September

I started off the month running a half marathon in Totonicipan with a group of Peace Corps volunteers. The course was pretty hard...and hot! But we all had a great time.

Me carrying Christina on my back to cross the finish line together! It was her BIRTHDAY!! So afterwards, we had a fun birthday celebration.

Anacleto and family came over for lunch...then we played Phase 10 for five hours! I just had to include this picture because it was so much fun and I don't want to forget the special afternoon/evening.

As a precautionary measure I was “evacuated” from Patzún due to potential violence during the Political Elections.  Fortunately nothing happened, as most of my Patzún friends/family/co-workers suggested, but there were some threats.  However, I took full advantage of this opportunity to go visit my friend, Callie, in Aguacatán, Huehuetenango (about eight hours away).  It was so wonderful seeing another part of the country, experiencing a different culture, and spending time with a good friend. This photo is us hiking to the birth of the river. It was breath taking!

One afternoon we went to the pools! Yes, she has pools at her site. She could swim every day (if she wanted to). We didn't just swim and hike, we actually got quite a bit of work done for the Curriculum Committee.  We are working on revising our Youth Development Curriculum and developing the Teacher Training manual and Parent Training manual.

Best trip ever! Raquel and Hector invited me to their nephew’s first communion. We took a day trip to Mixco.  It was my first time traveling on the chicken buses with them. They are super sweet. I had a wonderful time at the service and lunch.  Their family is very welcoming. When I am with them I don’t feel like some freak of nature or some wildly different person. They accept me for who I am and don’t question everything I do or stare. I feel very comfortable around them.

The infamous 15K in Patzún! This year we decided to each be our own superhero.  I was going to print a photo of Dad on my shirt, but didn’t have the funds or the time. So I decided to be “La Mujer Maravilla” or Wonder Woman. By the end of the race I really just looked like a pathetic attempt to dress up as an American flag.  But it was all in good fun. Can you guess what super heroes everyone else is? We had lots of group training runs; a costume decorating/healthy snack party; and pre-race pasta dinner.  It was a fun group!

This was right after the HUGE climb! Ah! It was super hard, but very motivating because there were hundreds of people cheering me on, handing me bags of water and other colored liquids (possibly Gatorade).  I was really happy with my time (1:26)!  The best part of the race was the finish. I found Raquel and Hector. I could feel their proud-ness as we hugged at the finish line. It meant a lot to me that they were there.

We were invited to march in the parade with the Mayor and lots of other important people.  I felt unworthy of this honor, mostly because I knew all of the hard work my best friend, Mary, had put into it. She was on the committee that planned everything, yet I marched in front of her…I think just because I’m an American female.  Not to mention all of the students behind us who spent hours upon hours rehearsing.  In the photo I am wearing the typical dress from Huehuetenango. Laura is supporting green. Do you recognize what Lydia is wearing?! Patzún traje! She got her wepeil (blouse) custom made. Mary is rocking formal traje.

A few months back I mentioned a most-at-risk HIV/AIDS training. Well, I’ve been collaborating with the social worker at the health center and the students at the night school, doing follow up activities from the training.  The students invited me to a tamalera.  This is a special Patzún tradition where you go and pick the corn early in the morning, then cook the corn in giant pots for a couple of hours, and EAT it!  It is the best corn ever! I will never forget this tradition.  I will probably plan my return visits around this particular activity.

August

Max made it to Guatemala!! We spent the first night at the Earth Lodge just outside of Antigua.  It was super relaxing with wonderful views.

We hiked Tajumulco in San Marcos! It is the tallest point in Central America.  We hike about three and a half hours, pitched our tents (without the tent sticks) and slept for a little bit with some rain.  The next morning around 3 am, we got up and hiked to the summit to watch the sunrise.  It was absolutely FREEZING!!  On the way down we got lost in the dense fog.  It was such a refreshing, amazing, once in a lifetime experience.

The shadow of the volcano. Amazing photo!

We celebrated Raquel's Birthday!!  It was such a fun dinner...lots of laughs. I forgot to translate and let Max know that the salsa was very spicy.  Look how colorful my room is! And how cute Raquel and Hector are.  Their son, Hector Hugo is in the photo, as well.

Panoramic photo of the Lake Atitlán.

We stayed at Casa del Mundo, a beautiful hotel with a great overlook of the lake, super relaxing, family style dinner, kayaking and swimming in the lake!!



My FAVORITE photo! Look at the colors and the volcanoes.



Our basketball team was invited to the "Grand Champions Dinner" with a bunch of other athletes.  I enjoyed the social event with my teammates.

We celebrated Geovani and Lilian's son's first birthday. He was born two days after Addison.

I got to go back to the field with Anacleto and Family! We checked to see how my corn and beans were growing.  Anacelto explained how this is one of the best seasons ever. After eating two ears of corn I couldn't agree more.  I had such a wonderful time with their loving family...such special kids...and they are growing so fast. Ah!

