Guate Halloween #2

As promised, here are some pictures of an always hilarious, Peace Corps Halloween.

The theme for our party was "Superheroes and Supervillains," but I had already found this wedding dress in my market for Q5 (63 cents), so I went as the token damsel in distress. I also had brief weddings with Super Mario, Batman and the Aspiring Guatemalan Narco.

We celebrate early here because Halloween weekend is an important local holiday: Dia de Todos los Santos, or All Saints' Day. Most volunteers want to spend the day with their local families having a picnic in the cemetery or take advantage of the long weekend to travel. Last year I stayed in Chahal for the weekend and went to a lunch at a family's finca (ranch) out by the river. But this weekend I'm heading out to Todos Santos, Huehuetenango for their big celebration of the day, which is marked by the horse races (where the riders are typically drunk, thus is dubbed "the drunken horse races").

Visiting Todos Santos during it's feria is something I've been wanting to do since I came to Guatemala. And now it's time to make sure I do everything on my list!

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Today was a great day. After feeling down the last couple of days -- alone, useless, not in the right place -- today I had a fantastic day (it really is true that in the Peace Corps you can go from your lowest low to your highest high in a blink of an eye). My counterpart and I went out to Agua Caliente (where we're building the sanitary landfill) and worked with a group of TWELVE community leaders to define the regulations of the solid waste management system that we're implementing! That's a big step on the way to a successful implementation of this project! Then, on the 8th, we're going to have a community meeting to approve it and to elect a committee to be in charge of the project.

I was feeling worried that these last 5 months would pass and I wouldn't finish my projects but, for the moment, they seem to be rolling along well. It also looks like we'll finish the trail and the park infrastructure before I leave! Actually, next month! The NGO is giving us money to contract 10 laborers to get it done in 2 weeks!! Plus, for the used tire retaining wall that we're building, the school (on their own) has collected more than 500 tires! And for the bottle school, we're still working away filling bottles, but I continue getting reports about more donations. In about two weeks I'll receive another deposit, so we'll see how close we are!

This is all a big sigh of relief because I don't feel like extending my service... I have exciting plans for April and beyond! And I have cool trips that I want to do to use up my remaining vacation days... like Mexico in 2 weeks!!!

It's crunch time!

I'm back to site after a week away in Antigua and Coban. It wasn't quite a vacation, thus I'll be taking one of those in a few weeks hopefully. The next few weeks until then will be used to make sure that my projects get off the ground. (And that I don't take on anymore! Stop overcommitting yourself, Audrey!) I turned in our proposal for a sanitary landfill in the village of Agua Caliente last week, so now I must start training them in proper trash management before we build it in January.

The construction of the bottle room probably won't happen until January as well because we still lack enough funds and bottles. (If you haven't donated yet, please consider it!! http://audreysquires.blogspot.com/2009/09/novel-idea-for-trash-and-request.html.)

The trail is a constant theme, but something that I work on as I am able to. It's going to be a larger theme in the service of the next volunteer simply due to the phase we're in now (basic construction) and the phase we'll be in next year (designing the interpretative signs, among other things). But tomorrow I am hosting some expert birders to do a diagnostic of the potential of bird tourism here. Should be pretty cool.

Then, of course, we still have pending the construction/implementation of a recycling center.

I think that's enough with just over FIVE months left. I cannot take on anything else if I don't want to extend my service. (Which I still may have to do depending mainly on the progress of the bottle room and the landfill.) I basically won't get anything done in December with feria and a trip home. So really, I have about 4 months to start and finish these projects. Thanks Site Change. You've made my life stressful!

*Next post will be more exciting with pictures of awesome Halloween costumes from our party last weekend*

Aviso: Cantinas abren a las 10 a.m.

This morning while walking around town, there was a group of men standing around waiting on a random street. Strange. Even one sitting on the curb sleeping in the sun (kind of normal, but always funny). Then a door opened and they rushed inside. That's when I noticed the sign on the building: "CANTINA."

So in case you ever come to Sija and need a drink, the cantina opens at 10 a.m. FYI.

Projects update

The bottle school project is coming along. I visited the community today where they have about 1000 bottles filled. I dropped off 9 of my own. -- Last night the power went out, so after making a delicious dinner in the dark, I filled bottles by candlelight. Quite an exciting evening. Ideally we will start building in November, but it depends on how quickly the remaining bottles are filled and the funds roll in. We will likely end up building in January. (Nothing happens here in December due to the feria, Christmas and the New Year.)

(Some of the school's bottles)

(My bottles. Aren't they pretty? I was kind of sad to turn them in today. I'm also a dork.)

This week I will finish the proposal for another project: a small community-sized sanitary landfill for the village Agua Caliente. We will begin environmental education and training this month, the trench will be dug out next month, and in January we will line it with plastic, build the cement tank for liquid run-off, and place the trash cans around town. Piece of cake! Right? I hope so!

The trail continues to be a theme in my life. Last week we brought the final middle school for the year up to build trail. (School ends this month.) They did a great job, but we still have a ways to go. Everytime we bring kids up to work on the trail, it makes me wonder about child labor concerns. Just kidding! They're learning to about ecotourism and will better appreciate the trail when they use it in the future. But I do sometimes ponder on it when I am supervising a dozen kids working away with hoes and machetes just for a snack.

In another school we're looking at building a retaining wall out of used tires. This project, however, I am trying to distance myself from a bit... I only have 5 1/2 months left. I should not over-commit myself! (Me, over-commit myself? Never!) As well with an environmental summer camp that I've been planning with the librarian. I would love to do it, but I just don't know if I have time.

I talk of being almost done, yet sometimes it seems like I have a long time left! Such are the ups and downs of Peace Corps. Luckily my ankle is treating me relatively well and thus can be active again (mainly biking, hiking, lifting rocks and jump roping, but I am slowly incorporating in running and soccer, plus a new one -- karate/self-defense classes right here in Sija!), otherwise I would be miserable!