Spring Cleaning

This past Saturday I picked our six Summer interns up at the airport. They have been doing great so far and are adjusting quickly to Guatemala. The craziest thing to me is that when this group leaves in a month I will be flying home with them. Maybe it hasn’t hit me yet but so far I’m okay with leaving. I don’t mean that I’m “get me out of here” ready to go, but that I’m content with what I have accomplished during my year and grateful for so many amazing experiences with awesome new friends. I also get to share my boundless wisdom with the six new volunteers, which is very rewarding for me and probably quite burdensome for them.

However, maybe I am a little more nervous than I thought about my imminent departure because I have been doing a lot of cleaning. Not to sound too stepford-wifey but I find cleaning to be very de-stressing and I really like the idea of leaving this wonderful Manna house better than I found it. To that end I have wanted to hire a housekeeper to come and clean all of the windows in the house. (I tried one day and after making a huge mess decided that this job required a professional.)  Two weeks ago, we finally found a housekeeper, our landlady’s niece, to come and clean the windows. I was excited to have clean windows until our landlady and several small children all came to help clean. My excitement quickly morphed into guilt and embarrassment as I hid in my room trying to pretend that I didn’t know about the child labor going on 20 feet from me. After that experience I decided that we were capable of doing all house cleaning, regardless of the job.

My latest project has been the art/junk area in the living room. I was really on a roll getting the drawers organized and discarding junk so that the useful stuff can actually be located when Dana came into the room. Dana and I have a slightly differing view on where to draw the “throw away” line. Suddenly, almost anything I tried to put in the trash was met with a, “What?! NO! I want that!” Needless to say, my progress slowed considerably, but I do have to admit that she was right most of the time. For example, much to my chagrin, she wet a dried-out stamp pad and got it working again.

There’s something about cleaning that makes me feel more prepared for change. It acts as a nice conclusion to one chapter while letting you move forward, unburdened by the junk, to a new one. I’m happy to leave Guatemala knowing that important papers, curricula and other teaching materials are organized for the next group of volunteers to come in and use. During my phone interview with Dana last year I expressed some concern about the long time commitment. She told me that, to her, the first six months felt like six months but that before you knew it the second half of the year would have come and gone. Reflecting on my year now I would have to say the whole thing flew by. But what a year it was.

Happy (semi-neurotic) cleaning!

Emily

Laurie and George Take on Guatemala

My parents came to visit me last week and as I awaited their arrival in the airport I silently prayed that Guatemala would be on its best behavior. I wanted my parents to love this country as much as I do. I was determined to show them the best of what Guatemala had to offer.

Flash forward to three hours into our trip and my parents, our luggage, and myself are hurling across a very choppy lake in the middle of a thunderstorm. My mother asks nervously if it’s normal for all the Guatemalans to be clutching lifejackets. “Yes,” I reply although I have never actually seen this before. My eyes wander the insides of the boat and I silently note that all of the life jackets appear to be in use. This boat ride would prove to be just one of many transportation glitches. It turns out that things that I consider to be fun and/or a luxury, such as riding in the back of  pickup trucks or taking tuk-tuks, my parents consider to be terrifying and uncomfortable…woops.

Transportation aside, one area of the trip that I managed to succeed in was the food. My dad likes to joke that trips are often planned from meal to meal. For example, at breakfast you would be planning what you are going to do for lunch and dinner. To me this is not a joke and it’s exactly what I do. Large amounts of my day would be consumed (pun intended) brainstorming our breakfast, lunch and dinner options. With my parents here, a slew of fancier restaurants that I had never experienced were now available to us. The trick was to fit them all into a week’s time and therefore much planning was required.

Neither of my parents speaks Spanish but they each developed unique approaches to dealing with the language barrier. My mother has a great aptitude for language and within an hour of being here could use her knowledge of French and Italian to figure out much of the conversation I was having with the shuttle driver. I found this immensely annoying since it had taken me a solid eight months to get to this point. She was supposed to be gaping in amazement as I talked logistics with the driver not following along with the conversation. So my childish jealousy was delighted a few days later when my mother proclaimed to our boat driver, “Mucho gusto tilapia!” She had wanted to say that she liked tilapia a lot and she was actually quite close, but her sincerity in being pleased to meet the fish was priceless. After that my mother stuck to mostly greetings and thank yous, but could still impress us with her ability to read Spanish menus and signs.

