Adios Chahal, te quiero mucho

Today is my last night in my "doll house" in Chahal. This has been a very sad and unexpected turn of events for me. 2 1/2 weeks ago I had a security incident in my site and Peace Corps has decided that the best way to keep me safe is to change my site. As you can imagine, this was (and still is) absolutely devastating news. I love my pueblo and the people here, even if some of them are bad apples. I feel terrible leaving the project behind without being able to see it through and without being able to send another volunteer in my place. But the people I have worked with here in Chahal in the municipality are so amazing. I came back today to collect my things (including my LARGE puppy Patita -- I need her now more than ever) and will be leaving tomorrow. Tonight, the muni put together a goodbye dinner for me and what they said made me feel very special and thus even more sad to leave. They completely understand why this policy exists and they don't blame me at all. That is what I had been afraid of, but clearly I had no need to worry. They love me and I love them. Tears will be shed, and already have been.

Chahal is an amazing place and I am so glad that a few of you were able to visit it. The rest of you will have to come visit me in my new site (quitting was never an option; I will have to go through the acclimation process all over again, which will be very hard, but I am here for two years, punto).

Drum roll please..... my new site is a village in the municipality of Todos Santos Cuchumutanes, Huehuetenango (pronounced way-way tenangango). The name of the village is Chiabal, very close to my first site of Chahal. I chose it because it will be a completely new and different experience. I figure that if I have to leave Chahal, I should experience something new rather than try to repeat what I already had. Thus, it is a village rather than a town; it's at 3300 meters (almost 11,000 feet) rather than 240 meters; mountains instead of jungle; the people are Mam rather than Q'eqchi' (time to learn another Mayan language); there is a lack of water rather than an abundance; I'm working much more independently without structure instead of the 9 to 5 office setting. That's just a little intro to Chiabal. I'll write more as I get settled in this next week (I'm moving in on Friday). If you're curious google "Todos Santos, Guatemala" or "los Cuchumutanes, Guatemala" or "drunken horse races, Guatemala." I'll leave you wondering about the last one for now, unless you have the ganas to look it up.

I miss and love you all. I will be coming home and to California (sister) to visit in about 3 months (April 24 - May 8) and would love to see those of you who are around.

Cuidense.

Hi family, meet Guatemala

Life. It's interesting.

I'll start with updating ya'll on the past month (Christmas in Guatemala, family visit, etc.) and let that settle in and next time I write I'll update you with the future. Yes, I have a time machine, and a hovercraft, actually. The hovercraft came in very handy while my family was visiting. But we had to return it to Thrifty so I no longer have it.

It was beyond wonderful to see my family again after nearly a year apart. We toured around Guatemala in the hovercraft: a day in Antigua to get acclamated, traversed the treacherous streets of the capital and headed north through Rio Dulce to get to Tikal (the Mayan ruins). There we awoke to howler monkeys and then spent the day climbing temples. We made it to Chahal for New Year's Eve. Jen and I went to the Catholic mass in San Agustin, then we dragged Chris to the mass in San Fernando. (Chris loves churches.) And the whole night was filled with fireworks and gunshots. Quite restful, and a good first impression of Chahal for my family.

We only had a couple days in my site, so I dragged them to the park and out to a village for lunch. My dad played handy man at my house to make it more liveable. He even built a little dog house for Patita.

After Chahal we looped back to Antigua through Coban where my siblings experienced a Guatemalan discoteca. It was the first time all three of us had gone to a bar together because I turned 21 only two years ago and we don't live in the same place and haven't for quite awhile. Chris played protective big brother and scared off creepy guys and Jennifer was proposed to. I don't know why she declined.

10 days wasn't long enough for the family to really get to know Guatemala, but it was a good introduction. I did realize, however, that I planned the trip from the perspective of already living in Guatemala for a year. I allowed my family to have a 1-day acclimation period before heading out. No wonder they got tired and cranky :)

----

Rewinding now to Christmas -- I spent it in my site, which was fun, a little dramatic, but a good experience overall. The tradition in Guatemala, and most latin countries, is to eat tamales on Christmas Eve and hug at midnight. I visited various families that I'm friends with and at midnight was with the family that I used to live with. We hugged and set off fireworks. The next day I visited my other host family and also ate tamales with them. I was trying to see how many tamales I could eat for Christmas. (They're big and laced with animal fat.) I ate 4. I was relatively impressed with myself, but I think next year I can do better.

