Here's one of the shelves I made from cement blocks and pieces of wood. I must say I did a good job trying to store everything in one area. It looks like a lot, but the shelves are not that big. Maybe sometime in the future, I will get a chance to paint them. You know, make it a little more feminine. (lol)
When I talk to you guys back in the States, I get several questions about how I live here. I have decided to answer most of them by showing you where I stay. So here we go:
Here's one of the shelves I made from cement blocks and pieces of wood. I must say I did a good job trying to store everything in one area. It looks like a lot, but the shelves are not that big. Maybe sometime in the future, I will get a chance to paint them. You know, make it a little more feminine. (lol)
I live in a family compound, which means the family stays in one house, and I live in another, but we share the same yard. Therefore, my front yard is their backyard. We have coffee plants in our yard. I love them. They don't have a smell, but when the red cherries come in, they are really pretty.
I think my bedroom is pretty common. Dressers here are really expensive ($150-$250). I'm not sure how they can afford them, but they are beautiful. They are hand-carved and painted. As you can see, I have a shelf that was made by the volunteer I replaced. It definitely comes in handy. I have a lot of clothes for just 5 months in country, but I didn't bring all of them on the plane with me. I waited until I got here, and then went "Paca" shopping. It's like shopping in a thrift store at home. A lot of people cannot afford to buy clothes out of the store because they are expensive. My host sister and I going shopping together sometimes. I get really good deals with her because she's Guatemalteca.
My bathroom is kind of big for the area I live in. My shower is huge; big enough for a tub, but I don't have one. This is probably for the best here. I have a "calentadora". It's an apparatus that the water passes through to make the water come out hot (or should I say warm). It's not that bad, but sometimes in the morning, it's cold. The wind blows in and it defeats the purpose of trying to take a hot shower. You're just trying to get in and get out.
Here's one of the shelves I made from cement blocks and pieces of wood. I must say I did a good job trying to store everything in one area. It looks like a lot, but the shelves are not that big. Maybe sometime in the future, I will get a chance to paint them. You know, make it a little more feminine. (lol)
My kitchen is an interesting topic. It's not a regular kitchen; it's a room that I made into a kitchen. The volunteer before me bought the stove top. As you can see, I only have 3 eyes. It runs on gas, which is a good thing if the power goes out. I can still cook food! I don't have an oven. A complete stove is expensive. Most volunteers only have the stove top. I have a toaster oven that I use to bake things. Last week, I made chocolate cake. Yum! Most of the time, I bake chicken because it produces less fat. I'm trying to lose a couple of pounds while I'm here.
If you noticed before when I was talking about my bathroom, there was no sink. Most of the older homes here, especially out in the aldeas, do not have sinks in the bathroom or the kitchen. We use "pilas". A "pila" is a large sink that usually sits in an open, central area. The left side has a basin board so you can wash clothes. As you can see, I even have a scrub brush to help get the mud out of my clothes when I'm working in the coffee fields. The middle is deep to store water in. In my town water only comes twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon. We store water in the pilas to get us through the day. Now at my house, we have a storage tank. It holds several gallons of water; therefore, we don't have to store water in the pilas if we don't want to. Sometimes, we run out of water. I practice storing water in my pila. (Just-in-case) The right side, I use to wash dishes. The sun comes in strong on that side in the mornings, and I need my dishes to dry fast, so I can put them up before I go to work. I wash my face and brush my teeth on whichever side is open at the time. Yes, I use pila water. We were told we shouldn't because we could get sick. I started using it while I was sick, so know I don't have any problems getting sick from brushing my teeth. I am acclimating to my environment.
I don't have a fully-enclosed house. Each room's door is leads to outside. I have a porch-like area that allows me to go from room to room without the weather getting to me. (So I always have to have clothes on to go to the bathroom.)
My porch-like area is nice because I do not directly get sun. Normally, I sit in my hammock in the mornings and read a magazine with a nice cup of cappuccino. It's rather peaceful despite the noise from the chickens, roosters, and turkeys. After a while, you tune them out, and after about 7 am, they don't make as much noise.
My yard is great. I share it with my host family. I have celery growing by leaps and bounds. I try to eat some at least three times a week with peanut butter and raisins. (I'm crazy about "Ants on a Log"!) I also cook with it. Many people here use it when they cook rice along with carrots and peppers. It tastes great. In a couple of months, I will plant the bell pepper seeds I have been collecting along with the watermelon seeds. I can't wait to have my own watermelon growing.
I also have a flower garden. It seems to be doing good, but I would love to add some roses in there. We'll see if i can make room for some. The plants are in a good location to get adequate sunlight.
I have a fire-burning pit to dispose of most of my garbage. My town does not have a garbage collection system. They either throw it in this large area beside the river or burn it. I have chosen option 2 because I don't want to help pollute the water system. Besides, there are a lot of plants and trees where I live. It will help cut down on the air pollution. As I get to know the town's people more and more, I am going to suggest a trash system that doesn't involve polluting the water.
As far as my clothes go, after I wash them, I hang them up to dry. I have three clotheslines in that get sunlight, and two under my porch (for the rainy days). I try to wash clothes at least once a week because the drying process takes time depending on the weather. Some days, my clothes will dry in 2 days. Other times it will take 3 to 5 days. We get several cloudy days due to the volcanoes and their smoke. I haven't lived through the rainy season yet. I hope it truly doesn't rain every day. Otherwise, I'm going to have save up on money to visit the local laundry mat. It's really expensive. They dry by weight, and (of course) wet clothes weigh more than dry ones.
Last, but not least, I have a bicycle. Now, those of you who know me are asking yourself, “What does she need that for?” I don’t really use it often. I prefer to walk. You can’t look cute sweating on a bike. (lol) Actually, it’s a little rusty. When I save some more money, I’m going to have it fixed. Then I will ride it to work. It will definitely cut my time down. I may even ride it to the grocery store. It’s all the way on the other side of town. It will be good exercise.
