Last Hurrah

Training finally came to an end. It was intense and I learned a lot but, including my time in Togo, I’ve had 5 months of training in the past year instead of the 2 ½ , months, so I am ready to be out in the field. My Spanish comprehension has improved greatly and I’m constantly surprising myself when I speak. It’s an incredible feeling. I’m not anywhere close to being fluent but I know enough to get around and express myself.
San Bartolome has been a perfect training site. It’s a comfortable town with friendly residents. My family has been just awesome to live with. They’ve been wonderfully hospitable and patient. I’m going to miss them but I hope to return and visit sometime in the future. Also I’ve developed a fantastic ass from the daily hike to my house (it literally is uphill both ways). I remember when I was younger and my mom would take me shopping for pants. “You’ve got no butt,” she would say. Well that’s not the case anymore. As you can tell I’m proud of my newly sculpted tokhes.

To show our appreciation we prepared lunch for all of our host families in San Bartolome. We had shish-ka-bobs and while I think we did a damn fine job, they didn’t seem impressed. Meh.

I had a good laugh with my pops while we were eating. He turned to me and said, “This is good. All that’s missing is the pica (hot sauce). Have you not learned anything from us?” We both cracked up. Afterwards I bought a bottle of picante and then during dinner I told them “This is good. All that’s missing is the pica.” I then proceeded to pull out the bottle I bought and douse my plate. They gave me a nice floral blanket to take to site which was great. Cara’s host mother gave us all colorful cloths to wrap our tortillas in of course.

While I knew I would miss them, Friday couldn’t come soon enough. I woke up that cloudy morning, packed the last of my belongings into my backpack and straightened my tie in the mirror. We loaded our bags into a van and headed into the swelling mass that is Guatemala City. After idling in traffic we arrived at the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala Stephen McFarland. He has a beautiful spread complete with pool and tennis court. We didn’t waste time and the ceremony began and after taking the oath (the same oath that all government employees/officials with the exception of the President takes) we were volunteers. Smiles, hugs and pictures ensued.

We were dropped off in Antigua to celebrate the night. I was feeling under the weather but I powered through. A group of us were staying at a hostel and more people showed up more revelry occurred. I had gotten my hands on a bottle of Ron Zacapa, perhaps the best rum I've ever tasted (I will be bringing some back with me) and that made the rounds as we got ready for the night out. Everyone met up at a pizza parlor where we gave out superlatives. I was voted most likely to catch on fire (which was kind of random) and most likely to be medically evacuated (which was just cruel) but hey at least I didn’t get most likely to fall in a latrine or most likely to get fecal-oral contaminate.

The night descended into drink and laughter and by the time the pizza arrived we were scattered all over the restaurant. Afterwards we found our way to some club and danced like we were mad. It all came to a close with Marco Antonio Solis karaoke so yea , it was a tremendous night. The next morning was somber and with heavy heads we departed for our sites.
It’s been a great three months and I just want to thank all my fellow volunteers for the great times we had.

The Land of the Eternal Spring

It's the peak of the rainy season here in Guatemala and we flew through dark clouds when we landed in Guatemala City with lightning striking just off our wing. From the air Guatemala City looks like a sprawling mess (which it is) with houses stacked on the edge of cliffs. It's easy to see why landslides are so deadly here. Guate, as it's commonly referred to, is the country's capital and largest city. It's overgrown, dirty, and one of the most dangerous cities in Central America, which is really saying something. Not surprisingly Peace Corps advises against spending time in Guate and some of the city's zones are completely off limits. The mere sight of Guate from the air displays the dynamics of life in Latin America which has the largest wealth gap of any region in the world. There are skyscrapers and modern buildings bordered by the slums of the rural poor who flock to the city for potential opportunity but instead find harsh reality. Guatemala's airport is much nicer than I expected and it stands as a testament to Guatemala's number one industry: tourism. Covering the walls are pictures of stereotypical, smiling white families having fun at Tikal and other Mayan ruins.

The Peace Corps met us at the airport and immediately drove us out of the city and into the mountains. It's been difficult not to compare everything to Peace Corps Togo even though I know it's a completely different country, set up and experience. But staring out the bus window at Guatemala City it's was tough to comprehend how life with the Peace Corps in Africa was and how it would be in a country with modern U.S. looking malls. After a short drive into the hills we arrived at the Peace Corps headquarters in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas. Santa Lucia is a small town surrounded by three giant, sometimes-smoking, cone-shaped volcanoes which stand over 13,000 ft tall. The view early in the morning is phenomenal but because of the altitude by the afternoon clouds descend upon Santa Lucia.

We spent our first three days in Guatemala doing more orientation (culture, safety, health, etc.) and learning fun facts like how of the 67 countries around the world in which the Peace Corps currently operates, Guatemala is #1 in theft. They broke down and explained Guatemala's crime problem very clearly and it's pretty fascinating. I won't go into it but a lot of it has to do with remittances and 36 year civil war (1960-1996). There is a lot of impunity with something like 3% of crimes being solved. We lived with a host family for those first three days in Santa Lucia. My family consisted of a grandmother, her daughter, and her three grandchildren: Andrea (13), Allen (9?), and Daniella (1). Like every host family I've lived with they were shocked when I explained how I'm an only child. I mainly spent time playing cards with the kids (UNO is a great and fun way to practice a new language) and watching Mexican soap-operas (telanovelas). If you think the drama in U.S. soap-operas is ridiculously over the top (I´m talking to you James Franco) then you have no idea. I´ve been surprised with my Spanish. I´ve been able to understand almost everything that has been said to me. It´s just the speaking which is difficult for me, but it will come.

Our pack of gringos tramped around tiny Santa Lucia for a little bit and I got involved in a pickup game of hoops in the park. It's so awesome being taller than everyone else. A tall, goofy, white guy I feel like Shawn Bradley sometimes. I'm 6'1'' and so not only do I stick out as a white American but also as the tallest person around. Our last day in Santa Lucia some of us took a hike into the hills which was pretty cool. Saturday the 14th we said goodbye to our families in Santa Lucia and headed to our training sites to live with a new family for the next 3 months.