After my family left, I headed back to Chahal and spent a couple relatively unproductive weeks in site -- my counterpart was on vacation. I tried to get some work done -- I built some trails and guard rails in the park with the workers there and did the legwork for starting environmental education in some villages. It's hard to work alone, though, which is as it should be. Peace Corps is focused on sustainable development. The work I do is not sustainable if I'm not working with a host country national to capacitate him or her to continue the work when I leave. Thus, I wasn't too perturbed by the lack of work. Life was tranquila --- I spent a weekend chapeando the monte in my yard (i.e. mowing the lawn with my machete), which was very hard work, but a lot of fun. Also, my roommate and I started a basketball team with 8 - 13 year-old girls, so I wasn't completely bored.

Oh yeah, and I passed my year-in-country mark this month: January 9th! About 14 1/2 left. And I'm coming home to visit in April/May. Flying into see my sis in California on April 24th, running the Big Sur, then road-tripping up to Oregon after a few days. I'll be there until May 8th, so I hope to see as many of you as possible!

I'll write again soon; there's a lot more to share, but poco a poco.

I Live in a Doll House

I’ve been in my new house for 5 weeks now, and I love it. We call it La Casa de Muñecas (The Doll House) and you can see why:

It also reminds me of the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel. Not quite what I pictured when I imagined my life in the Peace Corps!

At first it was a little scary moving out of the family life, but I’ve grown accustomed to it and am by no means lonely. My roommate and I are getting along fabulously, although it is at times difficult with the cultural differences and personality differences. We have constant visits from the neighbor children. Instead of sitting around and chatting about the same things (my dog, the weather, the gunshots), I’ve started doing arts and crafts projects with them. The kids that visit us are three sisters, Veronica, 14, Blanca, 10, and Flori, 5, and are just wonderful. They are going to be one of my secondary projects while I’m here. They moved to Chahal with their mom about when I did to be closer to their dad and his first family. The dad comes to visit a few times a week, but the four women are on their own. They have no friends here except for our other neighbor, Juliana, and her two children. (The first family is a ladina family and the second is Q’eqchi’ but they get along wonderfully, which is rare here.) Thus, these girls are going to be my secondary project – teach them new things and just simply be their friend.

The other family – Juliana and her kids – is also a marvelous family. Juliana is from one of the villages and splits her time between there and the town. When I have time, I’m going to spend a few days with her in the village. I’ve visited communities, but just short planned visits with the muni; with Juliana I will be able to really get to know the everyday life and the people in a rural village. Also, if at some point my roommate leaves and I can’t afford the Doll House alone, Juliana said I can move in with them – another experience that I would like to have: living with an indigenous family. It would be quite a change from living alone, but it would be something I would never forget. And it would keep my life interesting.

I don’t know how I was so oblivious to this my first eight months here, but the racism is extreme in this pueblo. It’s quite interesting because the ladinos are the minority. The demographic is in the favor of the indigenous (94% indigenous in the municipality as a whole, with a slightly lower percentage in the “urban” area), yet they are the marginalized group. Typically the discrimination isn’t overt, but it is there in the form of bigoted remarks and general poor treatment in stores and offices. I’ve noticed that many ladinos will use usted (second person formal, shows respect) with other ladinos that come into their shops or into the muni and will use vos (very informal second person, used for close friends/family or can be used to show you think you are above the other) with the indigenous that come in for the same services. It bothers me a lot, but I can’t change people’s attitudes and behaviors. What I can do, at least, is become friends with Q’eqchi’ people and treat them with respect and maybe someone will notice that I don’t feel that I am above them. I already made the first step toward that by moving to the neighborhood I am now in.

