So, I have my first weekend off from swearing in and it is great! I have been able to meet up with the girls from my training group and it is so nice to catch up with them. WE are all having completely different experiences and it is fun to catch notes. I think of all of the girls I have the most rustic living situation though. You don´t really realize what you miss until you have it again and that is why these trips to the city are bittersweet. I come in and have electicity and access to meat and all the food I could ever want and hot showers and it is all soooooo wonderful. Then, it makes it a little hard to go back. But, once I am back and settled in I don´t really miss the modern conveniences that much. But, I think it will be good to be able to get into the city for a breather every now and then. We went out and did some dancing last night and it is always so fun to have this free time.
They aren´t kidding when they say Peace Corps is a 24 hour job in your site. You can never forget that you are always being watched and judged and you can never do anything without everyone knowing. This is why it is important to always be responsible and respectful at site and work hard. However, this makes for VERY tiring days. My days start at 6 a.m., work for a few hours, most recently painting and doing some work in the hotel and trying to get organized. Breakfast is at 8 and then we work straight through to 230. It is kind of hard because all of the guys I work with have their moms or wives who are cooking during this time and their food is ready, meanwhile, I have to cook in between and after work and clean and wash clothes by hand and it makes for very busy days.
I started teaching English last week and I really think I am going to enjoy this. In regards to our hotel, I am going to make a calendar so that they know who is coming and when and also start working on some long term planning in regards to a business plan. It is kind of hard because I am given no direction in my work and pretty much have to try to figure out what is going on and what needs to be done and create my own jobs and work. It can be a little tough trying to pull all of this constant ambiguity into a concrete work plan and then carry it out. Oh well, little by little, I think I will be able to get some good projects started.
So, I have been eating my way through this weekend off, started the day with a big breakfast burrito, those who know me know my obsession with these, lol, followed it up with a choco banano and then lunch at an Indian restaurant. Plus, I just found a bead store and bought some stuff to make earrings out of the macadamia and coffee seeds. There are other cool needs on the jungle floor too and now I have some stuff to start making some cool jewelry in my spare time, haha spare time...
I am feeling good in my site though, making friends and playing a lot of soccer with the girls. Also, have started running some laps up on the field and doing some skills training with the ball. It is a fun diversion. Sometimes it starts pouring rain while we are up on the field since we are approaching the rainy season, but it feels good since it can get hot at my site.
Oh yeah, wild creature update, saw a moth as big as a dinner plate the other day! I swear the insect and creature sittings get bigger every day. Also, another tip is never wear your headlamp on your head since this big insect population will fly right into your face. Carry the headlamp low and put it far away from where you are, for example, if I am brushing my teeth, I put the headlamp down and stand like 10 ft. away to avoid the huge bugs that come zooming in. YUCK!
That is all for now! THanks for all the natural insect repellent advice. I will try it this week!
Cheers!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
136 Bites and Counting
Yes this is the brutal reality of living in the jungle. My legs are covered with mosquito and other insect bites, 136 and counting, and this is only the region from my calves down. Dont even get me started about the itching. I am trying really hard not to use repellent because 2 years with Deet soaking into your skin cant be good for you. So, I am trying really hard to get used to it. Or if anyone comes to visit and knows some really good natural remedy and is able to get it down to me please let me know.
So life is going well here but it is definitely hard work. Everything is hard work, from buying food and supplies, transporting food and supplies, cooking, cleaning, washing. All of it is all manual work and extremely exhausting. Free time is very rare here. However, little by little I am figuring out life and little by little things are getting less overwhelming. The same goes with the work, it is hard to know what to start on since there is so much that needs help. For example, they just promised a group the use of the pool, however, it has been out of order for 2 years now, has a hole, is super dirty and it is the dry season and I have no idea how we are going to fill it, nonetheless find chemicals to treat it. I told them this and advised them against offering it, but they did anyway saying it is possible to fix it in 2 days and find the water to fill it. Vamos a ver...what a disaster in the making. This is what I am up against. They just dont think about this stuff ahead of time or think about who is going to do the work and all that. I have to teach them in business that you cant offer what you dont have.
