Photo Day 2

What I wore Today. The topics for this photo challenge could probably be addressed more artistically but I think they can offer some insight into my daily life here. Sadly my outfits are pretty boring and there isn't much variation. I usually wear something comfortable but not necessarily flattering. It is amazing how much a nice outfit can make you feel good. I do throw in a few things that remind me of how I used to dress at home and that makes me feel connected to my old life haha but enough rambling.

What I wore:

Gender and Development T-Shirt: GAD is a PC committee focused on creating awareness with Host Country Nationals about gender, women's activism, HIV/AIDS prevention and topics of that nature. The shirt is super comfy and made in Guatemala (Aunt Shirley checked). Also money spent on these items helps support this committee within the PC community.

Jeans: Pants I found at the PACA (used clothing store). They were about 6 inches too long so I took them to a tailor to get hemmed for 5q. They don't have butt pockets....

Scarf: Dad gave me this scarf from Cambodia. I love it. I love scarves. When I wear one I feel a little bit connected to life at home. Also I love scarf weather.

Sunglasses: These cost 20q from the Market in Antigua. And everyone comments on how I wear them all the time. Luckily they haven't broken yet and I hope they last.

Todos Santos- Photo a Day Challenge

Alright, so I'm getting into the home stretch. Things are going well but just winding down a bit. I've decided for the Month of November to participate in a photo a day challenge. I found it online and each day has specific goals for photos and we'll just see how it goes. Today was a great day to start the challenge because it was Todos Santos and Aunt Shirley and Bill are visiting. We had an awesome Guatemala Fall day where we went to a town near by to see their Kite Festival to celebrate today. Last year I went to the horse race in Huehuetenango and this year was kites. Such a cool day. The kites were huge and the whole field was set up like a fair. People everywhere and so many kites. KITES ARE BEAUTIFUL. We enjoyed watching them try to launch these giant beauties into the sky as well as enjoy the beautiful day. After riding a crowded bus we got home and had delicious Chicken Curry made by Aunt Shirley. YUM! It was so good and my mouth is watering again just thinking about it. It's been nice to catch up with Aunt Shirley and fun to think about how some of my Peace Corps friends will be in my life for as long as they have in my parents. Here are some fun pictures of the kites and my photo for the day!

KITES!


HUGE KITES


Kite in the Sky


Can't get enough


Me and Aunt Shirley


Photo Challenge-
Self Portrait
Me, Aunt Shirley and Bill on the Bus

Also this past weekend there was a Halloween Party. I was part of group Clue Costume. It was pretty fun. More Pictures!

CLUE


Wilson and Heidi from Home Improvement


Black Swan, Mrs. Peacock and Heidi

What a difference a border makes

Well my trip to Mexico came and went and I'll say it was more eventful than I thought it would be. I know many were nervous with reason about a trip to Mexico due to all of the crazy things that happen there but We managed a quick and relatively uneventful trip in San Cristobal de Las Casas Mexico. What a beautiful city. It felt like Europe with all the restaurants, tourists, and clean streets. It was very well organized and we stayed at a very nice hostel that was clean,had hot showers and breakfast included YUM! Our diet consisted of mainly tacos and XX beer which I had no problem with. We only found Corona once the whole time even though it is advertised everywhere. We also had a pizza and sushi meal(random) but all the food settled well on our Guatemalan stomachs. The trip started off Monday morning leaving from Huehuetengango, we were only about 2 hours from the border. Then going through immigration was pretty easy, this was the first time I had done it on my own (meaning not included with a shuttle; which is what I have taken to El Salvador and Honduras). Changing money to the peso proved to be confusing, amazingly the quetzal fares a little better so that was a nice relief. (11 pesos= 1$USD) Then we boarded public transport, where we had to purchase a ticket! Mind blowing to have paper proof of a seat. Then when the micro had sold all the seats, we left. Everyone had a seat and we traveled about 2 hours to Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico. It was so nice and such a change from Guatemala. Although the camioneta feels normal now, sitting in our own seat on an air conditioned bus felt amazing! In viewing the countryside, I noticed little trash and things just seemed a little more organized and clean. I was so surprised. We changed buses in Comitan and headed another 2 hours towards San Cristobal. There we found our hostal and then ate some delish tacos, nachos and beer. We booked a tour for the next morning to go to Palenque (Mayan ruins that are located nearby.) So Monday night we had a few margaritas, which were not as delicious as we expected, and then hit the hay to get up early for our tour on Tuesday.

