Squeamish? Proceed no Further. Chicken Killing

So I helped mom kill a chicken the other day. It was fascinating and a bit gruesome at the same time. Here is photo-documentation of our adventure (Ok, so it probably wasn't an adventure for her since she always does it, but it sure was for me!)

Step 1: catch you a chicken:

Step 2: kill the chicken (this step omitted in my photo journalism), however, mom did manage to catch my genuine reaction to it posthumously writhing in my hands.

Step 3: soak the (dead) chicken for the first time (to warm up its feathers)

Step 4: pluck the feathers!

Step 5: chicken gets bath #2

Step 6: tortue the chicken over a fire (did you know that chickens have these sporadically placed long hairs over their bodies that need to be singed off? Well they do!)

Step 7: cut up the chicken!

I only included one super graphic photo, but I think it's actually kind of artistic. Is that sick?

And that's how it's done! I hope you aren't grossed out. I excluded the video footage and the grossest pictures, but I thought you might like to know what the experience was like!

Bon Apetite!

Why I adore my Guatemalan family

Host mom wearing her grandson's hat. She's so silly!

So one thing that really keeps a smile on my face is my little Guatemalan family. They are so precious.
First of all, my mom, Mayra, who I’m the closest with, is the sweetest little round lady you’ll ever meet. She has this little chortle like you might imagine a dolphin having when laughing at a good joke. The notes slide down the scale and float through the air to my upstairs window while I’m doing homework and it always makes me smile. When she’s super excited she claps really loudly and does this little hop that barely leaves the ground, or sometimes she pounces on dad from behind, chortling loudly and getting about 3/4s of an inch of air. And she gets really energetic when it’s time for dad to come home from work. When he honks his motorcycle horn from the street to say “open the gate” she get’s this grin that lights up her whole face and her eyes get wide and she shouts “Papa Tere! He’s here! Quick! Get the door,” and follows me chortling and clapping and leaping all the way to the door. Also, sometimes she sings really loudly when she thinks no one is around LOL. And in Guatemala, it’s not necessary that one sing on key (more about this later) so it’s really cute.

Also, since I go by Yuna here, my dad started calling me Yunais, like “you (are) nice. Well that developed into a language called English-Guatemalteco. Essentially you just add “ais” to any Spanish word...the combinations are endless and it never ceases to make us laugh when someone busts out with a new word in our little language.

They made a sign to welcome me home from training!
When I left for a week training session, the family called and/or texted everyday! It was so precious because you could see we all really missed each other. One text, for example, said, “Hello Yunais! How are you? The family misses you a lot in moments like this when we are having dinner.”After dinner we have coffee and sweet bread and sit around and chat or watch movies. Everyone knows I love the muffin bread called cubilete so they offer it to me first and I split it with mom. My dad sent me a text that said, “Ooooo Yunais, a member of the crazy family (that’s what we call ourselves) is missing. I need someone to share the cubilete. Yunais! We miss you.” It almost brought a tear to my eye that they thought of me during dinner. Also, I always imitate a rooster for them so they said even the rooster missed me and called for me, “Where is Yunais?!” to the sound of his cock-a-doodle-doo.

We won an apron in a competition so I made dad put it on! (Pinto (20), mom, dad, Francis (18), Chico (22)

There is also a lot of fake violence: for example, my brother threatens to beat me with a giant trophy every night. He calls it “postre” or “dessert”. He’s always asking me if I want “dessert” and that he’s always willing to share it anytime…all I have to do is ask. Sometimes I turn around and he’s hitting the huge hulking trophy base against his palm like he’s going to bludgeon me to death in any moment. So finally I asked him if he wanted dessert. When he asked what it was, I offered him a mouthful of my sweet knuckles. He politely declined my generous offer. Also, once they told me it was unsafe to walk alone through town in the afternoon but I threw up my karate hands and told them I was a kung fu master. Now mom always karate chops the dad while he’ eating and asks if her form is right. I always tell her to use more force and get him in the schnoz. It’s a great time!!

Also, they do this thing when people are choking where they slap them across the back of the head, really, really hard like we would pound someone’s back. Well, one time I was sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast and I started sneezing (holding it in, without making any noise) and all of a sudden everyone stops talking and my sister jumps up faster that I’ve ever seen anyone move and is pounding me across the head. So I start shouting, “AAhhhh why are you hitting me?!” And then I realize that they thought I was choking. Now whenever they want to make fun of me, they pretend to sneeze, convulsing silently and laughing hysterically.

Here are the earrings they bought me/forced me to wear lol
Lastly, they’re kind of bossy. Whenever they really want you to do something, there’s no denying them. Either they guilt you, “Why are you always rejecting me?” and then you feel obligated to do it. Or, when I returned from a week-long trip, the bought me some pretty gold earrings. The next day as we were leaving for a party, mom says, “Put your new earrings on,” to which I say, “Oh they’re so beautiful but this skirt has silver in it and they’re gold.” To which she says, “No, they match your shirt (my shirt was purple and the earrings have blue in them lol). Go put them on.” And that was the end of that. I wore those blue and gold earrings with my silver and purple skirt like I was commanded and everyone was happy. Or the time I had a stomach ache and they kept saying I needed an alka-seltzer tablet. I told them I don’t like to take medicine because usually illnesses pass on their own. They reluctantly let the issue drop but kindly brought me my favorite tea….which was laced with alka-seltzer….LOL they think they’re so clever!!! Isn’t that illegal or something?