Santo Domingo is nearly all Q’eqchi’ whereas my old neighborhood, El Centro, was nearly all ladino. Many people told me not to move to Santo Domingo, that it is dangerous with all the indigenous people there, but I find it to be a very friendly, tranquil neighborhood. And now it will be easier to get to know their culture and learn their language. I will still keep the friendships I already made with ladinos (I’m not about to practice reverse discrimination), but I will keep a little bit more distance than I had. I don’t want to feel like I am condoning their behaviors by being too close with them.

With respect to work, it’s going well. The ball is finally rolling. I would say it’s a snowball rolling down a hill gradually growing larger, but that wouldn’t make sense in the jungle. Perhaps a mud ball? Anyway, the first six months were passed with little tangible progress. Being the first volunteer here, it took me awhile to get to know the project and how to develop it. Not to mention, to learn to live and work in this culture. As well, support was lacking from the muni at the beginning. At six months in site, I felt like the work finally started flowing. We wrote a large grant proposal for basic infrastructure in the park (the response will come next month… cross your fingers!) and the communication improved markedly with the mayor. At eight months, we finally made visible progress in the park. We hacked at the trails with pick axes to create better drainage and are now in the process of defining new trails to our current infrastructure. Tomorrow we will begin planting native plants and flowers. Slowly but surely we are making progress. The mayor, however, commented today that nothing has changed there since I’ve been here. I’m not about to make excuses to him, but it takes time, support and money; the latter two of the three were not present at the beginning. Additionally, planning has to happen before action. But he’s not upset, just a little disappointed and is encouraging us to get working. Our relationship has developed quite nicely in fact (if you remember, in the beginning we didn’t get along very well) – when I mentioned that my family is coming, he asked if my dad likes whiskey. Although they don’t speak the same language, they should get along just fine.

Tomorrow, my counterpart and I will be presenting the Annual Operating Plan for the park for 2009 to the mayor and his council. I expect they will approve it and we will buckle down and begin to make a dent in the park. Although in the next few weeks we won’t get much done – my family’s coming to visit in 10 days! It has been over 11 months since I have seen them. The park can wait for a few more weeks.

And I can't forget to mention my puppy, Patita (little foot). She is an adorable pain. She's almost four months old and just loves to chew on everything, especially me! I love having her in the house, and we brought her home just in time -- she was about two days away from death due to malnutrition. But now she's chubby and happy!

Here are links to pictures I just put up. They're from a few months ago when Allison, Eefje, Jeanne and Erin came to visit, but I just now managed to upload them.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030331&l=bd75b&id=27500355

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2030332&l=88479&id=27500355

My friend, the scorpion

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be stung by a scorpion? Well, if you don’t want to go find out for yourself, I’ll describe it.

First, you may be wondering how I managed to be stung by a scorpion. They abound in this area, first off. I was moving a concrete block in my kitchen on Monday night so that we could put the stove on top of it and felt a sting on the inside of my left wrist. Luckily, it didn’t cause me to drop the block on my feet! I set it down and saw the evil thing stuck to the back of the block. I freaked out not knowing how serious the sting is. We actually were having a little party at the house that night for my housemate’s birthday, and some of the guests just laughed at me and said there’s nothing I can do. They said it would hurt where it stung me and that my tongue would fall asleep. They were right … at first.

I felt like my arm was broken. But it wasn’t unbearable. It was a couple hours later when I got up and walked around that I started feeling weak and a bit dizzy. I quickly did what I needed to do to get ready for bed and laid down. I was at the point where, if I kept on walking, I would collapse. At this point, my whole body fell asleep, but not just that. I felt very heavy. I took some Benadryl at this point, but my throat had swollen up or something, and the pills did not go down easily.

Laying flat on my back was the best, but if I rolled to a side, there would be extreme pressure on the part of my body that I had moved – like a fat man were sitting on me. So I laid as flat as possible, but I couldn’t sleep like that. I think eventually I fell asleep, but I set my alarm for 2am so that I would wake up and make sure I was still alive. I had no idea how serious this could be and thus was admittedly a bit freaked out.

