War on Mold

Posted by Author On October 21, 2010

From around Mayish to Octoberish is classified here as the rainy season. It is signified with rain showers almost every day and usually around the same times. In some towns, like mine, there are several power outages, and sometimes water can be dirty from the soil movement. Funny enough, none of these things really bothered me. Granted, I really didn’t like wearing rain boots everyday because, here, they have no inner soles in the bottom of the boots, but I could still deal with them. The one thing I could not deal with was the MOLD......

Trainee to Trainer

Posted by Author On September 30, 2010

Remember a year ago when I was in the middle of my training? Remember when I wrote about FBT (field base training), and how dramatic it was for me? Well, thank God all of that is behind me! Now the tables have turned. I’m on the opposite side of the training… the trainee has become the trainer. The past two weeks, I have hosted the “New Class” at my site. First, there were the Ag Marketing trainees. They came to visit my coffee cooperative. They got to meet Rudy, a wonderful guy I work with, who gave them a history of the cooperative and where we are planning to be in the near future. They got taste our delicious coffee we make, and a special surprise…

The Visitor

Posted by Author On September 13, 2010

As I waited at the airport like a kid waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, I thought to myself, “I wonder if she makes it through customs ok?” She can’t speak any Spanish, and I don’t know the customs process well because it was over a year ago when I arrived. “Oh well! She should be fine. My sister made it through with no problems. She will too!” I continued to wait, and wait……and wait. Finally, she walked out! My face lit up like a Christmas tree, and all I could do was wave.

New Editor

Posted by Author On September 7, 2010

Despite the fact that I have several projects with my cooperative, I still felt like something was missing. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but I knew I had to figure it out. So I sat for a few days trying to decide what was wrong. I wasn’t depressed because I rather enjoy my life in SMJ. I wasn’t lonely because I spend a lot of time with the guys from my cooperative. Hmmmm? What could it be? Then, just as I thought I wouldn’t figure it out, it came to me. I don’t really talk to the volunteers in my project. Other than catching a glimpse through the blog-o-sphere, I really don’t know what they are doing in their sites. How could I remedy this problem?.....

One Year in Country

Posted by Author On August 10, 2010

This week marks my first year in country!!!!!! I can't describe this feeling I feel right now. It's amazing! Just yesterday, I was thinking about my first day here; how scared I was, but not in a bad way. I remember thinking, "How did I get here? Am I really going to do this? I can do this!! Just breathe!" Those moments of chaotic emotions brings me to a sense of peace now. I love that I had such an awkward time during my training months. I definitely came out stronger on the other side.....

Lost in Translation

Posted by Author On July 15, 2010

SO, I have been learning Spanish and a Mayan language, Kaq Chikel, at the same time for almost 6 months. I must say, my Spanish has improved but my Kaq Chikel….NOT. I’m still on salutations. I guess because I spend way more time speaking Spanish with my counterparts, everything else goes by the waste side. Now my real struggle begins, I teach English classes to my counterparts!! That’s right; they let the girl with the lowest Spanish level possible teach them English. I guess they figure: this is the one place I should really excel. Ha! Ha! Jokes on them, or should I say on me?.....

Fabulous 4th

Posted by Author On July 5, 2010

¨Oh say can you see….¨started my first 4th of July celebration outside the U.S. It was also the first time I heard those words sang so proudly since I began living here almost 1 year ago. Tears filled my eyes and slid down my face as I sang along with a great joy in my heart. I couldn’t explain it. I was so emotional. Since I’ve been in this country, it’s the first time almost all of the Peace Corps volunteers currently serving in Guatemala have been gathered together. What a beautiful experience!!!.....

Juneteenth

Posted by Author On June 21, 2010

This past weekend I participated in the 1st ever Juneteenth celebration here in Guatemala. Forthose of you who are unaware of the significance of Juneteenth, let me give you a brief history lesson. On June 19, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln sent the U.S. Army to Galveston, TX to enforce the decree set out 2 years prior that abolished slavery. On that day, Uniion General Gordon Granger, read aloud the that emancipated all slaves in the U.S. Therefore, Juneteenth is our Independence Day!......

After the Storm

Posted by Author On May 31, 2010

Have you ever been to a “Stomp” performance? You know the one with the tin trash cans, brooms, etc? Now imagine those sounds directly above your head in a 1200ft3 room. That’s the sound of the rain pouring down on top of my tin roof during tropical storm Agatha. It rained non-stop and so hard that water leaked in through the cracks underneath my window. And I can’t stand the rain against my window. I unplugged all of my electronics just-in-case lightening decided to be not-so-nice and destroy our power lines.....

