Harry Potter

Yesterday afternoon (Saturday) I went to my first Guatemalan movie theater. Hannah, Sarah, Sarita, Harim, and I went to see Harry Potter. Xela has a large mall operated by Walmart, Hyper (eeper). They have a small movie theater showing four current US movies. To arrive at the mall, we took a microbus from the middle of town for about 15 minutes with all the stops. The mall itself is enormous. We walked down a long corridor of clothing, shoes, electronic, and food stores. I did not visit Walmart but I want to go back soon to pick up some familiar snack foods.

The movie theater was right in the middle of the mall. My ticket cost 25Q ($3) and I got a manageable bucket of popcorn and small soda combo for 30Q ($4). The popcorn tasted like movie popcorn with butter – yummy! The actual theater where Harry Potter played was quite dark and had as many rows of chairs as possible. They did not recline but the bottom (fold down part) was pretty loose. Needless to say, after the epic, my bum was sore. The room was also ridiculously cold. I know in my family we usually bring jackets to the movies because it is cold but here I wish I had two – freezing. The previews were in English with Spanish subtitles, which did not quite match the English. The movie was in Spanish. Luckily, I remembered the basis for the story and there were lots of action sequences. I think I understood fifty percent of the words but I will definitely need to re-watch in English at home.

Another minor detail: every movie has an intermission for 10 minutes. They turn the lights on, stop the movie, and a handful of people get snacks or use the bathroom. This is a good idea in theory but they interrupted the movie at the climax of an action sequence.

After the movie, we stopped by a delicious bakery. They sell whole wheat bread (a lot of our group is getting tired of the endless flow of white bread), pastries, pies, and snacks. I bought a sourdough roll for the ride home and chocolate crinkle cookies for post-dinner desserts this week. I was so excited for a taste of home. The cookies reminded me of walks to Market Hall with the infamous Kathryn Williams for snacks and stress relief.

Clase de chocolate

This morning (Saturday) I went to a chocolate making class at my Spanish school. The brother of the director of our school, Eduardo, has taken us on various trips through the school and is always helping out. His wife, Sindy, and daughter, Andrea, live in the school too. Their primary business is making and selling chocolates. They usually have their door open during our break at school to buy chocofrutas (chocolate-covered fruits). My favorites are the chocofresas (strawberries) and chocopinas (pineapple). As it turns out, they actually make all their own chocolate from scratch (not the cheap chocolate they use for the fruits) and sell it in markets around the area.

Sindy led the class and a bit of history. Her great grandparents had been chocolate for a lifetime, passed on the lessons to her grandparents, and so on. Chocolate was traditionally a drink of warriors to prepare them for battle. They drank the chocolate without sugar and were energized. Now the best quality chocolate is prepared with one pound of sugar with one pound of cocoa. She said if you buy less expensive chocolate, they use more sugar as filler than cocoa – closer to five pounds of sugar with one pound of cocoa.

To begin with, cocoa is grown on large farms in the Costal region. Workers harvest the seeds from inside the cocoa fruit – the seeds look a bit like thick almonds with more round ends. These seeds are fermented, washed, and dried then sold at market. When you receive your bag of cocoa, you need to first sort the seeds by size. This ensures the optimal amount of time for toasting. To toast, we simply put the seeds on the stove in a hot pan – no oil, water, grease. With constant stirring, the seeds start to change to a dark brown color and you can hear them “pop” as the oil inside them is heating up. Then we removed the seeds from heat and allowed them to cool before removing the peel/skin from around the seeds. It was a bit like shelling peanuts. The next step is to mash the toasted cocoa into a paste. Using a molina de mano (hand crank), Sindy slowly poured seeds into the top as we took turns grinding the seeds. At this point, we could start to see the oils coming from the seeds and the cocoa seeds turning into a rich chocolatey paste. The pouree was then poured through the crank twice more with a greater pressure setting to further break down the seeds. We all check the consistency by rubbing in between our fingers. The taste at this point was very bitter (like a 95% cocoa chocolate bar). The paste was mixed with sugar in a large bowl and then run through the grinder again. Lastly, the chocolate was poured into a giant plastic bag and beat. We laid it on the counter and took turns hitting it with the palm of our hands. This again released more oil and, after, you could see air bubbles on the surface of the chocolate.

We then took the final product, formed it into shapes like cookies, and allowed it to dry for an hour. I made a heart for Diana (she said she was shape impaired), a car, a smiley face, and two circles. With your chocolate cookie, you can either eat it as it is – a combination of sweet and sugar – or add it to hot water and make hot chocolate. I prefer the diluted flavor of the hot chocolate to the chocolate cookie. I brought two cookies home to share with my host family. Josie quickly picked up the smiley face and sucked on it like a popsicle for hours.

In total, the process took us about two hours and we used four pounds of cocoa and four pounds of sugar. Sindy and Eduardo use close to seventy pounds of cocoa a week for their chocolates and make it all by hand. Sindy said she saw a program once on the Discovery channel of how they make chocolate at Hersheys; the principles are similar but the mechanisms are different. I can only imagine how much cocoa they use. I have a greater appreciation for the process and the cocoa plants. I am still befuddled that someone figured out how to use a seed from a fruit that you don’t eat, toast it, mash it, and eat it. I want to learn more about the commercial process for comparison.