Welcome to Mexico

Tuesday morning was off to a rough start as we overslept because there is a time change between Guatemala and Mexico. That was not the way we wanted to start the day, running out of the hostel at 6:30... 30 minutes late. Our driver was not pleased. Then we spent what felt like an eternity in a car to get to Aguas Azules, the first stop of the trip. In the non rainy season this place is supposed to be a beautiful scenic waterfall area where you can swim and relax. Lucky for us in rainy season it floods over with brown water and was actually hilarious to tour. As we walked through flooded paths to the top of the cascades all of the nearby restaurants were closed due to flooding and we couldn't swim because the water was too dirty and dangerous. We had also spent about 4 hours in a micro at that point... a little disappointing but adding to our adventure. After about an hour there we boarded the bus to head to another waterfall. Misol Ha is huge, the biggest I've ever seen. There Betty and Mary braved the water to swim and we just enjoyed the majestic beauty of the waterfall. Then back in the car to head to Palenque. Palenque ruins were delayed for an enchilada lunch and then we walked around this huge ruin area. It was really neat. These ruins were much larger than those of Copan, Honduras but equally as interesting. After about 2 hours we boarded the micro again, hoping to get to San Cris by 9 pm for a late dinner and early night as we had booked another tour for the next day.


Girls at Agua Azul


Me and the agua azul


Misol Ha Waterfall

After an hour and a half of driving we come to dead stopped traffic. Our driver stops the car and tells us people are protesting but the passage should open at 8 pm. It was 6:30. Annoyed that we had to wait an hour and a half before we even continued on our 3 more hours of journey, we sat in the car. Walked around a bit, and were entertained by our one year old friend who was also on this tour with his parents. At 8pm our driver comes by and says, well now the passage won't be opening until 11... Ok Now we won't be returning to San Cristobal until 1 am but there is nothing we can do. A house nearby was selling coffee and tamalitos, so we went and spent a few pesos on now "dinner". At around 11pm, the traffic jam has no sign of letting up and our driver informs us that there probably will not be passage until 8am the next day. Yes we are going to have to spend the night in a micro. Surprisingly we all took it well and just planned to sleep in the bus. Locals walked by selling bread and coffee. We turned off the van lights and fell asleep. Luckily our driver was watching our bus and he told us to stay inside, a little alarming but we all remained calm. Then at 1:30am, the passage opened and we were taken home. We arrived back in San Cristobal at 4:30 in the morning exhausted having spent almost 24 hours on a tour. Getting back to the hostel we zombie walked to bed and slept amazingly.


Palenque


Palenque

I awoke early to go to the travel agency to cancel our tour for Wednesday and got us almost a full refund. Some tears were shed and I had to make two trips but the cheapskate in me won out over the desire for sleep. I asked the travel guy if this was normal and he said that people protest in order to get a response from the government. He said sadly this is how they have to act in order to seek justice for petty crimes or to gain benefits for their small towns. These actions are common occurrences in the state of Chiapas Mexico. Wednesday all the local agencies had to cancel all of their tours to Palenque because the road block was still going on. Also, when I say roadblock, the townspeople had organized almost 30 dump trucks to block the road. So there really was no way to pass. And they stayed all through the night and the next day. Passage was only opened for about an hour and luckily we scooted by. I really felt bad for our driver who not only had to do the same trip as us but he had to stay awake the whole time. He did his job so efficiently and got us home safely.

Wednesday was spent walking around, eating more tacos and some market shopping. We had some great chats and our delish sushi dinner. At dinner I was shorted out of change which was disappointing and kind of put a damper on our last night. Although I know the waiter could probably use the 30 pesos more than me (i mean it's 3 dollars) it was just the principal but I guess that's what it's all about. Being here has made me realize that I'm learning a lot about life and living on a lower level. But luckily for me, I'll be able to go home to the states and have lots of opportunities and hopefully live on a higher level than I do now. I just try to remember this at those times I get frustrated when I get cheated because really I'm lucky to have this experience and be able to spare a few pesos, or quetzales for those who really have less than I.

