After FBT

Had a fairly successful Field Based Training – a schedule jam-packed with environmental education, marketing and business, emergency plans, aviturismo, cultural tour, interpretative trails, zipline, freezing weather, and even a change of plans when we couldn’t get through a blockade. I won't complain about the hotel we got to stay in due to the blockade. ^__^

Thought I’d share the interpretative writing exercise we wrote for our tech trainer. We had to write something to recruit 18 year olds / recent college grads to PC:

Are you still trying to identify yourself?

Do something different.

See the world while making a difference.

Typical day? Traje típica.

Stock market? Market day in Antigua.

Train to work? Work to train.

Remembering to recycle a plastic bottle? Building a much-needed school from recycled bottles.

Drinking your daily orange mocha frap? Harvesting shade-grown coffee.

Readjusting the thermostat? Collecting your own firewood.

Ordering take out? Feasting on the community’s kill.

Dominating noobs on WOW? Conquering a volcano before lunchtime.

Interpretimg your math problem? Constructing an interpretive trail that others will walk on.

Being just another player? Being a PCV getting schooled by Chris Mayer.

PC Guat.

We know who we are. Who are you?

-         Ben, Grace, Kim

Ahh.. my fingers are freezing right now. All you people who thought/think Guatemala is warm just because it’s in Central America, you are VERY VERY WRONG!!! I was very wrong and definitely did not pack correctly for this weather.

Hope ya’ll are doing well.

Coffee

Listening to: Cada color al cielo (by Laura Pausini)

I’m not a coffee drinker. Guatemala is a big coffee country. Ranked 3^rd in quality (after Ethiopia and Kenya) and 7^th producer of coffee in quantity, Guatemala produces coffee in seven different regions, which produce different levels of acidity. The USA is the #1 consumer of Guatemalan coffee. Next are Japan, Germany, and Canada.

My host family owns a coffee finca (farm) and the women (my mother, grandmother, and two sisters) pick the red coffee cherries, which are then sold to a beneficio. There, the cherries are washed, pealed, and sorted. Each cherry contains two coffee beans, one’s of good quality while the other’s of lesser quality. These are separated. Then, the coffee is dried, fermented for 48 hours, washed, dried again, roasted, and ground up. One coffee tree produces an average of 40 cups of coffee per year. It’s a very long and complicated process with hard, physical labor.

Guatemalans, most if not all, are huge consumers of coffee – in fact, I went to a family dinner with tias and tios. A 9 year old prima drank coffee, just like everyone else in the family. I was shocked! My sisters say it’s custom to drink coffee every night, especially because it gets really cold. So, I don’t know much about coffee but I know enough to have seen my friends use “French presses” or coffee makers and to see fancy ways to prepare coffee on television. Here, most of the families use instant coffee. They simply boil water and add the coffee and lots.. LOTS of sugar. I wonder why they don’t prepare the coffee differently – supposedly, beans are better than instant? Just some thoughts though.

Experiences:

• We gave our first charlas (presentations) to the employees at the Municipality.. Got good feedback from staff who came and watched.
• Met and talked to both PCVs who lived with my host family before me! I really love talking to PCVs because they have so much to share, both about their projects and insider info… ddun ddun ddun.
• Visited La Azotea Centro Cultural. There’s a coffee farm/museum and a traditional Mayan music museum there. Got to see how coffee is processed and the different types of instruments Mayans used for music.
• Watched and participated in a traditional Mayan ceremony. During the ceremony, we gave thanks to 20 different spirits. Unfortunately, I don’t remember any of them because the priestess was talking in a Mayan language and Spanish and my Spanish really isn’t good enough to focus for 3 hours (yet). Made me think a lot about Christianity while the ceremony was going on.
• Even though it was for the slightest moment, talked to a few friends from back home. ^__^ Miss you guys a lot and I do think of you!!! haha

Goals:

