A Few Important Things

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2009/09/10/child-mortality-unicef.html

The rate at which children under five are dying continued to fall in 2008, but 99 per cent of these child deaths still occur in poor countries, according to a paper released on Thursday.

Based on estimated mortality rates, the number of child deaths declined to an estimated 8.8 million last year from 12.5 million in 1990, when the Millennium Development Goals to reduce world poverty were set, UNICEF said.

So according to this news story, although tens of thousands of children continue to die every day of preventable causes every day-- 10,000 less die per day than they did 19 years ago. A reason to have hope and to keep fighting for social justice and human rights.


And also... the current situation unfolding in Honduras (where many of my friends here are supposed to be right now, but due to the border being closed they are not).



http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/29/honduras.president/index.html

After a coup in which the previous president, Zelaya, was ousted by the military and other government forces and an interim president (or dictator, depending on how you want to look at it) Micheletti was installed, there are still clashes and uprisings in this poor country. Now that Zelaya has snuck back in the country and is camping out in the Brazilian embassy, a controversial emergency decree limiting some freedoms in Honduras remained in place Tuesday, despite de facto President Roberto Micheletti's stated intention to repeal it.

The controversy over the decree, which limits constitutional rights such as freedoms of expression, travel and public congregation, became the latest obstacle toward a resolution between Micheletti and deposed President Jose Manuel Zelaya.

A Bunch of Random Stuff

Another beautiful day here in Antigua! The above is a picture I took near the little park close to our house. You can't really tell but that mountain-like thing in the background is actually a volcano! Usually you can't see the whole volcano because its partly obscured by the clouds.

Man do people here know how to party. Its seems like every day is a fiesta of some sort-- some Saint's day or some other excuse to party. Today there were loud and I mean LOUD firecrackers going off about every half hour, and I'm sure the bars will be full tonight. Sunday is the feast of St Francis and the husband of our "eating family" is making huge styrofoam images to carry through the streets during the processions. I remember when we first arrived on September 15 (their Independence Day) they had already been celebrating the whole weekend and then some-- by Tuesday, the actual day of Independence, they had practically worn themselves out. They really know how to have a good time.



Also, I cannot say enough good things about the food here. Maria-Elsa, the woman who makes our meals (for only $20 a week, I might add- what a steal) is an amazing cook. A typical meal is something like this: pollo (chicken), tortillas, rice, corn, frijoles (beans) and a lot of variety of vegetables. Really the big differences from American food is way way less carbs (its like being on the Atkins diet) and less meat, with more vegetables being served. The other day Maria-Elsa served a fried papaya, with was really interesting. They come up with all kinds of cool ways to cook their foods.

For lunch today we had:
fried cauliflower (doesn't sound good but it really really was deliscious)
rice
minced radish salad
tortillas (of course)
lemonade


And for dinner:
frijoles (me gusta muchoooooo)
little fried cakes of rice and cheese (they looked like hash browns-- delish)
toasted pieces of bread
sliced potatoes cooked in an Indian-esque kind of sauce
tea

SO GOOD! And much more healthy than I usually eat, I can tell because I'm feeling much more healthy in general.

This morning at work was frusterating because we're having a hard time finding foundations that are willing to fund our work here at Nuestros Ahijados. Hopefully we'll have better luck in the future but I'm definitely learning the hard way how tough stuff like this can be. But for tomorrow-- we get to stuff over 1,000 envelopes with newsletters for the donors back in Los Estados Unidos.

Return from Coban

We’re back from Coban! It was a very interesting weekend. We arranged our trip through the language school, which also runs tours on the weekend. There were 15 of us packed, and I do mean packed, into a small microbus for the 7 hour trip (instead of 3 hours, as we were told beforehand). Half of the group turned out to be Quebecois from Canada who barely spoke a word of English among them. Four girls were from Britain, and an older man and his Native American grandson from White Cloud, Kansas, also joined us. And of course there was our faithful driver Carlos, a Guatemalan. So as it turns out there was Canadian French, Spanish, British English, American English, and a Native American language being spoken this weekend. It was a very cultural and interesting mix.



My favorite part of trips like this is usually just looking out the window as we drive. I felt like we drove past the “real” Guatemala on our way from one tourist destination to another. The slums of Guatemala City are built on hills on the outskirts of towns, decrepit building on top of decrepit building, and the laundry fluttering on makeshift clotheslines the only real source of color in the bleak grey shanty towns. Driving through Guatemala City was actually not as scary as I was led to believe, however we probably purposefully took the safest roads to avoid going into places like Zone 1, which are practically owned by gangsters who contribute to Guat City having the highest homicide rate in Central America.