In the morning I still couldn’t move. I sat up for a second and felt as if a ton of rock were pushing down on me, so I laid back down. My big problem, however, was that I needed to pee. I actually thought I would have to wet my bed because I didn’t think I could walk to the bathroom. I eventually gave it a shot and managed to shuffle there while clutching the wall. Once my body became acclimated to moving, it began to flush out this weird sensation, but not completely. I returned to bed and slept all morning. When I finally got up and went out, I moved sluggishly. However, I had been invited to play in a basketball tournament in the evening. I decided I’d give it a shot. The first couple times up and down the court I became dizzy and thought I’d collapse. Luckily, that passed quickly. I had breathing problems also – I felt as if I had just smoked a pack of cigarettes and was trying to exercise at altitude (not that I would know what that feels like). In the end, the exercise was good to flush out the poison.

Today, I feel fine, except for a sore arm. So now it’s funny, but at the time I was pretty freaked out. Now I wonder, what will bite/sting me next? I do have some wonderful luck. Dog, check. Scorpion, check. Next?? Monkey? Jaguar?


New House

I’ve been in my new house for just over three weeks now, and I’m really content with the move. As I’ve mentioned before, the house is adorable and has a flushing toilet inside. The neighbors have turned out to be quite friendly, and are both Q’eqchi’ and Ladino so that I can continue getting to know both cultures. My roommate, Jacqueline, and I are getting along really well. We make dinner together and hang out and have intelligent conversations in Spanish (which is something I was lacking here). We went and played basketball the other night. And we have our puppy, Patita. First she was Cacao, which turned out to be a masculine name; then Canela (Spanish for Cinnamon) but that was too cutesy; now I’ve named her Patita (little foot) because she had a problem with her foot. She is adorable. So very playful. I’m so glad I have her.

On Monday (as I mentioned above), we had our first little dinner party. It was Jacque’s birthday, so I made dinner and a cake and we invited a couple of people over. Although we only have one fork, it was fantastic … until I was stung by the scorpion!

Rabies, houses and working 'til midnight

Well, life has been crazy (understatement) lately. It has finally, briefly, calmed down, so I thought I'd write a little update.

First up, my house: I've continued to go back and forth about where to live. The last update was that I decided to move in with my neighbors, Mingo and Clelia. I moved in on Monday (while they built me a door). After the first night there, I knew that it couldn't be a permanent situation. The Evangelical church is next door blasting its terrible music sung in tongues until 11pm; the TV is always on; the neighbors start up their ranchero music (also loud) at 5am; and there are just too many people there. So as luck would have it, a new lawyer moved into town needing a place to live as well! Her name is Jacquelyn, is 27 and is from Coban. We hit it off right away and were able to snag back the yellow house that I was originally going to rent. We're moving in Sunday! I was a bit worried after Mingo made me the door, but he said that it's not a big deal. And it turns out that Clelia is leaving him again, so it's better that I move out. I'll probably bring my puppy with me. Jacquelyn also mentioned getting a black lab together! As well as doing yoga in our upstairs, relaxing in hammocks there, planting a garden, and going on vacations in her car that she'll be bringing! I always knew the right option would come along. Just gotta have patience!

Second topic: working unbelievable amounts. I've been at the office until at least 8pm but as late as midnight for the past week. We were finishing up a proposal to the Fondo Nacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza for Q300,000 ($40,000) for infrastructure for my park. It is a ridiculously intricate format, but we did it! We finished last night, my counterpart turned it in today, and so now all we can do is cross our fingers! ... and relax, because we won't get the money until February. Vacation anyone?

Lastly, do to the working late and thus biking home at midnight, a pack of 3 crazed dogs chased me on Tuesday night. I screamed and yelled and kicked them while I was racing down the road. In all seriousness, it was pretty scary. I thought they were going to knock me off my bike and eat me alive. In the end, one of them managed to bite my calf, and once I got to the next block, they left me alone. But I don't know which one bit me -- I wasn't about to stop and analyze the situation with those blood-thirsty killers chasing me! Thus right now I'm at the Peace Corps office for my rabies vaccine. At least it's no longer 14 in the stomach!

So that's a little bit about my life right now. I may have sounded sad and lonely over the past month, which admittedly, I was. It's part of the roller coaster ride of Peace Corps life (especially with how isolated I am), but I feel like I have now fully rebounded. I'm back to being super happy in my site. I've started spending time with other families as well, so that I'm not as reliant on just the Rodriguez family, and with all this work, no time to be lonely! But yes, to sum up, I'm back to loving life and Chahal. I'll put up some pictures of my new house (and of the past 3 months) when I actually find an internet connection fast enough!