Big Night on the Town

Last night (Friday) was our first big adventure night. We began the night at Guiseppes, an Italian restaurant. I ate pizza that actually tasted like pizza! 13 of us went to dinner. 5 of us shared 2 medium pizzas – veggie and Hawaiian. A few people sampled the local pasta but the majority of us ate pizza and drank beer (don’t worry – I only had Pepsi Light). We toasted, enjoyed each others’ company, and stuffed ourselves. After dinner, we ventured in the rain to La Rumba, a discoteca located above the grocery store. It is a movie theater with a “dance floor” in front of the movie screen. A bit strange but spacious enough. When we arrived, there were a handful of locales salsa dancing up a storm. We had a few drinks from the bar and joined in the dancing. More and more gringos piled in as the night went on, along with some “Guatepapis” (Guatemalan men, as we call them) up to no good. The majority of the music was Latin beats and few popular American songs from the radio played too. I obviously enjoyed the dancing. For the most part we danced together as a group. I had a few different Guatemalan dance partners (one of which I earned two besos from on the cheek, who was concerned about whether I was single and something about clothes I could not quite understand – prob for the better). Part way through the night, 3 separate men demonstrated solo salsa dancing routines. They were all from a salsa school. Then we had a group salsa lesson before the music changed to salsa exclusively. Our chicos showed us some of their moves and we practiced what we have been learning in salsa class. At the end of the night, the music changed again to some “classic” 80s music, including the YMCA and the Macarena. We left at 1am when the club closed. To hasten our departure, the civil police and some other law enforcement showed up with their guns (as per usual on the street). Jefe and Logioso made sure all the girls got home safely. I am looking forward to more nights but probably at different clubs. I am craving some sing-a-longs and music I know (other than songs I recognize from Zumba). We will probably test out the taxi service at some point too.

Blood

During class yesterday (Friday) I had an interesting and revealing conversation with my Spanish teacher, Gladis. She shared with me that last November her doctor told her she had a terminal illness and did not have long to live (however she is doing great now). She received medicine injections frequently and was incredibly depressed. She spent the majority of her adult life taking care of her two kids and her nephew (he lived with her since his mom lives in the States to work) and working long hours to run her school and teach. The disease made her slow down and appreciate the people and the beauty around her. Since her prognosis, she is much happier, walks everyday (except when it’s raining) with a friend, and cherishes the time she has with her grandchildren. In this conversation arose the issue of blood. My teacher is AB negative, one of the most rare blood types in the world. She has an upcoming surgery and needs to get blood drawn to save for her surgery. As it turns out, Guatemala has no formal blood bank or blood donation system. Unlike the Red Cross and local blood centers who collect and distribute blood, patients look to their family members and strangers for donations. My teacher said there are often announcements along the bottom of television broadcasts and newspapers asking for donations and some people even sell their blood (can you imagine buying blood? ridiculous). Her brother died when he was 33 years old because he had an ulcer, was bleeding internally, and had a different blood type than both of his siblings. He would have survived if a blood transfusion was available.

This conversation made me think about some of the smaller health systems we have in place that are helpful but need to be used more frequently. First of all, shout out to Liz Martin for being a religious blood donor! Second of all, know your blood type! My teacher learned her blood type when she developed complications giving birth during her second pregnancy and almost died. There are many local blood banks and drives that can save a life.

I am going to pledge to donate blood frequently when I return. Think about it. Do it!

Las Guerrillas

This week’s focus is on the guerrilla side of the armed conflict. We met an ex-guerrilla and watched a film Los Cruces: La Promixa Pueblo. Both events reflected the mentality of the side opposite the Guatemalan Army. To summarize the conflict, the Guatemalan Army wanted to eliminate competition for resources (land, money, services) by annihilating indigenous and poor populations. They began be murdering or “disappearing” community leaders and scholars. This occurred in response to the progressive nature of Presidents Avaralo and Arbenz who wanted to create a democracy in Guatemala. The guerrilla army arose from young army soldiers who opposed the military’s position. The guerrillas lived in the forest and traveled from place to place. This required the support on the rural, typically indigenous populations, in the form of shelter and food. Their primary objective was to take weapons and supplies from the military and to gain a political space in the government.

In today’s conference we met an ex-guerrilla named Ronaldo. He lived in a small pueblo in the countryside. When he was 8 years old, he watched his father be tortured by the military. His father as a leader in the community was not affiliated with the guerrilla forces but the military said he was. When his father survived beatings, stoning, kicks, and 15 nights naked in a grave, his family escaped to Mexico. When Ronaldo turned 18, he decided to join the guerrillas in their fight for human rights. Various leftist groups provided propaganda in the refugee camps about the situation in Guatemala and he wanted to help.

He explained his life traveling the mountains and living a very difficult life. The guerrilla camps cooked from 2-5am, when their smoke would be hidden by the darkness of night, and again from 5pm onwards, when their smoke would linger into the cloud cover. They often ate simple meals of rice, beans, and tamales – but barely more than half a coffee mug’s worth. Each day two or three campaneros shared the cooking responsibilities. In the camp, men and women had equal responsibilities and equal rights. They slept in pairs to protect one another and keep the group disassembled. Often times they slept in the same wet clothes (it rains a lot here) as they walked, worked, and fought it in all day. It was tough times emotionally as well when they lost a comrade or missed home – they could only send messages to their families once a year or so.

Occasionally, guerrillas helped farm workers as well. If they heard workers were being mistreated or not being paid, they would approach the patrones and demand that the condition be changed. If their demands were not met, then they would take arms against the finca owners. Many of the guerrillas were from communities who traveled to the fincas so they were well aware of the difficult work environment.

Later in the conflict, several leftist groups from around the nation merged together to create a larger political party, the URNG. After signing the peace accords in 1996, the party remained and participated in the following elections. Currently, there are 2 members of Congress, deputatas, from this party who oppose pretty much every law the current President and legislature propose. There are several regional and local candidates as well. Ronaldo spends his time sharing the ideals of the party and is a candidate himself in his father’s municipality. Because they have little money, his campaign is based on a philosophy of ants (I can’t remember the Spanish word) and he goes door-to-door to explain his ideas. He is trying to gain the community support in a more grassroots style. Typically candidates use bribes, gifts, and straight up cash to buy votes. One of the current presidential candidates (ex-wife of the current President) is known for going to rural communities via helicopter and gifting blenders. The poor people are uneducated or afraid to choose differently because they are threatened by the strong political parties.

