Lessons of the Year

No, this is not another post about the New Year and how Suzie Q wants to go back to the gym and how Peter Parker is cutting back on the snarky comments for 2011. Nope. This is a post celebrating the fact that I have been in Guatemala for a mother flippin' year! And with that, I'll share some knowledge I've gained since deciding to drag two backpacks on an airplane and forget about the luxuries.

What I, Linda, have learned in a year of Peace Corps service in Guatemala:

• Malaria, Going Deaf, Bleeding from the Inner Ear, and Gastrointestinal Amoebas are not just diseases/illnesses/afflictions you study in High School Biology: they happen.
• A huge percentage of the towns/cities/municipalities/etc. are named after saints: Santa Apolonia, San Francisco La Union, San Andres Xecul, San Juan Comalapa
• Holidays play a huge role in Guatemala---and despite the name, Mother's Day is a month of motherly love.
• Know the bus drivers and have them know you. If the bus picks up a pervy, drunk or simply annoying drifter, the driver and the ayudante will have your back.
• Sexism is everywhere---you have to learn how to defend yourself against it.
• When it comes to your project, gain the trust of everyone you're working with by being approachable and honest. And it doesn't hurt to throw some humor into the mix.
• Everyone, and yeah... I do mean everyone, will poop their pants during their service.
• If an horchata (rice drink) tastes fishy, make your work partner/sitemate try it because if you know you're going to Diarrhea-ville, take them with you!
• Make connections at your site, sometimes they can lend you a hand when you're in need.
• Dating in a machista society? Yeah... no.
• Your first aid/med kit will become your greatest ally.
• Your emotions are cranked up---be honest with yourself about them and you will survive.
• Do not miss 'snack hour' no matter the circumstances. This is prime 'connection building time'.
• You don't need TV to survive, but if your internet is as slow as mine... stock up on DVDs for your laptop.
• Your phone will FAIL 80% of the time.
• If you're a woman, your community friend base will be made of girls younger than 18 and women older than 35.
• Sing while you do your own laundry, by the time Party in the U.S.A. has been on repeat for an hour, you would have done a load.
• Since you'll be behind on pop culture, you will have certain guilty pleasures (ex: Baby by J. Beiber or Party in the USA by M. Cyrus) because those songs will be used in all advertising attempts.
• Advertising in Guatemala means blasting music across the whole town and announcing the 2 for 5Q chicken pieces at the local Chicken Little fried chicken stand.
• Love your sitemate, they'll be there when you're most vulnerable.

And finally,

• Although it's been a year, you will probably feel like you've only just arrived. Time flies, so enjoy it.

So Happy Freaking Bloody First Year to ME! I'm coming back soon America.

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In other news, since there has been a Military Siege in the Department of Alta Verapaz due to Narco Trafficking (yeah, I won't really get into that because I'm still confused and partially afraid of what that means to Peace Corps as a whole), I have had the pleasure of hanging out with a fourth 'faux' sitemate: Whitney! Check her out (as well as Sara and I). We're all tired and halfway into PJs, but hope you appreciate the pictures I forced them to take!

The Perks of Being a Site-Rat

Site-rat: 
Noun
: integrated, homebody, adjusted
1. PCV who happily spends most of his/her service in site. 2. PCV who most likely chooses to remain with HCNs (Host Country Nationals/Guatemalans) rather than spend yet another night in a tourist town. 3. A title taken with pride for some and scorned by others.
Example: Susie Q refused to come to the Halloween party, what a site-rat!

Ah, it is October and although the smell of pumpkin spice lattes and pastries is not wafting through the Guatemalan air, there is good news. School is out! And since this girl works with the school system, that means I can actually spend time in my site. But let's rewind a bit.

In order to end with a bang, Abra and I lined up taller after taller after taller that had me chugging energy drinks while simultaneously hailing buses en la madrugada (colloquially known in english as butt-crack of dawn). Our wonderful counterpart from the Ministry of Education quite enjoyed our week full of workshops and was beyond amazed at how much the directors, teachers, and CTAs care for us! Score!



In related news, October 15th was National Handwashing Day! And in order to share the excitement with our office and the whole Ministry of Education, Abra and I created the following bulletin board. Yes, I went back to my R.A. days to create a bulletin board complete with glitter to represent germs! And thanks to Abra, my caricature (complete with shiny snot) is hanging in the middle of our office causing hordes of employees to stand in front of it with curiosity. The title, by the way loosely, translates to: Don't let bad friends stick.

After winding down the school year with school visits, workshops, and office activities, Abra and I finally have a chance to enjoy something we've had little time for since the beginning of our service: time in our site. See, traveling every day (sometimes for four, five hours) gets a bit tedious-- especially when you end up getting home around dark.

