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, July 5, 2011

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!  Every year, Peace Corps holds a big celebration the weekend before, as well as an All-Volunteer Conference in Antigua.  I went to both of them last week, which unfortunately meant I had to miss out on most of my town’s feria, or town fair, last weekend.  All of last week was exciting though, everyone was getting ready for the fair!  Vendors came and set up arcades and food stalls and really sketchy ferris wheels.  School bands practice for the parade, all the girls get their traje hemmed and embroidered and put on their heels, and all the guys put as much gel in their hair as they can so that not even a hair is out of place.  There is a parade and schools and organizations each make carrosas, which are kind of like floats, on the back of pick-ups.  I helped out for the one that the muni was making, which was fun!  We spent the week cutting and glueing and glittering.  Everyone was stressed out we weren’t going to finish though!  I don’t have a finished product picture, but I’ll try to get one from someone else.  The theme was, of course, Santa María and the products that are grown there- corn, avocado, limón, café, potatoes, and squash.  Schools had events all last week and this week they are out of school all week, which doesn’t really surprise me anymore.  The school schedule is so confusing- there are always holidays and events going on.  On Thursday I left to go to Antigua for the conference/4th of July celebration and then came back on Sunday.  On Sunday I saw our new central park, which is really nice!  It has a big covered amphitheater and a fountain.  It doesn’t have a lot of green spaces, but lots of places to sit and people watch.  It will be really nice having a place to “hang out” in Santa Maria now!  The All-Volunteer Conference was pretty fun- I missed a lot of it because I had to meet with my supervisor about the teacher training, but what I heard was pretty interesting.  There was a panel on diversity and how to explain to Guatemalans that not all Americans are white and look European.  There was also a guest speaker who talked about the elections and then workshops afterwards.  Then there was a basketball tournament between the different departments (Sololá lost) and we went back to Antigua to rest before the fourth of July party on Saturday.  There were delicious burgers, pasta salad, potato salad, music, a talent show, a baking contest, and a pie eating contest.  It was really fun to see everyone from my group again and meet new people as well.  The ambassador and his family came, and he brought his famous brownies.  They were absolutely delicious with cardamom seed in them which made them taste so good!  I have the recipe so I have to try that while I’m here.  When I came back to Santa Maria on Sunday, there were still things going on so I went to the park with Etelvina and the kids to watch the marimba band that was playing and walk around.  Then the convite started, which was probably the weirdest thing I have ever seen.  Everyone was in the park, watching the band, and then these people dressed in animal costumes came out and danced around to the music in the park.  It was really terrifying- the animal costumes were supposed to be friendly looking or something, but if I was a child I probably would have nightmares after that.
Things I’ve gotten used to since I’ve been in Guatemala:
1.        Being in a camioneta on the highway and seeing the ayudante climb out the emergency exit and walk along the outside of the windows while the bus is going 45+ mph
2.       Seeing lots of people on motos/bikes (the most I’ve seen so far is 5- with a toddler in the front!)
3.       Guys peeing wherever they want to on the street
4.       The fact that it is promiscuous for women to show their shoulder or wear anything above the shin in public yet breast feeding in public is normal here- even at the dinner table
5.       Teenagers making out everywhere in the street
6.       Firecrackers all the time
7.       Women carrying huge baskets on their head and being able to carry on conversations at the same time
8.       Little girls carrying their even smaller brothers and sister on their backs while the mom carries a load of firewood on her back
9.       Having diarrhea
10.   Hearing horses (and smelling them) at all times of the day and night