As many of you know, I definitely lean to the left. When I came back from El Salvador the first time, some of you may have considered me FAR left. I still maintain my socialist ideals and want to advocate for the human rights of every person. This is the focus of most of my essays for medical school. I was very intrigued by the ex-guerrillas experience (obviously) but I am still hesitant to say their side was correct. In all some 200,000 died, some in terrible massacres and tortured, over the 36 years. Violence continues to be an issue today and there are still MANY inequalities in the country.

Schools in Guatemala

After being a teacher for two years, I am very curious about other education systems. My thoughts about the public education system in the United States are pretty low - turns out education is not much better in Guatemala either. According to my newest Spanish teacher, Gladys, many people prefer the private education system here. Gladys was a teacher for many years at a private school and then founded her own school. Now she primarily teaches university level Spanish courses.

In Guatemala, you have the option between public and private education. Public schools are not found in every municipality but if there is one, the state is required to provide a teacher. A classroom will typically house 50 students (and I thought 32 was rough!). Sometimes these classrooms include multiple grade levels. As with large classes in the US, it is difficult to support each student. Often times a teacher will not know a student has a difficult time seeing or hearing. Disruptive students are common too. An ongoing problem is with students sleeping in class. The poor students do not eat enough at home and had a hard time learning. There was a government program to provide a snack to students each day. Some of these expanded to include breakfast and lunch but my teacher was not sure of their current status.

In private schools, colegios, there is a greater diversity of classes and the number of students in each class is typically smaller. However, there are multiple levels of private schools. Each school has a different cost and provides a reciprocal level of education. At the lowest level you may pay 70Q ($10) a month for school and at the upper level 300Q ($80) per student. Keep in the mind that the average Guatemalan family takes in 150-200Q a month. On top of the tuition, you must buy your own books and a uniform for everyday, a uniform for PE, and a uniform for marches or occasions at school.

With a family’s need for income, it is no surprise that many students stop attending school after primary school (6th grade) to start working. I read that some mothers kept their students home from school if they could no afford to send them with money to buy lunch. This eliminates the stigma of poor hungry students in the classroom but impedes their education (as many of us know attendance has a high correlation to success in the classroom).

I want to take a moment to describe the school system here. First, there are preschools and kindergarten classes. Although, you do not need to begin them at a certain age, you do need to complete them before you can enroll in primary school. La escuela primaria includes grades 1-6. From here students progress to la escuela secundaria, which is divided into two sections. Basico is essentially middle school for three years. Here students study a bit of everything. Then is diversificada, similar to high school, for another four years. However, students can focus their learning on technical trades, secretarial skills, or teaching to prepare for a job immediately after completion. Alternatively, students can focus on science and math heavy preparation to prepare for the university. La Universidad is also divided into public and private options but you must qualify for the university on an entrance exam. Before to beginning university studies, you must choose an emphasis (or an exam will give you three options you are most likely to choose). Each program is 3-5 years, depending on your emphasis. Medicine, architecture, and lawyer are all 5 years but accounting is only 3. After you complete your program, you are licensed in your profession. There is no graduate school.

I want to talk more with the two boys who are staying in my family about their experience in schools here. Xela schools have a strong reputation and students move to Xela exclusively to attend the schools. One boy, Michael, is here for high school and another, Jeremia, has been living with my family for the last 4 years to complete high school and start the architecture program at the university.

La Finca de Cafe

This weekend we spent our time on a coffee farm. My first thought was that we would visit a large plantation with sprawling rows of coffee plants. There would be hundreds of women and children in Guatemalan people in traditional trajes working the fields. Historically fincas (plantations) are owned by a single wealthy owner or corperation and the indigenous people travel from their mountain highlands to work in terrible conditions for little to no pay.

To arrive at the finca we traveled by microbus and truck. A microbus is essentially a glorified mini van. There is a driver and an ayudante (helper) who stands in the open door way shouting the location of the bus and collects bus fare. They pack people in and sit them every which way. We were able to fit 28 people inside and a cat! I sat on a fold-out seat from the second to last row. Let’s say it was not the most comfortable 2 hours but I got a lot of fresh air from the open door. We arrived in Columba, another city in our department (like a state in Guatemala). We boarded a giant truck filled with rice and people. For a glorious hour, we rode in the back of the truck taking in the beautiful countryside and sunshine. See Facebook for awesome pics!!!

We arrived at La Florida finca after our long adventure. It was much warmer than in Xela and humid. The costa climate is known for being humid and mosquito ridden. La Florida is a community farm. They work together to farm the land and share their riches. We stayed in the original landowner’s house, which they are currently converting into a hotel of sorts. The house was built over a hundred years ago and is rotting. We also saw the original stone fireplace used for cooking bread and a natural pool they built.

We spent our first afternoon eating lunch with a host family. Molly, Diana, Aeja, and I all ate our meals with two elderly women, a mother and daughter. The food was incredibly simple. Our first meal consisted of fried broccoli and tortillas. Dinner was a very thin soup with pasta and vegetables. It was an incredibly humbling process to see women cooking over a fire. I imagine we received more food than they usually have because we were guests. I cannot imagine eating so little and being able to work in a field all day. During lunch it began to rain. We heard the thunder roll in first, then the lightening, and then the rain began. It was a torrential downpour for a good two hours.

When the rain stopped, we returned to the big house for a presentation about the history of the farm. The farm was created by a group of people who had been working the land for many years. In the ‘90s they wanted to claim the land as their own and began their struggle. In 2005, they successfully established their farm cooperative. There are 40 families who live in the cooperative. Each family works the common fields of coffee, cocoa, and bananas during the week and each family has a small plot of their own land to grow what they want to on the weekends. They must buy the majority of their other foods from the market. The farm was initially paying their debts to a bank to maintain ownership of the land but with a new president, their petition was cleared as well as their debt. They are now able to use the profits from their coffee sales to pay for building improvements, expand the school, and plant new things.

