us – and I am hoping that no one else decides to leave because it could get quite lonely. Of course, I guess I should look at it as ‘practice’ for what it’s gonna be like once I get to my actual site…
I also had my second Spanish presentation this past week – 30 minutes of trying to teach a local group of entrepreneurs about record keeping and costs/expenses. I think it actually went pretty well – but I prepared a lot of things beforehand. I wrote out a role-play and asked two volunteers to act it out to the rest of the group – and then I also wrote out a scenario in which I had them break out into groups and practice the calculations on their own. So overall, I didn’t have to talk continuously for 30 minutes, thank god!
Friday, our small business development group went to a town called Oratorio – in the southeastern part of Guatemala, right near the border to El Salvador. We went to visit a current volunteer that is working with a Savings and Loan cooperative there. He has been in-country for about 10 months – and has had a slightly frustrating experience with his counterpart. Most organizations here are very resistant to change – and are terrified of technology. The volunteer has tried to introduce several new business processes and short-cuts – but the manager refuses to trust him or just prefers the way things have always been done. Probably the biggest lesson I have learned over the past month is that I am going to have to build major ‘confianza’ with the business that I work with – before I will be able to get anything done…which could take months or even years for that matter.
Which brings me to my next topic – which is what kinds of businesses or organizations will I be working with once I get to my site. The head of our program came to talk to us this week about the possibilities and what was available – however, she didn’t share where these sites were located (which we are all dying to know!). Once we have had time to review them, we will be meeting with her to discuss which ones we think would be a good ‘fit’ – that sounds a lot like consulting lingo, doesn’t it! Anyways, there are a couple that I am really interested in – 1) an agriculture cooperative that exports vegetables 2) a credit cooperative that needs help tracking savings and credit 3) the National Forestry Institute which needs help in the development of economic models, market studies, and financial statements 4) and then a company that produces environmental shampoos, medicines, soaps – that needs help in finding new markets and promotion of their products. A couple of them have certain requirements – like learning a Mayan language, knowledge of cooperatives, or certain computer/software skills. I should find out in another month where I am going to be placed – but right now, it’s all up in the air. However, they did pull out all volunteers in the eastern part of the country (and in some parts of the south) due to problems with drug trafficking – so this means I will probably be in the western or northern part of the country!
One disturbing thing that happened this past week – the governor of Solola (the town that I went to visit the week before) was assassinated in Guatemala City. This is the third political assassination in the last three months. The next presidential election is in 2007 – and folks are already starting to talk about it and show support for particular nominees. We have been warned that we might start seeing a lot of protests pretty soon – particularly roadblocks on the main highways. You have to remember that this is only their third election since the civil war ended in 1996…
Well, it’s almost bedtime so I’m going to wrap this one up! By the way, if I had to name one thing here that I could not live without – I would have to say it’s my earplugs. Whoever thinks that roosters only make noise at dawn – is completely WRONG! I have roosters outside of my window every single night – and they start their yapping at around 1 in the morning. Also, firecrackers are VERY popular here. Supposedly people only let them off when it’s someone’s birthday or a religious festival…but I am beginning to question that since there seems to be firecrackers every morning, anywhere from 1 to 4 a.m. The first time I heard them – I immediately thought they were gunshots!! I have grown quite accustomed to them though – I don’t even wake up anymore…
Buenas noches,
Carin
Lake Atitlan y Panajachel
Alright, I’m gonna go ahead and warn you…this might be a long blog. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote, so I will try to keep it entertaining…
This past week was our first field-based training – which means that all the small business development volunteers got to travel to different towns around Guatemala to visit other volunteers and check out what they are doing. There are only 8 small business development volunteers (including me) – and then our business teacher and one Spanish teacher also tagged along for the trip. Our first stop was a town called Solola (which I think is my favorite town to say in Spanish). Most people in this town speak Kaqchiquel (which is nothing like Spanish). There are approximately 20 separate Mayan languages spoken in different regions of the country – and though many Mayans speak some Spanish, it’s always a second language to them – and there are many who don’t speak any Spanish at all. ANYWAYS, during our visit, we met with a volunteer that currently works at an organization called AYNLA (Ayudense y Nosotros les Ayudaremos) – which translates to ‘Help us to Help you’. This organization was created to help small business entrepreneurs in some of the more indigenous towns in Guatemala get loans to help sustain their businesses. These are companies or small entrepreneurs that are not able to secure loans through the federal government because they are just too small, don’t make enough profit, don’t have any credit, and can’t pay back the loans in the allotted time. AYNLA is supported by many international organizations (mostly from Europe) and they help about 600 different entrepreneurs in the highland regions (i.e. the poorer regions). Most of these entrepreneurs are in the handicraft business – weaving, carpentry, and local artisans. After learning about this organization’s loan process and also the different criteria and requirements involved, we headed to Panajachel to spend the night in a hotel. Panajachel is a hippie’s paradise – a very laid-back lakeside town. It has one very long street that is filled with bars, restaurants, and local vendors selling all kinds of handicrafts. If you keep walking straight, you end up right on the shores of Lake Atitlan. Lake Atitlan was formed by an earthquake – and is surrounded by three very large volcanoes (not active today). The lake is clear blue with pretty rough waters, and the volcanoes provide an awesome backdrop! This is a VERY touristy area with lots of gringos…but boy what a fun town!!).