I start teaching English here tomorrow and that will be fun. I am teaching at the basico level, but this includes kids from age 12 to 20. They know some words in english but tomorrow I am going to evaluate where they are and where to go from here.
I went to another community yesterday to play soccer with the girls team and we tied. We lost in the kick off at the end but it was fun to visit the other community and play with the team. However, the team uniforms are another story. They are all smaller in size here and only had shorts and jersey in 1 size, that size small. Yikes! Good thing they are used to seeing everything very small here as I barely fit into the shorts and top, it was sooo tight!
Well, I am off to practice futbol with the team now!
Cheers,
Tara
So life is going well here but it is definitely hard work. Everything is hard work, from buying food and supplies, transporting food and supplies, cooking, cleaning, washing. All of it is all manual work and extremely exhausting. Free time is very rare here. However, little by little I am figuring out life and little by little things are getting less overwhelming. The same goes with the work, it is hard to know what to start on since there is so much that needs help. For example, they just promised a group the use of the pool, however, it has been out of order for 2 years now, has a hole, is super dirty and it is the dry season and I have no idea how we are going to fill it, nonetheless find chemicals to treat it. I told them this and advised them against offering it, but they did anyway saying it is possible to fix it in 2 days and find the water to fill it. Vamos a ver...what a disaster in the making. This is what I am up against. They just dont think about this stuff ahead of time or think about who is going to do the work and all that. I have to teach them in business that you cant offer what you dont have.
I start teaching English here tomorrow and that will be fun. I am teaching at the basico level, but this includes kids from age 12 to 20. They know some words in english but tomorrow I am going to evaluate where they are and where to go from here.
I went to another community yesterday to play soccer with the girls team and we tied. We lost in the kick off at the end but it was fun to visit the other community and play with the team. However, the team uniforms are another story. They are all smaller in size here and only had shorts and jersey in 1 size, that size small. Yikes! Good thing they are used to seeing everything very small here as I barely fit into the shorts and top, it was sooo tight!
Well, I am off to practice futbol with the team now!
Cheers,
Tara
Friday, April 9, 2010
Getting to the end of the week
Im down in the city for my one day opportunity to buy everything I need for the week. I am lucky that there are 2 buses on Friday so I dont have to rush around as much. I can take my time here to walk around more and enjoy it. I need to buy some shorts today at the Paca shops, think thrift shops, all the stuff from Goodwill and the DI, yes, the DI, thanks SLC, ends up here and you can find some pretty good deals. I got lucky to be in a town that isnt as conservative as most here, and I am able to wear shorts playing soccer. Side note, I have seen girls teams playing ball in full on traditional traje. Anyway, so I get to wear shorts when playing, so I am psyched. I also need to find a few more casual t shirts since my job involves a lot of physical work and hiking, which I am loving.
I was invited to a birthday party of one of the sons of the girls who works in the hotel. It was fun to go over and feel a bit more accepted into the coummunity. It is all about gaining confianza here, that is confidence. It happens little by little, but it is key to working within the community. We were treated to fried chicken and a veggie salad and luckily I could trust the food since Sara cooks in the hotel and knows gringo stomachs. All of the veggies were cooked, whew! We also had a big blue cake for dessert. We sang Happy Birthday in English and at the end, there is another song that I love¨...Ya queremos pastel, ya queremos pastel... lol! It basically means, now we want the cake, now we want the cake! lol! At the end, Sara pushed her son´s face in the cake and it was all blue! He was so surprised! It was funny, I have never seen this tradition here before. Luckily they cut the cake differently here, for some reason, they dont cut the middle of the cake, they just cut the part about 5 to 6 inches in. All throughout the birthday party for there was so great music blasting and I was like, yes, I love this family. My town is all about the music and so I fit in perfectly, it is integral to my daily happiness to have good music.
So, I am learning to whistle more here too. Everyone in the community whistles like a bird when they approach or to get your attention. Not the bad whistles, like the macho guys on the corner, but more like a bird whistle. It is kind of cool, you know someone arrives based on their whistle and you whistle back to let them know where you are and they just find you. We also have tons of birds at our site and we are trying to compile a bird book of all of the birds in the coummunity. There are some gorgeous ones. My counterpart can make almost all of the sounds of them. We are going to start going out to record sighting and try to put together a catalogue since I think the place has great aveturismo, birdwatching as a tourist activity, potential.
