¡Feliz Navidad!
Yet again, I have waited toooo loooong to write..But this might be the last post until mid-January! I have quite a month coming up…First, I´m heading to Nicaragua with three other volunteers for both Christmas and New Year´s. We are taking a bus all the way from Guatemala City to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It´s ´supposedly´a 15 hour bus ride…but with three border crossings, I have a feeling that it will be more. Fortunately, it´s not a chicken bus, but a quality greyhound…which ended up being extremely cheap. The four of us will be in San Juan del Sur (right on the Pacific) for Christmas, then we are heading to the Isla de Ometepe for some serious hiking of a volcano (8 or 9 hour hike), and then it´s off to Granada (right on the Lake of Nicaragua) to ring in the New Year! After this pretty tight itinerary, I will be back in Guatemala for only about three days before flying to the U.S. to see all you peeps!So let me fill you in on the past month or so…First of all, my birthday and Thanksgiving were a success. I had about 25 volunteers stuffed into my house, and it felt like I was living at Murrayhill again because I had some major clean-up the next morning! The turkey was exceptional, and we had all the other fixins…mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, yams, cranberries, green beans, etc (all thanks to a package from my mom!) We started cooking around 10 in the morning and didn´t end up eating until around 4 in the afternoon….we were waiting on the lady who stuffed and cooked the turkeys. A local bakery let us use their oven so we could make the various casseroles. It really felt like Thanksgiving! Towards the end of the night, we celebrated my birthday with some local liquor and I dressed the part in my princess tiara and mound of beads (thanks Rach – we also decorated my house with your streamers and balloons!) And bless their hearts, I received some gifts from my previous host family here in Nahuala…a woven shawl, a pencil holder, and a little teddy bear.
Everyone left the next morning, except for two of my best buds, and naturally, my sitemate Eric. We did a hike that day, and then chilled with no power for most of the evening. On Saturday, Eric and I decided to check out our ´feria´. This is our town´s yearly, week-long celebration of Santa Catarina. I will try to describe it as best I can, but you really just have to be here to understand how crazy it is. The town center is filled with children’s rides, street vendors/food, a big ferris wheel (ruido de Chicago…don´t ask me why they call a ferris wheel this!), and stage after stage of marimba bands. Why they have four or five marimba bands playing at the same time right next to each other is beyond me! There were so many people that you literally had to fight your way through the crowds. Firecrackers were going off everywhere, regardless of whether a person was in the line of fire. Probably about 30 stalls were set up selling bread (the same kind of bread) right next to each other…now that´s competition…not sure how they even sell one thing. There was a procession that started from the church, went all through town, and then ended up right back where they started…while at the same time, a dirt bike race was trying to get through. The procession was pretty much just a parade of people walking, nothing really exciting except for the platform with the patron saint. The cantinas (bars) were completely full and rocking. Probably the most interesting aspect of the feria was the drunks dancing in front of the marimba bands! There was a large space left in front of the various stages so that people could dance…but the drunks took it over. Some were just passed out right in front, and others were attempting to dance right on top of the ones passed out or trying to play hopscotch over the firecrackers. It was a sight to see, and pretty pathetic!
Following the feria in Nahuala, I had to travel back to Santa Lucia, where the volunteer training center is located. My week was filled with meetings and Spanish classes (and my last shots of hepatitis!), and I stayed with my old host family in La Libertad. It was great to meet up with all the volunteers from my group after being separated from them only three months ago! And it was so nice to visit with the old family and spoil them with some of the gifts I have received from you all. Of course, they bawled when I left…(I think the 17 year old girl in the family is going to come stay with me in Nahuala one weekend in January…she has never really been more than 30 minutes from her home, so it should be interesting!)
To celebrate the end of the week and the return to our individual sites, we held a pig roast on the last day of training. I felt like I was back in NC…except that we played around and tried to catch the pig in the yard on Friday, and then we put him over the fire on Saturday. Also, we were not very civilized…but what does that really mean here?....when we took him off the fire, put him on the ground, and then just picked at him for hours. It was quite a spectacle. I actually think the Guatemalans thought we were crazy! Of course, we were also drinking Coco Locos (straight rum out of actual coconuts)…so that might have had something to do with it!
Once I returned to Nahuala, I encountered my first real ´fuerte´ earthquake. It was a 5.3! I was taking a nap when it happened, and I literally jumped out of my bed. Everything shook, everything in my kitchen came crashing down, and you could hear people scrambling to get out of their houses. Unfortunately, the buildings here are not sturdy enough, even the door frames, so it´s not smart to stay inside. Let´s hope we don´t have another one anytime soon cause I live on the second floor!
This past week, Nahuala celebrated the inauguration of a new market in the center of town. The local government (with the help of the national government) constructed a two-story building to house all of the vendors that currently sell right in the middle of the streets. Our big market days are Thursday and Sunday, and it´s impossible to ride through town because the streets are crammed with vendors from all over the area. Well, funny thing…the mayor inaugurated the building on Wednesday, and then Thursday´s market day rolled around, and the building stood completely empty and the streets were the same as always. I think it might just take awhile to get the people to change! (Another note on this inauguration was that it was filled with political propaganda, both for the mayor and the Guatemalan president. Evidently, the president of Guatemala was supposed to give a speech on this day, but his helicopter was not able to land because it´s always so windy in Nahuala!)
Last night, I participated in a national holiday called Noche de Diablo, Night of the Devil. After night falls, everyone in town brings out their trash or things that clutter their life/household, and burns them in the street. It signifies getting the devil out of your house for the New Year. So we (the little girls that live in my house and I) took my trash out to the street and watched it burn to ashes. We then lighted sparklers, and watched others set off firecrackers (and then more firecrackers, and then more firecrackers). Volunteers were warned to stay in their houses this night because a lot of times these festivities can get out of hand…with kids burning things, setting off explosives, and other types of tricks. But nothing too crazy happened in Nahuala!
For the next couple of weeks I will be organizing and promoting a ´Toys for Tots´ in Guatemala. Since there are still so many families that are feeling the effects of the hurricane last year, the toy drive will help to distribute Christmas presents for the kids living in these sheltered communities. Along with the radio, I will be visiting around 6 or 7 communities to collect gifts or donations. Hopefully it will be a success!
I will also be doing some fund-raising while I am on vacation in the U.S. The radio is in dire need for funds to buy a new transmitter. Without this piece of equipment, however, they will not be able to exist. . And the success and ability to run the radio directly affects the welfare of all communities in our region because it is the cheapest and most popular form of communication and education in Guatemala. They have an annual operating budget of approximately $28,000, and at the present time, through community, country, and external support, we are able to realize only about 30% of these expenses. If anyone is interested in learning more about Nawal Estereo and becoming involved with this special project, please please please contact me while I am in the U.S!
And finally, a special news update this week in Guatemala: Yet another national bank is expected to shut its doors within the New Year. Last month, one of the biggest banks in Guatemala was forced to close down, and now we have one more that´s in line. Supposedly, these banks are only allowed to own 5% of offshore accounts….but, in actuality, it´s about 80%! Scary! Just glad my money isn´t in one of them…
Also, just a quick THANKS for all of my birthday wishes! Was so nice to hear from so many of ya´ll! Appreciate the thoughts;)
Love,
Carin
posted by Carin Robinson @ 8:58 AM