Life's a Roller Coaster Ride

So as you all likely know by now, I have been presented with the housing issue again -- I have to move out of my set-up with Doña Angelica. The plan was to rent my own house -- an adorable two-story yellow wooden house -- get a puppy (her name's Cacao; she's a mutt) and be content. Well, sometimes things change. I've been hitting quite a few lows lately on the Peace Corps roller coaster and decided that it is best to not head out on my own. If I'm already lonely, why make myself lonelier? I tried to rationalize that I'll enjoy having the freedom to do what I want in my own house, but really, I didn't come to Guatemala to live like I live in the States. Living with a family integrates me more into the culture, makes me speak Spanish more often, plus it's cheaper and safer (there have been countless robberies and a few shootings lately).

Thus, my plan: I'm going to move next door with Mingo, the son of Doña Angelica, and his wife Clelia and their baby. I already hang out there all the time and Clelia is my best friend here in Chahal. We'll see how it works. Perhaps when Doña Angelica returns I can move back in with her. But for the time being, I'm moving next door. I like my neighborhood -- playing in the street with the kids always lifts my spirits. I imagine that these lows will pass. I've been here for 10 months, what do I expect?

As far as my puppy goes, I've brought her over to the house a couple times. I fed her scrambled eggs because she is starving where she's at. She slept in my room, but first pooped and peed in there, as well as in the living room (I don't think Doña Angelica was too happy). Now the problem of what am I going to do with her. I can't bring her into Mingo's house; they don't even let their own dog inside. And his property's not fenced in. But if I leave her with Nuri (the little girl who gave her to me) she may die! My thought is to feed her, but keep her at Nuri's house.

So that's where I'm at right now. I have been a bit in the dumps, but it can't last forever, and I still have my highs as well. But as always, letters help :) My address otra vez:

Audrey Squires
San Fernando, Chahal
Alta Verapaz, Guatemala
Centro América

Hope to hear from you soon!

Chimuy Chicoc

Today I had one of the moments when I wondered, “Will I be able to leave Chahal in a year and a half?” It hit me on the drive back from a distant village with the mayor and some others from the Muni. We visited a community called Chimuy Chicoc in the southwest part of the municipality. In Chahal there are seven micro-regions; this community is in micro-region 1, which I had never been to before. It is about an hour from town and luckily the road goes all the way to the village. Don Cesario, one of the mayor’s consejales (advisors), is from this region and was beyond extremely pleased with my visit because foreigners never make it out there. The people of the Chimuy Chicoc were equally as pleased: many told me as I left, “Thank you so much for coming to visit our community. We appreciate it so much. I hope you can bring some memories back to your land from Chimuy.” For this reason, I am sharing the experience with all of you. I want you all to recognize how friendly and welcoming these people are – the people of Chimuy Chicoc, Chahal, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

(The kids of Chimuy Chicoc. They loved my camera!)

The visit to this community also involves a hilarious story. When we left town, the mayor and his consejales realized that they had forgotten to “bring something” to the community. As we passed through the village just before Chimuy, the mayor pulled over and Don Cesario hopped out to buy 4 tiny bottles of Venado (Deer), an alcohol that is quite similar to rubbing alcohol. We continued down the road, then right before the community we stopped, got out the plastic cups that the mayor keeps in the truck for just these occasions, and prepared ourselves for the visit. Don Cesario poured the drinks – a good-sized shot of Venado plus a hint of Pepsi. Then we continued on our way; we were ready. However, we finished all the Venado and had none to share with the community; obviously I misinterpreted the phrase, “bring something to the community.” We talked for 2 ½ hours with the community about the projects they want. It was all in Q’eqchi’ (including the bit that I said), and I understood a good chunk of it. When we finished, the community members broke out a fifth of Venado light (who knew it came in light?) and mixed it with 7up. At this point I was a bit tipsy, and shocked that these men would give me alcohol – sometimes I feel like people see me as a male here, since I wear pants, am educated and work. We then ate our caldo (a type of soup – the typical local dish), I played with the kids, listened to marimba and we hit the road. We stopped at the tienda (store) where we had bought the original bottles of Venado in order to return them … and buy more! They wouldn’t let me say no, so I had another. I must say, my relationship with the mayor is now much stronger and friendlier … hmm, I wonder why?

