So before I got really sick, our training group began learning about amebas, parasites, brain worms and other little critters that can camp out in your organs if your food or water is contaminated. After hearing about all the different types of worms and parasites and discussing the stages of an ameba infestation, I got sick. As you might imagine, my imagination was running wild thinking of how parasites were filling my small intestine while the amebas were working their way from my spinal cord to my brain and the worms were siphoning nutrients out of my blood.
A friend of the family who spoke English came over one day and we started talking about health and he mentioned that sometimes certain smells still make his intestines (tripas in Spanish) quiver. That made me laugh (but also reconsider which type of parasite makes your guts jump) so when I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t eat I would tell them “No puedo comer. Mis tripas estan bailando.” Or “I can’t eat. My intestines are dancing (which is honestly what it felt like).” And when I was feeling better in between parasital mosh pit parties in my gut, I would put my finger to my lips and say, “Shhhhhhh….por fin, mis tripas estan descansando.” Or “Quiet, my intestines are finally resting.”
It actually helps me feel better to joke about it because you can’t really take anything too seriously if you’re joking! But a friend of mine recently tested positive for amebas last week….ahhhhhhhh….it’s best not to think too hard about illness here or you’ll self-diagnose more than a first year medical student. The good news about diseases is that you get tested twice during your two years of service so if you do have anything, you’ll eventually find out!
Oh and PS I have either fleas or bed bugs. I’m not sure which is worse, I just wish I could have one day without scratching all the skin of my arms and legs lol hopefully it will pass soon……………………… ok I realize bed bugs don’t pass but you have to stay positive in this game hahaha.
Also something interesting I’ve noticed. Americans are very attached to their past-times/hobbies. Without them, the average person would explode! Think about it, whether that’s surfing the internet, cooking, exercising, people always DO something after work or school or on the weekends. Almost no one just stays at home every single day.
Well, one night I was pouting and mentally complaining that the proclaimed town dance party turned out to be an amazing band playing in front of a few hundred people who just stared at the 10 people who were dancing. As I spouted my fake obscenities (balderdash, shadrackles and shnookies) in my irritated head voice and daydreamed about going to Denver to dance real salsa with my sister, I realized that I was being totally irrational. I have NEVER seen my madre do anything to relieve stress or relax in the 7 weeks I’ve been here…there I am complaining that I can’t do my little hobby of dancing when this woman works no less than 16 hours a day (5am to 10pm) hand-washing clothes for seven people, hanging them all on the clothes line outside, ironing every piece of clothing, cooking every meal over a fire or gas stove, hand-making more than 100 tortillas a day, cleaning, going to the market to buy food or more. Honestly, she never stops working.
In that moment I mentally slapped myself across the face and hung my head in shame. Being here and seeing how she works her fingers to the bone, never complains and is actually quite pleasant and happy has shed new light on what it means to be grateful and joyful despite your circumstances. I supposed I learned my lesson about complaining and will think twice before complaining about my situation. Thanks host mom!!!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
So here are some thoughts a very interesting guest speaker discussed during one of our many training events (eventually his ideas will tie into my work here in Guate):
The speaker made an interesting point about Americans and some of the viewpoints they hold (this really isn’t going anywhere, I just thought it was a well-made point): for example American’s have all these ideas about how to “help” other nations and what they should be doing, but have their own problems to sort out. For example, America has 5% of the world population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources. That’s 6 times more resources than the average non-American. While American’s worry about overpopulation and the size of families in other countries (for instance Muslim families or lower class, rural families of any country who tend to have 6 plus children), they quickly forget that while families abroad might be much larger, each person in the United States on average consumes enough resources to sustain a 6 person family. The people American’s are worried about overpopulating the world consume far less while undoubtedly contributing less to ozone degradation, pollution, filling of landfills and exhaustion of earth’s natural resources. Something to think about.
He then gave us an interesting illustration to consider:
Imagine that society is a pressure cooker. There are a million and one “flames” that heat up the cooker and cause things to start moving faster, resulting in positive change or causing the situation to become dangerous. He focused on three flames: exclusion (political and social), repression and poverty/inequality. Then he talked about factors that can release pressure in the cooker, deflating any positive change movements and stabilizing the situation. These pressure releasers come in three main forms: political, economic and social. Much action is slowed by the game of politics for the same reasons it has been for thousands of years—people support and promote family, friends and self (in terms of an agenda, opportunity and finances ) at the expense of the community. Economically, opportunities for change are deflated by rich land-owners and those with monopolies who (perhaps not intentionally but by nature of land ownership, good business and farming practices etc) stymie the economic advancement of the masses by using their cheap labor. Interestingly, on a social level the speaker considered NGOs (non-governmental organizations that are designed to address problems in international communities) and foreign aid as major detriments to the people. His problem with NGOs and other aid/service based organizations is that they are paid based on their ideas and attempts to create change rather than the actual results. Often despite results, organizations are given money to continue their services. In addition to lacking stringent criteria for success and continued existence, aid has increased the people’s demand for incentives and reimbursement. For example, because so much aid has been offered to Guatemalans, if there is a conference or workshop on how to prepare clean water, participants from the villages will expect bus fare, lunch, snacks and materials to be provided rather than investing even a few Quetzales to learn how to improve the health of their families. As we know, people without investment in something are more likely to take the situation less seriously. (IE the college student who funds her own education or a kid who pays for half of his own bike are more likely to guard the experience or object more closely and take invest in its future).
