Par For the Course

So after being in country for almost 3 weeks, I have observed a few patterns:

1. My main mode of transportation has been the North Miami Community and Tippicanoe Valley County Yellow School Buses. The original designers of these buses intended the seats to hold 2 children per seat; however, Guatemalans like to squeeze 3 adults in the same seat. Par for the course!



2. Municipal Elections, as well as national elections, occured last week. My host family is very pro-"Mano Dura." (Hard Hand) I woke up at 11:30 Pm ( I go to bed early b/c the rooster wake me up early) when someones phone went off with the news that the Mano Dura candidate for mayor won. The house erupted (all five people sleeping in the parents room, even though i only live with one couple) and fireworks were set off (m-80 cost 25 cents at the local tienda.) Guatemalans love fireworks and set them off at a hint of a reason to celebrate. Caravans of honking cars drove through the streets until 1:30AM. Then roosters woke me up at 5:30Am. Par for the course!



3. Last Saturday was the Guatemalan Independance day. Myself and some other trainees near Santo Tomas went to the Park to see some of the local customs including the Palo Asavado or greased pole. We were sitting on a bench at the park waiting for the event to start, when a drunk "bolo" with rubber boots, dirty black jeans, and a independance skating hoody approached us with an outstretched hand. His fly was down and his "situation" was visible. The Municipality was passing out chicha (think papaya, gasoline with eu de fart.) The bolos did not need any more but were being handed free cups of chicha. Par for the course!



4. So, the greased pole. Think of a 65 ft telephone pole stripped and greased with cash prizes at various heights with Q500 at the top. At 3:00PM the drunks attempted to conquuer the greased beast. The would stand on top of eachothers shoulders (an impressive feet in itslef becasue they had a hard time standing) They would fail to get any higher than 15 ft, would slide down and fall over. Finally after the bolos had lost all strength to continue, the varsity greased pole team stepped in. They would systematically climb the pole that had been wiped down by someone before them, climb alittle higher, wipe a little grease, and trade off.

They managed to climb the first half in the first hour, and the last part took about another hour. By then, only won had the skillz needed to master the climb and wipe method.

Check out the video that I took of the guy reaching the top.

The town does this every year on Independance Day. It was a blast to watch. And was par for the course!

I'm doing well and I'm happy to be here. My host family has taken me in as one of there own. Although not close enough to sleep in their room. Spanish and tech training are going well. I'm currently working on a project to help my family understand costs of producing tomatoes and how to add more value to some of their products. I feel much more relaxed about the whole thing here. But still miss everyone at home. This Sunday I head out to San Jose poaquil. a.k.a. SJP to visit a volunteer for 3-4 days to see what its like to be out on your own. Let me know how things are going on the home front.

Training Started

Hello all. So, I arrived in Guate a little over a week ago. During a 4 day in-country orientatation in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas (location of training center), we got a crash-course in Peace Corps policy, multiple immunizations (more to come), a Peace Corps suitcase full of meds, health ed, language training, etc. The rest of the trainees are all very nice and come any where in between Puerto Rico and Alaska. The average age is 26. During the orientation, most trainees stayed with families, but a handfull of trainees, including myself, stayed at a local hotel. Our meals were prepared by the owner and served in her garage at a table. After the orientation, they broke us up into 3 different projects: Ag. Mkt, Ag. Food Security, and Municipal Development. Within those groups, they broke us up again into language profficiency groups. They sent us to other surrounding towns to live and study (community-based training.) So, I currently live in a town called Santo Tomas Milpas Altas about 1.5 km away from the training center. There is only one other trainee in my town. We meet up with the rest of the big training group about once a week, and we meet with othger Ag. Mkt trainees about 3 times a week. The towm I live in is the real deal. Some people live in cinderblock houses with corragated tin roofs, while others linve in houses made of wood. The house I´m living in now (see pictures) is nice. I have my own room, there is running water, and there is electricity. I take a cold shower everyday (my host mom calls it ¨tivio¨ which means lukje warm. Its not. I brush my teeth, clean my hands, etc in a pila (see picture.) For brushing teeeth, i use purified water becasue the tap water can make you really sick. I have been using purified water, and I have had an interesting experience with bowl movements. I´ve been super busy with technical training, spanish classes, meeting the mayor of Santo Tomas. I visited Antigua, which was beautiful. And I bought a phone. Almost all volunteers have them. Peace Corps provides you with a small amount of walk-around money, so i used mine i saved up to buy a phone. Peace Corps almost requires you get one, so they can keep in touch with you for safety reasons, health, etc.

So, thats what I´ve been up to. How am i taking all of this in? It was cary as hell when Peace Corps vans dropped you off at a strangers house, in a strange place. And, the thought of staying in this environment for two years really freaked me out. But the initial panic of being dropped in a different cluture (not traveling but L-I-V-I-N) eventually wore off. And, sharing experiences with other trainees helps. You aren´t doing this by yourself. Let me know what everybody is up to, so I´m not completely out of the loop. I think I want to visit home in 6 months for about a week to recharge. After that, I would love visitors.