Mi Proyecto: Ecoturismo

One thing I have learned about Peace Corps since I received my invitation 4 months ago is that they like to keep us in the dark about many things until we absolutely need to know them. For example, when asked what I’m doing in the Peace Corps, for quite awhile all I really knew was: ecotourism, whatever that encompasses. But little by little I have been learning more. Last Thursday we met with Flavio, the director of the Environmental Conservation and Income Generation Program. He shed a bit more light on what my life will be like over the next two years. I am now on a high because I am so excited about what’s waiting for me. I have the amazing opportunity of living in or near a protected area that has some ecological attraction that I get to work to develop and promote to tourists so that I can encourage the local communities to conserve the resources and make an income from tourism, rather than from the exploitation of nature. And within this, of course, the tourism that I will facilitate will be low-impact. Facilitate is a key word of whatever my project will be. We are not here to take over and do projects for the locals, rather, we are here to work as consultants and facilitate ideas of what these communities want/need. Then we will help them to realize these projects. But above all, these projects are to be sustainable, which means that when I leave my site in 26 months, the community should be able to carry on the projects without me. I won’t know where I will be until early March, but here are some examples of where current ecotourism volunteers are working: a volcano, the tallest waterfall in all of Central America, caves filled with bats, a gorgeous lake, on top of a mountain, and creating tubing adventures on a river that runs through caves. The list goes on and on. I could not be more excited. Moreover, the other volunteers are fantastic. I have a lot of fun with them. I am very happy here!

On Friday, we went on our first field trip for ecotourism training. Flavio and our trainer, Claire, took the ten of us first to Lago de Amatitlan, which is a lake that is in extreme stages of eutrophication, i.e. the water is extremely green. It has been used as a place to dump Guatemala City’s waste for many, many years, which has caused the expedited growth of blue-green algae on the surface which then disallows the penetration of any sunlight into the water. In other words, the water is disgusting and the lake is dead. The municipality is slowly trying to bring it back to life, but it’s a very large project, one that none of us will be working on. Nevertheless, it was very interesting to see, and deeply saddening. The location is absolutely beautiful, but it has been destroyed by humans.

After the stopover at Amatitlan, we visited the volunteer that works at Volcan Pacaya. He talked with us for hours about his day-to-day life and about the frustrations and rewards of his work. Despite the many complaints he had about working with the municipality, he was still very positive and hopeful about what he could accomplish. It was refreshing to see the real life of a volunteer. Sadly, we did not get to climb all the way to the top of the volcano, but we did hike up to a mirador (view point) of a lagoon below. At the end of our little outing, we stopped at an ice cream parlor that had real ice cream and waffle cones. Yum!

Yesterday, the four of us that live in Magdalena went with Claire up to the municipality’s ecological park that is above the town on top of the mountain: El Corazon del Agua (The Heart of the Water). It was our first time going up there because it has taken quite a while to finally get permission from the new mayor to work in the park. (The previous mayor created this park, but when he found out last year that he lost the election, he fired all the staff and shut down the park. The new mayor, who began his term last week, hasn’t yet decided what he’ll do with the park.) The goal of the day was to get to know the park a bit and try to figure out what projects we can do in it. It is an absolutely beautiful place and I cannot wait to work in it. It is a cloud forest and thus sustains countless species of plants as well as many different birds. The main trail leads to the top of the mountain, from which there are amazing views of a handful of volcanoes, Lago de Amatitlan and Guatemala City. Our first job will be to do a feasibility study of the park and present it to the new mayor. This will be spearheaded by the three guys, who have business backgrounds, but I will learn from them so that I can do the same thing in my own site in the future. With this study, the goal is to show the mayor that the park will be a financial boost, not a drain, for the municipality, and thus for him (since when the city makes money, he makes money, read: corruption). During that, and especially after, we’ll assist with various things that the park rangers need help with, such as trail maintenance, working in the orchid nursery, and creating a tree nursery to use for reforestation projects, among other things. However, one of the main obstacles to having attracting tourists to this park is accessibility. The road to get there is extremely steep, rutted, narrow and windy. Most Guatemaltecos do not have cars that will make it up that, especially not during the rainy season when it will turn to mud. Moreover, even if they do make it up to the entrance with their cars, there is no parking lot. They can also follow a trail up from town, but it would require a fair amount of effort when most park visitors would simply be looking for a nice place to have a picnic. If a visitor makes it to the entrance, then it is about an hour hike through a beautiful forest to get to the top where the breathtaking views are. As well, there are some beautifully constructed playground toys, chairs and tables strewn around the area. They are built out of wood from the forest and are extremely creative. It’s a great place, if only people knew about it and could access it… hmm, perhaps this park needs some Peace Corps volunteers?

(One of the projects I may help with in the park: the nursery.)

(The view from the top!)

Yesterday we went to San Lucas, where 2 other ecotourism trainees live, and where there is another ecological park that we will be working in: Senderos de Alux (Trails of Elves). This park is extremely different in many facets. First of all, it’s a pine-oak forest, so the diversity of vegetation is very low in comparison to that of Corazon del Agua. As well, the park is accessible and has visitors on a regular basis. What Senderos de Alux mainly needs, among other projects, is an environmental education component. I won’t be working there nearly as much, but I will get a taste of it as well.

I realize this was long. Congratulations if you made it this far! I was just bursting with excitement to tell you all about what I will be doing. And as most of you should know, I am not short-winded. But thank you for reading and keeping up to date on what my life entails!