My father also speaks French, but he decided to utilize his knowledge of the language in a different way. He rationalized that since French and Spanish are closer than English and Spanish he would simply speak French to anyone and everyone for the week. While his theory was sound, it did not work very well in practice. Many Guatemalans, especially people working in the tourist industry, have some basic knowledge of the English language. This is not the case for French. However, my father would hear none of this talk and continued his French as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I do have to give him some credit, though, because he managed to get around a bit by himself.  How he managed to negotiate a cab ride alone remains a mystery to me. 

I brought my parents to school with me one afternoon so they could witness my impressive teaching skills and meet my students. My mother, wanting to document this event, began snapping away. The kids at school love getting their picture taken, but what they love even more is getting to look at the picture afterwards and then asking for fifty more pictures. The class’s attention disintegrated as all the students left their desks and huddled around my mother. Embracing his rediscovered French roots, my father, filled with ennui, whipped out his Kindle to pass the time. With the addition of a second electronic device, English class had turned into show and tell. Helpless against the pull of these strange, new people with their cool electronics, Lorena and I decided the students were probably prepared enough for their test.

Overall it was a great week with my parents. Did everything go according to plan? No. Did I remain cool and collected when it didn’t? Again, no. Cam has this impression that he does of the girls in the house when we are freaking out over something relatively unimportant. It involves him speaking in a Muppet voice and overreacting a lot. It is alarmingly accurate. Panicking aside, we still managed to have a great time. My parents were good-humored and able to roll with the punches even if I was not. It was rewarding to share just a few of my experiences in Guatemala with my parents and I believe they left reassured that I am safe and happy here.

Emily

The Backpackers are Coming!

When we arrived at Zephyr Lodge in Lanquin, Guatemala last Thursday for our first Manna retreat, I realized I had forgotten to pack my dreadlocks. Semuc Champey is a huge backpacking destination in Guatemala and Zephyr is one of the most fun hostels there. Consequently, the vibe was very hippie chic.  I’ll admit it, I like to fit in, but I found this difficult to accomplish in my J.Crew dress and cardigan. I hoped my perfunctory “hippie” bracelets could engender that bohemian vibe that oozed freely from everyone else. 

View of Semuc Champey

My initial intimidation with these backpackers was because everyone seemed like such seasoned veterans and, in a way, they were. However, what I came to realize was that while they had been to more places than I had, their experiences were very shallow--all tainted by the thick lenses of tourists. On the other hand, by living in one place for a year, I am developing a much richer understanding of this country and its culture. Obviously, my experiences are still that of an outsider, but after six months, my metaphorical prescription is lower.

The idea of backpacking has always been alluring. There’s something about drifting from place to place without a home (or shoes) that speaks to my rebellious side. However, that idea is quickly squashed by an overwhelming desire to make plans and save my beautiful shoe collection. As I compared my experiences to those of the friends I had met at Zephyr, I couldn’t help but feel that I was getting the better end of the deal. I’m establishing long-term relationships and developing a holistic understanding of a place. However, I realize my view point is pretty skewed. At the end of the day, traveling in a foreign country and living in one produce two very different experiences.

I'm enjoying the lack of road I'm on,

Emily

Switching it Up

In an organization based around collaborative community development, who should have the power?

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Monday marked the beginning of a new school year in Chaquijyá and a big change for the Manna Guatemala team. After several discussions, we have decided to pull out of teaching in school classes in Central and switch to an after school format that we already use in Cooperativa across the street.

There are some very real benefits to after school English. For starters, after school classes allow us, as teachers, more liberty and control over the curriculum. We will be using our time more efficiently by mixing 3rd - 6th graders in only two classes instead of individually entering seven separate classrooms during the school day. Furthermore, because the classes are now optional they will be filled with kids that are motivated and sincerely want to learn English.

Teaching 4th grade English in school

Of course we cannot ignore the drawbacks to this change. The community, from the beginning, has voiced their desire for us to teach English in schools. Our announcement of the changing format was therefore met with some resistance by the principal and the teachers who will now have to resume teaching English themselves. While this may be concerning, I think we have to be realistic and realize that we do not have the manpower to be teaching 20 individualized classes a week in one school and still managing to teach 6 classes a week in another school. Our organization’s mission is not to teach English; it’s much more holistic than that. Manna is about collaborative, community-based development. Although it was never one of our original plans, we have run in-school English for a year and a half because the community asked for it. At this point, I think we have earned the right to tweak a program that is neither sustainable nor efficient.