Ok, that wasn’t the last thing, I have to share this: So mom hand-washes all my clothes and I’m responsible to wash my underwear. One day I was hanging up my newly-scrubbed underwear on the line and my dad happens to be standing around talking. He takes a long look at them and finally says, “aaahhhh Yunais tiene las banderas del mundo.” Or “Yuna has the flags of the world….there’s Guatemala (the blue and white ones) and The United States and Argentina….” We all died laughing. The other volunteers in my town thought it was awkward but I just thought it was funny. Now this part get’s a little strange….so I took a picture of them and whenever anyone comes over, the whole family starts shouting that I should show them the banderas (flags). This one family friend came over who’s about the same age as host dad and the family insisted that I bring the camera to show him and his wife the banderas. So when he gets the camera in his hands he does a quick glance and then takes off his glasses…I figure he’s like my parents and can see better without them since he’s getting a little older. OMG, the family ragged on him for like 10 minutes about taking off his glasses to get a better look at the banderas. That was the first time I felt slightly awkward about the situation. Needless to say, I’ll probably just erase the picture off my camera so the fam will stop asking me to display them!

If anyone comes to visit, we’re for sure having dinner with them!

So this happened a few days ago but whenever I think of it, I still laugh:

Sitting my room after a miserable afternoon in Spanish class, my nose was running and I was reviewing all the things wrong in my life: I have fleas, we’re all anxious about who our partners will be, my feet are always filthy from the dust, I keep saying ridiculous and embarrassing things in Spanish etc….anyway…since tissues are expensive and I don’t have a screen, I decided to blow a snot rocket out my window. My neighbor was below washing clothes and I didn’t want her to see me and think poorly of me but I wasn’t’ wearing my glasses and couldn’t tell if she was looking at me. (spoiler: do not try to rush snot rockets, it is a bad idea.) Then I saw the family dog that hate…after that I’m not sure what eight your old boy climbed into my head and commandeered my brain but I decided in that moment to aim my snot rocket at the dog. I know….this just keeps getting stupider : / But the dog is such a bully...not only does he start fights in the streets with every dog we pass (which if we caught up in, could get us bitten and then we’d die from rabies), but he impregnated our sad little puppy that looks like she’s about to die from starvation because he steals all her food—so now both she and their puppies will die from hunger. Plus, he eats baby chicks and kittens. Can we say douchebag? He had it coming.
While hanging out the window blowing the snot rocket, I thought I saw my neighbor turn to look at me…so I prematurely duck back into my window…and, needless to say it did not end well…HUGE MESS! Bad idea : ( The moral of the story, don’t rush a sneak attack snot rocket mission against a bully dog from your second story window while your neighbor is washing clothes and might see you and think you’re a fool….failure is imminent…and it’s just all around a bad idea. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to get Mr. Bully and let you know how it works out.

Other dumb things I’ve done:
We were playing the game “two truths and lie” as an ice breaker where everyone has to guess which of your three statements is a lie. Well when it was my turn, I said my three statements but when they guessed which was the lie, I told them the wrong one! I can’t even keep my truths and lies straight without confusing myself! Also, during another icebreaker when we were supposed to make a crossword using the letters in our names, I definitely spelled my own name wrong! I suppose this is a good sign that my personality is on its way back lol

Language Bloopers:
1. What I meant to say: Are you going to the church to pray? -What I said: Are you going to the church to save?
2. What I meant to say: Do you want me to sweep? -What I said: Do you want me to erase?
3. What I meant to say: I’m going on a trip! -What I said: I’m going on an old!
4. What I meant to say: Can we put onions on it? -What I said: Can we put horse on it?
5. What I meant to say: Do you have any advice for me? -What I said: Do you have any rabbits for me?

Some pretty cool pictures of Antigua at night.


Some of my family plus my aunt and cousins.

So we went to a Mayan religious ceremony marking the changing of the calander. Here are some interesting pictures:

Here's a group shot while we waited for lunch.

I don't know why all my hair decided to move to one side but it's super curly here!

This guy lead the ceremony in a Mayan language and after each section translated it for us into Spanish.

There were tons of candles! Hundreds.

Not sure what we were doing in this pic, these guys are from the Ecotourism program...we don't see much of them : (

A site with one of the ruins.

Lunch! Those sausages were soooo good.

My mom made this delicious strawberry and milk drink that was SOOOO refreshing and amazing.

