Month of August Update

Hello there,
I hope that all of you that are reading this are well and that is not so with you please let me know that I may pray for you. So here I am at the near end of August, time sure is flying. I still have some moments where I stop and think for just a second to myself and I say "wow, I am really doing this. I am really here." Even though I have been in country for around 17 months, every once in a while I am just amazed at myself, surprised that I have made it this far, makes me feel like I can take on anything! But with the 17 months behind me that means that there are only 10 ahead...that to me is crazy too! I feel like I have so much more I want to do here and I am not sure that 10 months will allow for it all, but on the other side I am ready to get back to what I left back in the States, of living in a culture that I understand and being around a language that I am completely fluent in. At the same time I am thinking of how much I want to get back to the States, I am really trying to take it all in here, knowing that one day I will be among the beautifully simple culture here. I am trying to absorb as many of the moment that I can, storing them away for a day when I will look back in my life and remember this experience.

They say here that for most volunteers, the second year is a whole lot better than the first. I think mine will definitely be going that way. My first year was a challenge to find my bearings and figure out how to best carry out my work here. I still don't feel like I understand it as much as I would like to but I have a pretty good grip of how I can best work here. Between now and the end of my service, I will have the opportunity to carry out health infrastructure projects that will help families improve their health. Projects could be one of the following: Improved Cookstoves (to help decrease exposure to smoke that is plentiful when they cook over open fires), Cement floors (helps decrease cases of diarrhea and respiratory illnesses), and latrines (again helps decrease cases of diarrhea with the proper disposal of human waste). We had a conference 2 weeks back with Peace Corps on how to build these projects and also in the management of the projects. It's going to be a good chunk of work but I am looking forward to taking it on for the sake of learning this new skill. We will have to do some grant writing to obtain funds for our projects. I am anticipating it to be stressful experience but a great learning opportunity. And for those of you who may be wondering about making donations, at this time I don't believe that I will be needing them. Peace Corps has a decent amount of money to help with the projects but I might find a need for funds in other areas and in case I will let you all know.

Happy August everyone. God's blessings to those who are heading back to school soon!

Kelsey

How's it going?

So it’s about that time….I should be getting around to another blog post. Not really sure what to write about, guess I will just give a well rounded update on life here in Guatemala.

This past weekend marked the year for my service here in Guatemala. It doesn’t really feel like it’s been that long but then again it does. I remember getting to my site last year and checking out facebook pictures of people enjoying the summer in Michigan and getting jealous of the beautiful weather and all the fun activities that were being had while I was gone. Now I feel a more comfortable about being here, enjoying what Guatemala has to offer instead of missing what Michigan has going on. I am ok not being in the heat and humidity that Michigan has right now.

I am slowly coming to appreciate the things that Guatemala has to offer. Right now it’s a bit difficult because we are in rainy season and it rains pretty much every day to varying degrees. Right now as I write this the sun is shining, which doesn’t happen too much right now. I sat in it for a while but then my work beckoned me and I had to leave. It’s hard to stay dry and dry things that get wet but it gets done in due time. I am happy that rainy season has it’s time here and it will soon be over.

I am coming to enjoy a simpler way of doing things, of stopping to smell flowers or watch children play. I am coming to find joy in the simple things in life which I think can sometimes be a challenge with all of the distractions that we have in the US. Here there is so much less to distract a person and often times the only things a person has are the simple things. I have learned the art of doing nothing, not sure if it’s an accomplishment that I should be proud of or not.

For those of you who are thirsty for details, yes I have started dating a Guatemalan. His name is Carlos. He is 27 years old and it one of 10 kids. He is the third oldest and works for my old host family which is how I met him. He makes t-shirts that get sold in the markets around where I live. He is a Christian too like I am and was very open about his faith when I first met him which is what drew me in. He is very respectful, which cannot be said for many Guatemalan men. We don’t spend much time together as he works a lot but I think its better that way, taking it slow. We plan on taking it nice and slow to make sure we create a good foundation for our relationship because if it’s something that is going to take some work, we want to know that it’s going to work.

I told myself when I came here that I wasn’t going to date a local because it would be difficult once my service ended and I head back home. God works in some pretty crazy ways and right now I am just trusting him with my future and hoping for the best. If anything it is an opportunity to grow and learn. We have talked about the future and honestly it’s pretty scary and a lot to think about. I just need to have faith that what God began between us He will finish in a way that benefits us both.

