December 6, 2008
Firstly as I set out to write my first blog entry in about a month, and first one certainly in December, I apologize if you have checked the blog more than once. You should have better hobbies. No really i'm sorry. Because I know everyone working gets bored and runs out of internet sites to check out during the typical work day. Here’s to a better Monday.
It’s not exactly that i've been super busy that I haven’t written. It’s been more the fact that living is so time consuming here and it encourages a slower pace. The fact that I have caught up on a few TV shows, and can’t ever stop thinking about how to reverse the fortunes of my farmers, doesn’t help my cause. Neither, and probably does not help the cause more so, I clean, cook, I clean up my cooking mess, wash my clothes, walk everywhere, etc. It’s a hard knock life. I need a wife I suppose. Bad humor. If Peace Corp were reading my blog they may call me in for a talk. But really it’s just a joke. Id have a little butler do it. Truth be told, I can’t afford a wife or a butler. And really, i'm starting a women’s micro business class hopefully through my association, I think that balances that wife comment. And I think we all know I don’t want a wife yet either.
I don’t know how I'm going to approach the following tale, but I had a very third world (developing world to be pc (politically correct, not peace corp)) moment a few days ago. My association here in __________ , ____________ has a nice big bathroom, lights, plenty of stalls, and the typical 4/48 hours running water (no exaggeration), so you don’t flush and you certainly don’t wash your hands. Although there is soap, so I don’t know. But there is a big water basin to throw water into the toilet to make it flush, so no poop doesn’t pile up. Any way, I picked out the cleanest, most user friendly toilet in the place, after dipping into the emergency tp roll, and realized that it didn’t have a trash can. Of course this is a problem because you have to throw away toilet paper, not flush it because it will clog the sanitation system. So because i'm not going to wash my hands and I def want to use the toilet I picked out, I had to soccer ball handle a wastebasket full of used toilet paper out of a stall and down two doors and into the stall I wanted… all in limited space. As I was half kicking, half balancing this basket through the bathroom I had this moment where I was like “shit, this could only happen in a place like this.” I would like to mention that this is no way is a negative story. I have a little poop paper bin in my bathroom, and I take bucket baths.
Other house news, typical Chapin style, the shelves I contracted a fellow to make, were finally finished and now my house (level) is complete. My clothes and books and what have you are no longer on the ground. I have finally ending the spending spree and have settled in for the ride.
Many are probably wondering how my Thanksgiving was. If you weren’t, you are now. No, they do not celebrate thanksgiving here; especially seeing as 70 percent of them would be considered indigenous and would have been on the shit end of the thanksgiving, land conquering stick. I try to explain the holiday and I always have to say a couple things. One, yes we had a lot of Indians and now we have nearly none. Two, yeah I don’t believe in any part of it but the food. I’m thankful for the food. And for sharing the land, which we shared… yeah….
Anyway myself and a large portion of my training group went to an awesome little inaccessible town on lake Atitlan, the largest lake in Guatemala, for a couple days over the Thanksgiving holiday. We had an amazingly large thanksgiving feast. I drank a bottle of wine. We kayaked, swam, friended it up, and generally had a very good holiday. The lake is one of the more beautiful places I have spent time.
Big work news. I met a female volunteer coming to work for 8 months starting in January from Guatemala City. She is 23 years old, pretty, and used to big cities, which mine is not. I’m always excited to have a friend I can relate to more generally. We also are receiving a female volunteer from Spain in January as well. Lots to potentially look forward to.
I have been out in the communities where I am working with farmers meeting the groups and organizing time and doing analyses. The views from up and down in the mountains where the small outlying communities are amazing. And two, spending time out there with the farmers is really heartwarming. They are overly accepting. I find a smile goes a long way.
Interesting bit about the culture here, long winded speeches are a must if you are one of the top 8 most attention pulling people in the meeting. And seeing how i'm usually number two, behind my counterpart, I usually have to speak quite a bit. Which I like, i'm a talker. I especially had to give impromptu 10 minutes speeches when I was introduced about who I was, why I was there, goals for them, and other pretty words. I have had good meetings with the community leaders and have formed decent to great bonds with all of them. There are two I especially get a long with. Soon I will be starting to go out to the communities a bit by myself. Probably after new years.
One thing that has really been helping me gain trust with the farmers, and other locals, is Kaqckikel, a local Mayan language that I am learning. The last two communities I have been introduced to I started out with: xka’ij, rix utz iwach, yin nu’bi Colin, yin USA yipe wi. Meaning, good afternoon, how are you all doing, my name is Colin and Im from the US. And they like it a lot. I like it a lot. I will be taking a total of 160 hours, and possibly more, when it is all said and done. There is a decent percentage that doesn’t speak much Spanish, so it is imperative I try to bridge the gap.
I like some Guatemalan music. Guatemalans also feel, and they must be right, that they have an innate right to make all the noise they want. With those two things said, I don’t like the chipmunk Christmas music blasting so loud at 7 am that I feel that its coming in from all angles at me, drowning out all thoughts I have. The volume is up so high that I cant even understand if it is English or Spanish, or something else. The kicker, I cant even tell where it comes from.
I have started running again. It feels good. I ran for a solid 1 hr 10mins the other day. The views are worth the run. Up 2200 meters looking down into crucial valleys on a sunny day.
Beyond taking pride in my work here, I have become really good at making soup. It’s easy. I may post a picture.
Without much further to say, I look forward to seeing my guests, aka family, in the upcoming month.
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