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.....

Navidad in Chimal

Posted by S. Janine 0 comments
This Christmas was my first time away from family.  I decided that I was not going to be sad about it.  Instead, I made plans with my new family and friends here. 

image On the 23rd, I went to my friend Laurie's aldea for  Christmas party.  It was awesome!  We cooked this tomato-based sauce with beef, and made rice with carrots and peppers.  Laurie made several banana and spice cakes.  Of course, I had the spice cake!  There were so many people from her group there.  I'm quite sure they had never seen a black person up close and pesonal before.  They had so many questions about my hair.  They wanted to know if I was born this way.  Could I brush my hair?  What do I put in my hair?  Eventually, I let them take turns feeling it.  They were very surprised at the softness of my hair.  Later on after dinner, we put up a piƱata to let the kids break it.  But...instead of the kids going first, I had to go first.  Of course, I played it off and pretended to be aiming for the prize, but I didn't want to spoil it for the kids.  They made Laurie go next.  She did the same, and then we both geared up with our cameras to take videos and pictures of the little ones.  It was a mad dash to the candy when it finally broke.  Too funny!


image image image

image image image

image image


imageOn Christmas Eve, I did a few last-minute shopping errands......aka bought my tv!  The best moment of Christmas time!  It's 21 inches!  Which is good for the money I had!  Thanks Tasha and Eric!  I got the guys to load my tv on top of the bus.  Needess to say, I was totally freaked.  I stood outside and watched them tie my tv down.  Then, I rode the bus to my town praying it would get there safe.  It did!  I set up my tv, and watched telenovelas for a few hours.  I was so over joyed!  Later that night, I hung out in the streets with my family.  At midnight, all the fireworks and bombs went off.  They were extremely loud!  It went on for hours.  I finally went to bed around 3am. 


Christmas morning, I slept in.  I needed to rest after all of that excitement earlier that morning.  Eventually I got up, and called my family in the States.  It was really good to hear all of their voices.  I even talked to some of my church family.  I'm glad I bought a lot of minutes!  Even though I wasn't home with them, I still felt like I was there with hem.  We even video chatted.  Thanks Yahoo! 

The day after Christmas, my town was crazy busy!  We were celebrating 13 years of peace.  We had a great ceremony!  Our town is very proud of this accomplishment.  To keep the festivities going, I had a mini-partyat my house with my friends.  We had an SMJ-PC party.  It was great!  I cooked steak with onions & peppers, mashed potatoes, homemade mac & cheese, 2 cakes, and Candy made a cheese ball.  It was perfect! 

image image image
image image image



I must say, this holiday was better than I expected it to be.  For my first Christmas outide of the U.S., I had a blast!  Thanks to all my friends, family, and new family in Guate!  I hope you had a good holiday as well.
| | edit post

Hawaii in Guatemala

Posted by S. Janine 0 comments
image image
This past weekend, the crew of SMJ went to the beach!  Of course, we had to take the buses.  I must say, it was hot as the equator!  We took several buses to get there, and I was dripping with sweat by the time we arrived.  It was all worth it when we were almost to the beach.  We had to ride a long canal boat to get to the beach.  It was beautiful!  The water was filled with cranes!  I felt like such a tourist snapping pictures left and right.  When we arrivd at the beach, I was taken back by such a magnificent view.  The Pacific Ocean as a back drop for beautiful black sand.  It was amazing!
image
The house we stayed in was great.  It reminded me of one of the "Real World" houses.  It was so open, and large.  It had a salt-water swimming pool, 6 hammocks, and 3 roms with a lot of beds (20, I think) with a beautiful view of the ocean.  If I lived there, I would never go back to the U.S.  It was awesome!
image image image
The only thing that sucked were the mosquito bites.  We were covered in them!  I'm still itching!  Thank God for hydrocortisone.
image
At the end of our trip, we were allowed to visit a turtle hatchery.  They repopulate the ocean wih turtles.  The hatch, and then they take them to the beach and let them go.  All of the turtles make a mad dash for the ocean.  It is a breath-taking experience. 
image image
image image

You hope and pray that they all survive, but you know they all won't make back each year.

image image

image image

image image
| | edit post

A Simple Act of Kindness

Posted by S. Janine 0 comments
In the States, times have changed somuch.  It has increased in danger ten fold.  No more are the days of trusting a stranger to help you out and give you a ride off the side of the road.  If you think that's bad, you can thank all of the crime-solving shows that give you every detail of just how dangerous a "stranger" can be.  All those years of embedded training that "strangers" can't be trusted.

Now, I find myself in a world that's similar, but still quite different.  Here, in a country where at least 75% of the population is barely making it day to day, public transportation is the only option for many.  Yet, if you live in a small village "aldea", you may not have public transportation at all.  Because these aldeas don't have paved roads, the tricked-out school buses many people depend on are unavailable.  These people have to depend on the kindness of strangers.

As I rode in the pick-up with one of my co-workers going to an aldea, we stopped a couple of times and picked up people along the way.  There's very little conversation between them, and, sometimes, there is none at all.  It's an understood way of doing things here.  To them, it's just another day, there way of life, but to me, it's a simple act of kindness that I think the world is missing.  My coworker could have let those people walk the 2 to 3 hours to their village up and down the mountain side, but he didn't. 

It meant a lot to me to watch. This crazy world does not allow for too many of these events to take place, but in this corner of the world, I have found a simple act of kindess.
| | edit post

Followers

Search This Blog