Chajul Feria

Okay here we go…2014, bring it on!

There are lots of exciting things coming up this year. After my trip of trips to the states, I feel rejuvenated and ready for part two of Peace Corps Guatemala.  In one short month, I will celebrate my one-year anniversary of being “in country”.  I will have the honor to share it with my parents and my brother Sean, who will be visiting me.  I will be accompanied by at least one family member for three weeks in total, 10 of those days being with all three visitors.  I’m looking forward to sharing my Guatemalan community with them, teaching them some phrases in Ixil (the local Mayan language), and showing them how to eat with their hands.

A glimpse of all the women on the staircase.  

Since I returned back to site last week, I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying the SUN and the temperate weather.  I’m not saying that its sunny every day (it still rains now and then) but it is nowhere near the below zero temperatures that I left Chicago in.  When I stepped out of the airport in Guatemala City, I took a breath of fresh air and I basked in the mild temperatures that required a light jacket, if that.  I couldn’t believe how much the weather had affected my mood.  I had to ask myself why anybody would CHOOSE to live in freezing temperatures when a glorious alternative is available.  Just some food for thought.

Discussing technique with Doña Nila.

On Monday I celebrated the Chajul fair.  Chajul is a neighboring town to Nebaj and home to a two wonderful Peace Corps volunteers and soon to be home to one more (hurry up Eric!!).  It has a certain charm that I fell in love with from day one.  I have adopted the traditional earrings they wear.  When I was home for Christmas I got a lot of confused looks when people noticed my earrings. “wait is that your hair?” “how did you get it through your ear.” 

Here are the answers:

1) No it is not my hair (I had a navy blue color in during Christmas). 

2)You take a broom bristle and fold it in half.  Then you take a long layered piece of thread (the more colorful, the better) and place it at the fold of the broom bristle.  Thread through some traditional Chajul “fichas” (beads) then put the bristle through your ear.  Tie a knot up to your ear lobe, and cut to desired length.  VOU LA.  Now you’re practically a local.

My favorite part of the Chajul fair was seeing all of the women sitting on the large staircase in front of the church.  Their traditional dress top (guipil) is by far one of my favorites in all of Guatemala.  I wore my Chajul guipil for the occasion, the Chajuligans loved it.

Allie and her "tucaya" or her name twin!
Aka the baby was partially named after her! 

PCVs at the Chajul church.

2013 in review

Welcoming words for a new year:  Mil disculpas for taking a hiatus from the blog.  I resolve to write about my PC experience more frequently.  

Here’s what my 2013 looked like…

January:  I said goodbye to family and friends before I embarked on Peace Corps Guatemala.

February:  I landed “in country” (I guess that’s a PC term) and learned how to eat food with my hands, using only one utensil, LA TORTILLA. Plus I learned how to hand wash clothes, visit my first school, and dress up in traje (traditional dress).

Mayan woman

My training host mom carrying
a stack of wood on her head and
on her back.

March: I bonded with my training host family through methods of cooking, hiking to their plot of land (1 hour up hill), and enjoying the beautiful Semana Santa (Easter week) in Antigua.  I attended my first Mayan ceremony where a native woman prayed to the Mayan spirits that we would have a successful and safe two years in Guatemala.

The colorful "alfombras" or carpets made
from flowers, dyed wood chips, and other
natural decoration.

Semana Santa in Antigua

March was also full of group bonding activities like climbing the volcano Pacaya. 

Here is a group shot.

We roasted marshmallows over the hot coals on top.

April: I swore in as a Peace Corps volunteer and made the 6 hour trip to my new home for the next two years, Nebaj.

PC Friends!

May: I began integrating in my community and getting to know my 10 schools and the teachers that I will be working with.

Some children from my school washing their hands.

Judging a "lip syncing" contest with my work partners.

June: I discovered some of the treasures of Nebaj, hidden waterfalls and beautiful hiking.

I also had a visitor from Germany!! Mi querida Andrea has been a dear friend since we studied in Chile together.  This is the fifth country that we have meet up in!!

Andrea and me on the hike to Acul cheese farm.

July: I completed my first half-marathon on the cobble stone road of Antigua in just under 2 hours…Eric (my bf) said goodbye to me at the starting line and I followed his trail of dust the whole way.

I celebrated 4^th of July in Peace Corps style, followed by a long beach weekend at Monte Rico to celebrate Eric’s birthday.






August:  I celebrated my birthday in Belize with Eric.  We backpacked to 3 different destinations, ate fresh lobster, and snorkeled with sea turtles.

September:  I celebrated Guatemala’s independence day in Canillá and saw my first traditional “convite”, where Guatemalans dance ALL day in crazy costumes, then reveal themselves at the end of the day. My favorite costumes were Messi and Ronaldo, and the smurfs.

October: I finished up my school visits for the year, as Guatemala’s school year is January 15^th - October 15^th. 

We also had the arrival of a new puppy at my house!  I creatively dubbed him “puppy”.

November:  I completed my second half-marathon in Xela, with a surprise visit from my south American traveling bf!

