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.