Welcome to America...

I don't really know what else to title this post, except for that.
I am going through so many experiences right now that I just felt it necessary and appropriate to blog.
I am currently sitting in a Marriot hotel in Houston, Texas. Apparently there is a snowstorm? And all flights to Minneapolis are canceled until tomorrow. Hopefully at 8am the conditions will have improved. (question mark)

Anyways, slightly frustrating to arrive in Texas and find out that you have to stay in a hotel or sleep in an airport in the arrival lobby for 12 hours. After some pondering, I chose the hotel option. COULDN'T BE HAPPIER THAT I DID.
The fifty dollars was the BEST investment in my personal well-being that I have ever made. Here I am, showered, rested, in a king sized bed, with a flatscreen t.v., wireless, and all the necessary hotel-y things to make me so so so relaxed and excited for a good nights sleep.
Speaking of which, however, the above listed are some of the first things that have been part of this culture shock I am experiencing.
The following is a list of the WEIRD things that are, I suppose, what you would call culture shock.

1) This hotel room is the size of my Guatemalan bedroom, and living room, and bathroom, put together

2) The water pressure in the shower.....well, there are really no words. After 6 months of a trickle, I feel like my skin is being sandblasted clean by what is probably regular shower water pressure.

3) There is a T.V. in my hotel room. A large one. A flatscreen one. (wtf?)

4) All the channels are in English. (Even weirder than having a T.v.!)

4) You can drink the water out of the faucet. (I had to call Dad on this one, to check, because for some reason my Guatemalan mindset was like NO, you can't drink water out of this faucet, its Texas! And the have bottled water for sale! But then Dad reminded me of U.S. regulations and health codes and stuff. Um duh. I guess I forget about such luxuries...

5) Unrelated to the hotel...but still a luxury...I can call anyone from my cell phone! ANYone, and it is free! And you don't run out of minutes! (I am always running out of minutes in Guatemala) Wow how nice it is to be on a phone plan...

Anyways, those are the first initial thoughts running through my head as I am in this extremely extravagant, beautiful, relaxing hotel. I kinda wish I had more time here, actually! But at 6am tomorrow, the shuttle is arriving to bring me to the good ol' aeropuerto.
It feels really good to be back in the states, though somewhat strange.
The worst part is that the physical shock has yet to set it. I am QUITE worried for the cold of what tomorrow is going to bring.
Why does it have to blizzard on the day I am scheduled to arrive home?? Like, seriously, it can't wait a few days?!?
ARGH.
I better start mentally preparing now.

Love too all, see most of you very soon! xoxo

¿Diciembre ya?

I can´t believe its December already.
(I do realize that I start quite a few blog posts this way. ¨I can believe its already...such and such month¨)
Part of this is a fault of my blogging; I hardly have been at it lately. Its been almost 3 weeks since my last post! Oops.
Part of it is also that time has, literally, (no matter how much I say it, and I know I do a lot,) flown.
Where did the months go? Is it possible that I am actually going on my 7th month in Guatemala?
Is it possible that I am going home to MN in FOUR DAYS?!?
It´s really weird to think that soon I will be blogging from Minnesota. In my house. In my room. (Do I still have a room?) With wireless, free, internet. (That will be weird. Not paying for internet from a cafe? Being able to download things quickly? STRANGE.)
Regardless, despite how much culture shock I will be going through, I am SO EXCITED.
I can´t imagine Christmas anywhere but Minnesota, and for the first time in my life, the songs ¨I´ll be home for Christmas¨ and ¨I´m dreaming of a white Christmas¨ actually have meaning for me.
(They never did before; I was always like, psh, of course I´ll be home for Christmas! Where else would I be??)
Speaking of which--I can´t wait until I am on the plane to MN so that I can start listening more frequently to my Christmas music. I tried a few weeks ago, the weekend after Thanksgiving, but it was just too weird. I was sweating, wearing flip flops, running around the house cleaning, windows wide open, blue sky. With Michael Buble busting out the ¨Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow¨
Did NOT work for me. I (sadly) had to turn Michael off. It felt like listening to Christmas music in July. It just doesn´t have the same feeling!
So, that said, as of right now, I only listen to Christmas music at night, when its dark outside, and sometimes in the morning when its actually chilly getting ready for work. Then its easier to deceive my senses.