We have learned from experience that new ideas and change are often met with resistance. Both summer camp and the bottle school project were unpopular when first suggested, but the tides have since changed and the community has shown their support by paying for their children to attend summer camp and helping to collect bottles for the school. 

A 6-year-old's take on English greetings

During our development talks, the issue has often come up whether we are forcing our ideas upon Chaquijyá. At this point the answer is frankly, yes, sometimes we do.  This is obviously dangerous because we are assuming we know what’s best for this community. On the other hand without us pushing, new opportunities would rarely arise. In the ideal situation, community members would be the ones coming up with new ideas and we would be there to help implement them. It’s a delicate balance and one that we certainly don’t enter into lightly. For me, the distinction comes with the question, why? Why are people resistant? Sometimes the answer is that they just need a better explanation and a clearer understanding of the proposed project. Sometimes people need to see a program in action before they can realize its benefits. However, when a program that has been fully explained and maybe even put through a trial period is still met with resistance, then it’s time to admit that this program is perhaps flawed and not well-suited for the community. 

Bottle school under construction.. after much debate

Chaquijyá has not reached the ideal situation, honestly we wouldn’t be here if it had. But, we are working toward that goal. The awesome part is that our pushing appears to be working. I can see the community starting to reach towards their full potential instead of settling for the status quo.  One of the clearest examples is how quickly the community has taken ownership of the bottle school addition. Six months ago we still had a lot of skeptics and now they are the ones pushing us to continue moving forward with construction.

Back to the topic at hand, my goals for the after school English program are to give motivated kids a strong foundation in English and spark their interest in continuing their education. The success and future of the program will be measured by attendance and performance. I hope that the community sees the benefits of this different approach. At the same time, I’m prepared to scrap the changes if they prove unsuccessful because, in the end, I don’t know best.

-Emily

Can I haz another vacation day?

After blabbing away about how excited I was to go to the beach last weekend, my father mentioned that he had been under the impression that I was doing volunteer work in Guatemala. “Duh, I am Dad but that’s on the weekdays,” was my quick retort. For me, one of the best parts about living and working in another country for a year is the opportunity to travel around and explore this new area. We actually end up traveling on a day-to-day basis. Chaquijyá is about 40 minutes from our house in Sololá, and Panajachel, where we go to hangout, workout and use fast internet is another 20 minutes in the opposite direction. Beyond the day to day traveling, we make good use of our weekends, especially if they are long ones! I started by exploring the different lake towns, each one having its own particular feel. San Pedro, for example, is the cool hippy town and Santa Cruz is known for its great hostel and scuba diving options. 

For Halloween and Día de Los Muertos we had several days off, so we decided to pack in as many different stops as possible. First we went to Guatemala City to see Pitbull in concert and then onto Antigua to dress up and celebrate Halloween with friends. Since we had a couple more days we decided to visit San Cristobal, Mexico as well.

 After a 5 AM wake up call in Antigua and 11 hours of traveling, we made it to Mexico. Luckily we are all pretty good travelers. I go with earplugs, but Cameron has upped the ante with his earplugs/eye-mask combo. I know what I want for Christmas, hint hint. But then there's the issue of packing. Having done no research ahead of time, I was surprised to find that San Cristobal was freezing this time of year. My sundress remained crumpled in my backpack as I unsuccessfully attempted to layer a pair of jeans over my leggings. 

Our most recent excursion was a Thanksgiving trip to the beach. Having learned a lesson in Mexico, I researched this beach thoroughly and after convincing myself that this destination was in fact warm I loaded up the sundresses again. Tilapita, Guatemala is very warm. It’s also quite remote. Once we reached Tilapa we took small wooden boats over to Tilapita where our rental house was. Our beautiful house was right on the beach and besides a few local fishermen we were the only ones around. We swam and tried not to drown in the big waves (success!) and played football on the beach at sunset. Walking on the beach at night was especially beautiful. With so few lights around, the stars were brilliant and the ocean glowed with fluorescent plankton. 