Anway, I was invited to play in a soccer invitational at another town on the 18th so I will head over with the girls. It is fun playing, although, I am still learning the ins and outs of the game.
What else, laundry, need to remember to get that in earlier. I did some yesterday, put it out on the line, forgot about it, and a huge storm came in, needless to say, the clothes are still out on the line 24 hrs. later.
Im off to go food shopping now, lots of canned beans, canned chicken, tomato sauce, oatmeal and pasta. It is tough to get in fruits and veggies here since they go bad fast in this hot climate and almost impossible to find more at my site. We have banana trees and mango trees, but we´re waiting for them to ripen. Also, I am going to start learning to cook the native herbs and plants with eggs since that is the local custom. I am learning the different plants, but I need to make sure I have a local expert come with me and show me exactly how to prepare them. Also, there is a bee hive with 25 bee boxes with honey. This weekend I am going to learn how to smoke them and get the honey out. Oh yeah, and we´re going giant frog hunting too.
Hope all is well!
Cheers!
Tara
I was invited to a birthday party of one of the sons of the girls who works in the hotel. It was fun to go over and feel a bit more accepted into the coummunity. It is all about gaining confianza here, that is confidence. It happens little by little, but it is key to working within the community. We were treated to fried chicken and a veggie salad and luckily I could trust the food since Sara cooks in the hotel and knows gringo stomachs. All of the veggies were cooked, whew! We also had a big blue cake for dessert. We sang Happy Birthday in English and at the end, there is another song that I love¨...Ya queremos pastel, ya queremos pastel... lol! It basically means, now we want the cake, now we want the cake! lol! At the end, Sara pushed her son´s face in the cake and it was all blue! He was so surprised! It was funny, I have never seen this tradition here before. Luckily they cut the cake differently here, for some reason, they dont cut the middle of the cake, they just cut the part about 5 to 6 inches in. All throughout the birthday party for there was so great music blasting and I was like, yes, I love this family. My town is all about the music and so I fit in perfectly, it is integral to my daily happiness to have good music.
So, I am learning to whistle more here too. Everyone in the community whistles like a bird when they approach or to get your attention. Not the bad whistles, like the macho guys on the corner, but more like a bird whistle. It is kind of cool, you know someone arrives based on their whistle and you whistle back to let them know where you are and they just find you. We also have tons of birds at our site and we are trying to compile a bird book of all of the birds in the coummunity. There are some gorgeous ones. My counterpart can make almost all of the sounds of them. We are going to start going out to record sighting and try to put together a catalogue since I think the place has great aveturismo, birdwatching as a tourist activity, potential.
Anway, I was invited to play in a soccer invitational at another town on the 18th so I will head over with the girls. It is fun playing, although, I am still learning the ins and outs of the game.
What else, laundry, need to remember to get that in earlier. I did some yesterday, put it out on the line, forgot about it, and a huge storm came in, needless to say, the clothes are still out on the line 24 hrs. later.
Im off to go food shopping now, lots of canned beans, canned chicken, tomato sauce, oatmeal and pasta. It is tough to get in fruits and veggies here since they go bad fast in this hot climate and almost impossible to find more at my site. We have banana trees and mango trees, but we´re waiting for them to ripen. Also, I am going to start learning to cook the native herbs and plants with eggs since that is the local custom. I am learning the different plants, but I need to make sure I have a local expert come with me and show me exactly how to prepare them. Also, there is a bee hive with 25 bee boxes with honey. This weekend I am going to learn how to smoke them and get the honey out. Oh yeah, and we´re going giant frog hunting too.
Hope all is well!
Cheers!
Tara
Monday, April 5, 2010
Projects and Things I Like
Well, I am done working for the day. I am lucky to have scored free internet for 2 months from the volunteer who just left and although I am in the middle of nowhere, I have wireless internet. Thank you technology! I thought I would write to say a little about what I have been up to and what I am really liking about my site.
1. Poured concrete and applied it to the new addition of the hotel we are building here. Yes, there I was mixing concrete and smoothing out a new floor. I must say it turned out pretty well. I had a lot of help as there were a group of students here for a week doing a service learning spring break trip. It was really fun to work with him.