At night, we all slept promptly after some games and giggles but our mattresses were made of straw or dried bean shells. Not the most comfortable night’s rest.

The following morning we returned to our host’s home for breakfast – a giant bowl of rice and beans with tortillas. We then rejoined the group for a tour of the finca. The initial rows of plants I anticipated were not the reality. The community wants to preserve the forest and plants the coffee, cocoa, bananas, and other plants within the existing trees. We were walking on a trail and then our guide started pointing out coffee plants, banano (banana) trees, orange trees, lime trees, and macademia trees. We ate fruit straight from the trees and saw the natural springs. The entire community receives its electricity from their own hydroelectric system.

During the tour we also visited their coffee treatment area. First the coffee seeds are planted and allowed to grow for 3 years. After 3 years, the green beans turn red and are ready to harvest in September, October, and November. The entire community comes out to pick the beans. Then the beans are dumped into a pila (giant bucket of water). The ones that sink are the highest quality to be used for export. The ones that float are scraped off the top and are used by the community members. The quality beans move through a tube to another machine which removes the skin. The machine feels like a giant cheese grater with tiny edges to cut through the skin. After the beans move into another pila where they are washed and ferment for several days. Then the beans move for the final time to large concrete slabs in the sunshine to dry. The coffee is shipped to Holland as organic coffee.

We attempted to leave the finca before the afternoon rain storm but we were unsuccessful. As we heard the thunder approaching, we all hurried to get ready. However, a woman in the community was beginning labor. We waited for her to board the truck and then we all piled in. This time we returned in a pick up truck rather than the larger truck from the day before. The woman and driver sat in the cab and the rest of us, including her father, husband, and friend, 18 in total climbed in the bed. We covered ourselves in a blue tarp in an effort to stay dry. Some people sat on the wheel covers, some people stood against the metal scaffolding, and still others clung to the back of the truck. I clung to the support bar in the middle of the bed which created a roof of sorts for the tarp (needless to say my arms are very sore). Occasionally, the wind would tear open the tarp to reveal the beautiful countryside around us. Some people on the edges stuck their head in the rain for fresh air and to witness the nature. They always came back into the tarp with a HUGE smile. When we arrived in Columba, we unloaded from the truck and they retied the tarp. The truck then continued to the nearest hospital with the pregnant woman and her family (another two hours away). We waited for our microbus and headed back to Xela. Fortunately, this microbus was a bit larger than the last. We sat 4 to a row and had Guatemalans squish in around us. Every Guatemalteco (Guatemalan) who boarded the microbus laughed because we were all asleep.

When I returned home, I was eager to shower and wash my bug bites. I had heard the mosquitoes were a problem so I tried to wear long sleeves and pants as much as possible. I don’t usually have a problem with mosquitoes so I decided to risk shorts and a tshirt in the afternoon heat. I was bitten numerous times by black flies. They are incredibly small and you cannot feel their bite. They grow in areas with a lot of flowing water (as was the case in our mountainous jungle). However, you start to bleed where they bit you because they feed on blood to produce healthy eggs (I researched this today because I did not know what they were). In total I have 63 bites on my arms and legs (stayed turned for a photo). For some reason my right side received the majority of the attack. I’m not sure if bug spray would have helped because people who were smothering themselves still got black fly bites too. The bites are mildly itchy but mostly just disheartening to look at. My right arm looks terrible but very little discomfort. I hear there in bugs in the sand at the beach so I will be sure to cover up then.

In all, I enjoyed my trip to the finca, mostly for the scenery and the ideology. The finca is incredibly self-sufficient and forward thinking. They are planning to expand their exports to include bananas, macademia nuts, and cacao and build more schools. However, they do not receive a ton of profit from the coffee and rely on donations and volunteers for extra spending money. They are trying to increase tourism to the finca to raise awareness about the issues and profit from the tourists to build and repair the buildings. Some people have talked about returning in a few months to help with the coffee harvest and watch the roasting process happen. I am not interested in participating in this back-breaking labor but it is making me think about where my coffee comes from. I am going to do some more research about Starbucks and other fair-trade coffees because I am curious about the conditions on their farms

Guatemalan History

The theme for this week is Mayan history and culture. We read several articles about the history of the country – the conquest by Spain, the discrimination against indigenous peoples, the impact of the US government (surprise!), watched a movie, and visited a museum. Ultimately, the long tentacles of the United Fruit Company, often referred to as the octopus, intervened with Guatemala’s efforts for democracy. The UFC owned a majority of the land, the railroad, and only port in Guatemala in the first half of the 1900s. When progressive President Arbenz came to power in 1954 after the overthrow of dictator President Ubico, life was looking on the up and up for Guatemalans. There was a new social security system, land redistribution, and labor unions. The UFC had a lot of connections to the US government and had taken advantage of the weak Guatemalan government to make a lot of money at the expense of the Guatemalan people and not have to pay taxes. Arbenz reclaimed some of the UFC’s uncultivated land to distribute to the poor people, the majority of the population. The UFC worked with the CIA to develop a plot to overthrow Arbenz and place someone else into power who would allow the UFC to keep benefiting from their previous arrangements. At this time, the fear of Communism was a great motivator for the US to get involved. Although Arbenz was not a Communist, his social reform ideas limited the power of the UFC. The US government provided weapons, training, money, and propaganda to sway the Guatemalan people and scare Arbenz out of office. This later contributed to the armed conflict/war from 1960-1996.

