Photos from Guatemala

Here are some of my photos. Once you are at those pages, you can view the slideshow by clicking on the icon in the upper left-hand corner.

Arrival and Training


Swearing in and first pictures of Santa Maria Visitacion


First 3 months at Santa Maria Visitacion


Tuesday, January 25, 2011

January 15 and 22

Sat. January 15
This morning was really fun- we walked around San Miguel, which is part of Ciudad Vieja and where Hurricane Agatha hit really bad.  A lot of houses were destroyed, but my family ran a project with the church where they collected recycled materials to sell in order to buy materials to help build new houses for people.  Then we walked to San Pedro
It’s such a beautiful day!  From Wednesday on this week, it has been pretty chilly because it’s been cloudy, but today the sun is out and it’s pretty hot!  Feels like spring.  There are always colorful fruits and vegetables around, and the tangerines right now are so yummy!  When I bought some (5 for 4 quetzales!), they all came with long stems and when I took the stem off, the peel almost came off in one piece!
Today (Sunday) I walked around some more now that I know the city a little better.  My host family is again, really Catholic, so I’m trying to get to know them and the community better by going to church events with them.  Today was the procession of Esquipulas and also when members of the church gathered sick people in the community for a special service.  It was a very moving service to see how all members of the community went out of their way to take care of the sick and elderly in the community.
January 22 (I think!)
This week was very crazy but very fun!  On Monday, we went to San Vicente de Pacaya to visit two volunteers currently working in that site with the Volcan de Pacaya.  We got to see their living situations, which was very interesting.  One girl chose to live with her host family for the rest of her service, so instead of moving out after 3 months, she just continues to pay rent.  The other guy lives in part of a family compound, so he has his own kitchen, bathroom, and room but it is attached to another family’s house.  I liked his set up a lot better I think because he made it feel more like home.  We didn’t get to go up the volcano but hopefully sometime during training we will!
On Tuesday we had training where we learned how to clean our fruits and veggies well (wash with soap and water, soak in bleach water for 15 minutes, then rinse with purified water).  We also learned how to change the behavior of adults and that it’s really hard but there are certain techniques to use.  I’m getting more and more comfortable riding the chicken buses now, and it doesn’t surprise me as much to see people hanging out the door or the emergency exit!  On Thursday we had a special talk from a volunteer who’s just ended her service about water.  It’s really sad because Guatemala has really poor waste management and water treatment centers.  The water is really contaminated, and that same water is going straight to the taps of peoples’ houses.  Trash just gets burned or thrown in the street or river.  There is a river that flows right near our house and on a windy day, it smells really bad at the house because the odor from the river gets carried around.  There are sewage pipes that empty directly into the river and even into Lake Atitlan.  So you have to be really careful about what you eat and you have to be sure to wash your hands really well a lot!
Today, Saturday, we finally got to go to Antigua!  I was really excited, but to be honest, I wasn’t as impressed with it as I am with the rest of Guatemala.  It’s a really touristy city, very expensive with some beautiful sites but people are always asking you to buy things.  I am kind of biased too, because everyone is always talking about Antigua being the first Spanish capital of Guatemala but it was actually Ciudad Vieja!  They moved the capital to Antigua when Ciudad Vieja was destroyed in a landslide I think from an eruption of the Volcan de Agua.    
Today, Sunday the 23, I’ve just been catching up on a lot of work.  We have homework for Spanish class, technical training, and the Peace Corps office!  I also washed my clothes today, which takes up a lot of time since it is all by hand.  Every house here has a pila, which is a concrete structure in which there is one basin which holds tap water and then a shallower basin with ridges and a drain to put dirty dishes if it’s in the kitchen or to wash clothes on.  Washing clothes uses up a lot of water!  First you soak the clothes, then soap them up, scrub on the pila, and then rinse off each piece of clothing. 

Friday, January 21, 2011

January 12

Here’s how my days usually go:
  • From 8-12 we have Spanish class at my house on the patio (each week we switch houses). The other four students who live in Ciudad Vieja as well as our teacher come Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays to discuss different things about Guatemala (school system, religion, family life, etc.) in Spanish. We get off topic a lot though! Then we go home for lunch from 12-1. After that, we usually meet in the park to get to know the city a little more. The first day we talked about the church, which was built in 1527 and was the first cathedral in Guatemala (this was also the first Spanish capital of Central America before they moved to Antigua). Today we went to visit the municipality and got to meet the mayor and talked about plans for our ecotourism project during training in Ciudad Vieja.
  • On Tuesdays we take one of the camionetas or chicken buses to the Peace Corps office in Santa Lucia Milpas Altas for medical, safety, and development training as well as technical training with our program, and for vaccines. These first couple of Saturdays we will also have Spanish class.
  • Usually we are done with our day by 5, and I try not to stay out too long cause it gets dark around 6 and even though Ciudad Vieja is not particularly dangerous, it’s just better to be home by dark.

Spanish is spoken pretty much all day so I get a lot of practice, but it’s frustrating because I feel like I’m not improving very much. But that will change!