It's about to be Christmas and time to travel home for three weeks, but I’m already looking forward to the Manna retreat to Semuc Champey that we will take once we return in January. And while I have not decided exactly what I’ll be teaching once we’re back in school I have been daydreaming about how many places I can visit during Semana Santa, a week-long vacation in April! 

Emily

Adventures in Summer Camp

Exhibit A

While students in the US are gearing up for the final push until the winter holidays, MPI Guatemala has commenced summer camp. This is the second year of summer camp, which runs three mornings a week for 5 weeks.  With only 2 PDs and a Country Director, the weeks leading up to camp were a flurry of successful recruitment that produced: Brendan, our new month-long housemate; and Roberto, a Guatemalan involved in our leadership course. We also recruited some part time help from Jared, an old PD; his girlfriend Sarah; and Jose, our favorite local English teacher.  Feeling more confident with 8 counselors, we began to plan themes and subjects for camp. Each week we are in a different ecosystem: desert, rainforest, ocean, urban, and artic. Every Tuesday the kids have science and art class. Wednesdays are then English and sports, and each Thursday is an all-camp activity.

Roberto asked to teach English, Cameron quickly claimed sports and Brendan was assigned science. Dana asked me if I wanted to teach art. This was definitely not because I was the only person left, but because she probably sensed my artistic creativity. I call your attention to Exhibit A.  Entitled Pu Pu Platter of Desserts, I made brought this masterpiece home in 3rd grade, and it has been featured prominently in my parents' house since. My mother, referencing the many layers of meaning in the piece, lovingly refers to it as the “PooPoo Platter.” Clearly I was up to the challenge.

After an intense brainstorming session, I decided to get all my arts and crafts projects off the Internet. Why recreate the wheel when there are perfectly nice ones online? So during desert week, my first project was making binoculars, an essential desert tool that allows you to see some sand that’s far away as opposed to the sand that’s right under your feet.

I also got to lead the first Thursday all-camp activity last week. I made a treasure hunt for the kids that took them all over their community. The idea was that they were lost on a desert island without food or water and to get food and water (nutritious and filling candy and juice boxes) they had to follow all the clues back to the treasure. There were a few things that I had failed to anticipate for this hunt: 1) these kids obviously knew their community and all of its “shortcuts” like the back of their hands where as I was only familiar with the main road. 2) children run very fast and don’t like to be told to, “WAIT UP!” by the gringa wheezing 30ft behind them. I wish I could say I handled everything with grace like when we were running through a cornfield and the kids, matter-of-factly, told me, “Don’t speak or the dogs will get you.” However, I cannot. There was a moderate amount of panicking on my part throughout the entire race, which none of my male counterparts seemed to share. I don’t know why that was. The one thing keeping me going was my conviction that we were going to win. I had designed the hunt myself and there was no way that Roberto and Brendan’s team was going to beat Cameron and my team. Much to my dismay and consternation, we did not win. How did my team lose the game that I had designed you might ask? Well, it wasn’t my fault. Obviously, the other team cheated.

 As our second successful week of camp draws to a close, I have begun to rethink career options. Is there such a thing as a professional summer camp counselor? While teaching during the school year is great, camp has proven even more fun and rewarding. All the kids at camp have signed up to participate and they genuinely want to be there, which is not always the case during the mandatory school year classes. These kids have made coming to camp a priority and fit their chores around it.  And while we are still teaching, the main objective is that everything is fun.  I just hope the kids are getting as much out of camp as I am.

-Emily

Post Grad Problems

I just returned from the US three days ago. Coming home to Kentucky took a little adjusting. I caught myself checking my dog for fleas, then I remembered that he didn’t have any. Driving down to Nashville for Vanderbilt’s Homecoming weekend I kept waiting for the chicken buses to come roaring by, but all I saw were plain yellow buses filled with children. Little do they know that in 20 years some of those buses will be flying through Guatemala, colorfully painted and stuffed to the brim with 150 Guatemalans and a handful of gringos.

