¡Adios July!

I’m over Antigua, yet I must continue to go there. I like that I’m 11 hours from the Peace Corps office, but I don’t like it when I actually have to make the trip, which seems to be quite often lately. I had been a site rat (I don’t like the negative connotation of this name because I think it’s a good thing to spend time in site – it is the reason we’re here – but that is the name that has been given to us) for quite some time, but lately it’s been a week in site, a week out of site, and it’s getting old. However, that does not mean that I’m not looking forward to showing Allison, Eefje, Jeanne and Erin around Guatemala. That will be worth it. I foresee many adventures. I’m also just excited to share my life with people who knew me before I came here and who aren’t already accustomed to life in rural Guatemala. You could say that I’m hoping to shock them a little bit.

I broke this last trip to Antigua into two days, mainly because of the half marathon – I didn’t want to be sitting in micros and buses for 11 hours straight right before racing. I stayed in Rio Dulce on Friday night, which should be a 3 hour trip (ideally 1.5 – 2, but drivers suck here). I left San Fernando at 1:30 pm and got to Rio Dulce at 6 pm. You can do the math on that one. The main problem was that about 45 minutes outside of town, there’s a 20-foot-deep ditch that bisects the road. The surrounding houses were being inundated by the stream that could not pass through the clogged culvert, so they removed the culvert and are currently constructing a bridge. Originally they announced that it would take three days. Welcome to road construction in Guatemala: it has been three weeks. Anyway, the micro drivers knew about this going in, so their plan was for one to leave San Fernando and the other to leave Cadenas (the junction with the next highway) at the same time and switch passengers at the road block. Sounds perfect, except that the driver coming from Cadenas didn’t show up. So after getting out of the first micro and walking across the ditch on a narrow concrete wall, I waited. But don’t worry, I learned the skill of patience back in January, although I have honed it down to an art over the past 6 ½ months.

After maybe an hour, I piled into some random micro, escaping a creepy and very talkative construction worker, and eventually made it to Cadenas after we changed the tire that exploded while we were driving. In Cadenas I found my next micro pretty quickly, however, this character drove beyond slow. He also shared with me that he had been in the States for three months a few years back (without a visa but not even working) and got put in jail for a year. He now does not like the U.S. he told me. Obviously. But I’m thinking he probably had to do something a little bit worse than just not have papers. I did not ask, though. That was the main excitement of the trip. 4 ½ hours the first day plus 8 hours the second day equals 12 ½ hours total (including waiting), which is a new record my friends! I think I win as being the furthest volunteer from the training center; during the workshops, one of my friends went to her site and came back to the office within the same afternoon. I could do that … if I had a plane. Speaking of planes, a few “crashed” in Chahal a couple weeks ago – drug planes.

The half marathon was definitely the highlight of the week. Although not very organized (start line not marked, for example) and pacing was impossible (kilometer markers were few and far between), I ran the first 10 km in 47 minutes and finished in 1:42:09 (7:47.9 mile pace)!! My time in Coban was 1:54:46 – 12 minute PR! This course was a lot flatter, as well, I wasn’t gravely ill four days before, and I had more training under my belt. I think I could’ve dipped under 1:40, though, had the course not been on cobblestone for a few kilometers. It is very difficult to sprint on. It’s also not so good for the ankles. I had a bad ankle going into the race (it’s hurt for about a month), but told myself I would ignore it until after the half. You know how I am. So I didn’t break it during the race, but it definitely was sorer and I found out from the nurse that my Achilles tendon is slightly torn, but only a 1 on a scale of 1 – 4. I suppose it’s time for a break. Despite the ankle, though, I was the 19th woman – next year top 10! They gave prizes to the top three women and top SIX men. Que machismo. But at least they allow women to run, right?

The rest of the week really wasn’t that exciting. Yes, I got to see my PCV friends, but I just saw them at the 4th of July party, and really, I didn’t come here to make friends with gringos. I have enough of those back home, right guys? I left the training/Spanish workshop early, though, to observe an HIV/AIDS taller (workshop) that some other volunteers were giving to teachers in one of their sites. It was fun, and very important – the HIV rate in Guatemala is extremely high and education about this is lacking. Now I’m considered trained to be one of the presenters, so that’s pretty cool.

The trip home was quite long, of course, but at least I got to see a new area of the country. The department of Baja Verapaz is beautiful! But Coban to Chahal is no longer a trip I enjoy making. With the rainy season, the road is even worse and the trip that once took 3 ½ hours on a good day, took 5 hours! And the whole time with only half a seat. Oh how my ass hurt at the end of the ride. They shoved 30 people in (and on) the micro that should hold 15!

I got home Saturday afternoon, which was important to me because I really wanted to spend Sunday in Chahal. The whole family went out to the finca (farm) of one of the son-in-laws. We ate lunch (I provided a delicious potato salad – my mom’s recipe), then swam in the river and just relaxed. When we got back to town we played a game of basketball. This time the court was fixed, so we played full court, 5 on 5. My team won, thanks to my two 3-pointers; although, I probably shouldn’t have played due to my Achilles, but I would tarnish my reputation here if I declined to participate in a sporting event. However, I will have to excuse myself from the road race that’s being held this week – too much pressure on the ankle … not that a basketball game is good for it either.

That’s all for now. A few days of work in site, then those of us involved in Las Conchas are making a visit to a very developed ecotourism site, Semuc Champey, to get some ideas from that municipality. Should be hard work :) Then off to pick up Allison and Eefje at the airport!