Raquel and I made pineapple pie! We ate one and I gave the other one to the teachers in Chuchuca to say thanks for all of their help with the Career Fair!

Ah! I can't figure out how to rotate the photo. Addison is ONE year old!! Can you believe it?!  She is precious.  She just started taking her first steps. Her first word was "-aggie", short for Auntie M. Just kidding...that's a lie. Her first word was dog. I miss her and want cuddles!

Career Fair

This event is worthy of its own blog entry. At the beginning of July I met with the supervisor, the woman in charge of the schools I work with, to start planning the Career Fair. We exchanged ideas, shared contacts, and began planning the event.

We invited approximately 300 people- 20 professionals, 15 high school directors, 85 students (from five different places where I work- Colegio Renacimiento, Telesecundaria, Chuchucá, Amigos de Patzún, and the orphanage), all of the parents of the students, and 25 other special invites. Patzún has a very formal and specific method as far as soliciting people to an event. AFTER we delivered the invitations, obstacle 1- one of the directors from my school informed me that we would no longer be able to use the school for the event. So, we re-did and changed all of the invitations.

I'll skip the rest of the planning details. I’d love to just copy and paste the program and agenda, but it’s in Spanish…duh. Confession: my English has worsened (is that even a word), I can’t think of words in English and frequently misspell words. Thanks for your patience. Back on track-

Before the event, in the classrooms, with the five different groups I mentioned and with the collaboration of a teacher or a nun (in the case of the orphans), we did some pre-career fair preparation.

• Myers Briggs: the students completed a personality test that revealed which careers fit best for their type of personality.

• Resume

• Professionalism: what to wear, punctuality, how to greet professionals, etc.

• prepared questions for three professionals that they were most interested in

The event:

• Anacleto was the MC, running the show, managing the time, controlling the transitions.

Part I: Introduction
• I provided the introduction, explaining the methodology of the event, Peace Corps, etc.

• Dr. Ball, my director from PC, shared his personal life story, obstacles he overcame to get to where he is at today

• I guided the students to respond to some reflection questions

Part II: Careers

• Each professional briefly introduced themselves, then went to their "station"

• The students spent ten minutes at three different stations, asking questions and learning about different careers

Part III: Finaces and Higher Education

• Anacleto spoke about scholarships, how to manage your finances, pay for an education, and the value of a higher education

• Hermana ángela, a high school director, spoke in general about how to apply, where to look, etc.

• Each high school director briefly introduced themselves, then occupied a station

• The students visited the high schools that they were most interested in- to get more information about the school

Part IV: Libro de Mi Vida

• A scholarship student, Mynor, spoke about the “Life Book” that he completed, sharing the process and reflecting on his experience

• Approximately thirty students presented their “Life Book” projects to their parents

Part IV: Conclusion
• The supervisor said thanks to everyone

• We presented the diplomas

• Everyone ate chuchitos and drank Horchata, a rice drink

After the event:   The students reflected and asked questions about the event.  They completed a "Life Plan" worksheet, clearly defining their goals!

Here's an idea of the set-up of the event. Not ideal, but we worked with what we had.  The photo is of the supervisor, Paulina.

Here's an example of what one of the stations looked like.  Each profesional included their title, education, salary, and special abilities.

The students visiting the dentist!

The students who did the "Life Book" project!  The Life Book was a huge project where the students interviewed their parents and grandparents.  They learned about their past, analized their present, and planned for the future.

The supervisor and I presenting diplomas- always a very important moment.

A director promoting his high school

One poster with photos, describing the event.

 Dr. Ball's motivational speech!  It's in Spanish and Kachiquel.

In conclusion, it was a wonderful experience!! I learned so much, met so many people, built a lot of rapport in the community, improved my Spanish, introduced a completely foreign concept, was fortunate to have MANY professional Guatemalans to collaborate with and most importantly, provided students with useful information to make an informed decision regarding an educational future!!

July- Happy ONE YEAR in Site

ONE YEAR?! How time flies.  July was a great month!!

The Peace Corps Volunteer Advisory Committee hosted a super fun Fourth of July weekend celebration.  I played with my department, Chimaltenango, in a three-on-three basketball tournament.  The next day we played soccer- volunteers verses employees, including the Ambassador.

This is the majority of the Youth Development volunteers, from my training group, that were at the BBQ, talent show, yard games, part of the Fourth celebration.

Anacleto and I hosted a celebratory lunch for the Amigos de Patzun scholarship students who completed a "Life Book" regarding their past, present and future goals.  The students did an excellent job with the big project!!

Our team was invited to play in a basketball tournament in a near-by town, San Martin.  We lost, but had a great time! Mary and I with our diplomas.  It was a GREAT weekend. The next day....

Laura and I ran "Las Rosas" half marathon in Antigua, Guatemala. It was INCREDIBLE!!  The views, the comradery, cheering support (especially Abby)....It was wonderful!!  One challenge was running on cobble stones.  I never got an exact time, but I think I ran in about two hours and four minutes...and loved every second of it.

