The Posh Corps

It’s Christmas Day and I’m sitting on the patio of a coffee shop on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos waiting for my Dad, Beth, and Hannah’s plane to arrive.  Their morning flight was cancelled, and they won’t arrive until 8 tonight, so I spent the morning on the beach, and then treated myself to a latte and Greek salad for lunch.  I whiled away the afternoon reading and sipping on my latte.  I thought that my first trip out of Guatemala would be wracked with culture shock, but I find myself easing into my old lifestyle as if I had never even left.  This has left me thinking about the relative comfort of my life in Guatemala.  I spent most of 2010 and the first four months of 2011 mentally preparing myself for twenty-seven months of dirt-floored houses without electricity, bucket baths, latrines, cooking rice and beans over a wood fire, minimal communication with my friends and family… basically a life without the worldly comforts that we, as Americans, take for granted every day.  This romantic notion of the Peace Corps is what so many of us held in our hearts until the day we stepped off the plane in Guatemala City.  

My life in Guatemala is, as it turns out, nothing like I expected.  I often think of myself as, rather than a Peace Corps volunteer, a woman living and working in Guatemala.  I think this feeling stems from the regularity of my schedule, my abundance of sitemates, and the surprising comfort of my living situation. Despite the occasional lack of protein in my diet, I think I eat better in Guatemala than I did in the US.  I live in my own 2-room house with electricity and tile floors, I have an oven and a refrigerator (on loan from a group of Canadian dentists that come to Guatemala twice a year), and I recently had a hot shower installed in my bathroom.  I have regular dinners with the five other volunteers that live within a 30-minute radius of me.  I have a cell phone and internet, and I skype with my family and friends on an almost daily basis. For months, all of this gave me doubts about the “authenticity” of my Peace Corps experience.  I would lie in bed wondering if this is what life as a Peace Corps volunteer should be like.  Is this what we signed up for?  Is it less of an adventure if I’m not malnourished and living in a mud hut?  Is it less of an adventure if I am not only able to talk to – but also to see – my loved ones in the US with the click of a button?  Is it less of an adventure if I’m so close to home that I’m able to go on a Christmas vacation in the Caribbean with my family?  I’ve recently realized that the answer to all of these questions is no.  It’s not any less of an adventure, it’s just a different adventure than the one I had visualized time and again leading up to my arrival in Guatemala.  The comfort of my life and the quality of my alimentation make me a happy and able volunteer.  I wake up every morning feeling healthy and ready to take on the challenges of working in a broken and failing school system.  Every night, if I choose, I have the opportunity to decompress by talking to a loved one about the triumphs and challenges of my day. 

Peace Corps is not about proving how tough you are by living in dismal conditions.  Peace Corps is about service.  As I have come to see it, my quality of life gives me the opportunity to commit myself wholly to my service.  Many label Peace Corps Guatemala as the “Posh Corps.”  I have yet to decide whether or not I agree with that label, but I have decided that, even if I am serving in the Posh Corps, I’m no less of a Peace Corps volunteer than the one living in a mud hut in sub-Saharan Africa.  In just my first five months of service, I’ve built solid working and personal relationships, I’ve gained the trust and respect of the vast majority of my students, and I’ve planned and executed surprisingly successful secondary activities.  Peace Corps’ favorite phrase is “capacity building.”  My lifestyle in Guatemala has given me the opportunity to build the capacities of my students and teachers, and I now realize that I wouldn’t have it any other way.

How is it Already December???

November seems to have flown by in the blink of an eye.  Everyone told me my two years would be the fastest of my life, but I have trouble believing that I’ve already been here for 7 months.  School’s out for summer now, so I’ve been attending graduations and planning summer activities.  I also have some activities planned for December, so I’ve been doing a lot of planning (office work), rather than enjoying the sunny, dry weather.  During the day, the temperature gets up to around 80, as long as the sun is out.  At night, however, it plummets to the low 40s… brrr.  Who could have thought it could be so cold in Central America?

Summer break is full of adventures.  This waterfall is a 20-minute walk from my house.