Anyway, Christmas music aside, I can´t wait to be on the plane.

I have quite a bit to do between now and Saturday am however, so sitting at work all day handing out Christmas baskets and gifts to the Antigua villages (as fun as it is to see their happiness) gets a little mentally challenging. When its not busy, my mind always starts to wander, thinking of all the things I could be doing on my mental to-do list.
At the same time however, it is really nice to sit around, relax, wish all the families Merry Christmas as they come in one by one, and chat with the other hospitality girls as we get excited for MN and everything Christmas.

And eat delicious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies courtesy of Louise. SO. GOOD!
(Where´d she get the pumpkin? Yep you guessed it. My industrial sized can is STILL goin strong.)
(I think Kevin is sick of eating pumpkin. We´ve had pumpkin pies, pumpkin soup, pumpkin shakes, and now pumpkin cookies. MMM.)
I think maybe the pumpkin soup was pushing it for poor Kevin. After a week of eating pumpkin. The shakes, however, (inspired by my years at Culvers, and my favorite shake of all time,) are quite delicious.
I still have to take a picture of the big can to post for all to see. It is quite impressive.
Maybe next post!
I have to get back to Christmas baskets for now.

Love to all, hope to write soon, and if not, I´ll be home in 4 short days :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

It´s Wednesday, about 5pm, and most people in the states are probably getting home from work...swinging by Cub foods to pick up pumpkin and cranberries and other Thanksgiving-ish foods...going home..making pies...(or, thats at least what Karsten and I always do; stay up until midnight (or later) watching movies in the family room while the pies cook.

Do not fear.
I, too, will be heading into town after work today to buy Thanksgiving-esque groceries.
(I, however, will be wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops, with a sunburnt nose from the lunch hour in the 80 degree sunshine.)

Not at all trying to brag here; although I DID here that its snowing quite a bit in Brainerd, I would much prefer Thanksgiving with snow to Thanksgiving in the tropics. It just doesn´t FEEL right. It´s very strange. And, whats more, to be working tomorrow, a normal day, 8-5, helping coordinate the Doten family, while thinking of everyone sitting around the table in sweaters in MN is even stranger.
I never thought that Thanksgiving away from home would be a little sad, but, alas, it is!
Luckily, us Americans in Guatemala are all feeling the same, and we plan to make as festive an occasion out of this situation as we can.
Tomorrow night, after work, we´re all getting together for a nice big meal--not the traditional Thanksgiving meal, however, because that´s what we´re doing on Saturday at Common Hope. However, tomorrow cannot go uncelebrated, so we are having some barbequed chicken and pumpkin pie.
Pumpkin pie courtesy of me.
AND the current biggest cause of my stress.
Is it weird that I wake up feeling stressed out about pumpkin pie??
(YES)
I will explain tomorrow why exactly pumpkin pie is leaving me stressed out. Basically, if you thought finding canned pumpkin in Guatemala is easy, you´ve got another thing coming for you.
But more tomorrow :) Gonna dart off to the Antigua grocery store before it gets too dark.

Love to all, and a very merry Thanksgiving! I will write more tomorrow about pie woes. (And no, Dad, the stress is not caused by the fact that I do not have an horno.)

:)

¨Christmas¨ en San Rafael

On Friday, a team of 6 of us went to our satellite site, San Rafael, to deliver Christmas gifts for the children and Christmas food baskets for the affiliated families.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, instead of trying to describe the experience, I will let you see for yourselves.

Below: A little girl proudly holding her Christmas gift, a Barbie doll.

Above: A little boy holding on to his and his brother´s new toy cars.

Above: Such a big ball for such a little peanut!

Below: All the girls, (this one was about 7) who´s moms didn´t come (sadly it was many) hauled their Christmas food baskets home on their heads.