Things you probably didn’t know about life in Guatemala:

My mom cooks over an open fire at least twice a day: twice to make tortillas and once to roast/grill meat or cook tomatoes to make salsa.
I heat the water for my bucket bath over a fire (which, for some reason I cannot start. I swear I set it up just like they do, but no never works : (

Noise Levels
A man’s house is his castle and everyone takes that opportunity to play music as LOUD as their speakers will allow. When walking to class or home for lunch one can hear anything from salsa to reggatone to a wide variety of American music such as Beyonce, Michael Jackson or Black-Eyed Peas or old rock songs that most black people probably don’t know and would never listen to (or I would name them).
It’s also very interesting that Guatemalan’s love to talk (I mean give a Guatemalan a mic or ask them to say a few words and you’ll be there another half hour, minimum) but, on the bus, no one speaks to each other. Maybe since families see so much of one another all day, they get tired of talking but it’s very interesting to stop and look around when there are lots of American’s and Guatemalan’s on a bus: the Americans are talking and shouting from seat to seat and laughing loudly but I’ve never seen Guatemalan’s do anything like that even within one row…not even the teenagers!

Tremors
We’ve felt four tremors since we’ve been here, which is usually how many there are per year. This makes me a little nervous because every thirty or so years there seems to be a big earthquake and Guatemala is well past that thirty year mark. But let’s not dwell on that….I don’t know if anyone’s ever felt a tremor, the after-affect of an earthquake, but it’s actually kind of exciting. It feels like you’re in a dollhouse and someone is gently rocking it back and forth. During the first and strongest tremor, we were in a school and the chairs started rumbling and the floor shook and when I’m at home the roof rattles! Exciting no?
Let’s Go Shopping
So in small towns there are no commercialized stores or little shops. Any place that you buy meat, tortillas, fruit or one of the many snack foods offered here are sold from storefronts attached to houses. (actually there’s one free standing tienda/store in the plaza.) Going to the store really reveals a fundamental cultural difference: if you enter a store in the US or go to someone’s house to pick something up, the employee/person rushes to greet you and get what you need. Here, you ring the bell or shout “good afternoon!” and 1) hope the person hears and 2) hope that they are feeling generous that day and don’t meander to the door after they finish ironing that piece of clothing they were working on. It’s a very distinct difference in not only how people treat business but in how people live daily life. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen anyone in my town walk above a slow amble, even the kids. Since I’m always 2 minutes late to class, I’m sure it’s quite a spectacle to see the giant black girl man-striding through town shouting “buenos dias” at everyone.

“Good morning….good morning……good morning……….good morning….good morning.”
About that….so in the US (unless you’re in the South) people don’t really greet people they don’t know unless they’re in a particularly friendly mood, in my experience. Well, here in Guatemala, it is maximally important, especially in small towns, that one greet everyone on the street with a “Buenos dias, buenas tardes or buenas noches—good morning, good afternoon, good evening”. If you don’t, people will call you “enojada” or the “that angry girl”. I kid you not depending on how many people are on the street you might say “good morning” 20 times on the way to your destination. I love/hate it—it makes you look at people in the face and you start to recognize them and you aren’t always caught up in your little world. Also, Guatemalan culture dictates that one greet everyone in the room regardless of circumstances. So I visited my Grandparent’s house and a cousin was talking and crying with Grandma and I had to interrupt and say “good morning” and they had to greet me back before they could continue. Or, if you’re late to a meeting, don’t even think about slinking to the back unnoticed, if you fail to greet everyone properly, people might ask if you are upset with them and think you are extremely rude. So next time you’re late to the office or for class, barge into that room with a strong “good morning everyone!” and be sure to shake the boss’s/teacher’s hand on your way to your seat!

Questions
Other interesting cultural difference: In the states, it’s uncommon and uncomfortable to ask someone else how much they make or how much they paid for something like a camera or car. Here, people will ask you about everything from how much do your parents make to how much your camera or nail polish or a flight to Colorado costs. Also, Americans are consumed with what someone does—their job or contribution to society. Here, people are much more concerned with who your family is: what’s your family name, how many siblings do you have, how old are you parents and MOST importantly, are you married or do you have a boy/girlfriend? Sometimes people jump right in with, how many children do you have? Was it hard to leave your spouse in the States? I’m pretty sure I’m just gonna print off a picture of some Indian hottie and put it in my pocket so I can show off my fiancé next time someone asks : )

Family Life
You know how in the states if you’re past college age and living at home your parents might want you out and you probably feel like you should have moved out years ago (just based on societal standards and pressures)? Well in Guatemala, outside of the capital where it’s more westernized, if one isn’t married, they continue to live with their family. So there are people in their 30s living at home with their 4 brothers and sisters and mom and dad. I think it makes sense, but in the states it’s common to be out by 20. Guatemalan’s think it’s strange that parents would kick their child out of the family at such as young age and that children would want to leave to live alone. (People in Guatemala are almost never alone whether walking, shopping or doing housework.) Perhaps this is also because a Guatemalan’s social life is his family. I mean the families are much bigger and most family members live somewhere in the town (I have like 30 first cousins and tons of aunts and uncles in my town that my family visits or that come over to eat or work or chat). In any case, an interesting cultural difference.

Parasites, worms and other intestinal critters

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!!!

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!