Next day, our group traveled to Nahuala to visit two more volunteers and do some of our own ‘business consulting’. We were asked to divide ourselves into groups of 3 (me and my two amigas, Olivia and Cecelia) and then we were given a local business to go interview and do a kind of ‘business diagnostics’ for them. We were assigned an organization called ‘Maya Tech Learning Centers, Inc’ (www.mayatechlc.org). This is a nonprofit company that provides computer technology and education to under-developed communities in Guatemala. The office in Nahuala has a community computer lab open to the public and offers classes in computer technology for various levels. It’s also set-up as an internet café – but they are really trying to facilitate and promote youth education and leadership development through their classes, youth activities, and youth library. It’s important for them to maintain their ‘non-profit’ status in order to receive a grant from the government – otherwise, they won’t be able to remain in business due to competition with other internet cafes. We spent a couple of hours with the owner of the company and provided him with some of our thoughts and suggestions for improving his business – we are finding that most organizations/companies down here are really just lacking basic marketing and accounting principles – things that are common sense to us – but are foreign here. We ended up getting the guy’s phone number before we left so that maybe we can help him more once we find out where are sites are going to be. (Also, as a side-note, this area was hit heavily by Hurrican Stan last year – so many of the roads had fallen through, and many of the businesses and homes were washed away. The damage is still pretty evident…)
On Wednesday, our same group went to visit a local weaver that is a client of the organization I mentioned earlier (ANYLA). He receives a loan of about 3500 quetzales per month (which is only about 500 bucks per month). He makes the traditional Mayan traje (or dress) to sell in the local markets. He has a huge loom that he makes these garments on (which usually takes a day and a half to complete one garment). There are several women in his family that also make these garments – but they do it by hand and it takes them approximately 5 days to do just one. They use a backstrap loom – which is fixed to a tree or a post and then attached to a strap that goes behind the weaver’s lower back for support. These garments are really seen more as pieces of art and expressions of the Mayan culture – with extremely detailed weaving and embroidery that identifies the village from which you are from – (this started during the Spanish conquest when each village was given a different design in order to distinguish where people were from). It was really neat to see how these are made – since we see them all over Guatemala! But we learned that he makes very little money off of this trade – only about 7 bucks per garment and he only sells 6 or 7 garments per week. This would be okay I guess if he was only paying himself – but he also employs three others. However, he sells everything he has each week even though these garments are fairly expensive (375 – 425 quetzales or 60 to 80 bucks) – at least for Guatemalan standards. But I guess one garment will last you a lifetime...I think I might just have to buy one!
During the afternoon of the same day, we went to a small aldea outside of Solula to visit a school where one of the current volunteers teaches English as a secondary project. Each of us was assigned two students from the class in order to speak English with them and get them to practice what they know. Afterwards, they put on a couple of skits and traditional dances for our entertainment. A couple of us got our cameras out to take pictures – which turned into a complete spectacle! These kids LOVE cameras – so we spent the next thirty minutes taking pictures of them over and over. And they had to have their picture taken with each of us since we are sort of a novelty here….especially blondes..haha! Every little kid wanted their picture taken with the tall blonde – not sure why I was so popular but I ate it up!