Out in the countryside we passed the typical horses (caballos), cows (vacas), and pigs (cerdos) grazing along or in the middle of the road. We saw many indigenous people wearing their tradition dress, and other interesting things, such as a whole family (husband, wife, pre-teen child, and tiny baby) all on the same motorcycle. There was a lot of poverty, but nothing compared to what we saw in Haiti.
In Coban we arrived just in time for dinner, had a nice “cena” with the Brits, and stayed in a hostel for the night. No spiders.



The next day we were up bright and early and went to visit the Lanquin caves—very humid and hot but definitely worth the hour long walk through them. Bats kept flying overhead and because of the echo their screeches were really loud! Later in the day we drove 2 hours into the middle of nowhere to visit Semuc Champey—arguably the most beautiful area of Guatemala.



Semuc Champey is basically a series of waterfalls in the middle of the jungle that empty into ponds on different levels. It is a really serene area and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of tourists when we were there. We got to go swimming for a bit in the cool waters and even jumped off of a mini-waterfall. The view of the mountains and jungle foliage was just amazing. Definitely worth the trek into the middle of the jungle.



On our way back from Semuc Champey walking to the “Eco Lodge” (aka hostel that was barely a step above camping out on the jungle floor), we met a ton of indigenous kids selling chocolates and other things (Guatemalans know how to play on the whole tourist thing) but unfortunately we had been instructed to bring no money so we couldn’t buy anything from them. One little girl wasn’t trying to sell us anything but she was carrying tortillas to another village, and she wanted to walk with us and chat. She was adorable—her name was Indara, she was 8 years old and was happy to talk about her family, her pink sandals, and other things.

At the “lodge” for the night we listened to a Marimba band and hung out talking, because they only turned the electricity on for two hours at night, and there really isn’t much to do in the dark—it was a taste of real Guatemalan life. Unfortunately, there was also a huge almost baby-tarantula like spider in our “room”—brown and furry and reallyyy creepy. The total count for the night amounted to 3 spiders, 2 cockroaches, a slug, and a scorpion.



(This is me in my "spider gear" (including my sweatpants tucked into socks) to protect myself from those evil, sneaky spiders)

Sunday we headed back to Antigua (now an 8 hour trip) but we also stopped to walk around a Biotepe preserve of the quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala which is on the endangered species list. Unfortunately we didn’t get to glimpse a quetzal, but the walk was beautiful and we took some great pictures of waterfalls and other scenery.






All in all, a great weekend—we got a glimpse of a lot of cultures just from the people on our trip! And I’m glad we journeyed a little bit outside of Antigua into a more typical Guatemalan area. Back to work and school now :)



James enjoys hammocks very much



Pretty waterfall



James Q-ing with his new favorite Brits

September 24

Hola everyone!

I'm just going to write a quick entry tonight because I'm exhaustedddd- its been a busy few days. Everything at work is going great-- La Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados has been amazing and so accomodating-- I'm working in the Grants Department as of right now, as an assistant to the one-woman team who puts grant proposals together. Its a lot to learn since I'm starting from scratch but I'm been browsing through "Grant Writing for Dummies" and its really interesting stuff. I'll write much more about it later.

I take a "tuk-tuk" to work every morning, and that in itself is an experience. I think they have them in India as well. They're three-wheeled "cabs" if you will, except they don't have doors and they have the motor-power of a scooter. For this it costs 10 quetzales (about equivalent to $1.25) all the way outside of town, so not too bad. The drivers are usually real nice and willing to chat when they can be heard over the clattering and shaking of the tuk tuk over the cobblestones.



Once at ANA I work in a glass-enclosed little casita in the middle of a garden outside of the main office, medical clinic, and school. There is a fountain right outside the door, flowers everywhere, and the sounds of the kids at recess nearby. Its wonderful! Every now and then a little kid pops his or her head in and chats with me for a little bit-- they're so adorable! Probably the best part of working there is being able to look around and see exactly what we're working for-- it makes it easy to articulate our vision for what Guatemala could be.