We celebrated Cesar, Laura's host father's, birthday.  Look how big the baby is! Also, Colin, my old site mate who was here for my first three months, came back to Guatemala for a visit!

Raquel and Hector's niece, Karla, celebrated her 15th Birthday!! Doesn't she look like a princess??

The supervisor, who is in charge of the schools that I work with, asked if I could do a teacher training.  We had at least five meetings about the topic and who we were going to invite.  We decided on participatory education and 20 middle school teachers. Yeah...we ended up with 40 teachers from preschool to middle school.  I really don't think it was a miscommunication/lack of Spanish; more so a cultural difference (for lack of better words).  So I invited Lydia, my site mate, to help out.  It was very successful and really enjoyed doing it.

One week in July the Health Center's around Guatemala promoted free HIV/AIDS testing. I had the opportunity to go with the social worker, Alicia, whom I've been collaborating with, to one of the villages.  A group called, Proyecto Payaso= Clown Project, from Sololá  did an amazing dramatization with catchy songs about HIV/AIDS.  AND THEN the Health Center did NINE HIV tests, which is double the number of voluntary tests that were done last year (not including pregnant women).

A group of female students from Colegio Renacimiento competed for "Miss Independence" by giving a speech about either women in politics, personal values or peer pressure.

Quick background of the Youth Development project- The Ministry of Education wrote a curriculum for all middle school students. Then PC created a Youth Development Life Skills curriculum based off of the Ministry of Education's curriculum. Before I got to Patzún none of my schools had even read the curriculum. The students had hardly received any sex education. Two out of three of my schools agreed to collaborate with me to do a four hour presentation about reproductive health/sex education with seventh and eighth grade students to catch them up to speed. Another small success story.



Looking back, July was a great month!!

June 2011

Wow! I am so sorry. I did not realize how far behind I am. My bad. Let's see what I can remember.

My teacher/friend, Brenda, got married!

Look at all of this food!! Typical food served at festivities are chuchitos. It's like dough made from corn, with some spicy tomato sauce and surprise meat inside.  It's wrapped in a corn husk.  Then you can top it with hot sauce.  Ok...it's hard to describe how delicious it really is.

The US Ambassador came to Patzun with his family for Corpus Cristi!!  He invited us to spend the day with him.  It definitely helped build rapport in the community and was enjoyable getting to know more about his job.

CORPUS CRISTI!  This is the most famous holiday in Patzun.  Everyone fills the streets with rugs created from dyed saw dust and other objects, such as paper, fruits, etc.  We had card board cut out designs.  Then the Catholic Church passed with a procession.  Patzun is beautiful during this time.  A lot of Raquel and Hector's family members came in town for the celebration.  I have tons of photos of incredible rugs from this celebration.

We celebrated Dia del Maestro...I know most of you are fluent in Spanish, but those of you who are not- Day of the Teacher.  Two of my friends from town finished in the top three!

I went to visit my friend Michi. She has this amazing hike really close to her house.  The culturally sacred lagoon is called Chicabal.  It was a great experience.

May

The Alumni Association from the University of Kansas generously donated 12 KU basketball jerseys! As well as tatoos, table tents and stickers.  Immediately, we went to put our names and numbers on the back.  Rock Chalk!!

We completed our season undefeated, winning the championship basketball game by one point with three seconds left!!  For the trophy acceptance speech, our team captain, Mary, gave a wonderful speech recognizing the oppression of women and the importance of physical activity.

Dad and Jane came to visit for ONE WEEK!! It was super nice. We spent a day in a half in Patzun, visiting friends, family, students, market, etc.  Then we went to Antigua.  We spent most of our time eating delicious meals, relaxing by the pool, reading, and exploring the architecture and history of Antigua. 

The mayor invited Lydia, Laura and I to participate in the parade.  Mary let me borrow her typical Patzun wear!! It is very formal and used for special occassions.  We walked a couple of hours in the parade, then went to the inaguration of the soccer fields, and then had lunch with the mayor and soccer players at the town hall building. 

Lo and I at the fair!!  I ate an ear of corn every single day of the fair (for eight days) yummy!!  Guatemalans eat it with mayonaise, mustard and picante sauce. I prefer lemon and salt.

 Estela and I at the fair!!  Look at the ferris wheel.  They go unsafely fast and in the opposite direction.  Nearly every one of my students asked if I was going to ride the ferris wheel.  Super scary.

One afternoon I went with Raquel and Hector to their other house (where Hector grew up) to help cut coffee.  Their other house is amazing. They have corn, beans, lemon trees, orange trees, coffee plants, rose bushes, etc.  It's beautiful.  We found lots of snails while cutting the coffee.

Mum's best friend of over fourty years and a dear friend to our family, Cherylanne Maria Baker Sweany Taylor, 53 suddenly passed away on Friday, April 29th.  Thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated it. It is hard coping with death in Guatemala and not being there for my mum and family.