Going to Vanderbilt’s Homecoming was definitely the highlight of my trip. I got to talk with our future Spring Break leaders and pretend I was back in college. I woke up on Sunday with the disturbing thought that I was leaving my beloved school and heading back to Guatemala. To be honest I didn’t want to go. I’d had about all the mudslides and rain I could take. However, as we stepped outside at the airport in Guatemala City the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We hopped in a shuttle and settled in for the long ride back to Sololá. Driving through the Guatemalan countryside I had a realization. My depression didn’t stem from returning to Guatemala, but from the understanding that I was no longer a Vanderbilt student. The fact is I’m just now coming to terms with graduating. For the past five months I have taken comfort in the slightly delusional idea that I’m just studying abroad, taking a short break from school, but will be coming back soon. Leaving Vanderbilt after only a weekend, it finally clicked with me, I was just a visitor. I don’t belong there anymore and as I settle back into life in Guatemala I’m finally owning up to that fact.

Just to make myself feel even better I like to compare my life with the lives of my friends who are currently employed in the real world. The majority of them are sitting in their cubicles right now grinding away in jobs that they may or may not like. My friends had plenty of things to complain about during our weekend: long hours, terrible bosses, huge living expenses and small paychecks. Always game for a good whining fest, I joined in, lamenting the terrible rains that had been going on. Then one of my friends pointed out that all she had heard me talk about for the past few months was how much I loved my work in Guatemala. If the only thing I have to complain about is the weather, I guess I’m doing pretty well. 

 My post-grad problems stemmed from not accepting my graduation, but I have begun to recognize that most people are dealing with a lot bigger problems than that. So to all you soon-to-be graduates: I don’t want to alarm you but you can’t stay in college forever. Maybe you squeeze in a fifth year if you swing things right, but the 6^th one rarely happens. You need to have a plan and if you want to have an amazing experience while easing yourself into the real world and minimizing the post-grad problems apply to become a Program Director for Manna!

I love my life, Emily

190 Years and Counting: Día de la Independencía

          Two weeks ago we were invited to celebrate Día de la Independencía with our school in Chaquijyá. Celebrating in Guatemala often means dancing and Día de la Independencía was no exception. Each grade put on one or more dances and we were invited to dance as well. Since Kelsey was visiting home, it was just Dana, Cameron and me performing. Being rhythmically challenged, I have a few rules when it comes to mandatory group dances: practice a lot and get a place in the back. However, much to my dismay, we began learning the dance at 9PM the night before and with three people there was nowhere to hide. We had a great musical mash-up created by Dana and thanks to several YouTube videos we also had most of our dance moves. I really nailed the chicken dance and YMCA sections, however, Souja Boy was another story. If you think that dance is just jumping from side to side wiggling your arms, like I did, you would be wrong. So we enlisted the help of a YouTube instructor to teach us the real Souja Boy dance. Dana and Cameron caught on pretty fast, but with his clothing engulfing his body I found it impossible to see the moves that the guy on the video was doing. Maybe he just lost several hundred pounds and if that’s the case, congratulations sir! 

 The day of the performance rolled around very quickly, probably because we learned it the night before. We threw on our matching outfits in the color of the Guatemalan flag. We also stuck a paper flag on Cameron’s shirt to really drive home the patriotic reference. The performances began with the 6^th grade boys displaying amazing endurance in their 20-minute dance, which included the worm and some impressive break-dancing moves. I was glad to see that they had only learned their dance the night before as well. The third grade class performed a traditional dance that showed the girls and boys taking on some traditional female and male roles: the girls making tortillas and the boys working in the fields. 

Then Cameron performed a unique mime scene with his 5^th graders. All the kids, including Cameron, wore black clothing and painted their faces and hands white. I believe it was about the voting process, but it involved a lot of sulfur-smelling smoke bombs that made it hard to see. Cameron opened the performance, carrying the smoking sticks; his painted-white face contorted into what looked like the Zoolander expression. Apparently the sticks were actively burning his hands, but at the time I found it hilarious. Finally, it was our turn. As soon as we got on the stage, I lost my composure. We were about to “dougie” in front of a bunch of traditionally dressed Maya parents and grandparents.  I was laughing so hard that I could barely hear Cameron yelling the cues to me. Somehow our performance went off without a hitch. Well, obviously, I had to fake the Souja Boy dance, but we all knew that was coming. As we took our bows and surveyed the crowd there were definitely mixed expressions. Some people loved it and gave us compliments afterwards. Others were not so sure. My 4^th graders told me I was a great dancer; however, video evidence suggests otherwise.