The film When the Mountains Trembled documented some of the major events and interviewed participants from all sides of the conflict. They interviewed soldiers, guerrillas, indigenous people, and politicians. The film was narrated by Rigoberta Menchu, an indigenous woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize for sharing her story and fighting for the power. She worked with local Christian groups and farming communities to educate them about the oppression they were facing under the dictators and capitalist industries. Many poor mountain people could not survive solely on the land they farmed but had to work on fincas (plantations) near the ocean for several months. The conditions were tough (to say the least). They were underpaid and underappreciated. Rigoberta’s family spoke out against the mistreatment and earned the reputation as guerrilla or subversive and were sought out. Her father died in an uncontrollable burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala City along with 37 other protestors. Her mother and brother were tortured, raped, and killed. Her two younger brothers died on the finca – one from inhalation of crop dusting chemicals and the other malnutrition. Her two sisters joined the guerrilla army. For her popularity on the international scale, Rigoberta is running for her second attempt at the Guatemalan presidency. However, she does not have the empathy of the local people because she spends her time traveling the world to tell her story. Unfortunately, her lifestyle is now the one she worked so hard to oppose.

One of the most interesting things I have learned about el conflicto is that both military and guerrilla forces went into communities to commit murder, destroy homes, and rape and pillage; both forces dressed in military attire; and both forces manipulated the poor and indigenous with fear to side with them. Many poor and indigenous people did not know if the military or guerrilla forces where in their community. Both groups claimed to be the other to avoid blame for the massacres.

The museum we visited was a result of the 1996 Peace Accords. One of the laws established was to preserve the Mayan culture. In 2004 the museum was founded and in 2006 it moved to its home at the Queztaltenango Cultural center in zona 3 (25 minute walk from my house). We listened to a presentation about the traje, the traditional dress, of the indigenous people. There are 22 indigenous linguistic communities, a handful of others from the Caribbean slaves imported during the Spanish rule, and Spanish. Each individual community has its own traje – some 132 in total. This museum displayed the process for making the trajes and examples from 12 communities. The trajes are made from locally grown cotton, which is dyed using plant and animal extracts, on a loom. One type of loom, commonly for women, is wrapped on a tree branch and the other end around the person. This creates tension for the loom and the cotton is woven in between. This creates a narrow fabric. Three pieces of fabric are joined together vertically to create a huiple, blouse. Wide embroidery is used to hide the seams between the three pieces and smaller embroidery to embellish the shirt with local symbols, such as the sun, mountains, and animals. A huiple takes a month to make if you work 8-10 hour days and will cost you about 8000Q ($100) at the market. The men learned to use a foot loom with the arrival of the Spanish. This creates wider pieces of fabric used for skirts. Men also have a traje of pants, sobrepantelones (literally a second pair of pants worn over the first), and more Western shirts and straw hats.

A final thought for the week from our articles: Why do we celebrate Columbus Day if he arrived to the US on accident, raped and enslaved indigenous peoples, and brought epidemic diseases?

One Week in Xela

I have made it through week one in a new country. Things I have learned in Xela:

1. Toilet paper must go in a waste basket
2. Cheap flip flops are slippery on wet cobblestone
3. Pedestrians have the last right-of-way (even bicycles will not stop for you)
4. Bring agua pura with you to brush your teeth
5. Take more pictures
6. Charge your computer before you leave the house
7. Cookies and dessert are taken for granted in the US
8. Cover your mouth when a bus nears (so you do not inhale the black exhaust)
9. Guatemala mothers are incredibly caring and giving
10. Skype dates with friends and family are hard to beat

For the next 6 weeks my schedule is pretty consistent. Wake up at 715am (615 if I run), breakfast, and shower. Spanish class 830am-1230pm with a snack break. Return home for lunch around 1pm. Tuesday afternoons we watch a film or documentary that is relevant to the required articles for the week and we have a group discussion about what we saw and heard. Wednesday afternoons we have a conference with someone from the community about the week’s topic. Thursday evenings we have salsa class. Monday and Friday afternoons are free for now, which usually means I am online and working on applications. Every other weekend we have a planned activity and then a free weekend.

In 7 weeks (end of August), we go to Mexico for an immigration conference and some more Spanish practice. Then a week off during Guatemala’s independence celebration (great time to visit ;). When we return we have one more week of full-time classes and activities like now, one week of full-time classes and part-time volunteer projects, and then several weeks of full-time volunteering.

Hand made dolls

Today (Monday) I went to school after lunch to meet up with some friends to go to the market and use the Internet. I was surprised by a trip to the la muneca, doll factory. Apparently the people who work here are deaf and mute but they can make a living at this factory. Four other Somos girls, two other students from the school, and two members of our school family took us to la muneca. We traveled by microbus (1.25Q, $0.16 each way), essentially a minivan. We walked to the main arterial and flagged our hand as the first microbus drove by. We all piled in and away we went.

At the muneca, not actually a factory at all, there were multiple stations where the dolls were made by hand. These dolls are not the kind you play with but rather more decorative. Each doll starts as a recycled bottle. The artist uses paper mache to sculpt the shapes of the clothing. After the paper dries, the dolls are painted white. Then an artist hand-paints each doll in the traditional traje (clothing) of an indigenous community. There are some 130 different trajes. We watched them paint straight lines in brilliant colors without error or shakiness. Finally the artist added the appropriate headpiece and hair and the dolls are available for purchase. The far end of the room had completed dolls for sale in plastic wrap. I wanted to buy one because they were so beautiful and I saw how detailed the process is. However, I know that I will want to buy something at every artisan shop to support the local people. I need to limit myself to want I truly want and need.

We said our thank yous and goodbyes, flagged down another microbus, and headed back to school just in time for the sun to come out. We talked to three little girls, one of whom could have been my sister. She was the lightest skin Guatemalan I have met - adorable like the others of course.

