The Work Continues

I am working with my five groups of individuals. I meet with each group every other week, so on the other week I don't have much to do. I am working on ideas of what else I can do. I have gotten in touch with an NGO that is working in one of my communities. They are called ASDECO. Not exactly sure what it stands for but they are based in Chichicastenago and work within the 80 so communities that are covered in its municipality. They have pretty much the same goals as Peace Corps, seeking to create sustainable development in the communities they work in and empower individuals to help themselves. I am going out to meet with them on Thursday and hopefully get a better idea of what exactly their work entails. I have met a few people that work there and they are all super nice. I was excited to find out that there is a group of locals seeking development in their own country.

I have also been able to build relationships with those I work with. There seems to be more down time at the health center during the afternoons. I try to spend most of my work days at the health center, working on charlas, studying Spanish, or sometime just hanging out with those that work here. One of the educators invited me to a party her family was having for her grandpa this past weekend, put Peace Corps prohibited travel because of the rain, so I couldn't go. Most of the people that work here are around my age or younger, so we get along really well and can communicate pretty easily. They are all so nice here, the older women that work here have been motherly to me and I really appreciate it with how difficult it is to be away from my family and friends back home. I there are two educators that work here. Both of them are girls around my age and I really enjoy working with them. They come along with me when I give my charlas and translate for those that don't speak much Spanish. I look forward to continuing my work with them in the future and sharing some new ways of educating the people they work with.

Pictures can be view at the following links:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2440155&id=22423429&l=14792e41eb

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462664&id=22423429&l=efd840bf76

Visit to the Lake

I made a trip out to Lake Atitlan this weekend. It is about an hour ride to get there and well worth the trip. I visited a friend who has her site out there, working as a Youth Development volunteer. I went out on Friday to visit their market. I was told they sold beads there so I wanted to check it out and sure enough I was able to find some nice ones, not as eccentric as I was thinking but quality nonetheless. My friend’s town is a fifteen minute ride from the lake so we headed out there Friday night after the market. The town I visited is called Panajachel or Pana for short. It is a big tourist town with lots of shops and restaurants and souvenirs to purchase. I wasn’t too crowded on Friday and was a peaceful walk through the town slowly checking out the stuff for sale along the street. I noticed a lot of cool stuff and I think I am going to have to pick up my Christmas presents here. Sitting out by the lake made me think of home and being out by Lake Michigan, feeling the breeze coming off the lake and seeing the reflection of the sun on the water. The mountains in the distance were a beautiful backdrop to the picturesque lake. We went out for a few drinks with some of her friends there and spent the night at a friends apartment. Saturday might have been the highlight of my trip out there when we went to a barbecue. They had amazing burgers along with ribs, smoked chicken, pork and many other tasty options along with the typical cook out sides like potatoe salad, corn on the cob and many other favorites. It was great to have an all American burger with all the fixings and it happens every week and another cool thing is that it's an Australian man with a sweet accent. I think I am going to have to make visiting the lake a regular thing.

I hit up the market today like every other Sunday. Today I felt like I was finally getting into the hang of things and it felt like more of a natural experience going to the market, a large improvement from my first time there. I really enjoy going and seeing familiar faces and people watching and being able to get super fresh produce and know that I am supporting families with my purchases. But of course the experience of Guatemalan culture would not be complete with out being whistled at by local men. On the way to the market, there is a part of the highway that is getting fixed. It has been “getting fixed” for almost the whole time I have been at site (almost 2 months). There are a group of men working and they always like to try to get my attention. While walking today I waved my pointer finger at them as a way to say no. They seemed to think it was pretty funny and on the way back said ‘hoy si” (today yes). I just kept walking, laughing at them in my head. Do they really think they can pick up girls like that? I used to be more offended by this act but now it’s easier to brush it off and it usually makes for a good laugh.

I am looking forward to a decent work week. Tomorrow I will be heading out to one of my communities to help with vaccinations and weighing children. It’s a way to get my face out in the community and get more associated with the health center. The rest of the week I have my second charlas with four of my five groups. I am excited to see them all again and continue in our building of relationships. Some topics that I am going to cover are Diabetes, Family Planning (ie Birth Control methods), Parasites and Hepatitis A. I asked the groups what they were interested in hearing about as I don’t want to just throw my agenda of charlas and these are the topics that they picked so hopefully they will have listening ears and be interested in what I have to say and also participate. My next plan of action is to seek out more groups to work with, ones that already exist in the community. Work is out there, I just need to find it! I am slowly on my way to feeling like a real Peace Corps volunteer.