IST

Posted by Author On May 10, 2010

Last week, I attended my IST. Now for those of you who are not up on your acronyms of Peace Corps, IST stands for In-Service Training. As a Sustainable Agriculture volunteer, we all gathered together for a few days to go over some things we may still be fuzzy about, but need, to do our jobs. Therefore, we received training on some great things. We learned how to make organic pesticides and fertilizer, how to compost with and without worms, how to form tire gardens, and how to make jellies. We had a blast! It was only 5 of us, but we like it that way. Everyone was able to participate in the learning process.....

So it’s officially been two weeks since I left the States for Guatemala. Soooo much has happened in that time, I don’t know where to begin. This is my first trip out of the country. What to expect? What will I see? What will I do? What will I eat? I guess I should start with week one:

Week 1
I was extremely excited about what lied ahead; I had no time to think about what I was really doing. Everything happened so fast. Touching down in Guatemala City for the first time was so thrilling! We all cheered and started saying “¡Bienvenidos Guate!” At this point, we are officially guatemaltecos – well maybe tourists for a little bit (but just for a little bit). The team of greeters from Cuerpo de Paz (Peace Corps) introduced themselves, showed us through customs, and introduced us to our new form of transportation, “La Camioneta” – the chicken bus. It was big and bright like an amusement park ride. How strange to see our big yellow bus turned into pinks, greens, reds, blues, and purples to name a few. I felt like I was back in elementary school riding the bus – my legs tightly fit between the seats as I look out upon the vast city that gave way to beautiful colors and urban sounds. Guatemala City is definitely the capital! I felt like I was back in New York City for a moment. Of course nothing captures you like the Big Apple, but this comes a distant 2nd.
As we took our hour - hour & half ride to our new home, I was amazed at all of the American companies saturating the Guatemalan market. I saw Burger King and even Domino’s Pizza. How true it is that we implant our culture in so many countries abroad.

We reach our destination – CUERPO de PAZ- and we are beyond relief to enter the gates. I’m not quite sure if any of us thought we would truly get here. The process has been so brutal, but for good reason. It has all been for this moment we are standing in. We are Peace Corps Trainees.

After a few welcomes and a brief deposition on our future events, we all packed a smaller bag and were off to our new families. Surprisingly, they put me with my roommate in Washington, DC. I was happy because even though we only knew each other for a couple hours, we had already shared so much about ourselves. (Plus she could speak Spanish way better than me!)
Experiencing our new families was quite a challenge. There was the language barrier (yes), but there are the custom barriers as well. After dinner, beans and eggs, we went to our rooms and fell fast asleep. I thought that day was never going to end. So much happened in so many hours; I needed to rest up for the next day. The next couple of days are a blur. We had training for full days with breaks for lunch. We got required shots and learned a little about common culture practices, and important things to remember – like not putting toilet paper in the toilet because in Guatemala you may stop up the toilet. All paper – whether it’s No. 1 or No. 2 – goes in the trash can beside the toilet. (Boy did that take some getting used to!)

So a couple of days have passed, and we have all packed up our things and ready to move to our new host family for the next 10 weeks of training. Each of us was placed in a different house and groups of us were placed in the same city. For the first time since I had been here, my heart sank into my stomach. OMG!

What is the new house like? Will I get along with my new family? Will they expect a lot of things of me? How far will I be away from the others? Will the others like me? How much time will I spend alone?
Scary huh?
Turns out, I had nothing to be afraid of! My family was great, and to top it off, I had some of the best views of the volcanoes money can buy. My house has 3 levels, and on top where we hang our clothes and keep our roosters, I can see Volcane de Fuego – which is the biggest active volcano I have ever seen in my life. (Of course it’s the first active volcano I’ve seen, but still . . .) It is beautiful! Words cannot describe how magnificent it is. Every morning it fills the sky with huge clouds of smoke, and if you look good, you can see the lava oozing down the side. (It’s the volcano on the left.)