El Baul

Yesterday (Saturday) we met at the school to walk to El Baul, a local hilltop. It is actually bigger than a hill but mountain may be deceiving because there are some pretty huge mountains around Xela. Eduardo, the brother of our school director, guided us through Zona 5 toward El Baul. We passed through La Colonia Molina, a quaint neighborhood where the local school’s marching band was practicing. As we climbed the hill, we could see more and more of the city. About forty minutes later we arrived at the top and could see over the entire city. Xela is much larger than I imagined. Some 250,000 people live in the valley. We could identify landmarks like the church in the central park, the municipality building, the soccer stadium, and the cemetery. However, there were many new buildings we saw and wanted to explore.

At the top of the hill, there is a plaza with a giant Mayan (I assume so) statue. There are also four giant slides of concrete. You sit on your butt and slide down. If you sit on a plastic bottle, you fly. There are two bumps in the slide and a few of the girls bounced quite high over them. Everyone’s butts were brown from the slide but had smiling faces. Someone took a picture of everyone’s dirty pants – I’ll have to find it and post it J

On our walk down, we passed a dairy farm and watched cows cross the road. We also passed a lot of street vendors out on the beautiful day. We could not have asked for better weather. Sunshine, breeze, and shorts! No rain all afternoon either.

Los chicos y salsa

Tonight (Friday) was our first night out as a group since our arrival. We started our evening at a the school for a welcome party. Many people were excited by the food: wheat bread, guacamole, chips, deli meats – things we don’t eat in our home stays. We then had our first salsa class. Since there are only two boys in our group, the salsa teacher (also one of the language teachers) brought a few other guys and the school’s family members joined in as well. Another teacher was in charge of Rachel, Molly, Sarah, and I. She was quite sassy and explained how to hold our hands while we dance. If your hand is not holding your partner’s, it should be out to the side with your fingers turned out and pretending to hold an egg between your thumb and middle finger. The teacher kept shouting, “huevos! huevos! eggs! eggs!” when we danced so we would have pretty fingers. I danced with Sri, another student at the school from Australia. We did pretty well considering he is quite lanky and awkward. At the end of class, the teacher demonstrated a maneuver where the boy picks up the girl, she swings between his hip and shoulder with her feet in the air, and lands on her thigh. A few of us did this move with another male teacher who I trusted to be strong enough to catch us. A few other girls tried it with the boys in our group, Logan and Geoff. They were pretty successful overall but I am not ready to trust them with my head so close to the floor.

After the party, we took our first adventure to the bars. Our families reminded us to be careful but we are not sure if there caution is just general protection for us or because there is some risk of crime. We walked as a group of 14 to the bar with our two boys for protection. These two have essentially become best friends because they are the only two boys. They were quite amusing to watch, especially they needed some liquid confidence before our first salsa class. Along our walk to the bar we divided into two group so people could stop by their houses to tell their families we would be home later. Around this time, Logioso was born. Logan with his “great” Spanish accent was blabbering away and some how us girls agreed his new name would be Logi-oso (bear) or Logi-osito (little bear). When we reunited at El Cuartito, a bar, Logioso was quick to buy a beer for himself and his homie, el Jefe (the closest to pronouncing Geoff was a Spanish accent). We had visited El Cuartito earlier in the day for Internet and coffee but it was too crowded for our large group. They had live music and I plan to come back another night to enjoy it. We then headed to a bar called Pool and Beer, very American, right? We sat in a private ish room so we would not disturb the other patrons. I watched Logioso and el Jefe down some beers. A few girls took shots of tequila. Others bought one liter bottles of the local beer, Cabro, which is made in Xela. Most drinks cost 15-30Q ($2-3).

About half of us had not indulged quite as much as the rest and left the bar around 11pm. We walked each other home. The streets of Xela are VERY quiet at night. There are street lights on most blocks but hardly any people. It took us about 15 minutes to walk home but we walked rather quickly and with purpose, only because of the unknown. I got a chance to see where some of the other program kids live as well. We need to figure out the effectiveness of walking home, using the boys as protection, or just taking a taxi. I do not think any of us have yet to experience a taxi.

Stay tuned for more adventures with taxis, Logioso, el Jefe, and las chicas.

Recycled Life

This afternoon (Wednesday) we had to meet our coordinator at the Parque Central but we were not sure how to get there so we decided at the school and navigate in a large group. We must look ridiculous walking down the street. Pedestrians have the least privilege in crossing the street or walking so you need to stay far to the side or on the sidewalk, if possible. However, the sidewalks are quite narrow and you can only walk single file. Because of the afternoon rain many of us have umbrellas and all of us have a rain jacket. And there we are in a train of people in bright colors walking like ducks in a row.

We watched our first weekly video at Blue Angel Café. The video was a documentary called Recycled Life (DEFINITELY SEE THIS!). This documentary focuses on the lives of people who survive by sorting trash, eating leftovers, and selling recyclables at the trash dump in Guatemala City. This dump is the largest in all of Central America. The video follows the people huajeros and the changes at the dump over approximately a ten year period. There are whole families for generations who take what they need from other people’s trash and sell what they can. A bag of recycled bottles will earn them 50Q (less than 6 dollars). However, there are children working here amongst the rubble and trash trucks and tractor cats that move the trash. Accidents are common and children are often lost in “avalanches.” Since many of the workers have lived here their whole lives, they are not well educated and do not prioritize education for their children. A woman saw this and built a day care exclusively these children. Otherwise small children are left in cardboard boxes while their mothers collect trash nearby. The families live in tin shacks next to the dump and some abandoned children live in the dump itself. Another risk is the toxic methane gas and pollutants that seep up from the trash heap. In 2005, there was a huge fire and it took firefighters over a week to put it out. This prompted the government to set up some regulations. Previously the people worked as their own community and looked out for each other because the rest of Guatemalan society looks down on them for working in the trash. When the dump re-opened, workers needed an identification card and security guards allowed people to collect trash from 9-6, instead of the unlimited hours previously. The school expanded to teach students up to age 14, the new minimum age to work in the dump. Although this creates a safer environment for the workers, it changes the way they had been living for 30 years. The current situation brings up a lot of questions: How will educated children respond to their uneducated parents’ lifestyle? How many children begin to work at the dump at 14 instead of continuing onto high school? Additionally, the dump will be full in 2 years and 4000 workers will be displaced, what will happen then?