Thursday was departure day and we headed home around lunchtime and were back in the Guate by late afternoon. The trip was a whirlwind and I can't believe it came and went. I really would like to go back to Mexico as it is rich with Culture and even after traveling as much as we did on that trip, I hardly scratched the surface of what there is to see there. And although they are more developed than Guatemala and have more advanced systems in transport, tourism, environmental care, I didn't feel the same way I do in Guatemala. Immediately back on a camioneta I felt comfortable, even though it was loud and crowded, I felt home. The people in Guatemala are so friendly and willing to have a conversation with a gringo; it's nice. With this trip and the recent departure of friends I've been able to realize how much I love Guate and care about it. It feels like home even when I'm not in Tecpan. Being able to leave makes me appreciate what I have here and I'm sure I'll carry these memories and feelings with me for a long time.


Home again

September

Well things are going well. It feels like the big September events have already come and gone. This past weekend was the election for all local authorities and the president. Although the presidential election is going to be decided in a run off in November, the local elections went off pretty well. Although we were put on PC lock down in our sites, all turned out well. Don Pedro had been working on a campaign for a man for mayor and he won. So hopefully next year DP will have a job working in the mayor's office. There were some tensions on the rise on Monday morning just because they weren't exactly sure who won (the decision came down to like 100 votes) but luckily dp's guy pulled though. We just stayed clear of all the hubub and cooked lots of delicious meals. I think the one I'm most proud of is the Homemade Falafel, Hummus and Pita bread. I think we are getting some skills. We also made sweet potato black bean burritos, baked potato casserole and of course chocolate chip banana pancakes. There was also some fort building and a lot of daily show watching. Man do I miss the daily show. Jon Stewart is so entertaining.

Kata in the Fort


Manchitas watching the Daily Show


Pita bread and Falafel

Also this week was Guatemala's Independence day ( along with Mom's Birthday). 190 years! It was fun. Such a gorgeous day and we spent the morning watching the local parade with Don Pedro. The local high schools did some awesome performances including the 80s classic I've had the time of my life. They were actually pretty good and it was entertaining.

Now this weekend it's time to say goodbye to one of my friends who is leaving at the end of this month. Amanda Baker is one of my closest friends here and I'm really sad to see her go but so excited for this new chapter in her life to start. I wish her the best of luck and know we'll meet again. She came to country the group before me and I've really enjoyed our time together.

Amanda and Me

In order to get over this sadness I planned a short trip to Mexico with three of my other friends. I'm really excited to jump out of the country for a bit and think that it will be a much needed break. Anywho, that's the update for now. Stay safe and I'll let you know about Mexico.

Love love love.

7 Months to Go!

So I'm getting into the home stretch. I've been in Guatemala for 20 months. I can't believe it. It feels like time has flown. I've still been trying to keep things on track. With studying and working. I had a nice interruption to every day life on my trip with Jessica. We had a great time going to the lake, Antigua, and spending a few days here. We were also able to go to Honduras for a few days. It was so fun and relaxing. Although there wasn't a lot to do in the town we went to; the Mayan ruins there are amazing. We played around the park for about 4 hours. Just looking at all cool old stuff. It was a really nice break and a great trip. Now it's almost September and things are really going to start moving quickly. With only 2 months left of school and the Guatemalan elections quickly approaching time is in a crunch. We are trying to get work done while waiting for this turn of events. The elections are causing a lot of increased tensions all over Guatemala which is hard to handle but I guess all part of the experience.


Jessica at the Lake


Tecpan Ruins


Map of Mayan Empire (pointing to Tecpan!)


My favorite little mayan dude


cool staircase

meals I've been cooking

So the past few weeks I've been cooking more. They've turned out pretty delicious. Tuesday we made spinach pasta bake with a cream sauce. It turned out really well, considering I have followed a recipe and just went with what sounded good.

Thursday we made some chocolate chip cookies. They were pretty alright. Some a little crispy and the lack of brown sugar made them more like sugar cookies with chocolate chips.

Saturday morning was chocolate chip and banana pancakes. Pretty good. I'm not a huge pancake person but these topped with some peanut butter, hit the b-fast spot.


Chocolate Chip and Banana Pancakes


Saturday dinner is my most proud dish yet. I made Eggplant Parmesan. It was so delish. I also added spinach and zucchini. I fried the eggplant in a rosemary, oregano, garlic and onion mix. Then topped it all with the spinach and parm cheese. YUM. It is definitely the dish I'm most proud of thus far. We'll see what the next week brings. YUM-O!