Regarding what he considered to be the negative impact of NGO’s and foreign aid, he said it is important to be very specific and intentional about what kind of work you do in another man’s country and how you go about it. Peace Corps is all about “capacity building”. That’s our catchphrase in training. Our job as volunteers for 2 years is not to come in and do projects, potentially using outside resources and ideas, and then leave once they are finished. More importantly than what we accomplish is the atmosphere in which we work and the attitudes and mentalities that exist when we leave. For example, in my program-the Healthy Schools Program-we could go in and construct bathrooms, sinks for hand-washing and teeth brushing, give everyone tooth brushes and toothpaste and teach them about health. But when we leave, the Guatemalans health system and mentality will be the same as when we came. In failing to use natural, local resources to finance and construct the necessary utilities and getting the parents and students to invest in their own health by regularly buying toothbrushes and tooth paste, we’ve created an environment of dependency that will not be sustainable and easily maintained in the future after our service is over.
In order to combat this, our job is to build the capacity of Guatemalans so i) communities know how to get financing for needed projects, ii) our communities are educated about a specific topic like health or agriculture techniques and iii) the knowledge is integrated into an accepted norm so that when volunteers are no longer around, the locals will self-initiate/sustain the practices and projects on which they collaborated with the volunteer.
How does this relate to my project? When I first laid eyes on my job description, I was convinced that it was a misprint. Who needs to learn about hand-washing and using toothbrushes and trashcans? Well, I’ve give you two examples of why these skills are still needed here in Guatemala:
1. There is no system to handle trash. No big white truck comes barreling around the corner to pick up the trash that’s been collecting all week and take it….well actually I have no idea where they take it, but the point is, trash collection is something I seriously under-appreciated. Because there is no ultimate plan for getting rid of trash, one of three things generally happens: 1) a bag of chips/bottle of pop is opened and consumed and the trash is thrown in the street, 2) the trash is collected at home in a box or barrel and then thrown in the back yard, 3) the trash is burned on the side of the road (burning trash smells like weed, just fyi).
2. Also, hand-washing hasn’t quite taken off here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen some members of my family wash their hands in the 7 weeks I’ve been here. The funny thing is, the people are so generous and every time you go to someone’s house to visit, they offer you food. (Actually when you’re in the moment, it’s not that funny). Knowing that people aren’t too keen on hand-washing, I’ve had quite a few moments of calm façade outside, pulling out my hair and scratching out my eyes inside as I watch the host molest my food with unwashed hands. Sometimes, I feel like it’s a game: how many people can touch Yuna’s food before handing it to her? I remember being at my Grandma’s house down the street and her cutting papaya (where had the knife been before that? I tried not to imagine) and then handing the papaya down the line through three other people until it got to me. I’ve developed a strategy however—if you keep a sharp eye on some part of the food that has only been touched once or so you can bite that part and after a few moments generously offer to share your snack with whoever is around! It usually works out great and you seem like an extra nice person : ) It’s so different than the US where people insist on using tongs or a fork to hold and cut and passing things on a napkin or plate. Here in Guate it’s more of a palm the food and cut strategy or a “here, let me grab you a piece of pineapple and pass it to you”, which also contributes to me mentally pulling out my hair in anguish. (Ok so maybe it’s not that serious, but it’s been difficult adjustment.)
So those are a few examples of why my job is necessary. Now the question is, how can my work create sustainability in my community after I leave? Of course it will be faster and easier to plan events and projects regarding health without the influence and help of my community, but the point is to get Guatemalan teachers to plan weekly health lessons or to organize workshops for the parents on why hand-washing is important. We also recently learned that we will not be receiving any funding to do small projects like the volunteers before us received. At first I was really upset because the schools need those funds to put in spigots for hand-washing or to construct in latrines or toilets. As I thought about it however, I realized that is not capacity-building at all because Guatemalan’s would not be able to do those projects on their own if a volunteer were not there to write the grants. With this new system, however, the schools will learn how to petition their local government officials and other NGOs as well as the community members for funds. This system makes things much more difficult for each volunteer individually and certainly limits what one person can do in 2 years, but in the long run, Guatemalans will be able to take pride in their accomplishments and have more interest in maintaining the work of their own hands.
So there’s a little about my work specifically and about what PC Guatemala is trying to do. It’s kind of random but important to document and hopefully useful information!
The speaker made an interesting point about Americans and some of the viewpoints they hold (this really isn’t going anywhere, I just thought it was a well-made point): for example American’s have all these ideas about how to “help” other nations and what they should be doing, but have their own problems to sort out. For example, America has 5% of the world population but consumes 30% of the world’s resources. That’s 6 times more resources than the average non-American. While American’s worry about overpopulation and the size of families in other countries (for instance Muslim families or lower class, rural families of any country who tend to have 6 plus children), they quickly forget that while families abroad might be much larger, each person in the United States on average consumes enough resources to sustain a 6 person family. The people American’s are worried about overpopulating the world consume far less while undoubtedly contributing less to ozone degradation, pollution, filling of landfills and exhaustion of earth’s natural resources. Something to think about.