Week 2
This past week has gone by so fast. It doesn’t even feel like it happened. This was my official 1st of classes including Spanish and tech training. It’s kind of weird how my job in the States correlates so much with what I will be doing here. On the day of our 1st tech class, my group had to meet our teacher at the entrance of our village. At first, I was like “Ok, no problem”. Boy was I wrong! The hill alone nearly killed me. I had never walked up a hill so steep in my life. It felt like it was going for days and days. Oh how I wish I took exercising more seriously before I came. The other members in my group seemed to walk it effortlessly. Needless to say, I was jealous! BUT, It was all worth it in the end. The view from the top was amazing.
After that catastrophic hike, we met up with our trainer and went to our class in a coffee field. (In a coffee field, people!) I have never been in one until now. It was great. We got to sit under the shade trees among all of the coffee and have class. I was a little weary about the bugs at first – I’m a city girl. But after a while, you don’t even notice they are there. You are so captured by the lesson, and how you can make a difference in your community realistically. I felt better knowing that we were not going to be presented as the “Great White Hope” with our American ways to the Guatemaltecos. We are here to learn and share with them, and in the process grow together. That’s so much more important.
Despues mis clases – Sorry. My English is turning into Spanish. It’s becoming more difficult to write in English. I find myself using more and more Spanish, but I guess that was inevitable having Spanish class for 6 hours a day. Should I expect anything less? My Spanish teacher thinks I am so funny because I crack jokes and tell stories despite the fact that my Spanish is not as good as everyone else’s. He seems to understand just find – so much so, that for most of this week he has turned red and even cried a couple of times at a few of our giggle sessions. I guess you can say class is going great.

To finish off the week, our entire group met in Antigua to hang out. It was so weird being in the city because our towns are very traditional, and the women dress traditionally. There are sooo many tourists in Antigua. It’s funny because 2 weeks ago, we were the tourists. Now we feel like Guatemaltecos because we live here. We have established relationships with our families, and we are starting to establish relationships with our communities. SO merchants beware – “No gracias. ¡Yo vivo aquĆ­!” Although, it was like 18-20 of us, so on this particular day we looked liked tourists. Either way, we’re here to stay – or at least for the next 2 years.

Here’s to 113 more weeks!
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DC Jitters

Posted by S. Janine 1 comments
After packing all night, I leave home Greensboro bound to the airport at 2am. 2am! I arrive at the airport around 4:30 and to my surprise, no one is there to check luggage. I thought, "how strange?". I moved my luggage over to some chairs and then I hear a lady call my name. Now I have to lug one 50lb bag and one 45lb bag to the counter. Because the lady was taking FOREVER, a security man asked whose bags were sitting unattended. Of course it was me! By the time I finally got my bags checked and walked back to my other bags, there was another security officer checking my bags. I apologized of course for causing suspicious activity.

But wait! I'm not done!

Why when the security people were checking my bags on the x-ray machine, they thought they saw sharp objects. I told the man I didn't have any; they were in my checked bags! :-). The guy proceeds to check my bag with all my underware sprawled out on the table. (How embarrassing!). He is actually hitting on me when he discovers the supposed sharp objects (combs for my hair). I was mortified!

What a crazy start to such an adventurous journey!

I had to wait at this little gate where the air conditioner was set on Antartica, but the temp outside was hot & muggy! Yuck!

The plane was sooooooo small neither one of my carry-on bags would fit. How frustrating! Then the really tall and skinny girl sitting beside me slept the entire flight with her mouth wide open. I thought the flight attendant was going to drop something in it. Surprisingly, she didn't snore.

When I arrived here in DC, I loaded onto the shuttle with the other passengers and as we were set to leave, I realize I left my phone on the plane. On the plane! I had to run back to the plane to get my phone.

See.....It's waaaaaayyyyy to early in the morn for this craziness. It's just 8am, and I haven't had a cup of coffee yet! I need a nap!
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Less Than A Week

Posted by S. Janine 0 comments
OMG! I have less than a week, and I'm leaving town! Is it really this soon?!

For the last 5 days I have been trying to spend time with as much family as I can, and practice for my thesis defense [waste of time :-( ]. Everyone wants to spend time with me before I leave, and I want to spend all the time in the world with them, but I can't. I feel so stretched! My mother & grandmother have taken up the most time, which is expected. Everyone else, I'm having to squeeze in!

I found out yesterday that I can't defend my thesis before I leave. (Kinda sucks!) I have to wait 27 months and then another at least 3 months before I can. Why A&T, why?

So anyways, 4 more days!

I think I have tried my best to prepare. I bought some duffle bags, and now all I have to do is wait until after my going away party to get the last minute things, and then I will be ready to pack (Melancholy Monday).

I do believe I'm ready to go . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . maybe not!
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