Mis Hermanitos

When I arrived at my host family’s house nearly a week ago, I was immediately content. As so many people have told me about Guatemaltecos, they were very nice and welcoming. They took me in immediately as part of the family: the fourth child, but the oldest. In my Guatemalan family, I have two hermanitas: Jacquelyn, 11, and Melanie, 8; and one hermanito: Dennis, 12. Admittedly at times they are a little overwhelming, but cute and loveable nonetheless.

My house here is very small, no personal space, not even in my own room. I’ll try to paint a picture of it so you can get the idea. We have a door/gate which we enter through. It leads into the little driveway where there is just enough space for their car. On the right we have the comedor (kitchen) and then the parents’ room. Then straight ahead is the kids room where the girls share a bed and Dennis has his own. Next to their room on the right is my room, across from which is the bathroom and the pila (where we get water from). It’s not what most would consider a house, because when you step out of any room, you are outside in the driveway. Think of it almost like a motel. (This also means it gets very cold at night. No interior heat, and my door leads to the cool mountain air... it’s kind of like camping.) It’s very quaint (especially compared to where many of the other volunteers live), but I’m okay with that. I feel I am better experiencing the life of the average Guatemaltecan family. I didn’t come here to be comfortable.

(The pila, where all the water in the house comes from.)

With the house how it is, you can imagine that I have a lot of contact with my family, which is fantastic. That’s how I’m going to learn the culture, integrate into the community, and improve my Spanish. But as I mentioned, sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming. The kids are always in my room asking me questions, telling me how lindo (cute) everything I own is, or just staring at me while I do my homework. They really like having a gringa live with them. One day, I went to the tienda with Melanie to buy something and we ran into her aunt (they have about 10 pairs of aunts and uncles in this little town) and she introduced me as her gringa.

(My town, Magdalena. The mountain in the background is the park that we will be working in during training: El Corazon del Agua.)

The last couple nights, though, were fantastic. On Tuesday I played futbol in the street with mis hermanitos and the little neighborkids. It was really fun. We had to pause every few minutes for people, cars and cows to pass. And oddly enough, one of the cars had an Oregon license plate?! Afterwards, I went to stretch in my room, which is strange to them, so instead of having them stare at me in the doorway, I invited them to join in. I taught them all of my stretches, and the whole time they laughed and complained about how much it hurt. Most of them couldn’t really do it, but Melanie, the youngest, was very good at it.

(My kids stretching on my floor.)

On Wednesday, after my 6 hours of Spanish class, I really wanted to get out and go for a good, solid run. The kids wanted to play futbol again, but my stomach was finally feeling like it could handle itself after a few days of diarrhea, and so I really wanted to run. (On a sidenote, all of a sudden the Star-Spangled Banner is blasting from their room. I don’t know why.) Melanie said she wanted to run with me. I was torn: on the one hand, I really wanted to run hard; on the other hand, they really need to get more exercise, and I probably shouldn’t be running alone. So I told her, “bueno.” Of course, all the other kids wanted to come too.

I left the house, four kids in tow, ages 8 to 12. We ran easy for about two blocks and then they started walking and said, “Ya me canse” (I’m already tired). They’re kids, they should have tons of energy! But they really don’t exercise much here. My kids play a lot of computer games. When they do play soccer, it’s a very short field – not much exercise. But I pushed on, teasing them. Melanie kept up just fine, so I teased Dennis that his little sister was beating him. They showed me some pretty cool trails that start just three blocks from my house that lead down to a little park called Florencia, which is quite beautiful. It’s a municipal ecological park that has trails, great views, and some farming as well. But it also has a lot of trash and many locals cutting down the trees for firewood. This is something that, during training, my group is going try to educate people about in another local park, Corazon del Agua (Heart of the Water), that’s up on the mountain behind us. Anyway, we ran about a mile down, then played a little game of soccer: my team won. On the run back, Melanie and I were out in front of the boys. I took that opportunity to talk to her about the importance of exercise and eating healthy. She’s a very smart little girl ... and so cute. I probably won’t run with the kids everyday, but I will try to get them to exercise more, and once I get to my site, maybe I will develop a running club as a secondary project.

Adios!

As I ready myself to embark on this life-altering journey, the question everyone asks me is, "What are you feeling? Are you excited? Nervous? Both?" The answer is yes. Pretty much anything you could imagine that I would be feeling right now, I am. Excited, although overused and somewhat nondescript, is probably the best word to use because of its inability to pinpoint one specific emotion. I am looking forward to what I hope will be a self-defining experience that will help me discover what I am passionate about, and thus what my next adventure (i.e. grad school) will be focused on. But I am also nervous; call it fear of the unknown. I have never been to Guatemala, nor do I know what exactly I will be doing, or even where I will be living. I do feel, however, that I am better prepared to move to Guatemala because of the study abroad experience I had in Ecuador. Granted, the Peace Corps will be much more intense than Willamette study abroad, but I at least have that under my belt. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ecuador, however, I was not completely ready for it; I was very young...although I am still only 21, but I have matured in these past 2 years.

I especially look forward to discovering what my exact role as an "ecotourism facilitator" will be. It will depend heavily on where I am placed within Guatemala, be it the coast, the highlands, or the jungle. But wherever I am placed, there will be great need for conservation efforts I am sure. I am also thrilled to meet the other Peace Corps volunteers and host country nationals that I will be living and working with. I imagine that I will cultivate some very enduring friendships.

While I am stoked to leave and to learn what Guatemala has in store for me, I am also sad. I will miss my friends and family greatly, which is why you all must come visit! Or at least write me while I'm there. As conditions permit, I will keep you all updated on my adventures. See you in 2010!