So precious.

I abosolutely fall in love with the kids out at San Rafael everytime I go.

These are the same kids who asked for beds and sweaters for Christmas a few weeks ago when we went to sign them up.

Sometimes its hard to be excited about choosing between a car and a puzzle when you´re hungry and cold.

But, seeing the looks on the kids faces when they picked up their gifts, they definitely were excited. Maybe it made the hunger go away for a little while :)

Either way, it was an amazing day. (Despite exhausting)

One month and counting...?

I feel like I say this everytime I blog...but I SERIOUSLY cannot believe how fast time is flying. October came, and went, (felt like June the whole time) and now its already almost mid-November?? Where the heck is time going? I swear, I am stuck in an eternal June-feeling time capsule. In MN, the months are marked by typical weather patterns. September means indian summers, chilly nights, fall leaves. October means chillier nights and Halloween costumes, and November means turning on the heat in the Blarneystone and the first snows of the year.
However, in Guate, there are no such time markers. Which is why I feel like I am in a June time capsule. Anyways, I am not complaining, cause I love the sunny weather! However, I am also looking forward to coming home in just 29 short days. It will be nice to have a ¨reality check¨ to make sure my mind knows its December and Christmas and not summer.
Speaking of which...I also cannot believe its only one month until I come home. Has it really been almost 6 months already? Time is flying way to fast for my liking.

November at work has been filled with graduation events for our affiliated children; (school year in Guate is January through October) so we are putting on all sorts of events for our high school graduates. Its a big deal to graduate high school in Guatemala. Only about 25% of kids who start 1st grade graduate from h.s. Yeah.
November is also filled with Christmas gift-ing to our affilated families. As I wrote about last week, we let each child elect their toy of choice (between a few options, of course, based on age,) and then a few weeks later, hand out all the gifts, as well as a Christmas basket of essential food items for the families. Its BUSY.
Also, the 21st-27th, the family of a board member is coming down, not as a Vision Team, but a Discovery Team, so although it doesn´t quite require as much from me, I am still planning their activities and will be busy with that.

What else is new...I´ve been sick this week, since Tuesday. Ick. Mostly just flu/fever, but this morning I woke up with ¨animalitos¨ in my stomach, bubbling all over the place, and decided to hit the clinic for antibiotics. Hopefully will be feeling less gurgly by tomorrow!
The joys of Guatemalan life. (ha) Not sure what I ate, but something decided to infest my stomach. It will be such a joy to be in the states, not having to worry about which ¨street foods¨ might get you sick. (All of which I eat, anyways, here, because I am usually pretty good with sickness)

Anyways, that´s the latest, hard to have exciting stories when you´ve been sleeping all week, sick. And, therefore, behind on work! Gotta go. But love to all in MN :)

Food for thought...

Food-related things that I like, and things that annoy me. Drafted mentally while eating breakfast, cooking dinner, and doing other cooking-related activities, mostly on 11/03/10.
(Read to the end for REAL food for thought.)

We’ll start with the things that annoy me, to get the negative part out of the way.

1) Having Corn Flakes as the only affordable cold breakfast cereal in the country. I am not kidding when I say this. Corn flakes is THEE breakfast cereal of Guatemalans. This lack of affordable alternative options forces me to get creative, of course, (corn flakes with granola, corn flakes with bananas, corn flakes with strawberries, corn flakes with granola AND bananas, which seems to be the winner,) but it sometimes makes me look up at my gigantic box of CORN FLAKES on my shelf and sigh. (This took place this morning, during breakfast.)

2) Another breakfast item annoyance/slight cause for alarm: Guatemalan milk, which I’m pretty sure is powdered, you buy warm at the grocery store. Which is fine, because powdered milk should be fine at room temperature, right? It’s just like pre-mixed powder and water. The thing that causes my slight alarm is that after no more than 2 weeks in the refrigerator, the milk goes bad. Yes. Can some science-y person explain THAT to me?? Maybe I am missing an essential step in the milk understanding process, but it sure seems to me that if you can buy it warm, it shouldn’t go bad COLD in your fridge 12 days later. Hmm.