Day 4 was probably the most fun day of all – our group headed to Santiago Atitlan. Instead of the traditional chicken bus, we took a boat from Panajachel to Santiago Atitlan, crossing Lake Atitlan. The boat ride took about an hour on a little dingy. We visited a couple of local artisans – one who was a carpenter that creates these really luxurious doors made out of cedar and etched with different Mayan symbols – extremely tedious work and he only uses about four different tools and a large stone to pound with. But the main attraction here in this town is the notorious Maximon – a famous deity known all over the highlands. It’s basically a wooden figure draped in silk scarves and he smokes a fat cigar. Each year he changes houses (normally a member of the town’s catholic church). Locals guard him, singing and managing the different offerings. Most offerings are cigarettes, rum, or firewater – mostly for people that are trying to kick these addictions. You can also light different colored candles for good health, tranquility, a profitable business, revenge to your enemies/curse, love, etc. It’s a funny thing to witness– but word of advice if you ever visit – No laughing!! This is something the locals truly believe in and worship…
Santiago Atitlan also has quite a sad history…During the civil war, this town had a lot of guerrillas in the area. Their presence lead to many killings and disappearances at the hands of the Guatemalan government. But this town was actually the first in Guatemala to expel the army after a brutal massacre in the town square in 1990. There are several monuments around town to commemorate the lives lost and the organizations that helped in the rebuilding of the town following the civil war.
Next on the itinerary was a fun night out on the town in Panajachel! The eight in our group all went to a local dance club and spent the whole night attempting salsa and meringue. I quickly discovered that if you have a good partner, you look good yourself – so I think I will stick to dancing with the Guatemalans instead of the gringos. They really know how to dance!! (P.S. My host-mom said she was going to teach me some dance moves this week so I will keep you posted!)
Alright, I’m almost to the end of our trip…Friday, we went to visit an Eco-tourism volunteer at a nature reserve near Panajachel. Even though she’s not a small business volunteer, she does a lot of marketing for her organization in order to attract both tourists and Guatemalans looking for recreational activities up in the mountains. We ended up hiking through the forest there and ate a nice ‘all-organic’ lunch – and then hopped on the bus for our trek back home! Obviously, it was a LONG week – but a lot of fun!! ….Well, I kinda forgot to mention that I was actually sick most of the week…I ate something bad I guess, and I paid for it dearly. I’m feeling much better now though!
As for this weekend, I have to share two more stories and then I am done…
Yesterday, I went to Antigua for a couple of hours to see my friend Heather (she is a volunteer in Panama and is visiting Guatemala for the week.) I went with three others from my volunteer group – and we ended up catching the VERY last chicken bus back to our respective hometowns. It was the craziest ride! (Maybe I shouldn’t be sharing this with my mom…) The three of us were the last to get on – and I am not kidding when I say that we were literally hanging out the door of the bus. This probably would have been okay if there weren’t winding curves the whole way back. We were holding onto each other for dear life! The door was wide open – and all I could foresee was us falling right out…No worries mom…
And my last story for this week is just a little bit disturbing – and probably one that I will delve into in my next blog. Last night after dinner with my host-family, a woman ran into our house telling my host-mom to come quickly. I had no clue what was going on – but I knew something bad had happened. The whole family began to run around and I could hear lots of noise out on the street. Evidently, my host-mom’s brother was badly injured in a neighboring town, right in the middle of the street – a couple of men cut up his face and head with a machete. My host-mom was at the hospital all-night long – but it sounds like he is going to be okay. This evidently happened to him before back in November – when his stomach was sliced open with a knife. During both occurrences, he was extremely drunk. This brings me to two points: 1) Alcoholism is a HUGE problem here. A large majority of men here work only so that they can buy alcohol – and they are perpetually drunk (very sloppy)…not once or twice a week, but every single day. You see men passed out on the streets everywhere – normally right in the middle of the day. For some reason, Sundays are the worst. There is a type of liquor here called ‘kusha’ (not sure if that´s how it´s spelled) and it’s very cheap (less than one US buck) and it can supposedly get someone drunk after only a couple of sips. 2) What scared me the most was how the whole situation was treated – like it was just a normal everyday occurrence. The two small kids in the family were so calm, and seemed to be almost enthralled by the action. My host-dad didn’t even bother to leave the house – just kept saying it was this dude’s own fault because he drinks too much. And this morning, the whole thing wasn’t even brought up – it’s like it was already forgotten. This type of response only enforces the fact that this kind of violence is still so normal in everyday Guatemala. But I will get into this topic at a later time since it could take up a couple of pages – it has a lot to do with the government here in Guatemala and the public’s general distrust – which inevitably means locals taking the law into their own hands..
Until next week!
Love,
Carin
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Out of Town...
Thanks for all the comments, so glad to hear from everyone! I am actually out of town this week, on a field-based training near Lake Atitlan. We have visited a lot of companies and co-ops to give us a good idea of the kind of work we will be doing for two years....Very exciting!!! I promise to post something sometime this weekend when I return to the training center - along with pics if I can ever upload them...
Have a great week! (Neena, I am using all these exclamation points just for you..haha)
Love
carin