He then gave us an interesting illustration to consider:
Imagine that society is a pressure cooker. There are a million and one “flames” that heat up the cooker and cause things to start moving faster, resulting in positive change or causing the situation to become dangerous. He focused on three flames: exclusion (political and social), repression and poverty/inequality. Then he talked about factors that can release pressure in the cooker, deflating any positive change movements and stabilizing the situation. These pressure releasers come in three main forms: political, economic and social. Much action is slowed by the game of politics for the same reasons it has been for thousands of years—people support and promote family, friends and self (in terms of an agenda, opportunity and finances ) at the expense of the community. Economically, opportunities for change are deflated by rich land-owners and those with monopolies who (perhaps not intentionally but by nature of land ownership, good business and farming practices etc) stymie the economic advancement of the masses by using their cheap labor. Interestingly, on a social level the speaker considered NGOs (non-governmental organizations that are designed to address problems in international communities) and foreign aid as major detriments to the people. His problem with NGOs and other aid/service based organizations is that they are paid based on their ideas and attempts to create change rather than the actual results. Often despite results, organizations are given money to continue their services. In addition to lacking stringent criteria for success and continued existence, aid has increased the people’s demand for incentives and reimbursement. For example, because so much aid has been offered to Guatemalans, if there is a conference or workshop on how to prepare clean water, participants from the villages will expect bus fare, lunch, snacks and materials to be provided rather than investing even a few Quetzales to learn how to improve the health of their families. As we know, people without investment in something are more likely to take the situation less seriously. (IE the college student who funds her own education or a kid who pays for half of his own bike are more likely to guard the experience or object more closely and take invest in its future).
Regarding what he considered to be the negative impact of NGO’s and foreign aid, he said it is important to be very specific and intentional about what kind of work you do in another man’s country and how you go about it. Peace Corps is all about “capacity building”. That’s our catchphrase in training. Our job as volunteers for 2 years is not to come in and do projects, potentially using outside resources and ideas, and then leave once they are finished. More importantly than what we accomplish is the atmosphere in which we work and the attitudes and mentalities that exist when we leave. For example, in my program-the Healthy Schools Program-we could go in and construct bathrooms, sinks for hand-washing and teeth brushing, give everyone tooth brushes and toothpaste and teach them about health. But when we leave, the Guatemalans health system and mentality will be the same as when we came. In failing to use natural, local resources to finance and construct the necessary utilities and getting the parents and students to invest in their own health by regularly buying toothbrushes and tooth paste, we’ve created an environment of dependency that will not be sustainable and easily maintained in the future after our service is over.
In order to combat this, our job is to build the capacity of Guatemalans so i) communities know how to get financing for needed projects, ii) our communities are educated about a specific topic like health or agriculture techniques and iii) the knowledge is integrated into an accepted norm so that when volunteers are no longer around, the locals will self-initiate/sustain the practices and projects on which they collaborated with the volunteer.
How does this relate to my project? When I first laid eyes on my job description, I was convinced that it was a misprint. Who needs to learn about hand-washing and using toothbrushes and trashcans? Well, I’ve give you two examples of why these skills are still needed here in Guatemala:
1. There is no system to handle trash. No big white truck comes barreling around the corner to pick up the trash that’s been collecting all week and take it….well actually I have no idea where they take it, but the point is, trash collection is something I seriously under-appreciated. Because there is no ultimate plan for getting rid of trash, one of three things generally happens: 1) a bag of chips/bottle of pop is opened and consumed and the trash is thrown in the street, 2) the trash is collected at home in a box or barrel and then thrown in the back yard, 3) the trash is burned on the side of the road (burning trash smells like weed, just fyi).
2. Also, hand-washing hasn’t quite taken off here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen some members of my family wash their hands in the 7 weeks I’ve been here. The funny thing is, the people are so generous and every time you go to someone’s house to visit, they offer you food. (Actually when you’re in the moment, it’s not that funny). Knowing that people aren’t too keen on hand-washing, I’ve had quite a few moments of calm façade outside, pulling out my hair and scratching out my eyes inside as I watch the host molest my food with unwashed hands. Sometimes, I feel like it’s a game: how many people can touch Yuna’s food before handing it to her? I remember being at my Grandma’s house down the street and her cutting papaya (where had the knife been before that? I tried not to imagine) and then handing the papaya down the line through three other people until it got to me. I’ve developed a strategy however—if you keep a sharp eye on some part of the food that has only been touched once or so you can bite that part and after a few moments generously offer to share your snack with whoever is around! It usually works out great and you seem like an extra nice person : ) It’s so different than the US where people insist on using tongs or a fork to hold and cut and passing things on a napkin or plate. Here in Guate it’s more of a palm the food and cut strategy or a “here, let me grab you a piece of pineapple and pass it to you”, which also contributes to me mentally pulling out my hair in anguish. (Ok so maybe it’s not that serious, but it’s been difficult adjustment.)