3) Cheese. CHEESE. It is ridiculously overpriced here, and buying a block of sharp cheddar is like unheard of unless you’re one of the top Guatemalan 2% elite who own 75 percent of the wealth in the country. (Yes, I had to throw a political factoid in there) (And yes, it is true)
Anyways, I have been without good cheese (a staple in my diet) for WAAY too long now. I have these wonderful basil and sweet pepper crackers that Best Buy left for me, and they are sitting on my shelf SCREAMING cheddar cheese. Sigh. Oh well, one month and counting until all the cheese I want! Cheddar, extra sharp, please.

4) I dislike my complete lack of cooking utensils. I TOTALLY took the invention called a “garlic press” for granted for waay too many years. Whenever I find myself in the presence of one in the future, I will be sure to point out clearly to everyone in hearing range the brilliantness of the invention. (For now, I sacrifice the permanent smell of my hands for yummy tasting food)

5) I dislike my totally-inefficient-1976-ice-box-freezer-refrigerator. Just to give you an idea of the age of this baby: He is olive green. That right there I think speaks to his age. Unfortunately, he is NOT one of those “oldies-but-goodies” that was built more sturdy back in the day than the stuff they make today. He is, to put it simply, a piece of crap. Worthless. The freezer doesn’t work to save its life, and is forever getting too frozen, freezer-burning all of my frozen food, and then getting so much freezer-burn buildup that the little icebox door doesn’t completely close. Therefore causing a water buildup on the ceiling of my fridge, which drips down conveniently onto my food. I’d say my food is usually more wet than dry, so I quickly learned to keep important things sealed in containers with lids. Egg cartons, pretty much useless. They should make plastic egg cartons….
Yes but anyways, inventions aside, you can see how much frustration my fridge/freezer holds for me. I have always taken for granted having DRY food in my fridge! What a blessing to have a working refrigerator.

Well, now that I’ve done enough running of the mouth about things that irritate me in Guatemalan cuisine, let me move on to the more positive end of the spectrum.

Things I Like. (Generally about food and cooking. Since that’s the track we’re on tonight.)
1) I like buying strawberries for .75 cents a pound at the market.

2) I like buying blackberries for .20 cents a pound at the market.

3) I like living across the street from a bakery and buying $1 fresh strawberry tarts for dinner.

4) I like treating myself to a cup of the richest, real-est, chocolatey-est hot chocolate I have ever tasted on Friday or Saturday nights with my movies. It’s the kind you stir in a pot, melting a disk of chocolate into water and milk. Mmmmm there are no words to describe its sheer deliciousness. It reminds me of that Johnny Depp movie, Chocolat.
(Sidenote: don’t worry all, some of that will definitely be making its way
into my suitcase for Christmas.)

5) I like attempting to make Guatemalan dishes, (i.e. guisquil, arroz con leche, etc,) failing, and then taking my failed attempt stories to my boss Rosy at work the next day and ask how I can better make such and such. (Rosy is a wonderful and patient woman, who I think quite enjoys my stories and futile yet earnest attempts to be more Guatemalan) Next on my list for perfecting is Atol de arroz y leche, a delicious hot atol-y rice-y drink with cinnamon and sugar. (Yes I know that “atol-y rice-y drink” describes it perfectly.)

6) I also like sitting down to a bowl of steaming homemade spaghetti on a Wednesday night with a candle and Neal and Leandra to blog about my food frustrations. (I am an old lady, yes I know.) My spaghetti sauce, made without a recipe, with different Guatemalan vegetables cut up into it, is one thing I can make that turns out every single time without failure. Whenever I have extra vegetables in my fridge, I just buy tomato paste and make a delicious vegetarian spaghetti sauce that is like half sauce, half vegetable soup.

