Thursday, May 20, 2010

Festivities


Fortunately I have had the opportunity to partake in many Guatemalan festivities! First let me correct myself- Mother's Day actually lasts about one week. The actual day is always celebrated on May 10. My host family celebrated by going over to my "grandmother's" home, making dinner, and opening presents. I had the opportunity to "tortillar"- make tortillas by hand! See the photo above!  You start with a small ball of "masa", which is ground up rice, and slap it between your hands while slowly turning it. You have to have the perfect amount of water so it is not too sticky. There is an art to it. About twenty five family members enjoyed dinner with "Grandma".


The following afternoon I went over to my "aunts" house for lunch with about thirty other family members. We ate "Pepian", which is a formal meal that Guatemalans eat on special occasions. It is chicken, rice, and a brown sauce with "a lot of hot ingredients" that definitely upset my tummy. It totally sounds like I have an alien living in my tummy when I eat this stuff. This is not good because it is offensive to their culture to not accept food, especially such a formal dish. I enjoyed the company, especially the little ones. I also had the opportunity to meet two current Peace Corps Volunteers who finished their three month training in Sumpango about one month ago. It was great because I got to ask them a lot of questions about their recent experience. For dinner we went over to my host father's mother's home. They offered another large meal and opened presents. Some of the presents received included new blouses, towels, dishes, flowers, balloons, and cakes. It is not uncommon for schools to be cancelled for Mother's Day. If you think about it, school in the US is always cancelled on Mother's Day as well, right?! hehe. The Youth Development group went to visit a current Peace Corps Volunteer in Pachulum. School was cancelled for the holiday, but we watched skits that the students prepared.

On Tuesday evening we went to my aunt's 32nd birthday party! Another large meal- chicken, vegetable salad, rice, and of course, tortillas. Always tortillas! My family likes to comment, "This is our new daughter, Maggie. She only eats two tortillas per meal". This has changed over the week- I don't eat quite as many per meal. It is not uncommon for adults to eat about six to eight tortillas per meal. Back to the birthday party, next we played games! They had three couples come to the front of the room, blind folded the males, had all of the females put their shoes in a bucket, and the males had to place the correct shoe on their wife. Another game was having three older women walk across the floor, avoiding three eggs that were placed on the ground. Next they had to do it with a blind fold on. When they put the blind fold on the party hostess, my host mother, replaced the eggs with chips! It was pretty funny! Then the birthday girl opened presents. We enjoyed cake (that my host mother made) and "Mora" pronounced just like Maura my little sister! It is a fruit, similar to berries. I love the stuff simply because it is so closely related to Boo Boo! The party ended with lots of fireworks. Fireworks are HUGE here. They are used for EVERY occasion- birthdays, mother's "week", weddings, etc. Try to imagine how many times I might hear fireworks in one day...and throughout the night into the early morning.

We went to my cousins wedding on Saturday. We went next door into our cousins house, saw everyone before the wedding, set off fireworks, then the wedding party left. My host mother dressed me in the traditional Mayan Guatemalan wear. See photo from ¨Walking Tour¨ blog entry. We went to my grandmother's shop and bought some dishes as a wedding gift, then walked to the church. I am pretty sure that it's alright to be late because there were already a lot of people there by the time we got there...and people kept trickling in throughout the ceremony. The church was so loud! Everything in Guatemala is loud! My host mother gave us all toilet paper to stick into our ears (also not rude). While the priest is speaking everyone is talking, children are running around. This lasted about two hours (and we were "late"). Each family goes up and presents the bride and groom with a gift. Then they served "Pepian". I was smarter about it this time around. Next the children started taking down all of the decorations- balloons and streamers. I was a hit because I was one of the tallest people there, so I could reach the balloons for the children! I am looking forward to another wedding next weekend.

Walking Tour

From the center of town where the park, fountain, and market are located, you walk five blocks up a hill, turn left and we're the fourth door on your right. It is not uncommon or rude to knock persistently until someone responds. This has definitely startled me at times, but I'm getting used to it. My room is located directly above the door. You'd be surprised how many people knock on the door.
You enter into the garage with tiled floors. My family owns a white pick up truck, very similar to Tonka! I have had a few opportunities to "jalon" or ride in the back of the pick up truck. From the garage, one door leads to the kitchen, the other door leads to outside. My family is fortunate enough to have an oven! My host mother loves to bake when she has time (which is not often). They also have a refrigerator, stove top, TV, large table, chairs, and lots of flies. They have these sweet fly catchers that hang from the ceiling that zap flies. I am totally worried that this string of dead flies is going to fall on me when I'm eating.
When you walk outside you'll find the "pila" which is a large sink that stores water. Then you have the bathroom which includes a toilet, drain and shower head. It is not uncommon for us not to have water (and when we do it is not hot). This means flushing the toilet with a small bucket of water from the pila. Oh! And never flush toilet paper. Last week the nurses recommended squatting over the toilet seat to avoid diseases...great work out for my thighs; however, I would like to know how to squat when you have number three. I have also mastered the bucket bath! I will explain because, honestly, I didn't really know how to do it before I arrived in Guatemala. You just get a large bucket of water from the pila, take it into the bathroom, or close to the drain, dump a small bucket over your body to get yourself wet, lather up, rinse by getting clean water with the small bucket from the large bucket, repeat as necessary. It is very efficient!
Next you walk up thirteen concrete stairs and enter into the family's room. My family has two king sized beds that the five of them sleep on, a couch, and a TV. Then you walk through a hallway into my bedroom! My bedroom is fabulous! I have a couch, a chair, a stand with five shelves (that fit all of my clothes), a desk where I keep all of my books (PC has given us tons of materials), a king sized bed (no sheets...I sleep on a comforter with a throw blanket, no pillows either, which is not a problem for me...if you know me, you know why!), and I use my backpack as a make shift nightstand. It is quite cozy! I have two windows- one to outside and the other one connects the two rooms (kind of like a drive through window). My brothers are constantly looking through the window to check on me. In order to get to the bathroom I totally have to walk through the room where the whole family sleeps. And I usually wear a head lamp so I can see where I am going.

