View from the roof of my house
The first few days were a little stressful, my mind in a hundred places, wondering what I should do, where I should start, how, when, where, etc. On Monday I visited my school in Nimapá where I attended a staff meeting about the week’s activities in honor of the school’s aniversario. Tuesday I set aside for shopping/organizing. Christina and I went to Xela to HiperPaiz (Guatemalan WalMart) and Sumaco (Guatemala Bed Bath & Beyond). Every volunteer was given Q 3,000 to buy home/moving-in necessities. Unlike a lot of volunteers, though, I didn’t need to make any big purchases, like a bed or a stove, desk, dresser, etc. So I just bought some creature comforts like a French press, pillowcases, knife set, and even a shoe rack. I may need to buy more in the future if I decide to move out on my own, but I’m pretty comfortable right now, and having moved houses more times in the past 3 ½ months than in the first 25 years of my life combined, the idea of wanting to move again is inconceivable to me at this moment, so I’ll just have to see.
Wednesday I really got down to business in terms of reading up on Toto, the schools, etc. and attempting to develop a plan. I spent the whole morning reading over Lynn’s Close of Service (COS) report, spreadsheets on what lessons were given when to each grade level and school, the Youth Development curriculum, classroom activity ideas, and more. I also made another vegetable shopping trip through the market. In the afternoon Christina and I joined my counterpart Luis Macario, the CTA (Coordinador Técnico Administrativo) for the whole department, at the Ministry of Education anniversary fútbol tournament just up the hill from my house. I met many new co-workers who work at the Ministry. They are a fun bunch. After a group of us went for coffee and dessert and sandwiches.
Thursday morning Christina came over and we did a Hip Hop Ab workout in my dance studio/garage. I finally unpacked my suitcase and now everything is unpacked. I visited my 4th school (the only one I didn’t get to visit during my site visit) in Xenajtajuyup (and yes, I can pronounce it). I fell in love with this school! These kids are going to be a handful, but they were so cute and so funny. TONS of energy. Next week is their aniversario. I arrived at a great time. Aniversario, aniversario, party, party, party. I’m going to keep the same school schedule as Lynn, at least for now (why make things more complicated), and visit Xenajtajuyup on Mondays, so I will get to see their Concurso de Baile (dance competition).
On Friday, Christina and I accompanied our counterpart Macario and the Ministry of Ed fútbol team to Santa Lucia La Reforma in the department of Toto (about 2 hours away) to a fútbol tournament. They were going to have to play really late into the evening so instead of competing we got back in the van and turned around until we found a field where they scrimmaged against themselves. We stopped for lunch in Momostenango. It was a fun, interesting day.
Friday evening I went to Nimapá for the school’s final aniversario event, a Beauty Pageant. I was there for 6 hours, until after midnight, and was very, very cold. While it seemed that it would never end, there were some very entertaining parts. First, each of the 6 candidates came out in traditional traje and danced around. This was one of those long, painful parts. This was followed by several different dance and song performances by other students and teachers. Then came the deportivo part. Each girl dressed up as a sport and danced around. There was a volleyball player, a tennis player, a soccer player who danced to the World Cup theme song, a rock climber who attempted to climb a rope, a rollerblader, and best of all a girl in a canoe who built a life-size canoe of cardboard and danced around in a life vest, goggles and paddle. There was the “fantasia” segment of the competition where each girl wore something sparkly or colorful with lots of fringe, some more revealing than others, and danced around. These girls could really shake it. Then there was the Q & A part. Then, the girls had to recite a rehearsed speech about an issue that’s important to them (environment, alcoholism, whatever). Then finally they announced the winners. There were several other performances interspersed in this. An interesting night, but again, very, very long. And cold.
On Saturday, Christina and I went to Xela for the day. We went to lunch in a little restaurant off the plaza called Casa Babylon where I had such an amazing meal I have to describe it. After much debate because the menu was huge and everything sounded delicious, I settled on a sandwich of tofu cooked in garlic butter and tomato sauce, served with generous helpings of guacamole and fresh mozzarella cheese, with homemade potato chips on the side. The sandwich was enormous. I ate it with what may have been the best piña colada I’ve ever tasted. I really can’t express in words how delicious this sandwich was. A guy came in with a guitar and asked us to let him write us a song. He sang us a pretty fun song, part in English, part in Spanish. He was a very charming Guatemalan nomad. We gave him Q20.
Today was hot and sunny so all my laundry dried on the roof. In the afternoon I went to birthday party with my new host mom for her friend’s daughter.
And that is what I did in my first week.
It sounds like you’re launched: you’ve visited your schools, unpacked, got furniture and have been sworn in. It’s so amazing how training can seem like forever, but then once you’re in your village, it has an entirely different tempo. It sounds like you were wined and dined mightily at the end of training. I’m sure there will be more of that through your project. It’s very cool you’ll be able to travel to the smaller towns and be able to have a real feel for life there.
It’s so impressive that you met the Ambassador! I doubt that many Thai or Malaysian PCVs met the Ambassador. What’s his name?
Now that you have your location, do you have an address where we can write you?
We leave for South Africa on 8-16, and Erin leaves 8-3. So soon! Be sure to write down your early experiences… you’ll be so amazed and happy to read them later on. Also, Bill had a friend who was great in French before training, so he was able to learn many colloquialisms. He wrote them all in a book and became well know far and wide for his knowledge.
XXXOO Madeline
You’re going to have an amazing time in South Africa!
The ambassador’s name is Steve McFarland.
I just opened a P.O. Box…I posted the address in my last blog entry, but DO NOT send anything until I update it. The guy who works at the post office neglected to include the zip code in my address and when my friend went back to inquire he seemed convinced there isn’t one, but the last volunteer said that the address definitely needs a zip code. I am on a mission to find what it is. Then, I would love to receive some mail!