Me at the lake

Magen and I at the lake
pictures have been posted from the Independence Day celebration and more from my trip to the lake here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2440155&id=22423429&l=14792e41eb and http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2462664&id=22423429&l=efd840bf76

Following God's calling

I have been growing so much in my faith, and the Lord has provided some great experiences and materials to do so. I have had more time to read down here as most of you know and this has been a great blessing to me. My latest read is the Irresistable Revolution. This book has put a lot of thoughts into my head and it has been great! The author has been talking a lot about getting back to the fundamentals of Christianity, pretty much loving your neighbor as yourself and what that means in this contemporary world. I tried reading this book a few years back but it just did catch my interest at that point in time. I think God was waiting to give me the message here, where I will received with a much more open heart and mind. The book talks about how we should be considering how the commandment of loving thy neighbor is reflected in our day to day actions, like the things we buy, the causes we support, how we spend our free time and much more. It talks about putting a face to the issues in this world. Realizing that turning a blind eye to the troubles in this world is the same as if we ourselves were inflicting harm to those affected by the bad things of this world. We should be standing up for the rights of others, but this shouldn’t be through yelling, commotion and violence but out of love, be that still small voice that says “hey, maybe this isn‘t right, why should it have to be like this?” It is so much easier to hate and fight wars then it is to see the face behind all of the issues and realize that people on both sides of the issue are lost in this world doomed for destruction unless we cling to the love of God shown forth in the sacrifice of Christ and even though we may be redeemed by love we are still sinners and we still make mistakes. Realizing that none of us are perfect and that forgiveness should be at the root of all our relationships is a great start to living out the Christian faith in this contemporary world.

A quote from the book that I have really come to appreciate in my time here: “ I have come to see that we Christians are not called to safety, but we are promised that God will be with us when we are in danger, and there is no better place to be than in the hands of God.’ Perhaps the most dangerous place for a Christian to be is in safety and comfort.” I am for sure not in a place of comfort but one of change and uncomfortable situations. The cool thing is though is that I feel at peace. I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be at this point in time. Although humanly speaking sometimes I wish I could be back home where it were easier and I could be around things that I know and am comfortable with. I take those feelings as they come and really try to look beyond them, see the deep value of this amazing experience here.

I am so excited about all that God has shown me so far and I look forward to where the next two years here will take me.

Rain rain go away.....oh and don't come back for a while, we are pretty set, thanks!

Working on the third day of rain, it is the rainy season and apparently it still feels the need to share it’s wrath. Made it to the market and back dry this morning, the rain started about 1:30ish this afternoon and continues steadily as I write this. I used to be more fond of rainy days. I guess when they didn’t come so often and cause so much trouble. The three days of rain is not good for Guatemala. The interamerian highway (the main drag through Guatemala) has been affected significantly. To create the highway, they cut through the mountains so every where you drive on the highway, there are steep embankments on at least one side. These embankments are not reinforced by anything, so when rain comes, down they come, or at least pieces of them. The highway consists of two lanes heading in each direction with a small median. Many times when landslides take a fall into part of the highway, traffic is redirected to the other side forcing the open side to become two way traffic, but with the excessive amount of rain that has fallen, the ground has become more and more unstable causing bigger and bigger blockages and longer delays in traveling. With today being day three of the rain, Peace Corps has notified us (via text message) that travel is prohibited and that we are in what is called a “Standfast“, meaning that we should stay where we are until further notice.
I guess this is now a good of a time as any to get used to the slow pace of life and the little amount of entertainment that exists. I feel like as soon as I get comfortable in this slow pace I am going to be done here, picking up and heading back to the fast paced US and probably back to school, which would mean jam packed days and little free time. I should learn to enjoy it while I am here. I have tried to think of the things that I have always wanted to do but never felt like I had the time in the States. One thing I thought of was knitting. I tried it once but didn’t stick with it long enough to get good at it. I think that might be possible here, so if you are reading this and thinking of sending me a package, maybe you could add some yarn to it or an instruction booklet on how to knit, maybe knitting needles. I can get some stuff here but I have been told that the yarn here isn’t the greatest.
Another thing, I found out today how much I missed cooking. I just recently purchased my own table top gas range and a small gas tank to go with it. I had been eating out of my host sister’s comedor (or a small restaurant) and realized that it was going to be expensive and I wasn’t too excited about the limited options they had for food. I bought some chicken breasts at the store the other day and decided that I would pick up some fresh vegetables at the market today to make some chicken soup. While making it I realized how much I missed creating food and how much joy it brings me. I was so relaxed and at ease after I created the soup and to top it off I shared it with my site mate along with some fresh bread from the market and a nice conversation. I think my heart is really into the baking though and that won’t be possible until I move to my new place sometime at the end of October. My host family says that a toaster oven would pull too much electricity from an already challenged circuit. There is a way to bake over the gas range, placing the pan of whatever it is you want to bake over a pot of water that is boiling and then covering all this with a large pot creating an oven. Maybe this contraption will be in my near future.

Until next time con mucho amor,
Kelsey