So those are a few examples of why my job is necessary. Now the question is, how can my work create sustainability in my community after I leave? Of course it will be faster and easier to plan events and projects regarding health without the influence and help of my community, but the point is to get Guatemalan teachers to plan weekly health lessons or to organize workshops for the parents on why hand-washing is important. We also recently learned that we will not be receiving any funding to do small projects like the volunteers before us received. At first I was really upset because the schools need those funds to put in spigots for hand-washing or to construct in latrines or toilets. As I thought about it however, I realized that is not capacity-building at all because Guatemalan’s would not be able to do those projects on their own if a volunteer were not there to write the grants. With this new system, however, the schools will learn how to petition their local government officials and other NGOs as well as the community members for funds. This system makes things much more difficult for each volunteer individually and certainly limits what one person can do in 2 years, but in the long run, Guatemalans will be able to take pride in their accomplishments and have more interest in maintaining the work of their own hands.
So there’s a little about my work specifically and about what PC Guatemala is trying to do. It’s kind of random but important to document and hopefully useful information!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
This is the town of Pastores from atop the hill (it's a few bus stops up from my town San Lorenzo) .
These are my cousins Iede, Roxanna and Henry all dressed up for the party.
These are some family friends. I always like visiting them because we get to ride in the car to go to their house and because they laugh a lot!
Here is my brother Jacobo (affectionately known as Pinto) with my nephew Jefferson Daniel (Danny). I dont' know why he looks so pissed, he's actually really silly and laughs a lot. 
The food was amazing!
The family pitched in and bought this baby stroller as a gift for the birthday boy! It plays music too : )
Like I mentioned, there are no trashcans so the party guests made this monument and posted it as artwork on a nearby wall.
I have tons of pictures but I can't find my cord, let's hope I find it soon!
These are my cousins Iede, Roxanna and Henry all dressed up for the party.
These are some family friends. I always like visiting them because we get to ride in the car to go to their house and because they laugh a lot!
Here is my brother Jacobo (affectionately known as Pinto) with my nephew Jefferson Daniel (Danny). I dont' know why he looks so pissed, he's actually really silly and laughs a lot.
So my sister's baby is one year old and they had a birthday party!
The food was amazing!
This is my neighbor Rosita with my godsister's baby.
The family pitched in and bought this baby stroller as a gift for the birthday boy! It plays music too : )
Here are some of the guests waiting to be served cake!
Like I mentioned, there are no trashcans so the party guests made this monument and posted it as artwork on a nearby wall.
I have tons of pictures but I can't find my cord, let's hope I find it soon!
Hey folks! Thanks for you encouragement last blog it made me smile inside : )
I have a few prayer requests and little info about my job for anyone who is interested.
Please pray for my bosses. They are about to make some very important decisions for us. We have three options as far as work for the next two years.
Here’s a little about the work that I’m doing here in Guatemala:
1) 4 of my colleagues are in Phase 1 of the program. They have 2-4 schools that they’ll train in health concepts such as hand-washing, clean water usage, teeth brushing, nutrition etc. They work directly with students and teachers in the schools four or five days a week. The goal is to help the schools get certified as a “Healthy School” for having things like a tooth brushing station, toothbrushes for all students, clean water, a hand-washing station etc. Usually the schools get 2 sets of volunteers in hopes of being certified by the end of the 4 years.
2) Most of us are assigned to Phase 2 of the program where we will work with a partner on a much larger scale of the same thing. Instead of having a few schools and working with them, we’re in charge of an entire municipality/region of schools (20-50 schools). Between the two of you, you must work with the superintendent of the region to encourage and train the principals of the school and the teachers so they can set up the aforementioned resources in the schools. You still visit each school to check on progress and encourage, but it’s not your job to actually help implement anything, rather to train the schools to do it themselves. It’s thought out well in advance because there are 3 generations of volunteers doing this work for a total of 6 years (we are first generation).
3) In Phase 3 a pair of volunteers works with the superintendents and other head-honchos to work on implementing regional/country wide changes to school curriculum to include more topics on health. They will also organize the sharing of information and training of teachers and principals. I’m still a little unclear about what these guys will do but it’s very minimal contact with students. The volunteers will mostly train groups of national education staff members, superintendents and principals in ways to implement the Healthy Schools Program and other measures to create a healthy environment for students.
Please pray that God would send me to the right program in the right region! From what I understand, success depends largely upon the superintended of the municipality you’re assigned to. If they don’t have time, refuse to or are too lazy to work with you then you’re pretty much screwed for your two years. (Interesting how some things are the same all across the world huh?) Pray that God would be preparing both my partner and our boss for a productive service and great personal relationships!!
Also, the principals’ and teachers’ participation is crucial to success. It would be great to have teachers who are excited about the project and principals who are willing to encourage teacher participation. Also, “confianza” or trust is super important in other cultures (I’ll post something later about why for all you anthropologists!) so please pray that I would integrate well into my new community—we move in March 27th—and that strong relationships would be formed with the families. Lastly, obviously the person you’ll be working with is very important not only to job success but personal/mental happiness : ) Please continue to pray that I will be placed with the right partner.
General prayers for the program and Guatemala: If corruption is under the table in the US, it’s definitely a side-dish on the Guatemalan table (not that it’s not the same ole …stuff… in the US and abroad, but it’s just more obvious and accepted part of life). Pray that God would allow all of us to be successful in our work without getting caught up in politics…that God would open doors to see results despite slow moving process and less resources…that people would be motivated and willing to work with us!
Thank you so much for thinking and praying for me!! Please feel free to send prayer request to me as well : ) thammon.09@gmail.com
Lastly, if you are interested in helping out in a small way, you can send care packages!