I have really enjoyed having Carlos around because he has been a great encouragement in my faith. It isn’t anything that he actively does but just by his actions and how he pursues his faith, it makes me all the more want to pursue mine. On another note of pursuing my faith more here, I have started going to a church that meets about an hour away from where I live. It is a missionary church that consists of missionaries that work in and around the city where we meet. It has been a great blessing in my life. I have made some great connections there and have been encouraged in the work that I am doing here. The service takes place in English which offers a break from the Spanish and Quiche I hear around here. I have also been to a church with Carlos, in the same city. That service is in Spanish and it has a wonderful praise and worship band. I like that it is something we can do together.

Prayer request:

·         For my relationship with my sitemate, that we can have a good working relationship and support each other.

·         For a brother of a friend from church who is 55 and is in heart failure. He is a believer.

·         For my work here as the time to being projects is approaching. Please pray that I may have discretion in my work as it can be a challenge to do sustainable work and also give out projects.

Thanks,

Kelsey

5 gallon bucket

So today I decided to hang out at my house and get some cleaning done and just relax. I slept in and started my day with leasuire and so far it has been pretty relaxing. As I was working on my cleaning, I noticed how useful my 5 gallon bucket is so I decided to share that with you.

1.      1.  One of the most frequent uses for my 5 gallon bucket is to collect and wash my clothes. I use it as a dirty clothes basket and then when the amount of dirty clothes builds up, I either wash them myself or bring them to the lady that washes my. If I decide to wash them myself, which happens every once in a while, I add some powdered laundry soap and then water. I let my cloths soak for about a half an hour. After the half an hour, I take the bucket down to the pila and pull out pieces one by one and scrub them by hand with a bar of laundry soap. After they have been thoroughly, I rinse them out and then wring them out. After I all of my clothes are washed, I throw them back in the bucket and take them back up to my balcony and hang them up on my line. I have been told by my old host sister that I can’t wash clothes very well. I think I am doing pretty well for only having a year of experience compared to her 10.  

Most of my clothes however are not washed by me but I take a load weekly to a lady that lives down the street. She washes them for me in exchange for a small fee. There are women in the community that wash clothes for others to earn money. It is a very traditional society here in terms of gender roles. The women’s place is in the house and the man leaves to work and earn money for the family. The woman that washes my clothes has an alcoholic husband. He doesn’t work very much and when he does the money goes to buying alcohol, leaving little to nothing for the family of 7. She works odd jobs like washing clothes or dishes to earn money for to support her and her children. I don’t really want to wash my clothes all the time and if I can help this woman earn some money to support her family, all the better. 

2.      2.  The second use I have for the 5 gallon bucket is mopping the floor. I try to mop my floor weekly because I teach the importance of having a clean house and feel that I must practice what I preach. Things here just seem to get dirty a lot faster than when I was in the States. 

3.      3.  The third and final use for my bucket is for bathing. No, I don’t hop in the thing and wash myself but use it to hold the water that I pull out with a smaller dish to bathe. They don’t have big water heaters here but have a small device the more fortunate use to shower. I had one at my old place but am not as fortunate at my new place. The device is a larger shower head that heats the water that flows through it. I think I may have mentioned it before. Where I am now there are just shower heads but just the simple ones that you would find in an American home. I guess the landlord thinks that I like taking cold showers? So now instead of taking a cold shower, I heat up a big pot of water on the stove, pour it into my bucket and then add cold water to make it a comfortable temperature.  I take my soap and bucket to where the shower area is and use a small dish to pour the water over myself to bathe.

So yeah, my bucket comes in pretty handy for life here in Guatemala and for how useful it is, maybe I should have more than one. Happy Saturday everyone! God’s blessings!

Kelsey  

Link to pictures of my new place

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100105362834055.2528725.22423429&l=a635537032

Finally!

So for those you who haven't heard, I moved! I was more than ready for it and am happy that it finally happened. I had given my number to the landlord and he said he would call when it was ready for me. Well, that never happened so I decided to call him and he told me that it was ready. That was the middle of May. I stopped over and talked to him and also to get a good look at the place to make sure that it was truly finished. I visited the place on Thursday and was hoping to move in that weekend but I opted to finish up the month with my host family as I had already payed for the month.

I moved my stuff on the 27th with the help of some co-workers from the health center. That's one thing I really like about everyone I work with, they are willing to lend a hand. I have accumulated lots of stuff in my year here. I remember coming into country with my two suitcases, now I think I have 3 times more stuff.