Well, that’s my home. I hope this answers most of your questions. I’m quite sure, you will still have more. You are more than welcome to post your questions in the comment section. I enjoy reading them.
Have a blessed day!
Sometimes living in this country, I feel a little disconnected from what's going on in the world. If I don't check it out on the internet, I really don't know what's going on out there. Things here are fairly simple for me. I attempt to read our national paper, and I must say I'm getting better, but I feel like it's full of so much sadness like how the news is in the U.S. Sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow with so much chaos and mayhem out there.
This week, I find out about the earthquake in Haiti, and I was succumbed with such sadness. I couldn't believe it. I felt so much empathy for the thousands if not millions affected by such a disaster. I took a moment of silence in prayer for all of those affected. I have some friends whose families are from Haiti. My prayers go out to them and their families.
Tragedies like this make you reevaluate you life and realize how so vulnerable we all are here in this world.
It's times like these, I am glad that I am serving a purpose greater than myself. I am proud to be a PC volunteer. I am proud of the work I am doing in my community.
I read that a returned PC volunteer is on the ground in Haiti helping out where needed. I am proud that we can serve wherever we are needed.
My prayers will continue to go to the people of Haiti.
May God shine a light through the clouds of sadness.
This week, I find out about the earthquake in Haiti, and I was succumbed with such sadness. I couldn't believe it. I felt so much empathy for the thousands if not millions affected by such a disaster. I took a moment of silence in prayer for all of those affected. I have some friends whose families are from Haiti. My prayers go out to them and their families.
Tragedies like this make you reevaluate you life and realize how so vulnerable we all are here in this world.
It's times like these, I am glad that I am serving a purpose greater than myself. I am proud to be a PC volunteer. I am proud of the work I am doing in my community.
I read that a returned PC volunteer is on the ground in Haiti helping out where needed. I am proud that we can serve wherever we are needed.
My prayers will continue to go to the people of Haiti.
May God shine a light through the clouds of sadness.
This past weekend, I lost the closest friend I had in this country. She left and went home for good. Now I can't discuss the circumstances for her departure. That's not what this post is about; it's about how I feel.
Have you ever met someone andhad an instant connection?
During training we are all forced to spend so much time together that naturally friendships are framed (some a little stronger then others). We had an instant friendship; I think it was due to the fact that we come from completely different worlds in the States, yet we found commonality in each other.
After training, our sites were relatively close to each other. We would go shopping for our necessities together. It would give us a chance to discuss proior week activities in site, and talk a little English, which meant a lot to us.
Saturday morning, I went with her to the airport to say goodbye. My best friend was leaving. I couldn't let her go by herself. The funny thing: I didn't have my passport with me. They are not suppose to let you in the airport witout it. I asked the man to make an exception in the worse Spanish I've used since I first got here. I assume he understood how important this was to me because he lt me in the airport.
I waited with her throuh all the steps. We even had our last breakfast in Guatemala together. (Thanks Subway!) When it was time for her to leave. we promised we wouldn't cry. After all, we'd see each other again in the future. We kept our promises and waved goodbye.
How sad was I my entire bus ride back to my site. It was like saying goodbye to family when I left the States. I know I will talk to her via phone and internet, but it won't be the same. She won't be here to remind me not to sweat the small stuff when we are out on one of our adventures. We've had each others' back for the last 5 months. Now I have to go it alone.
I know I will be fine, and time will fly by because I have forged a great friendship that i know will last. So for this brief moment in time, I'm a little sad.
Love you LAURIE!
For my first New Years away from home, several of us decided to go to lake Atitlan for a good old fashion Peace Corp gathering. Laurie and I traveled together (like always) to Panajachel - or Gringotenango- as the locals like to call it. It was our first time there, and I must say, they weren't lying when they said a lot of foreigners visit there. I felt like I was in Antigua, but with a hippie presence. It was like going back to the 70's. A lot of people were wearing dreads, and had piercings and tattoos. It was almost like we weren't even in Guatemala. We took a "lancha" boat to Santa Cruz, and arrived at our destination: La Iguana Perdida. I have to tell you, this place was beautiful. Words can't describe how rustic and old school, yet very functional it is; so I'm providing you with a link to check it out for yourself. http://www.laiguanaperdida.com/
New Year's Eve, we got together and made masquerade masks per the request of the hostel. We had so much fun making a mess. My mask didn't come out too great, but I really didn't try. I had to force myself to have some fun because I had a sinus headache that was trying to put me out. Felicia's mask was great! There were some others that were great too.
Around 9:30pm, I couldn't take the headache anymore, and I started to run a fever. It was time to call it a night. I really wanted to stay up, and bring in the new year with my friends, but my body just wasn't up for the task.
Around 9:30pm, I couldn't take the headache anymore, and I started to run a fever. It was time to call it a night. I really wanted to stay up, and bring in the new year with my friends, but my body just wasn't up for the task.
The next day, I was feeling a little better, but I had no voice. Apparently along with the fever went my voice. I decided to hang out at the hostile with the dogs: Jenna (the puppy)and Balto (the big dog). They were so wonderful and chilled. They reminded of my babies at home, Coffee, Jay and Roscoe. Oh, how I miss my dogs!
As time went on, I started to feel better. Which I was so greatful for. I really enjoyed my time there catching up with friends I hadn't seen since we all went our seperate ways from training. I can't wait till re-connect!!
My Blog List
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Life Sad Thoughts6 months ago
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The Circus is in Town9 years ago
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Normal to Me, Incredible to Others12 years ago
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Becoming the person who "did that"12 years ago
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Adios12 years ago
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