A few things I will need (that I’ll have to buy with my at-poverty-line salary : ) are:
Markers in a plethora of beautiful colors
Fine point, colored pens
Stickers to give as prizes to the students
Tape (masking and scotch)
Construction paper
Personally:
1. NUMBER 1 REQUEST: pictures!! If you have pictures of us together and you can print one off, I would love to hang them on my wall so I can see your face : )
2. A CD with your favorite songs so I can have some new music, any type of music (country, classical, 80s rock)
3. Any type of snack in a bag or box (like pop tarts, teddy grams, etc)
4. Letters or cards!
5. Little bottles of lotion
6. Nail polish (just the dollar kind : )
If you send me something I promise to send you a post card! Granted it’s not equal to a package, but I officially survive on $4 a day…I hope you understand. (it’s really not that bad, it’s just tricky to buy non-essentials)
Thanks guys!!!
I have a few prayer requests and little info about my job for anyone who is interested.
Please pray for my bosses. They are about to make some very important decisions for us. We have three options as far as work for the next two years.
Here’s a little about the work that I’m doing here in Guatemala:
1) 4 of my colleagues are in Phase 1 of the program. They have 2-4 schools that they’ll train in health concepts such as hand-washing, clean water usage, teeth brushing, nutrition etc. They work directly with students and teachers in the schools four or five days a week. The goal is to help the schools get certified as a “Healthy School” for having things like a tooth brushing station, toothbrushes for all students, clean water, a hand-washing station etc. Usually the schools get 2 sets of volunteers in hopes of being certified by the end of the 4 years.
2) Most of us are assigned to Phase 2 of the program where we will work with a partner on a much larger scale of the same thing. Instead of having a few schools and working with them, we’re in charge of an entire municipality/region of schools (20-50 schools). Between the two of you, you must work with the superintendent of the region to encourage and train the principals of the school and the teachers so they can set up the aforementioned resources in the schools. You still visit each school to check on progress and encourage, but it’s not your job to actually help implement anything, rather to train the schools to do it themselves. It’s thought out well in advance because there are 3 generations of volunteers doing this work for a total of 6 years (we are first generation).
3) In Phase 3 a pair of volunteers works with the superintendents and other head-honchos to work on implementing regional/country wide changes to school curriculum to include more topics on health. They will also organize the sharing of information and training of teachers and principals. I’m still a little unclear about what these guys will do but it’s very minimal contact with students. The volunteers will mostly train groups of national education staff members, superintendents and principals in ways to implement the Healthy Schools Program and other measures to create a healthy environment for students.
Please pray that God would send me to the right program in the right region! From what I understand, success depends largely upon the superintended of the municipality you’re assigned to. If they don’t have time, refuse to or are too lazy to work with you then you’re pretty much screwed for your two years. (Interesting how some things are the same all across the world huh?) Pray that God would be preparing both my partner and our boss for a productive service and great personal relationships!!
Also, the principals’ and teachers’ participation is crucial to success. It would be great to have teachers who are excited about the project and principals who are willing to encourage teacher participation. Also, “confianza” or trust is super important in other cultures (I’ll post something later about why for all you anthropologists!) so please pray that I would integrate well into my new community—we move in March 27th—and that strong relationships would be formed with the families. Lastly, obviously the person you’ll be working with is very important not only to job success but personal/mental happiness : ) Please continue to pray that I will be placed with the right partner.
General prayers for the program and Guatemala: If corruption is under the table in the US, it’s definitely a side-dish on the Guatemalan table (not that it’s not the same ole …stuff… in the US and abroad, but it’s just more obvious and accepted part of life). Pray that God would allow all of us to be successful in our work without getting caught up in politics…that God would open doors to see results despite slow moving process and less resources…that people would be motivated and willing to work with us!
Thank you so much for thinking and praying for me!! Please feel free to send prayer request to me as well : ) thammon.09@gmail.com
Lastly, if you are interested in helping out in a small way, you can send care packages!
A few things I will need (that I’ll have to buy with my at-poverty-line salary : ) are:
Markers in a plethora of beautiful colors
Fine point, colored pens
Stickers to give as prizes to the students
Tape (masking and scotch)
Construction paper
Personally:
1. NUMBER 1 REQUEST: pictures!! If you have pictures of us together and you can print one off, I would love to hang them on my wall so I can see your face : )
2. A CD with your favorite songs so I can have some new music, any type of music (country, classical, 80s rock)
3. Any type of snack in a bag or box (like pop tarts, teddy grams, etc)
4. Letters or cards!
5. Little bottles of lotion
6. Nail polish (just the dollar kind : )
If you send me something I promise to send you a post card! Granted it’s not equal to a package, but I officially survive on $4 a day…I hope you understand. (it’s really not that bad, it’s just tricky to buy non-essentials)
Thanks guys!!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Pictues of the festival
At the town festival, the men dress in drag and dance around the city. There's video later!
Alongside the dancing men are the children acting out the life of Jesus.
Alongside the dancing men are the children acting out the life of Jesus.
During the town festival, people dress in costumes and dance in the streets.
This was one of my favs
Spanish class at a friend's house.
This is the camioneta which is the equivalent to our MARTA or the metro or the train.
Sorry it's sideways
This was one of my favs
Spanish class at a friend's house.