2. Just finishing painting around a couple of windows, trimwork, and a wall inside the hotel. Might I say the windows were about 20 ft. up and I was standing on a rickety ladder trying to do this and not fall off. Dont worry though, I am being careful and I had someone holding the ladder.
3. Workdays begin here at 630 a.m. Soooo early! But then we are done by 230 so that is the plus. I gotta get used to this though. I have been going to be at 8 p.m. just to get up!
4. I played 2 soccer games yesterday with the girls team. It is so fun! But we played in like 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity. Needless to say I was exhausted afterwards.
5. The cool thing about the soccer game is that this guy from town brought his stereo system with a diesel generator (the hot commodity around here) and cranked the tunes, the music I LOVE, all through the games. I was like, yes, this place is perfect for me.
6. Another reason this place is perfect for me. We already that 2 dances in 1 week. Now when I say dance it is not like what I am used to when I go out dancing in the US, think more of a 7th grade dance. Boys on one side, girls on the other, all very shy but when they get up the nerve to ask you to dance, they can really dance and it is very fun!
7. I love the afternoon thunderstorms here and the rain. It is really relaxing.
That is about it for now! I need to do take a shower since I am still covered in paint! Hope all is well!
Cheers!
Tara
1. Poured concrete and applied it to the new addition of the hotel we are building here. Yes, there I was mixing concrete and smoothing out a new floor. I must say it turned out pretty well. I had a lot of help as there were a group of students here for a week doing a service learning spring break trip. It was really fun to work with him.
2. Just finishing painting around a couple of windows, trimwork, and a wall inside the hotel. Might I say the windows were about 20 ft. up and I was standing on a rickety ladder trying to do this and not fall off. Dont worry though, I am being careful and I had someone holding the ladder.
3. Workdays begin here at 630 a.m. Soooo early! But then we are done by 230 so that is the plus. I gotta get used to this though. I have been going to be at 8 p.m. just to get up!
4. I played 2 soccer games yesterday with the girls team. It is so fun! But we played in like 90 degree heat and 90 percent humidity. Needless to say I was exhausted afterwards.
5. The cool thing about the soccer game is that this guy from town brought his stereo system with a diesel generator (the hot commodity around here) and cranked the tunes, the music I LOVE, all through the games. I was like, yes, this place is perfect for me.
6. Another reason this place is perfect for me. We already that 2 dances in 1 week. Now when I say dance it is not like what I am used to when I go out dancing in the US, think more of a 7th grade dance. Boys on one side, girls on the other, all very shy but when they get up the nerve to ask you to dance, they can really dance and it is very fun!
7. I love the afternoon thunderstorms here and the rain. It is really relaxing.
That is about it for now! I need to do take a shower since I am still covered in paint! Hope all is well!
Cheers!
Tara
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Semana Santa
Hey Everyone!
Feliz Semana Santa! I am here in my site now and am learning all of the traditions of the community. Everything started on Wednesday with a group of 12 guys all dressed in red entering the community with drums and other loud noise makers to announce their arrivals. These guys represented the devil and they all had crazy masks with big tongues and some guys were dressed up as women too. Anyway, they had a devil leader and he told them all to do crazy stuff, for example leap frog, pushups, and some yelling and laughing. I think the 12 guys in red represented the 12 disciples and were the prediction that one of the disciples would betray Jesus. No one knew who at this point, so they were all possible, entonces, all in red with the potential to be influenced by the Devil. If anyone out there in cyber land has a better handle on this, please share, I think I understand it, but could use more info. Anyway, after the devil dance, we started the procession, carrying Jesus on a platform up the hill to the house of a man in the community who is sick. We didnt have a live band, so the processional music was played on a tape recorder, plugged in to a diesel generator that was pushed up the hill behind us on a hand truck. Anyway, we all made it and we entered the house and proceeded to have a chuch service in the house. We fit about 100 people in a small room and it was standing room only. The sick gentleman lay in a bed in the middle of the room and the service was about an hour long to celebrate the Last Supper.