Sometimes when I’m walking down the muddy streets of Chahal, I step out of myself for a moment and envision me standing on a globe in this random little town in rural Guatemala, then spin the globe to Springfield, Oregon and am baffled as to how I managed to come to this place of all places in the world. However it happened, though, it doesn’t really matter, I’m just glad it did. I am learning so much about myself and about the world through being here.

What’s more, my work is really coming together now. I hit six months in site and boom, I’m up to my ears in projects. It took the first six months to get to know the community and what it needs and how to work in this part of the world (i.e. slowly). But now, puchica vos (dang dude), I’ve got some really exciting projects on the table. First of all, my counterpart and I are working on a proposal with FONACON (Fondo Nacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza – National Fund for the Nature Conservation) for 300,000 Quetzales ($40,000), which we would use to build interpretative trails, bridges, a visitors center and other infrastructure for Las Conchas. It’s obviously not guaranteed that we will receive this money, but it is highly possible.

Secondly, we recently formed a committee to deal with the trash problem here in Chahal. Trash is a huge problem in all of Latin America, and all developing countries for that matter, but it came into the spotlight here when the passage was closed to the dump, the trash was thrown in the forest reserve for a couple weeks (which I later had to go pick up by hand, yuck), and then eventually moved to a forested ravine alongside the highway. So, my APCD (Program Director) Flavio came last week to check on me (he was very pleased, by the way) and we put on a workshop of what we can do to combat this problem. From there, we have formed a group of community leaders who really want to work on this. They come from the three main institutions in town: local government, education and health. I am very hopeful about the potential we have to make Chahal a cleanier, healthier, more beautiful place through a variety of steps, including building a sanitary landfill, teaching locals to compost, starting a recycling center, and simply having pride in their town. Sadly, though, we had a meeting this afternoon and I missed it because the visit to Chimuy took so long! But the group understood and forgave me because I’m going to make cookies for the next meeting!

Thirdly, I am working on another project proposal to create a park in the Areas Verdes (Green Areas) that have been set aside in town which would include a running/walking trail, playground equipment and a botanical garden with native plants. As well, in this proposal we’re going to ask for funds to build trails in the forest reserves (119 and 37 hectares, respectively). We are asking for the money from Perenco, the “local” French oil company that has its oil pipeline running through Chahal. I rubbed elbows with the head-honchos last week, and they said they would gladly finance this project. The money may be a bit tainted, but I figure it’s better to use it for something good!

I have handful of other small things currently going on, but those are my main focuses right now. Outside of work, I’m making more friends, including friends that want to go hiking/exploring with me or at least play basketball. And my co-workers in the muni are finally learning that they need to bring me on their treks to distant communities – I think I’m going to one this weekend – a half-day hike to get there! I’ve also been solidifying bonds with other volunteers lately. I still don’t plan to leave site often to go see other PCVs, but on occasion it’s necessary, and now quite enjoyable as well. This past weekend, after a month in site, we had an early Halloween party in Coban with some spectacular costumes (I was a 1987 Vegas cocktail waitress). I think the next time I see other volunteers will be for Election Day – we will need moral support just in case!

(Andy the thug, Audrey the 1987 Vegas cocktail waitress, Stephanie the costal and Tigo Ted)

I almost forgot! At the end of the month I’ll be moving into my new house. I am finally quite content, excited and ready to be in my own house. I may be lonely at times, but really, with all the work I have going on right now, when I get home, I’m ready to relax – read a bit, study some Q’eqchi’, cook a delicious meal. Plus, I’ve been here long enough that I have friends and families that I can visit, but this way, I won’t be confined to spending the majority of my time with the family I live with. And the house is adorable – it’s two-stories, yellow, wooden and with the bathroom INSIDE! It’s fenced in, which will be perfect for my new puppy Cacao. (She’s a mutt, but cute nonetheless.)