 As I mentioned, I’ve been attending the graduations (clausuras) of my schools.  At the clausura in Chixal, I was the guest of honor, and I gave a five minute commencement address in Spanish!  I was very proud of myself.  After the ceremony, all the students lined up so each of them could have a photo taken with me.  It’ll be kind of depressing when I get back to the US and I’m not a local celebrity anymore…  This week, I attended the clausura in Tojcheche.  This was an all-day event, starting with a Catholic mass at 10am, and finishing up after dinner around 7.  I didn’t have to give a speech, but I did get to hand out diplomas.  Once again, I was asked to pose in photos with all the students.  I must say that I’m very sad to see my tercero kids go…  I’ve really enjoyed working with them, and I feel like I’ve built up some great relationships.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find a way to work with them next year when they are attending diversificado (high school).

Giving a commencement speech in Chixal (wearing traditional Comitancillo traje).

Handing out diplomas in Chixal.  This is Alicia, one of my favorite students.

At the clausura in Tojcheche.

 November 1 was Dia de los Santos or Dia de los Muertos.  All the families go to the cemetery to repaint the tombs and put out flowers, cigars, and liquor for the dead.  The cultural center hosted a kite competition, and kids brought their homemade kites to fly above the cemetery.  At night, everyone puts candles on the tombs, and the cemetery glows, even from miles away!  I grabbed all the kids from my host family, and we went for a walk through the cemetery.  It was beautiful.

Getting ready to fly a homemade kite.

Adornments on the tombs.

Newly repainted tomb.

The cemetery at night, completely lit up by candles

November was also filled with travels.  I left early in the month to go to the Peace Corps office in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas, which is near Antigua, about 7-8 hours away by bus.  In the office, we had a three-day training related to youth sports, and how to incorporate our life skills curriculum into sporting activities.  We got some great new resources which should come in handy next year.  This was also my first opportunity since swearing in to see the 13 other youth development volunteers from my training group.  On Sunday, the 36 healthy homes volunteers from my training group arrived for reconnect.  Reconnect consisted of two days of meeting centered on how our work is going, as well as medical and safety/security sessions.  All 50 of us stayed in a hotel in Santa Lucia, which I must say was a bit overwhelming, however it was great to see everyone.  I got a number of opportunities to go to Antigua with friends, and I even got to go to a sports bar and watch the Seahawks beat the Ravens!  During the second half of the week, we had three days of Spanish classes, which were very helpful.

After reconnect, I hurried back to Comitancillo on Saturday, did some laundry, and left again on Sunday for vacation.  I met Chelsea, Emelye, and Jon in Xela, and we got up early Monday morning to head to the beach.  We arrived at the terminal in Xela (which is normally FULL of buses and people) to find it completely empty.  It turns out that all the bus workers were protesting, and we were told there would be no buses all day, and possibly none the next day.  We were pretty bummed because we had taken annual leave for Monday and Tuesday, and the last thing we wanted to do was spend it in Xela.  We walked over to the Peace Corps office to try and figure out a plan B.  After trying and failing to find a ride out of town, we ditched our packs in the office and went to breakfast and did some shopping.  We went back to the office around noon to get our stuff, and called a cab to take us back toward the central park in Xela.  He said he’d meet us at the terminal.  We hurried over to the terminal to find that there were four buses there, one of which was headed to Coatepeque – exactly where we were hoping to go!  We hopped on, and about 4 hours later we were on the little boat that was taking us to the island paradise of Tilapita!

Jon and I on the boat ride to Tilapita.  Photo credit: Chelsea Swanson

 Tilapita is basically a long sandbar with mangrove on the leeward side and miles of black sand beach facing the Pacific Ocean.  There is one hotel on the island, a few small restaurants, and that’s about it.  We were the only people in the hotel, so we had the pool, the hammocks, and miles of beach all to ourselves.  The hotel isn’t the greatest, but it doesn’t really matter because all we did in the rooms was slept.  The ocean water is like bathwater… it’s amazing.  Every evening, I went for a run on the beach, and then jumped straight into the ocean.  Anyone who comes to visit me will have to go to Tilapita.