This is the camioneta which is the equivalent to our MARTA or the metro or the train.
Sorry it's sideways
Thanks best friend Michele Mitchell for pulling me through once again:
So Guatemala seems to be just like Thailand in that half of life is wonderful, amazing, everything I hoped it would be and the other half is miserable and I wish it would all end. (Not my life of course but this particular aspect).
The actual Peace Corps part of the Peace Corps has been great! I have language classes every day with a teacher who’s SO adorable and funny (he giggles all the time and tells us jokes/lies and gets us all turned around before telling us the truth or the real word or phrase. LOVE that guy). Some people don’t like the technical training we receive but I find it beneficial, creatively presented and with a plethora of current volunteer guest speakers to give us detailed answers to our hundreds of questions. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be and actually MORE!!! (Peace Corps is an amazing organization in so many ways.)
The miserable part is that my personality has officially left the building. For the past 35 days, the Tiffany that you know has yet to surface. The incessant, boisterous laughter, high-pitched nasally excited voice, wild gestures, exaggerated facial expressions and all around over-the-top bodily animation….Guatemala has yet to see. It’s exactly the opposite of Thailand: for my first three weeks of solitude and social isolation before I found friends, I experienced myself as never before. I think God sent me there to more fully appreciate his blessing to me of my personality. If any of you guys read my entries, you remember it was an outrageous time full of ridiculous moments, crazy excursions, odd insights and innumerable knee-slapping laughs…..but they occurred when I was completely, 100% alone. I can’t recall a time when it so GREAT to be me. Slightly odd or awkward attributes, outlandish comments or wild tendencies were amplified in the absence of outside influence and judgment...It almost felt like the sun was inside my head sitting just behind my face, bursting to get out. I remember sometimes my face felt like it was going to slide off at the end of the day and my eyes felt like little paper weights as exhaustion set in from smiling and laughing so much.
So why has this awkward, mostly reserved person who tends to be a sideline observer emerged here in Guatemala? I ask myself the same question every day. I’ve come up with a few ideas.
First, although obviously an extravert, I recharge when I’m alone. Many of the day’s most memorable experiences occur when I’m riding on the shuttle; thinking; observing/staring at random people; or in my room dancing with my broom when I should be cleaning or re-telling myself old jokes or accidently smashing my head into pieces of furniture. In our three month training with Peace Corps, much as I love it, there is NO free time. Sunup to sundown we’re working and after work there are projects to plan, homework to do, underwear to hand-wash, dinner, family time, bucket baths and any other things you need to get done….in four hours. As you can see there’s no free time and thus no time to recharge and connect with myself.
Second, I’m not so fond of the group dynamic. Please note I did not say I don’t like the people (official disclaimer) but the dynamic is….well my life would be wonderful if the group dynamic were different. Someone said it brilliantly yesterday: It seems that back in the U.S. most of us were jefes (chiefs, bosses, the top dog-type-person in a social, professional or academic situations). Now that there’s a group ¾ full of jefes, it seems to be a big race to see who can elbow their way to the top to be the most outrageous, funniest, wild, unique, interesting, whatever….. of the group. Like none of us know what to do if we’re not “that person” anymore.
Lastly, sometimes I think even if I were Tiffany here, I still wouldn’t have anything to say sometimes! I turn to the left and someone is re-telling the story they shared pot with this famous author in a park. To the right people are sharing their “losing my virginity” stories, behind, they’re discussing how organized religious is the opiate of the masses….WOW….I’m just a simple girl from the farm….I have nothing to contribute to these conversations! I don’t disapprove of or dislike my fellow trainees, it’s just difficult to find common ground at times. I suppose I can see why my personality has temporarily peace-d out. Perhaps she’s wandering up in the hill country somewhere, waiting for the dust to settle and to return to the simple life where having lunch with a beloved friend or seeing someone fall down made her day.
Guatemala is hard because that person, the person most of you know, doesn’t yet exist here. Michele put the rest of the picture into perspective. She mentioned that part of my irritation with life in the U.S .is that it is very materialistic. Often it felt like a rat race to accumulate “shiny things” to put in the nest….beit cars, houses, clothes, jewelry, electronics, DVDs. Now that I’m outside the States, no one is trying to accumulate wealth or material possessions, but some of those around me are now fighting to accumulate status. (She’s eloquent no? Thanks Shelly!)
I understand that everyone wants to find their place (in their family, job, the world) but that causes me unrest. Essentially, every man’s struggle to find a place in his situation means that mankind is striving to develop a hierarchy. Inherent in the name and nature of the hierarchy is the notion that some people are more valuable based on what they have to offer the group—in terms of resources, laughs, attractiveness, connections etc.—while others are deemed less valuable. Now I realize that I’m fighting human nature here and that this system has existed since life was created, but perhaps I’m just seeing it for the first time in the microcosm, mini-world in which I now live. (We spend approximately 40 hours a week with our group of 5 and 16-20 hours with the larger group of 30-45) Experiencing the bigger picture of what occurs in life on such a small scale is hard. In the “real world” of more than 60 people in your life, you can ignore mankind’s innate shortcomings. But in Peace Corps Training, it’s not so easy.