I would recommend that you see this film. It shows a new perspective on an ongoing problem. There are similar communities working on trash heaps around the world, including in Kenya and Nicaragua. Although I feel pity for people who work amongst the trash in poisonous conditions, I admire their resolve to earn money to feed their families. Some of them want to leave but some are content living the only lifestyle they know – they are a community and want to stay that way. I am grateful for the education provided to the children to protect them but I am concerned about the impact this will have on the family dynamics, what new jobs are available, and that it will be an education lost because the children simply return to the dump without hope of moving onward.

The Women of Guatemala

Last night (Tuesday) I returned to the house for a dinner of Cup of Noodle and a scrambled egg and rice patty. I am not sure if we ate this people it is common in the tiendas here or because they wanted us to eat something familiar. I still feel the same way about Cup of Noodle as I did when I ate it in middle school: worth it when you have little else. After dinner, I spoke to my parents and sister for the first time since I have been in Guatemala. I sensed the concern in their voice but our conversation was helpful to calm them (and you all) – yes, I have running water; yes, I have electricity; yes, I am being well taken care of. Then our host family gathered for a game of Phase Diez (10). Senora Patty, Jaki (pronounced Yaki, her daughter), Sergio (Jaki’s boyfriend), Hannah (other Somos Hermanos participant), Esteban (Tulane med student) and myself played for three hours. We laughed, picked on each other, and ate cookies from the Menonite Bake Shop (really good but only open on Tuesdays and Friday. I will probably also return here at some point to buy peanut butter). I feel much closer to my family now. I am sure there are many more games to come.

This morning (Wednesday) I went for my first run with Hannah. We met Geoff, Rachel, Sarah, and Molly at the school at 630am. We ran to the sports complex and back – about 40 minutes. This was quite a challenge considering the altitude, car exhaust, and lack of running recently. Sarah and I broke away from the speed demons and had a nice chat. When I returned to my house, my bed was made, laundry bag hung up, and trash taken out. This brings me to my first story about the women in Guatemala.

The women are incredibly humble and helpful. Senora Patty cooks, cleans, washes, and then does it again. She brings us a plate of food and does all the dishes after. She also cleans the bathroom and our rooms when we are out. She is often the last to eat and the last to bed. She wakes around 545am to prepare the tienda and breakfast. I do not know when she goes to market but I but love to accompany her to see what the experience is like. She spends most of her day cleaning and helping customers who come to the tienda (not an actual store but I window to a store room where you can buy eggs, candies, soda, and more).

In my class today, we talked a lot about women and health. Mi maestro Rosa and I spoke for nearly 40 minutes before we began our lesson. All the while she makes minor corrections to my Spanish or provides me with words I do not know. There is a lot of mauchismo that exists in Latin America and in Guatemala. The mother often works from home and the father leaves. This prevents young girls from attending school for as long or pursing careers that require extra schooling like medicine. The women are very conservative. They dress modestly and do not like to go to the doctor. They are fearful of medicine because there is not a lot of information passed along and most of the doctors are men and they do not want to reveal their bodies to a man other than their husbands. Mi maestro also mentioned the prevalence of domestic violence. There is a clinic here where Esteban volunteers who works with women and their children who live in violent homes. This violence can be attributed to mauchismo, drugs, and many other problems.

Side note story: Children are often sent to buy beer for their alcoholic parent (very prevalent, especially in the more rural areas) and will drink some themselves. They see their parents drinking it and think that it is okay. I want to learn more about this children alcoholics.

Another topic mi Maestra and I discussed in class was the prevalence of drugs and the community. Alcoholism is widely occurring in Guatemala because it is cheap. Other drugs, like marijuana and cocaine, are used but less common because they are more expensive. She mentioned inhalants are also used. I shared that the majority of the violence in Oakland revolved around drug trafficking. She agreed that this occurs in the capital as well. Also she said there is some drug addiction problems afflicting mothers who will send their children to collect money in any way necessary. If she has many children (as many as 8 or 9 or more), she cannot support all of these children so she will tell her children to rob someone else to get money for drugs and food. The trend of children developing interest in drugs and gangs because there are problems in the home is just as common in Guatemala as in the United States.

El primer dia de escuela

The first day of school! Yay!

This morning I awoke more than once to the sound of passing cars, the tienda bell, and voices in the kitchen. Turns out on my new Guatemalan phone you need to use military time to put anything in PM mode so my phone time was 12 hours off and my alarm did not go off. That being said, I now have a local phone and most of my groups numbers. If you want to call me from the US, I have free minutes here. Otherwise, I am still figuring out the Skype situation and a good location to do it. The school has free Internet but we are all in a long hallway using our computers - not the most private place for a phone call or video chat. I am going to experiment with some Internet cafes and possibly buy a Internet stick that allows you to use Internet at your house.

This morning for breakfast we had mush (yes, that is what it is called) again - its a warm, horchata oatmeal, hot milk soup thing that you add cornflakes and bananas. I'm still not positive how I feel about it but I anticipate eating it a lot. We also had pancakes with maple syrup. The pancakes were very delicious.

Hannah and I walked to school for our first day at 830. My maestra is named Rosa. She is incredibly patient and corrects my mistakes quickly. The class is four hours long with a small pausa in the middle for a snack. We started class by reviewing the exam I took yesterday. She said generally I did well but need some practice with verb conjugations. I would agree. Our lessons are done orally and in our notebook. Mi maestra writes the rules and information and then I conjugate or speak the information. Today we reviewed the present tense, irregular verbs, and when to use it. Then we reviewed vocabulary of fruits, vegetables, and things around the bathroom and bedroom. I was surprised how many verbs and words I remembered. Throughout the lesson (exclusively in Spanish) we talked about the upcoming presidential election in September and the position of women in society in Guatemala and the US. Pretty deep conversations for the first day.