Yesterday was the death of Jesus on the cross and the community demonstrated this with the devils all in red coming out again. They brought out a huge 40 ft.wooden telephone pole with a cross at the top and dug a hole in the ground, not very deep, in front of the school and the devils danced around it. Then Jesus came out in purple and the lead Devil had Jesus climb the pole, about 30 to 40 ft. straight up, he climbed it in flip flops,and then stood up on a tiny platform and then a devil climbed up behind him, again in flip flops, and demonstrated the act of pounding nails into Jesus hands and trying him up. I was scared they were going to fall off of the pole was going to tip over since it wasnt in the ground very deep, but all went well and no one fell off. I have never seen anything quite like it.
Last night to celebrate they had a lottery kind of like Bingo but with pictures. They crank up the music and the whole community comes out to play and win prizes. Then I was introduced on the loudspeaker in front of the whole community and was asked up front to give a speech. Luckily I was prepared for this as impromtu speeches in Guatemala are quite common so that went well. You just never know when you will be asked to speak in front of 200 people in this country. Anyway, we did some dancing to some Ranchero music and played Duck Duck Goose with all the children of the community to the music of Pitbull and Daddy Yankee...if your not familiar with these artists, think club hip hop music. Yeah, never have played childrens games set to this music before. Anyway, all was fun and we danced and played til midnight.
Ive got a soccer game to watch today as I am on the womens team. We are going to watch the boys play to try to learn some strategy. Im playing defense. These women are so good and they play in flip flops and bare feet! Hard core!
Anyway, that is all is now!
Cheers and Happy Easter!
Tara
Feliz Semana Santa! I am here in my site now and am learning all of the traditions of the community. Everything started on Wednesday with a group of 12 guys all dressed in red entering the community with drums and other loud noise makers to announce their arrivals. These guys represented the devil and they all had crazy masks with big tongues and some guys were dressed up as women too. Anyway, they had a devil leader and he told them all to do crazy stuff, for example leap frog, pushups, and some yelling and laughing. I think the 12 guys in red represented the 12 disciples and were the prediction that one of the disciples would betray Jesus. No one knew who at this point, so they were all possible, entonces, all in red with the potential to be influenced by the Devil. If anyone out there in cyber land has a better handle on this, please share, I think I understand it, but could use more info. Anyway, after the devil dance, we started the procession, carrying Jesus on a platform up the hill to the house of a man in the community who is sick. We didnt have a live band, so the processional music was played on a tape recorder, plugged in to a diesel generator that was pushed up the hill behind us on a hand truck. Anyway, we all made it and we entered the house and proceeded to have a chuch service in the house. We fit about 100 people in a small room and it was standing room only. The sick gentleman lay in a bed in the middle of the room and the service was about an hour long to celebrate the Last Supper.
Yesterday was the death of Jesus on the cross and the community demonstrated this with the devils all in red coming out again. They brought out a huge 40 ft.wooden telephone pole with a cross at the top and dug a hole in the ground, not very deep, in front of the school and the devils danced around it. Then Jesus came out in purple and the lead Devil had Jesus climb the pole, about 30 to 40 ft. straight up, he climbed it in flip flops,and then stood up on a tiny platform and then a devil climbed up behind him, again in flip flops, and demonstrated the act of pounding nails into Jesus hands and trying him up. I was scared they were going to fall off of the pole was going to tip over since it wasnt in the ground very deep, but all went well and no one fell off. I have never seen anything quite like it.
Last night to celebrate they had a lottery kind of like Bingo but with pictures. They crank up the music and the whole community comes out to play and win prizes. Then I was introduced on the loudspeaker in front of the whole community and was asked up front to give a speech. Luckily I was prepared for this as impromtu speeches in Guatemala are quite common so that went well. You just never know when you will be asked to speak in front of 200 people in this country. Anyway, we did some dancing to some Ranchero music and played Duck Duck Goose with all the children of the community to the music of Pitbull and Daddy Yankee...if your not familiar with these artists, think club hip hop music. Yeah, never have played childrens games set to this music before. Anyway, all was fun and we danced and played til midnight.
Ive got a soccer game to watch today as I am on the womens team. We are going to watch the boys play to try to learn some strategy. Im playing defense. These women are so good and they play in flip flops and bare feet! Hard core!
Anyway, that is all is now!
Cheers and Happy Easter!
Tara
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