I read a book once that I think explains the situations perfectly. It said that people often use “love” as a form currency. If someone does something we approve of, we give love—in the form of compliments, attention, laughs, time spent together etc—and if someone does something we personally or as a group disapprove of, we withhold love as a form of punishment. Thus the silent treatment, group expressions of irritation directed towards an individual, belittling comments and exclusion are forms of punishing.
I feel like this is one of the moments I was dispassionately waiting for: when all the air has been knocked out of one of my idealisms: you can’t make people view each other as equally valuable and irreplaceably unique. But the truth is, none of us can change the flaws in mankind’s personality. Each of us can only strive to personally override our natural tendency to assign value to our fellow human beings. Withholding love is something that we have all done in our lives. Perhaps being aware of our “love as currency” policy is the first step towards stopping this cruel practice.
Sorry….that was just a side-note. The problem of my missing personality still remained. True to form, Michele has words of encouragement and wisdom straight from the mouth of God. She definitely said it more poetically than this but essentially she told me:
You will always be a woman who draws her strength and joy from God. He gave you the personality that you have for a reason. When you finally do come out, it will be amazing and it will be like God is there in the midst of Peace Corps Guatemala! He put so much of himself in you and his joy and life in you will plant seeds in those around you in ways you will never know. TJ (that’s what she’s nicknamed my personality) will be back. She’s way too strong to be held down by any external force. It’s only a matter of time until the Tiffany that can laugh her way through anything will return. The light inside of you is from God and since nothing can hold down God, nothing can hold you down either! Plus, all of us here are living vicariously through your adventures and you are covered in prayer! There is nothing that can overcome you with all the prayer going on here! He’s gonna bring you out alright!
THANKS BFF!
I swear I’m almost done!
The last thing I’ve learned is that no man is an island. Your attitude towards people affects the way they present themselves and they in turn affect you- how you act and speak. I always wanted to believe that I would be “me” under any circumstances. Now I realize that’s not always true. People around you play a role in the way you express yourself. I suppose I’ll take this opportunity to get sappy and thank all my family and friends!
Who I am is tied up in who you are—your attitudes towards me helped me to become the carefree and happy Tiffany that I am. THANK YOU! Thank you for letting me be the best me that could exist: listening to my pointless stories and laughing at my jokes, for allowing me to be encouraging and loud and overly energetic and obnoxious and bossy and demanding and hot-headed and over-the-top, for encouraging my endeavors and offering me opportunities and resources and kind words of advice. My joy thrived in part because of you. You are so valuable to me!!!!
So what have I learned? Be careful how you treat people. Let’s not hold anyone down but work to only say and do things that build each other up. If you feel you’re the best “you” you can possibly be, thank the people around you. They certainly have something to do with that! Strive to never withhold love from anyone no matter what they have done!
Thanks for listening! LOVE YOU GUYS
So Guatemala seems to be just like Thailand in that half of life is wonderful, amazing, everything I hoped it would be and the other half is miserable and I wish it would all end. (Not my life of course but this particular aspect).
The actual Peace Corps part of the Peace Corps has been great! I have language classes every day with a teacher who’s SO adorable and funny (he giggles all the time and tells us jokes/lies and gets us all turned around before telling us the truth or the real word or phrase. LOVE that guy). Some people don’t like the technical training we receive but I find it beneficial, creatively presented and with a plethora of current volunteer guest speakers to give us detailed answers to our hundreds of questions. It’s exactly what I hoped it would be and actually MORE!!! (Peace Corps is an amazing organization in so many ways.)
The miserable part is that my personality has officially left the building. For the past 35 days, the Tiffany that you know has yet to surface. The incessant, boisterous laughter, high-pitched nasally excited voice, wild gestures, exaggerated facial expressions and all around over-the-top bodily animation….Guatemala has yet to see. It’s exactly the opposite of Thailand: for my first three weeks of solitude and social isolation before I found friends, I experienced myself as never before. I think God sent me there to more fully appreciate his blessing to me of my personality. If any of you guys read my entries, you remember it was an outrageous time full of ridiculous moments, crazy excursions, odd insights and innumerable knee-slapping laughs…..but they occurred when I was completely, 100% alone. I can’t recall a time when it so GREAT to be me. Slightly odd or awkward attributes, outlandish comments or wild tendencies were amplified in the absence of outside influence and judgment...It almost felt like the sun was inside my head sitting just behind my face, bursting to get out. I remember sometimes my face felt like it was going to slide off at the end of the day and my eyes felt like little paper weights as exhaustion set in from smiling and laughing so much.
So why has this awkward, mostly reserved person who tends to be a sideline observer emerged here in Guatemala? I ask myself the same question every day. I’ve come up with a few ideas.
First, although obviously an extravert, I recharge when I’m alone. Many of the day’s most memorable experiences occur when I’m riding on the shuttle; thinking; observing/staring at random people; or in my room dancing with my broom when I should be cleaning or re-telling myself old jokes or accidently smashing my head into pieces of furniture. In our three month training with Peace Corps, much as I love it, there is NO free time. Sunup to sundown we’re working and after work there are projects to plan, homework to do, underwear to hand-wash, dinner, family time, bucket baths and any other things you need to get done….in four hours. As you can see there’s no free time and thus no time to recharge and connect with myself.