After the performances we had a traditional Guatemalan lunch and got to enjoy several exciting soccer games before heading home. It had been a great day. We danced, laughed and played. I’m fairly certain I have never had that much fun on a 4^th of July in the US. There’s nothing like a little public humiliation to really make a great celebration and I can’t wait until the next Guatemalan holiday… we’re going to teach the kids how to do the Chicken Dance!

-Emily

Poco a Poco

Today's blog post comes to you from Emily, another member of the MPIG 2011-2012 team.

For the past few weeks, Cameron and I have been leading health classes in personal hygiene, dental health, and nutrition in two schools in Chaq: Central and Cooperativa. If you want to get technical, I guess I have to say Cameron has been leading them and I have been interjecting with broken Spanish. I prefer the universal language of hand gesturing. But as we like to say I’ll learn poco a poco. We taught the dental health class to two classes in Cooperativa this morning and had a blast. Using one very large mouth, an oversized toothbrush and floss, the kids got to demonstrate proper brushing and flossing techniques.

After that we worked on identifying the good and bad foods for the health of one’s teeth. Finally, to “scare them straight” we pull out the hardboiled eggs. One is kept nice and pristine to represent a person who brushes and flosses regularly. The others aren’t so lucky. They have been soaked in either vinegar, Coke, or Tang. The vinegar egg reeked and was very brittle. Kids were pulling out pieces of paper so they didn’t have to touch it. The coke egg had turned a lovely shade of putrid brown. Unfortunately, the Tang egg was a bit unrealistic. It looked like a purple Easter egg. We told them their teeth would look like that if they eat or drank too much sugar. Might need to switch juices for next time.

While these classes have been great and the children really seem to be both enjoying it and learning a lot, I hope we can develop better relations with community members and create more sustainable programs. Because of course, Cameron and I won’t always be here to teach them that their teeth will turn into Easter eggs if they drink any sugar.

For a few weeks now, Cameron and I having been working on meeting with the people who provide healthcare in Chaq. We’ve come to realize that this is easier said than done. The comodrona, or midwife, has proved the most elusive. As typical for many comodronas, Candelaria sees patients in several communities and travels to their houses. We stopped by last week and were lucky enough to meet with her husband, Francisco. We had a long conversation and learned a lot about his children, who are doing great by the way, but not as much about his wife or healthcare in the community. However, we did manage to learn about an alleged meeting that Canderlaria is leading at her house tomorrow. Her husband suggested that we present to the hundred women that are coming. We never actually established what the meeting was about, but I think it has something to do with health. Fingers crossed, that this meeting will take place tomorrow, that she will actually be there, and that we can listen in but maybe skip the presentation.

Rosa, who runs a clinic out of her house, has been much easier to get in contact with. Young women, who work with Rosa, are trained and paid by the Guatemalan government to teach classes about health to pregnant women and to track children’s weight over their first six years. Besides these groups, the rest of the community does not receive health check-ups or preventative care.

Last Wednesday, Cameron and I helped out with the baby weighing, a monthly event for children one to six years of age. The women were nice enough to basically let us step in and take over their jobs of weighing the kids and recording weights. It was a very interesting experience to see how all the records were kept. I was in charge of yelling out the children’s names to call them to the front and then recording their weights. I’m sorry to say I butchered more than a few of the Mayan names. As fun as it was to ogle the fat, little babies it was also obvious that our services weren’t actually needed. I’m very grateful to Rosa and the other women for allowing us to participate. But after seeing how we took over people’s jobs just to help out its clear to me that they have everything under control in the baby-weighing/ pregnancy education department.

So it seems that our best option may be Candelaria, if we can ever find her that is… Stay tuned to find out if this meeting actually happens tomorrow. Whenever it does, I have a feeling that we’ll finally be able to make some progress. I look forward to hearing what Candelaria thinks we could do to benefit the community. These health professionals are clearly the most knowledgeable. They will have the best understanding of what areas could use improvement and how to best implement these improvements. So that’s my mission for the foreseeable future. Also since we are so new to the community I think that these experiences have helped to familiarize people with us. Hopefully, Cameron and I will become known as those gringos always asking about health! Regardless, I know we’ll get there poco a poco.

Emily