I went out Saturday and bought a new bed. The one I had before was a wood frame and a mattress pretty similar to a futon mattress. I was getting used to it but I am happy I made the purchase of my new bed, a whole lot roomier and much more comfortable.

So I was going to rent the three rooms on the back part of the house on the second level. He originally told me it would be 600Q a month but then upped it to 900Q a month so I opted for two rooms. One is the kitchen area and the other my bedroom. I pay 550Q a month. It is a much nicer price than I was paying before. Another good thing is that I don't have to pay electricity but it's included in the rent. They installed a water tank so that I will have water all the time even when there isn't any in the town. I am supposed to have my own bathroom but it doesn't have a door yet so I don't use it too often. There is another bathroom on the roof that I use more often. They installed a shower but it isn't the one that heats the water so I haven't used that (and don't really plan to). I am hoping to get a shower head that heats water installed but until then I will either be showering at the health center or heating up my water and taking bucket baths.

All in all it's been a great experience living on my own. The family is around during the day so I have some company and then go home at night so it's nice an quiet. I am slowly getting used to being on my own, but I think I am really going to like it and I think I can get used to it.

Pictures to come soon!

Medical Missions

Today, I had the opportunity of working with a team of doctors that came in from the States to help with an NGO called Companeros de Salud (Partners of Health). They are an NGO that performs operations free of charge to those in need. They do surgeries to correct hernias, remove benign tumors, remove extra fingers or toes, fix scars (mostly from burns), cleft lips and pallets and others. Doctors come in from the States for 5 days to help do consults on the potential candidates. Once the candidates for surgery are found, logistics are set up and they receive their operation in one of the NGO's surgical centers. The operation is free of charge and patients must just cover transportation and food cost for the week but they are provided with a place to recuperate and space for family to stay with them.

All of the doctors spoke little to no Spanish, so that's were I came in to help translate. I was a little nervous yesterday wondering how I would do but once the day started I quickly gained confidence in my speaking Spanish. It was a challenge to go back and forth with Spanish. A few times throughout my time there I was speaking to the Spanish person in English and the English person in Spanish. There were some points too that the people only spoke Quiche, so I had to pull in my usual translator to have her tell me what was going on in Spanish to be translated to the doctor who spoke English. Oh the wonders of being bilingual!

All in all it was a great experience but mentally very exhausting. The team that came to work at the health center was very easygoing and friendly and really nice to work with.

Now I am going to head to bed, my brain needs some rest.

A Day in the Market

As most of you know, Sunday is the big market day in my town. Some of the bigger towns have a consistent market throughout the week that has a day or two when it gets engorged with sellers and buyers but in my site we only have one big day. The local people live off of the market and can find almost anything they will ever want or need. 

The market has been a constant source of fresh fruits and vegetables here for me. I have been overjoyed with the abundance of fresh picked produce and it has made it quite easy to eat healthy. I am so glad that my mother always made me eat vegetables. She has given me a habit that will benefit me for the rest of my life. Thanks Mom! 

Here is a breakdown of my purchase yesterday at the market along with the cost (note: the US dollar is now worth only 7.50 Quetzales):

1lb Tomatoes- 1.50Q

2lbs Potatoes- 3Q

3 Medium sized Mangos- 3Q

2lbs Green Beans- 5Q

3 Avacados- 3Q

2 Peaches- 2Q

Pkg of 4 ears of sweet corn- 6Q

Bunch of 10 small onions- 2.50Q

3 Peppers- 3Q

2 chocobananos (frozen bananas dipped in chocolate with nuts)- 2Q

½lb Campo cheese (cheese made locally, a mild white crumbly cheese) 6Q

Other things that I get from the market (just not this week):

Broccoli- 3Q

Carrots- 1Q/piece

Eggs- 10Q/dozen

Bread- 1Q/2pieces

Cauliflower-2Q

Black beans-7Q/lb   

Pineapple- 5Q

Cantaloupe- 5Q

Small Watermelon-5Q

I hope this gives you a better idea of my life here in terms of eating. I was a bit intimidated of the market when I first got here but now have grown more or less accustomed to it. The market starts in the early am around 5:30 or 6 and goes until about 1:30 or 2. I have found the best time to go is around noon. Going too early means fighting a big crowd of people which I am not a big fan of. You either have to go early early or late, close to ending time. The benefits of going later is that sometimes stuff cost a little less or you can bargain for a less because many of the sellers don't want to haul stuff back so they try to get rid of as much as they can.

Until next time,
Kelsey