• (Almost) delivered my presentation smoothly.
• Still cannot understand a song in Spanish without actually having the lyrics. But working on it!
• New goals…… that preterite and imperfect will just ‘click.’ Heh heh heh…

Prayer requests:

• Next week is Field-Based Training! This means doing awesome charlas with kids, ziplining, and talking to a lot of PCVs.  Of course it also means a lot of travelling and sleeping in tents in really, really cold weather.  Please pray that our group will stay safe and healthy (perpetual prayer request) and that we will learn and see a lot.
• Spanish… I am at an ultimate plateau on my learning curve. And I feel like I can’t get any closer to my host family and other Guatemalans until I get the Spanish down.
• Patience. I´ve passed the honeymoon stage of living in a new country. I´m feeling frustrated at the things I don´t understand and at my limited communication. I´m frustrated at a lot of things here and need to chillax.

pictures

haven't been taking too many pictures but here are some of mi casa.

view of Volcan Agua from my house

pila (the majority of homes here, if not all, have pilas. water is collected in the middle. the left side is used for washing dishes and cooking and the right side is used for washing clothes)

view of my house from my room (laundry that i washed in the pila is hanging!!)

Gracias por...

Guatemala is a very diverse country. In addition to having the most diverse array of vertebrates in Central America, there are 24 different language groups, including 21 Mayan languages. (I hope to learn one by the end of my service!) Women from different pueblos and regions weave unique designs into their güipiles, or trajes típicas, so everyone can tell where they come from. Located on three tectonic plates, Guatemala has a variety of life zones, microclimates, and ecosystems. Of the 33 volcanoes found here, I am currently living in a town where I can see three: Volcán Agua, Volcán Fuego (active), and Volcán Acatenango. Still waiting to see actual lava but the fumes and ash from Fuego are cool enough for now.

Counting the days, it’s almost been a full month since I’ve arrived in the country. Starting early and ending early, each day seems long and time actually seems slow. Training is very thorough – health and safety, culture and development, Spanish Spanish and more Spanish, and technical. People in my technical group come from all sorts of backgrounds and may have different reasons for being here but the excitement and passion for what is to come is universal.

I’ve been realizing the things that I’m thankful for. I’m not saying that living here is uncomfortable or unbearable, but there are comforts from the States that I’ve left behind. On the other hand, there are many things here that I’m thankful for and I enjoy being here.

Thank you for…	Gracias por…
Family and friends	New family and new friends
Korean food and mom’s cooking.. ^__^”	Meals with the whole family (everyday)
Clean water (aka USA’s water treatment system)	Teaching me that most people in the world don’t have access to clean, potable water.. don’t waste it!
Heating and AC	Multiple blankets from my host family
Toilets and showers	Fire to boil water for warm bucket baths
English.	Spanish. And a new culture to learn!
Fast Internet	Slow Internet (won’t be spending hours on YouTube watching Wong Fu, KevJumba, and Nigahiga)
Korean dramas	Movies dubbed in Spanish and telenovelas
Laundry machines and dryers	Pilas – they’re actually really cool but it does get tiring after a while
Fridge	Simplicity of cooking just how much the family is going to eat
No chuchos (stray dogs)	Chocobananos. Enough said.

New experiences:

·         Sewed up a hole in my shirt. It’s not perfect, but I did it.

·         Chocobanano. Again… enough said.

·         Doblado. Yummy. Sometimes street food is irresistible… kkk

·         Started reading a book in Spanish! El Alquimista by Paulo Coelho

·         Did a Community Exchange with people – visiting and learning about a different community was a lot of fun.

Goals for this week:

·         Understand a whole song in Spanish… Got a whole bunch from my friend and host sisters but cannot understand them!

·         Smoothly deliver a presentation to the employees at the municipality on Thursday.

Prayer Requests:

• Staying faithful to God and understanding the Word
• Learning Spanish quickly so I can communicate effectively
• Open mind so I can understand the culture, opinions, and viewpoints of the people here – especially because we are starting our charlas and town projects!
• Health and safety, as always