The sandy streets of Tilapita. Photo credit: Chelsea Swanson

Sunset in Tilapita.  The black speck in the ocean is me, taking a dip after an evening run. Photo Credit: Chelsea Swanson

 After three days at the beach, I headed for Retalhuleu (Reu) with Ashley, Christine, and Grace on Thanksgiving Day.  We met another volunteer, Adam, and went out to eat a Mexican Thanksgiving dinner.  It was amazing.  Friday, Christine, Grace and I went to visit the ruins of Takalik Ab’aj.  These ruins are really cool, because they have both Mayan and Olmec influences.  This is very uncommon, especially because the Olmecs are not known for living this far south.  The ruins are very cool… another place to visit with anyone who comes down here.  Friday night, we stayed in Loma Linda, Adam’s site, which is situated just below Volcan Santa Maria and Volcan Santiaguito.  Santiaguito is currently one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupting every 15 minutes or so.  At night, when you stand on the front patio of Adam’s house, you can see the volcano spewing lava into the sky!  

Guatemalan Mexican Thanksgiving dinner with Grace, Adam, Ashley, and Christine. Photo credit: Ashley Melton

 Saturday was a day of excess.  Adam, Christine, Grace and I went to Xocomil, a water park that costs Q100 (~$12) to enter.  It was such a blast.  Xocomil is nicer than any waterpark I’ve been to in the US.  We headed back to Loma Linda, only to take off early the next morning for home.  The trip home was quite an adventure.  We got on a bus in Reu, only to have it break down about ten minutes later.  We flagged down another bus and continued on our way.  10-15 minutes later, traffic stopped completely.  It turned out that a concrete truck had gone off the road over an embankment and the tow truck that was trying (and failing) to pull it out was blocking the road.  I hopped off the bus and walked to the other side in the hopes of catching another bus.  While I was walking, a lady came up to me, handed me her baby, and asked if she could take a picture of me holding it.  Once again I felt like a celebrity, just for being a gringa.  I hopped on a micro bus headed for Xela, figuring my luck had to turn around.  We got close to Xela, and the micro stopped and the driver said he wasn’t going any further.  He dumped us off on the side of the highway, and we had to flag down another micro to take us into town.  Luckily my trip from Xela back to Comitancillo went very smoothly.

I’m home from my travels now, preparing for 5 days of workshops I’m doing with my teachers next week, a six-day summer camp the week after, and a 3-day English camp the week after that.  With all the work I have coming up, I don’t doubt that December will go by even faster than November!

p.s. I didn't bring my camera on my Thanksgiving vacation, but my travel companions took more pictures.  I'll add them as soon as I can get my hands on them!

A Month (Okay, 6 Weeks) in Photos

 I was talking to my old friend Russell today, and he told me that I need to update my blog more.  Of course I already knew this, but I've been less than motivated to do anything about it until today.  Last Tuesday, a tropical depression moved in, and brought with it 5 days (and counting) of near-constant rain and clouds.  I've found time to go running during the small breaks in the torrential rain, but for the most part, I've been sitting in my house doing a whole lot of nothing.  Something about being trapped in your house on a rainy day makes it very hard to get work done.  I could have been preparing lessons, planning summer activities (classes ended this week at three of my four schools), or, I dunno, writing a new blog post.  Instead, I did absolutely nothing.  My grandpa passed away this week as well, which has only lessened my motivation to do anything.  Anyway, thanks to Russell, I'm being productive for the first time in days.  Because it's been about 6 weeks since I last posted, I've decided to turn this post into a photo journal of sorts, as I don't want to write about 6 whole weeks.

1. Tuilelen Waterfall Hike

On September 14th, Tina, Emelye, Jacob, and I went on a day hike with the staff of the cultural center.  We headed out to Tina's aldea, Tuilelen, to see some waterfalls.

What started as a nice path quickly turned into a near-vertical descent down the side of a ravine.  The best part about this experience was that the four gringos - decked out in our hiking boots - were slipping and falling all over the place, while the women in traje and high heels had no trouble whatsoever.

Many of the sights reminded me of the Pacific Northwest.

 Regardless of the steep trail and a bit of rock-hopping, the first waterfall was relatively easy to reach.

Success!

 As we headed off to find the second waterfall, we got to this point, where the ravine became so steep that there was no room for a trail on either side.  It looked like our quest would stop there.

Yonatón had another idea.

So Tina and I joined the guys, hiked up our pants and left our shoes behind, and began rock-hopping our way up the river.