In the afternoons its another tuk-tuk ride back to la escuela, I pop on over to Maria-Elsa's for lunch and then start the 4 hour long lessons in the afternoon. My maestra, Helen, is amazing, we've gotten to be really good buddies and we basically just chat en espanol for 4 hours.

James & I are heading to Coban this weekend with a group from the school. There are waterfalls and limestone bridges and a park for quetzals (the national bird of Guatemala-- its quite colorful, just like the rest of the country). Pictures and stories from the weekend soon to come!

For Mis Amigos Who Speak Spanish

Porque mi maestra me quiere escribir más en español--

El primero dia en Nuestros Ahijados fue maravilloso. Fue grandioso ver a Victor y, claro, a Eddie también. Eventualmente yo voy a trabajor en la oficina con informes y otras cosas relaciondas con la organización y planificación. Pero por ahora yo estoy trabajando con niños desnutridos. Es muy difícil estar cerca de ellos porque me hacen sentir triste pero al mismo tiempo ser capaz de hacer sonreír a un niño que no sonreía antes es una sensación maravillosa.

Nuestros Ahijados es un grandiosa organización . Ellos ayudan a muchas personas aqui en Guatemala. Tienen proyectos de educación, de salud (física y mental-- porque al menos 60% de los niños estuvieron abusados), de construcción, y de desnutrición. Las personas quienes trabajan allí son maravillosas-- cariñosas y trabajadoras.

Mas fotos

Mas fotos!



The first is of the wonderful showerhead some of you know about, and I've been telling some of you others about-- it heats the water right before it comes out, and this is why it looks so scary. It basically boils water a few inches above your head, and the best part is that you can hear the crackle of the electricty above you as you're in their shampooing your hair or whatnot. And yes, that is duct tape that is covering the exposed electrical wires. But I have to say-- I'm just so so grateful we have hot water (most of the time)!!!

The second is of our backyard-- isn't it beautiful?

Here are some pics of my room at Delia's and also of the language school.

As I was publishing my last post about how there are no scary spiders here I was sitting outside in the garden where I can get internet, and a spider FELL ON ME. Not good.

September 21

Just a little note about some things I’ve learned about Guatemala so far. First of all, there are no huge scary big spiders here (at least in Antigua) so that is terrific news! Apparently they are mostly in the warmer more jungle-y spots such as the Petén (where I’ve been before, but without encountering a huge spider, thank God).

Culturally, Guatemalans are pretty conservative, at least compared to us. Most women wear super long skirts or, if they’re dressing more modernly, long pants only and conservative blouses. We were in the market yesterday and noticed another “gringa” walking past wearing short shorts. The Guatemalan guys (Chapins) turned to stare openly at her, their eyes almost popping out of their heads, and I have to admit she definitely did stand out in a culture where a woman’s body is never seen like that in public.

Guatemalans also are highly religious (although probably the least religious of the Central American countries). The church bells ring at 30 minutes before and 15 minutes before mass (and there are two masses at every church each day) to make it pretty much impossible for people to forget that they should be attending church that day. It is a big part of the culture here, and our homestay mom Delia had shrines to Mary and Jesus set up all over the house, with candles, holy water --the whole works. She even had a shrine to her dead husband-- it kind of freaked me out to be honest, but it is a very big part of the culture.

This religiosity spreads into other parts of life as well. They do not allow abortion here at any stage of the pregnancy unless there has been a rape or the mother’s life is in danger. This means that many babies are put up for adoption, because often the mother is only 13 or 14 years old. There are some “witch doctors” who offer a home-made abortion remedy for girls who really do not want to carry their baby -- it sounds like it is a plant or herb of some sort that causes the abortion of the fetus. This is a problem, however, because sometimes it causes too much bleeding and the girl bleeds to death. Lack of education in general, but specifically sex education, is a problem. My teacher brought up something I never would have thought of—a lot of these people live in very small villages, and there are only one or two stores in town that sell condoms. It is very difficult for a teenager or anyone else for that matter to buy condoms, because to do so they would have to go buy them from the store owners or cashiers who they know personally—which leads to embarrassment at the very least, and possibly to that person telling their parents what they had been buying at the local store.

In terms of marriage Guatemala is very divided between the indigenous Mayan people and the more “modern” people of Spanish descent. They Mayans often marry their girls off as young as age 12, and it is very common for 14 year old “wives” to be having babies. The man of the house is in charge, as this is a very “machisimo” society. Indigenous women most often stay at home and are the “alma de la casa”, which only adds to the inequality of the relationship because they are not allowed to help economically. More modern people have marriages and lives much like in the states, marrying in their mid-20s and women working outside the home. However, it is still evident in all levels of society here how much more power the men have in relationships as well as in economic terms.