Chofi got a haircut today so she looks a lot different! She used to be a little shaggy dog but now she looks like a miniature poodle!
Also I had my first aguacate from the coffee plantation that Don Hugo’s family owns and it was so delicious! It’s avocado season so they are cutting some to sell. The food here is really good as well, but again, I think I’m really spoiled with this family. We even have peanut butter in my house! But most of the time we have traditional food, like scrambled tomatoes and eggs with beans and tortillas, tostadas with guacamole or frijoles, some kind of vegetable soup, tamales, or crepes. Fernanda is a very good cook so she helps Chiqui a lot with the cooking. We drink coffee with almost every meal, but it is instant and I think it is decaf. There is also sweet bread with every meal to dip in the coffee.

My family is very resourceful when it comes to earning money- besides getting money from working on the finca and driving kids to and from school, they also sell aguacates right from their door, they sell homemade popsicles from the house, Chiqui sells Tupperware, and Don Hugo sometimes takes tourists in his van to the volcanos. They are very busy! And they also host students from Canada from the language school in Antigua. I am the first Peace Corps person they have hosted.
Everywhere is really noisy, no matter what time of day. There are always dogs barking, fireworks going off, people playing basketball, camionetas going by, or radios blasting. Lucky for me, I sleep really soundly haha so it doesn’t bother me at all. Today I also saw my first marimba and met the music teacher here. Apparently famous marimba bands (I guess that’s what they are called) live here but travel the country a lot. When I have more free time and when I can understand more, Im going to try to take a lesson.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

First Week

So, where to begin? These days have just flown by and so much has happened!

We arrived in Guatemala City and then took a bus to Santa Lucia Milpas Altas near Antigua. We were then assigned a family for three days while we did orientation at la oficina del Cuerpo del Paz (peace corps). Everyone is so nice- Peace Corps staff, los profesores, my fellow trainees, and los Guatemaltecos!

My first night my host mom took us for a walk around town and we got to help make tortillas in a tortilleria! Mine were terrible, of course, but it was fun because the other ladies just laughed at us gringas. Also fresh tortillas are SOOO good. My host family in Santa Lucia was very quiet but very friendly and accommodating- I stayed with another girl from the Peace Corps as well. Our house was like a treehouse! It had a ladder leading up to the roof where we could see the three volcanes near us, one of which is active and smokes a lot! Everyone is a lot more conscious about conserving electricity and water here, but so far neither of my families seem to be considered poor.

Today (Saturday the 8) we moved to host communities where we will spend the rest of the 11 weeks of training. We live in different communities in groups of up to 8 people according to our program and language skills, and we each live with a separate host family. I think I live in a mansion! My family’s house has two floors and they are also hosting two girls from Canada until next week who are here learning Spanish. I live with Dona Gladis, o Chiqui, and Don Hugo with their son, Andres, and their daughter, Fernanda. Andres is 19 and travels to and from Guatemala city to go to the university to be a veterinarian. Fernanda is 21 and is a teacher. They also have a dog, Chofi, who is the cutest thing ever (besides Major of course)! The house is very nice and it has a patio, which currently has coffee beans drying on it! Hugo works at a coffee plantation, or finca, when he is not driving a school bus. Right now kids are on vacation, so he is working at the finca.

The climate here is wonderful! It gets pretty cold at night and I have to wear warm pijamas, but during the day it’s warm enough for a t-shirt and jeans. I apologize for lots of grammatical errors but it is difficult switching back and forth!

So far no parasites or anything, but the medical crew definitely scared us with long talks about how to treat diarrhea, worms, and dehydration. So far from the sessions at the office I think our whole group is terrified that we’re going to get robbed or get rabies (there are dogs in the street everywhere here! (It’s very sad) but we are all still very excited! I feel very safe here in Ciudad Vieja- we met the police and mayor and are getting to know the city pretty well.

kids here are so cute but so tiny! I think Guatemala has a very high rate of malnourished children which might be part of the reason why they are so small.

My Spanish teacher, Eduardo, is really awesome and so far our Spanish classes are very fun- we just talk about Guatemala! It’s so beautiful and green here as well AND it’s avocado season!

I am feeling a lot better, and I really like training except for the fact that a lot of the sessions are meant to scare us, but really Peace Corps just has to cover all the possibilities of what can happen. Also we get to do a project in our host sites during training so we are going to do some project to help bring tourists to Ciudad Vieja so the community can preserve their historical sites as well as bring in money. I was so happy to see a real live avocado tree outside the Peace Corps office! I think everyone will love it when you come visit!!!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

First contact!

I made it and Guatemala is beautiful and I love it!!! I'll write more later!!!
Love, Rosemary

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

D Day

Rosemary was ready and raring. Her plane departed today at 8:20am for Washington DC. They have an orientation session this afternoon, and then the group flies to Guatemala tomorrow. Rosemary packed and repacked to have just the essentials - two bags, weighing 68 pounds, plus a book bag, for two years!

Our family was there to see her off, and she saw all of her friends these last couple of weeks.

Buena suerte, Rosemary!