We had a Healthy Schools (my PC project) Peace Corps training.  Here is a picture with my counterparts on Cultural Night where we dressed in traditional Nebaj clothing.

December:  Together with my site-mates, we completed out first GLOW (girls leading our world) camp.  We had about 50 girls for four mornings and we covered topics like leadership, mental health, reproductive health, and nutrition, to name a few.  It was a smashing success and I can’t wait to begin planning next year’s camp (well maybe I can wait a little bit...it was a lot of work, but vale la pena!)

Girl's with their Christmas ornaments made from recycled toilet paper rolls.

Handing out diplomas at a graduation ceremony.

Group picture.

I traveled to the US to spend Christmas with my family!  I soaked it all in because next year will be a Guatemala Christmas.

If all the rain drops were lemon drops and gum drops, oh what a world it would be.

I am happy to report that all is well here in Guatemala.  It’s hard to believe how the time passes, but now that I've made a life for myself here, everything is happening in the blink of an eye.

For starters, I have been in my permanent site for over two months…22 more to go. After ten weeks of intense training near the main tourist city, Antigua, I moved six hours north to Nebaj.  Here’s some background information on Nebaj:

·         Nebaj is located in the North of the department of Quiché

·         It’s part of the “Ixil triangle” and is the largest of the three cities. Chajul and Cotzal make up the other two points.

·         Nebaj is 98% indigenous Ixil (pronounced ishil). 

·         The native language of Ixil is very well preserved here.  It is most native Nebajense’s first language and Spanish is rarely spoken in the aldeas (small towns outside of the city center).  This makes it a bit challenging to communicate with students, but all of the teachers can speak Spanish.

·         It’s famous for its beautiful traditional dress that is worn by the majority of women here. It consists of a brightly woven top, known as güipil (pronounced wipil). The güipil is tucked into a long, red skirt known as corte, which is wrapped around the waist several times and fastened tightly by a colorful belt known as a faja.

·         The municipio of Nebaj has a population of about 80,000 which is big for a Peace Corps site. 

·         There is a daily fresh market (which I take full advantage of).

Nebaj has been treating me well thus far.  I’m working in 10 schools overseeing the Healthy Schools project where I teach teachers how to instill healthy habits in their students.  It is definitely a work in progress.  Eventually I also plan to work on nutrition, school gardens, and mental health in the schools.  My schedule is made by me (a big plus).  My mornings are usually filled with school visits, meetings, or trainings.  The afternoons I have relatively free and I use them to plan, spend time with my host family, and integrate into the community. 

The people here in Guatemala continue to amaze me with their generosity, humbleness, and timid manner.  Working in the small towns surrounding Nebaj has shown me the more conservative, rural side of life.  In one of my schools, about a 40 min microbus ride through rocky, windy hillsides, I was greeted by children with a Buenos Dias as they bowed and waited for me to touch their head in approval.  This, I soon learned, is an old Mayan custom that is rarely practiced anymore, but can be found in some of the small villages.  In this same school several classrooms had dirt floors, the sound of pounding rain on the laminate roofs made it near impossible to teach, and there were two teachers absent the day I went, which meant no school for those students.  They have such strong traditions that have lasted for centuries, but it’s still a struggle for many to place importance and priority on education. 

Rainy season has settled in nicely here in Nebaj.  Upon my arrival in Guatemala, I began asking people what the rainy season was like and built this inexplicable fear of the inevitable rain.  After all the pre-rainy season nerves, I must admit that I am quite enjoying this season and I've settled into my own routine which is dictated by the weather.  In the morning I wake early to sunshine, birds chirping, and pigs snorting.  I normally go for a run, as I’m training for Antigua’s half marathon in July.  The beautiful mountain sides are green from all the rain and the air is fresh.  Nebaj’s farmers are up early and greet me as I run past their plots of land while they tend to their crops.  After my morning routine, I head out to a school, and I make it back home in time for lunch and for the afternoon rain to start.  Typically it rains on and off the rest of the afternoon.  This creates excellent background noise for afternoon reading and naps.  My rain phobia has now dissipated and I look forward to my afternoon siestas and relaxation.

On my way home from visiting a friend, I was on a microbus listening to the latest podcast of This American Life.  I was tuned out from the world when suddenly I overheard a melody that was all too familiar.  I looked up and saw the backs of two mother’s heads, both with a young child in their laps. The kid’s heads were bobbing in harmony to “Ah ah ahah ah ahah ah ahah”.  I took out my headphones and smiled when I confirmed what they were singing.  “si las gotas de lluvia fueran de caramelo…” If all the rain drops were lemon drop and gum drops, oh what a world that would be”.  And I thought to myself…what a world that would be.  

 Building a tire garden during training. This is Moses...he cut most of the tire. Guatemalans were born to work with machetes.

One of my favorite teachers during a Mother's day celebration.

 They are all smiling for me after they brushed their teeth.

 A young girl in traditional dress.

 My 3 year old host sister. This could be a postcard.

 In traditional dress for a wedding (minus my black skirt)

 The church of Nebaj.

 Posing with some school girls. They don't particularly like their picture being taken. They're cute anyways!