Outside of my bedroom is another staircase that leads to upstairs. They have a "plancha" which is a wood burning stove, a table, lots of corn, and random storage stuff. Then you walk outside to an INCREDIBLE view! On a clear day you can see the peaks of two volcanoes to your right and the entire town of Sumpango in front of you. It is breath taking. The eight chickens (one died last week) and four doves live out here. We also have another pila where laundry is done. Laundry. Oh my goodness...this is not something I have mastered, yet. I am getting better. It just takes me forever. First you soak your clothes for about fifteen to thirty minutes in water and powdered soap. Then you grab an article of clothing, rub the soap into the article of clothing, use the graded side of the sink to really wash the clothes. This part is hard to describe- you have one hand holding part of the clothing while the other hand is rubbing the clothing against the grades of the sink. My host mother was yelling, "dura, Maggie, dura", which translates, "hard, Maggie, hard". I totally have blisters on my hands. Then you turn the article of clothing inside out, scrub it with barred soap, rub it against the grated side of the sink, then begin to rinse using a small bucket with water from the pila. It's very important to get all of the soap out, which usually requires water and rubbing the article of clothing against the grates in the sink. The first time I did laundry it rained. I thought I might have to re-do it all again, but really, the rain water just helped rinse out any of the soap I didn't get. Next you ring out the water, keep the article of clothing inside out to help avoid fading. Finally, hang the article of clothing upside down by pulling the strings of the rope apart. This is also challenging because the rope is really tight in order for the clothes to stay on the line. I won't go into delicate items, stain removing or bleaching. It is mesmerising watching my host mother do laundry. I hope someday I can be as efficient as her, right now it takes me about an hour and a half to do about ten small articles of clothing.

The photo is of my host mother and I dressed up in the traditional Mayan clothing before the wedding last weekend.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Feliz Dia de Las Madres!

I hope all of the mothers, and mother´s to be...MOLLY had a wonderful Mother´s Day.  In Guatemala, Mother´s Day is always on the 10. 

I just wanted to write a quick update. Everything is fabulous. My Spanish is slowly progressing. I can tell a significant difference every day.  It is exciting.  We´ve started technical training, preparing for what we will be doing in the field.  We have a community assessment project coming up.  My partner and I are responsible for Kinship and Politics.  Obviously, I took Politics. JK!  I´m learning so much about the culture.  I´ve had an upset stomach today, so hopefully that gets better soon.  Still in high spirits!  Ah! So much to share, what do you want to know about

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

A Dream Come True

I made it to Guatemala safe and sound!  I spent the first three days with a host family near the Peace Corps training center, learning the necessities about health and safety and being tested on my Spanish.  I have learned so much!

I moved to Sumpango on May 1st. I am currently living with Mom, Dad, three brothers (3,5,10), one ayudante or ¨helper¨, nine chickens and four birds.  My family said that my arrival was ¨a dream come true¨.  The family owns a hamburger restaurant in the center of town.  Most of their relatives all work at near by "tiendas" or stores.  Sumpango is a tight knit indigenous community, which is great for my safety.

Ah! I´ve been so busy...it´s hard to put it all into words. Not to mention my brain is trying to function in Spanish while I attempt to write in English on a Spanish computer.  Goodness!  I spend most of my days (Mon through Saturday) with my language group, consisting of three other Peace Corps Trainees (PCT)- Pedro, Kyle, and Christina.  We have the best language teacher- very patient, understanding, and intelligent.  This is great because I am definitely struggling with my Spanish.  I have learned SO much since I´ve been here.  I´ve been able to get up around 6 am and run in the mornings with a small group of other PCT.  Then I usually have language class from 8 to 3.  On Tuesdays our group of 52 PCT meet up for health, safety, and technical training.  I spend my evenings with my host family, practicing Spanish, learning how to cook Guatemalan meals (my mom LOVES to cook), studying Spanish, doing homework, and SLEEPING because the days are exhausting...in a good way.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. I can hear them over the roosters, barking dogs, fireworks, snoring, and honking horns throughout the night.  Guatemala is pretty loud.

Oh! Here is an updated mailing address
Maggie Kelly
Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 66
Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepquez
Guatemala 03001

Please send me an e-mail if you did send something to the previous address. Thank you!!