Eggplant Parmesan

10 Reasons why I'm in Love with Guate lately

1)Last week, Kata and I started a tradition that we are calling Eat, Pray, Wine... Based off of Eat, Pray, Love but I mean who needs the love part when you can have a glass of wine and maybe do Yoga a bit tipsy for the pray part? Last Thursday was the first of many Eat, Pray, Wines. We made garlic honey biscuits, curry lentils, deep fried green beans, and rosemary green beans. It was delicious. And a lot of fun. And very random but I mean we needed to mix up our tortilla diets somehow, so we combined all the random foods we had in our kitchens. We ended the night doing some Yoga in giggle fits, it was pretty great. I think laughing is great therapy and so is Yoga; therefore together they are even better. (This my friends is a conclusion to my argument; yes I'm studying for the LSAT and it's going ok but I'll tell you what those logic questions can be confusing. Oh well, I've got 4 months til my test date and a pretty intense study schedule.)


Eat, Pray, Wine FEAST


2) My LSAT studying is another reason I'm feeling pretty good. I've made a schedule and I'm sticking to it. Studying every day is a way for me to feel more accomplished and happy with how things are going. I'm nervous about the test so any study tips are welcome. Also just bits of encouragement :)

3) I cooked a new meal this week. Spinach Pasta Bake with a cheese sauce. YUM. Cooking is actually really fun and I'm getting into looking for ingredients and recipes. Funny story is that I cook like you do mom; in that I make things up. I read the recipe and then add my own stuff in. I feel like I'll be making lots of dishes that never come out the same way twice, but hopefully are always delicious. Also, today we made cookies. They turned out pretty good considering we didn't have brown sugar. (Only the first batch was a little crispy.)


Downfall to cooking is that I have to wash dishes in this hand-washing sink :)


4) Today we inaugurated a water project at our other school. It was really nice. Everything was decorated. We received a plaque that thanks Escuelas Saludables for their work in the project. We got lunch. They also put on some really cute dances. I'm posting a video of the cutest Guatemalan boy I have ever seen. Such a nice morning. The moments when we have ceremonies like this make time here feel worth it. Seeing how thankful people are and how much they want us to have a good time, really makes you feel good. Also the cheeseball in me almost always tears up during these events. They play the national anthem and have things so formally organized; it's emotional for me. Makes me happy to be an American and proud of our country but sad to see so many wonderful, good people living in a situation that is far from fair. The fact that we celebrated that a school now has water, is still mind blowing. We wouldn't even build a school, or anything at home and use it without connecting water.

Betty and Kata at the ceremony


Me and Kata with the water tank of 2000L and 8 faucets


Cutting the ribbon to "inaugurate" the project
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5) Today I found TOMs shoes in the PACA for 20q. That's like 2 bucks. Pretty sweet. Betty got some too. And Kata had some. Seems like Team Tecpan is pretty trendy :) check out toms shoes online- www.toms.com pretty cool idea. Also fun fact is I've heard of PC volunteers being in the towns where they do a shoe drop and they get a free pair as well. I'm happy to have gotten one for 20q.

6) One of our teachers invited us to dinner at her house tonight. It was so nice. Seno Alma is 27, has two kids, and we chatted her up for about 2 hours. She made us Pepian (a meat dish with a reddish, spicy sauce). It was the best Pepian I've had in country thus far. It's a dish made for special occasions. She is the cutest little teacher ever and really wants to be friends. So I hope we will be. It was nice to have a conversation with someone our age, who is really interested in learning, talking, and just spending time together. She really treated us well and reminded me again of why I'm here and what's really important to me.

7)Jessica is coming next week and I'm really excited to have another visitor. It's just so fun and will be a nice break from everything. (even though things have been so great recently)I also just really love showing people what my life is like here. It helps me to see what is special about my life.

8) Work is going well. We are having fun showing Kata the ropes. Checking up on all of our schools. Seeing Rincones de Salud, kids brushing their teeth and washing their hands. Pretty much great stuff.


TEETH BRUSHING


Rincon de Salud


Betty Spying on the school :)

9) I've been doing Yoga for 2 weeks now. Just 20-30 minutes at least every other day. It's really relaxing. I like doing it right before bed because it calms my mind and is just giving my day more of a routine. I'm finally learning how much I need a routine and how to make it work for me. It's a nice feeling. And fitting Yoga into my day is some time I can just give to myself to make me feel better and more relaxed with all I have accomplished in one day.

10) I'm doing things for me and trying to make the best out of the next 8 months. I make a list every night of what I want to do the next day in order to feel accomplished and then I (usually) do all the things on my list. It's such a good feeling to be at this place and getting things done. I hope it just stays with me and makes these next months fly by but in a fulfilling way.