So now, we have more time to be around our communities and to meet new people in site. I've already met my new site-mate (and her fiance), have been more involved with community groups, and have spent more time with my other more experienced site-mate, Sara. And heck, since being in town in a more visible way, Sara and I have received vocal support AND funding from our alcalde (Mayor) for our upcoming Multimedia Taller! Huzzah!

So why the definition at the beginning of this entry? Well it seems this is a term is thrown around quite frequently within the Peace Corps community to poke fun of those volunteers who actually enjoy their sites, have created a niche for themselves and really feel separation anxiety once they leave. While it seems like this word carries a negative connotation, I have to say, I take this title with pride.

I am completely head over heels with my site. I enjoy that I have friends in my local market who always give me a better price because they know I'm here working for and within their community. I look forward to taking particular buses with those bus drivers who I know can identify me by name and would look out for me if I were ever in trouble while on board. I relish the fact that my community's CTA wants to expand the pilot program I'm working with to all the schools in my community because he feels passionate. And I even get a kick of the night food vendors who have realized I do speak Spanish and will laugh at their stupid jokes.

So here's to you, fellow site-rats, may we serve in solidarity knowing that we are truly challenging ourselves via our interactions with the myriad characters who surround us every day!

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Side note: Shout out to Cheryl for the greatest surprise I have gotten while in country! Thanks for reading my mind and knowing exactly what I needed: tea, room fresheners, and best of all... scented candles!

The Lowdown on Healthy Schools

Don´t remember if I mentioned the fact that Leah and I made a short movie about our Peace Corps program. But if I didn´t, we did end up making a short little piece about Escuelas Saludables and the impact it has on Guatemala.

Check it out if you have time.

Escuelas Saludables: Peace Corps Guatemala from Linda Lopez on Vimeo.

Photos de Guatemala

The town in Guatemala where I spent my first days (and also where I receive training)

The view from a classmate´s roof (with smokey volcano in background)

Antigua with my friend Leah

Antigua

Artisan Market in Antigua

It´s not much, but hopefully this will tide you all over. Until next time, mis amigos.

The Tourist Vs. The Peace Corps Volunteer

There is something to be said about the way Peace Corps training has us (the PCTrainees) thinking about our image in-country.

We are told to dress professionally and according to what we see around us rather than don shorts, tank tops and sandals. Likewise, we are expected to glean pertinent information from our communities in order to integrate within our towns rather than stick out like a sore thumb. I didn’t realize though, how  pertinent these PC suggestions were until I visited a new location in Guatemala.

A few of my classmates and I were visiting a local treasure this past week when a woman, from Los Angeles I’m ashamed to say, was walking with her local guide. As she stepped into this local treasure, her Chanel glasses, bright orange tank top, and green cargo shorts immediately gave her away as a tourist.  But what caught my attention was not her bright plumage, or the fact that she seemed to direct this tour guide more like a slave driver than someone hoping to learn something about the culture she was visiting. No, it was something that she uttered from her botox-ridden lips, Oh my gosh, I can’t believe what these people are doing? What are we doing here?

[First of all, let me stop the story here. If you didn’t want to come, the door is right there. You can just as easily tell your guide to lead you to a new destination. Heck, you could probably (by the looks of your Coach bag) book a flight out tonight. But I digress…]

I continue watching this woman, puzzled by what some may call cultural insensitivity. She continues going further into this Guate treasure and is now standing merely feet away from locals with camera in hand. I bite my lip, hoping that what I’m thinking in my head will not happen; heck this woman was at least 50+ years old, she couldn’t be that insensitive. But no, she stands close, like a child looking into a fish bowl, and starts taking pictures (with flash) of what is happening before her. Sure some Americans, heck, most foreigners, might see what was going on in this plaza as something weird, but this Guatemalan treasure was meaningful to the people who were participating. This was not a marimba band or a group of dancers dancing, but something heavier--something that felt too sacred to photograph.

I, seeing myself as a part of this community now (despite being only in-country for three-ish weeks now), told the woman that maybe she could at least turn off the flash or hide the camera because this wasn’t a circus. What I got in return was a middle finger.

Sure, I could have retaliated or made a spectacle but I knew that I too, would be portraying an image of the U.S. that was worse than the reality. So Peace Corps, I thank you because even in this short time, I know you have trained me to see how I fit into this community rather than to see myself outside of it.

It's Official, I'm Off

Well first off, hello to the inter-web. I'm Linda! I'm from a tiny city called Los Angeles and an 09' grad from the University of the Pacific (Go Tigers).

It looks like after 6 months of arduous waiting, I am heading to Guatemala in early January! Woot woot! I received my invitation two days ago and confirmed early this morning.

Though the details are a bit fuzzy as far as where exactly I will be going--I do know that I will be living in a rural area of Guatemala with limited phone/internet/mail access. My official title is Municipal School Health Facilitator so I will be working with up to thirty schools in a program called Healthy Schools!

As you can probably tell, I'm excited beyond belief and cannot wait to jump and in begin helping out!