Guatemala has a long history of violence and discrimination against its indigenous people, dating back to long before its 30 year US-backed civil war where the government sought to wipe them out along with the guerillas it was supposedly fighting. Now they are the poorest of the poor you see sleeping on the side of the road and begging in the streets. It is almost impossible for an indigenous person to get a job unless they agree not to wear their traditional dress (the beautiful and colorful rainbow weaving patterns you often associate with Guatemala) and they are looked down upon by most of society. In fact, the whiter your skin here, the “higher-class” you are supposed to be. Pretty much the same story as everywhere else in the world, unfortunately.

And for all my liberal friends out there—we have proof of global warming! It has really affected the climate here, causing the rainy season to be way out of whack. It has been much colder and not rained as much the past few years in central Guatemala, which means that farmers cannot produce good crops yields, many of them have had to leave for the cities, and the prices of fruits and vegetables grown here in Guatemala have gone way up. I’m fine with it not raining as much when I am here, however, as the rain tends to bring out the aranas (spiders).

These are some of the social problems that plague Guatemala, but all in all it is a wonderful and beautiful culture. The people here are very friendly and welcoming, and the society is laid back but not so laid back that their economy is stunted. There are social problems like everywhere else, obviously, but the country and its people are beautiful. Me gusta Guatemala.

September 19

What a few days I have had! Tuesday, after meeting James in the Miami airport, we flew to Guatemala City, where we arrived around 8:30 PM (they are two hours behind US time). Our driver from the school who was supposed to pick us up was not there when we walked outside the airport after picking up our bags, even though we were about half an hour late. I was quite concerned that they had forgotten all about us and we were going to be abandoned in Guatemala City to find our own way for the night. After one very awkward Spanish phone conversation with Delia, our homestay mom, in which I understood about half of the words she was saying, I decided that she was saying “he’s on his way you should just wait a little bit more”. So we did, and sure enough he showed up, an hour late but quite prompt for “Guatemalan time”. So off we went to Antigua.
Antigua is a beautiful “city”, built in colonial style with cobblestone streets and flowers decorating the streets. Delia’s house was simple but beautiful as well, with all of the rooms opening onto a courtyard in the middle of the casa. She welcomed us with open arms and immediately made us feel at home. Another student from Germany, Anna, was staying at Delia’s house as well and gave us a lot of good insights into places to check out in the city.
Unfortunately after a few days into our stay with Delia she told us she has to go to Guatemala City for either a surgery or a checkup of some tumors in her spine (since she speaks no English whatsoever I’m not sure exactly what it is). So James and I relocated to a small “apartamento” (but really a small house) located on the language school’s property. It’s just fine for our purposes and actually it has a certain homey feeling to it.
As far as the language school goes, things have been wonderful so far! Four hours a day of intense one-on-one conversation in another language is quite draining but really rewarding too because I’ve seen my Espanol improve so much! My teacher for this week was really great and I’ve learned a lot about Guatemalan culture and attitudes from just speaking with her.
I’ll update again soon, for now I’m going to try to run home from this internet café before the afternoon rain hits! Adios amigos!

The Journey Begins!

Tomorrow is the big day!

I’m flying out of BWI to Miami, then to Guatemala City. The very nice people from the language school are supposed to be at the airport to pick me up, which is perfect because I’ll arrive after dark and Guat City is a slightly menacing place, not somewhere I’d prefer to try to catch a bus in at night.

Then I go to meet my home stay family!! The woman’s name is Delia (how cool is that?) and she has a thirty year old daughter who lives in the house as well.

I’m so excited about beginning this incredible journey. This summer has been probably one of the hardest transition times in my life --leaving all of my friends from Villanova, my life being completely different living at home, James being gone, and stressing out about which graduate schools to begin applying to. I’ve come face to face with the real world. At the same time though, it’s still going to be hard leaving my family to go somewhere almost completely unfamiliar and start life over (once again) in a new place. Honestly it’s a little scary, but at this point I am so ready to get out of small-town Mechanicsburg PA that I’m mostly just really excited and ready. Adventure is how we grow, right?


From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master total and absolute,
Listening to others, considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will divesting myself of
the holds that would hold me.
-- Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road"