Until we got to this point, at which we had to climb up the face of a small waterfall.  There were about four more of these to follow.

All the hard work paid off.  The waterfall was spectacular!

2. Independence Day Festivities in Comitancillo

After we got back from Tuilelen, we cleaned up and headed to the central park to watch the Independence Day performances.  Here are some girls dancing in traditional Comitancillo traje.

This girl did a dance while holding a fake quetzal (Guatemalan national bird).  We assumed the quetzal was stuffed or made out of papier-mâché.

On closer inspection, it turned out that it was a live pigeon, painted green and red, with long feathers glued onto its head and tail.  Oh, Guatemala...

 Here's a girl in traditional Comi traje.

 The park was so packed with people, many went to sit on the roof of the municipal building just to be able to see the show.

 Boys in traditional traje having a good time.

 This darling little child and her mom were sitting next to me.  She is six years old, and just finishing first grade.

 ...she got up on stage and sang in front of the entire community!

 Today was a great day for candids.  This child wins the award for best cheeks.

 A little girl and her younger brother.

 Another candid.

 Boys in Comi traje getting ready for their performance.

 When it started getting dark out, we were invited to sit on the stage.  Best seats in the house!

 Some older students doing a traditional dance.

3. Independence Day Festivities in Chixal

 On September 15th (the actual date of Guatemalan Independence Day), I talked Emelye into hiking over to Chixal with me to participate in their activities.  When we got there, the skies opened up, and the torrential rain forced us to move the entire community into the salon.  Because of this, the staff of the school (who were hosting the event) had to quickly think of some indoor-friendly activities.  First, we had a potato sack (well, corn sack) race.

 ...then there was a one-footed race.  Here is Eduardo, the director of the school, showing the kids what to do.

 This woman successfully caught the greased pig, then carried it around by its tail for over a minute.

Then everyone thought it would be fun to pit Emelye and I off against each other in a dance-off.

...in front of the entire community of Chixal.

4. Beauty Pageants Are Fun (Kind of)!

 

 In Guatemala, all the schools have an anniversary celebration every year.  It's kind of like homecoming, but not really.  During the week of celebrations (reason #383,239 to cancel classes), they hold a beauty pageant to elect the señorita del instituto, basically the homecoming queen. This super fun activity takes anywhere from 4-6 hours.  Here are the contestants from the school in Comitancillo doing their opening number.  Keep in mind that these girls normally dress in traje, which is only slightly sexier and more revealing than a burqa.

 Swimwear competition.  Remember what I said about the traje?

 This girl did a surfing performance.

 Lip-synching competition.

 We had a special lip-synching performance by this 7-YEAR-OLD.

The girls then put their traje back on for the awards presentation.  Here is the winner of this year's pageant, Sheny.

5. Gringos Come to Comi!

 Twice a year, a group of Canadian and American dentists called Dentistry for All comes to Comitancillo.  I had the good fortune of being able to spend some of my free time hanging out with this great group of people.  I also got to play with all the kids that were waiting, and give lessons on how to brush your teeth.  Also, when the dentists left town, they left me in charge of their fridge and microwave, which basically means that 11 months out of the year I'll have a fully outfitted kitchen!

 I had lots of opportunities for good candids when the dentists were here.

 The kids in this country are so ridiculously photogenic.

One more candid at the dental clinic.

6. Waterfalls and Hot Springs, Oh My!

 Last weekend, about 30 volunteers headed down to the boca costa in San Marcos to visit the site of Mike, an ecotourism volunteer.  We arrived in La Igualdad, then hiked for an hour through the cloud forest to get to some hot springs and waterfalls.  We spent all of Saturday soaking in the hot springs and swimming under this little waterfall.  Then we hiked up the river to see the (newly measured) tallest waterfall in Central America.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of it, due to the mist.

 Hiking through the cloud forest.

There were a million of these cool butterflies.

 Adorable kids in La Igualdad.

7. Random Photos

Apparently it's caterpillar season.  These little buggers are beautiful, but I've heard that I need to keep my distance.

 Comitancillo at 6AM.  Beautiful.

Birds sunning themselves on a cold morning.

 This is pretty much what the view from my window has been for the past 5 days.  I'm ready for some sun.

More posts to come.  I promise.