Second, I’m not so fond of the group dynamic. Please note I did not say I don’t like the people (official disclaimer) but the dynamic is….well my life would be wonderful if the group dynamic were different. Someone said it brilliantly yesterday: It seems that back in the U.S. most of us were jefes (chiefs, bosses, the top dog-type-person in a social, professional or academic situations). Now that there’s a group ¾ full of jefes, it seems to be a big race to see who can elbow their way to the top to be the most outrageous, funniest, wild, unique, interesting, whatever….. of the group. Like none of us know what to do if we’re not “that person” anymore.
Lastly, sometimes I think even if I were Tiffany here, I still wouldn’t have anything to say sometimes! I turn to the left and someone is re-telling the story they shared pot with this famous author in a park. To the right people are sharing their “losing my virginity” stories, behind, they’re discussing how organized religious is the opiate of the masses….WOW….I’m just a simple girl from the farm….I have nothing to contribute to these conversations! I don’t disapprove of or dislike my fellow trainees, it’s just difficult to find common ground at times. I suppose I can see why my personality has temporarily peace-d out. Perhaps she’s wandering up in the hill country somewhere, waiting for the dust to settle and to return to the simple life where having lunch with a beloved friend or seeing someone fall down made her day.
Guatemala is hard because that person, the person most of you know, doesn’t yet exist here. Michele put the rest of the picture into perspective. She mentioned that part of my irritation with life in the U.S .is that it is very materialistic. Often it felt like a rat race to accumulate “shiny things” to put in the nest….beit cars, houses, clothes, jewelry, electronics, DVDs. Now that I’m outside the States, no one is trying to accumulate wealth or material possessions, but some of those around me are now fighting to accumulate status. (She’s eloquent no? Thanks Shelly!)
I understand that everyone wants to find their place (in their family, job, the world) but that causes me unrest. Essentially, every man’s struggle to find a place in his situation means that mankind is striving to develop a hierarchy. Inherent in the name and nature of the hierarchy is the notion that some people are more valuable based on what they have to offer the group—in terms of resources, laughs, attractiveness, connections etc.—while others are deemed less valuable. Now I realize that I’m fighting human nature here and that this system has existed since life was created, but perhaps I’m just seeing it for the first time in the microcosm, mini-world in which I now live. (We spend approximately 40 hours a week with our group of 5 and 16-20 hours with the larger group of 30-45) Experiencing the bigger picture of what occurs in life on such a small scale is hard. In the “real world” of more than 60 people in your life, you can ignore mankind’s innate shortcomings. But in Peace Corps Training, it’s not so easy.
I read a book once that I think explains the situations perfectly. It said that people often use “love” as a form currency. If someone does something we approve of, we give love—in the form of compliments, attention, laughs, time spent together etc—and if someone does something we personally or as a group disapprove of, we withhold love as a form of punishment. Thus the silent treatment, group expressions of irritation directed towards an individual, belittling comments and exclusion are forms of punishing.
I feel like this is one of the moments I was dispassionately waiting for: when all the air has been knocked out of one of my idealisms: you can’t make people view each other as equally valuable and irreplaceably unique. But the truth is, none of us can change the flaws in mankind’s personality. Each of us can only strive to personally override our natural tendency to assign value to our fellow human beings. Withholding love is something that we have all done in our lives. Perhaps being aware of our “love as currency” policy is the first step towards stopping this cruel practice.
Sorry….that was just a side-note. The problem of my missing personality still remained. True to form, Michele has words of encouragement and wisdom straight from the mouth of God. She definitely said it more poetically than this but essentially she told me:
You will always be a woman who draws her strength and joy from God. He gave you the personality that you have for a reason. When you finally do come out, it will be amazing and it will be like God is there in the midst of Peace Corps Guatemala! He put so much of himself in you and his joy and life in you will plant seeds in those around you in ways you will never know. TJ (that’s what she’s nicknamed my personality) will be back. She’s way too strong to be held down by any external force. It’s only a matter of time until the Tiffany that can laugh her way through anything will return. The light inside of you is from God and since nothing can hold down God, nothing can hold you down either! Plus, all of us here are living vicariously through your adventures and you are covered in prayer! There is nothing that can overcome you with all the prayer going on here! He’s gonna bring you out alright!
THANKS BFF!
I swear I’m almost done!
The last thing I’ve learned is that no man is an island. Your attitude towards people affects the way they present themselves and they in turn affect you- how you act and speak. I always wanted to believe that I would be “me” under any circumstances. Now I realize that’s not always true. People around you play a role in the way you express yourself. I suppose I’ll take this opportunity to get sappy and thank all my family and friends!
Who I am is tied up in who you are—your attitudes towards me helped me to become the carefree and happy Tiffany that I am. THANK YOU! Thank you for letting me be the best me that could exist: listening to my pointless stories and laughing at my jokes, for allowing me to be encouraging and loud and overly energetic and obnoxious and bossy and demanding and hot-headed and over-the-top, for encouraging my endeavors and offering me opportunities and resources and kind words of advice. My joy thrived in part because of you. You are so valuable to me!!!!
So what have I learned? Be careful how you treat people. Let’s not hold anyone down but work to only say and do things that build each other up. If you feel you’re the best “you” you can possibly be, thank the people around you. They certainly have something to do with that! Strive to never withhold love from anyone no matter what they have done!
Thanks for listening! LOVE YOU GUYS
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