An interesting story about the election: In Guatemala, the president cannot run for re-election nor can anyone run in the immediate family. The current president's wife divorced him so she could run for president. There are some intricacies in the law and they will decide tonight whether or not she can participate. If so, she is second in the popular polls right now. The first place candidate is an ex-military. The election has two parts. The first is a popular vote with as many candidates as are eligible. The second part is a final vote between the top two candidates from the first part. I look forward to watching this happen.

For lunch we ate red beans, rice, and tortillas with guacamole. There was some meat in the dish as well but I'm not sure if it was actually meat or just the skin.

We met back at the school for a tour of zona 3. This area is beyond our community (zona 1) and has a large market, futbol stadium, sports complex, and mall. The market is very typical of Central America. Wide stalls with spices, vegetables, raw meat - even some brains and livers. I hope to go back soon to look at sandals, boots, and the different fruits. The sports complex has a large track and dirt trail. When I feel more adjusted to the car exhaust and altitude, I am going to run here. There are lots of other people who run as well. We are also going to check out a yoga house and a few of the local gyms.

Hope everything is well with everyone back in the US. I miss being connected to you all through text and calls. Loves.

Dia uno

I made it!

Today began early and continued slightly later. I arrived in Guatemala City around 730am (630am PST, only one hour difference until you fall back). After collecting my bags and customs, I was greeted by Molly and Kate with a "Somos Hermanos" poster - already warm and sunny. Molly is a participant from Los Angeles who graduated last year from Columbia. Kate is a coordinator for our group and took us around the country today. We headed to the Hostel to meet the rest of our group.

My first experience with everyone was positive but very groggy. With only four hours of airplane sleep and the exhaustion of everyone else who had arrived the night before, there was limited conversation over breakfast (scrambled eggs, toast, and tang - just like in el salv). I met the other participants as they came down for breakfast. There are 14 of us in total, only 2 boys.

After breakfast we loaded the crew and our stuff into a small yellow school bus. I was worried I would be judged for packing too much but I was WAY out done. There were a few girls who could not carry their luggage for themselves or had multiple pieces to carry. We sat two to a seat with our bags stacked on the back row in the aisle. When we stopped for gas, we had to climb over each seat and jump down the stairs to get out. We traveled for about 4 hours from Guatemala City to Xela. The road was a bit windy but well paved and Oscar, our driver, navigated it well. I spent my time napping and chatting with Molly. I think she and I will get along well.

In Xela, our first stop was Subway for lunch. It even smells the same here. I had vowed to avoid Subway sandwiches post TFA institute but I had no choice. Luckily melted cheese, chicken, and guacamole was not too bad. I splurged and bought myself a chocolate chip cookie after for Q4. Kate says that Subway is way beyond the means of most people living in Xela. However, it was one of the cleanest restaurants I have ever been in.

We then traveled a short distance more into town. We arrived at our Spanish school. Gladys, the director of the school, greeted us as well as Erika, the manager of our program. Our orientation was brief and our home stay families arrived to meet us. I moved my luggage in the first big afternoon rain shower. Another girl from the program, Hannah, is staying with the same family as me and we are glad to have each other as buddies for this adventure.

Our family is composed of quite a few individuals. So far, I have met Patty and David, our hosts, tia (whose name I have forgotten), and Josie, their granddaughter. They gave us a brief tour of their home, which is a short walk to the school. There seems to be a central courtyard, 4 bedrooms, the bathroom, and the kitchen on the perimeter. They also have a tienda, which shares a wall with my bedroom (see pictures below). Josie helped me unpack my things. She told me the names of things I did not know and asked me to explain items she did not recognize. Later, Josie, Hannah, and I played an intense game of hot potato. My first impression of the family is great. They host students all the time and are very welcoming. My host mom Patty says I already know enough Spanish to listen to her and the language school here teaches people who have no Spanish how to speak in just a few months. I hope to become fluent by the end of my six months.

Tomorrow we meet at the school for an orientation at 9am. We will take a language exam to assess our level and start classes on Tuesday. I'm not sure what to expect with our afternoons but we will receive a calendar tomorrow as well. My first impression of the program as a whole is very laid back. You can come and go from your home stay as long as you do not miss you meals (we have our own keys to our rooms and front door). I think this is the type of break I need. Right now it feels very surreal that I will be living here for six months. I cannot grasp the changing of the seasons, the special occasions, and the experiences to be had.

I am going to do my best to update this blog with exciting or funny stories but for now most of it will just be informative so you all know I am safe and doing well. If there is something you want to know about, let me know.

Heading out

Blog efforts take one.

I am sitting in LAX creating my very first blog. I want to give some shout outs to some awesome people who have helped me prepare for my next great adventure.

Ro - the awesome name of my blog.
Alex B - chauffeur and best beach companion.
Carmen - being incredibly loving.
Meaghan - the last hug before my big adventure.
Mom, Dad, and Emma - for the patience in packing, errands, and texts.

So today is the longest travel day ever. A purposeful ten-hour layover in LA to see friends, go to the beach, and eat delicious food. I will arrive in Guatemala City in the morning, meet my new friends, and head out to Xela. I am nervous, excited, and exhausted all at the same time. Packing for a six month adventure is a new challenge for me. I am looking forward to new experiences, improving my Spanish, and getting ready to be the best doctor I can be.

My goal for this blog is to keep you updated on my day to day activities, side trips, and funny stories. The best way to keep in touch will be to email me at mjhaberlach@gmail.com, which I am going to be checking all the time as I apply for medical school. I will post a local phone number or address when I figure all that out. If you want me to send you a postcard, email me your address and I'll do that too. I love postcards ;)

Until later ... hasta