7) What else do I like….oh yeah, I like not having an oven.
OH WAIT, THAT’S NOT TRUE! I really REALLY miss having an oven, and when I find all these Betty Crocker online recipes for pumpkin muffins and pumpkin cream cheese bars, I salivate jealously and growl at my inbox. Not fair, Betty. You should know I don’t have an oven, so STOP SENDING ME ADS FOR BAKED GOODS AND CASSEROLES, DAMMIT!

8) What else…there are so many things that I like, actually, that it would take way too long to mention. I guess one highlight in particular is coming home at night, and having nothing to do but cook and relax. (Sometimes, I am too tired to cook, but this week, for example, I am not too tired, and loving it!) I love making myself banana pancakes or omelets on the weekends at 9am and not having the looming stress or pressure of a full days work (homework) ahead of me. I love making weekend grocery trips for the week, and then having to go back into town at least once during the week cause I forgot something or ran out of milk. I love inventing my own new recipes when I am stuck at home without a cookbook. (Which is actually quite often, because I don’t HAVE a cookbook!) Ha.

I love a lot of things about cooking, living alone, and living in Guatemala. However, I would just like to point out one last thing. Though they may be funny (and actually quite frustrating,) my “frustrations” listed above are quite minimal. And I am very aware of this. Which is why I haven’t demanded a new fridge, or whined and complained about these things earlier. In the scheme of things (life) down here, these frustrations are so tiny that I’m actually embarrassed to write a whole blog post about them without commenting at the end.
Here are some of the things that keep me grounded, despite entertaining whimsical blog posts:
1) Spending the day on days like today working in San Rafael, our satellite site that is 100% indigenous, 99% impoverished, and 80% malnourished.

2) While working at said site, and helping affiliated children pick out their annual Common Hope Christmas gift, seeing little boys and girls in indigenous clothing cluster around the table, hardly able to contain their excitement at the prospect of choosing between a “muneca,” a “pelota,” or a “rompecabeza” (A doll, a ball, or a puzzle) for Christmas.

3) When asking one little boy of about 8 where his invitation was, (because all the children needed to bring their invitation in order to check them off the list) hearing his reply: “I lost it because I gave it to my dad and my dad was drunk, and who knows what he did with it.” The 8 year old had come alone, without parents, with his 2 younger siblings by the hand.

4) And last but not least….When I asked one little girl which Christmas gift she wanted, (a ball, a doll, or a puzzle,) hearing her answer: “ No es possible una cama?”…….(“A bed isn’t possible??”)

These are true stories.
These are examples of the things that keep me grounded.
Enough said.

Post Best-Buy life

Continued.

So, despite my post-partum depression on Saturday, I managed to relax on Saturday afternoon. Came home from work at about 1:30, sat in the sun enjoying the beautiful weather for about an hour, and then collapsed on my bed to think. (Time to think is something precious during the week of a Vision Team, so I finally had time to reflect on emails that my eyes read Wednesday, but my brain didn´t process until Saturday. It sounds sad, but its completely true! I´m sure those who are busy like me (Mom and Dad, who work like maniacs,) can relate.

Saturday, after hardcore relaxation, I wandered into the market with the intention of buying a new movie, and wandered back home with 2 movies, cilantro and avocado from the market, and a few groceries from the grocery store. Totally equiped to make guacamole. MMMM. However, when I got home, my body told me otherwise, (too tired to make guacamole) and Mo, Shelly, and I, (my Santa Ana neighbors) wandered into the plazuela of Santa Ana for a dinner of chalupas. (Yes I use the word ¨wander¨ a lot; I happen to like the word. It describes perfectly what we do. We wander into the plaza.)

After a late dinner (8pm!) I wandered (ha) back home to watch my newly purchased movie: Inception! It was wonderful. I loved it! I am going to have to watch it again, though, so that I can understand it better. And yes, Karsten, I own it, so you can watch it all you please. (So don´t buy it!)

Sunday, we went to Kevin´s grandma´s birthday party....whew what a full day. Birthday parties here are a big deal, they last from 10am to 10pm, with tons of food and games and etc. By the end of the day, I had a big headache, (which has more or less left; although today it seems to be back.)

Monday, All Saints Day, and observed Guatemalan holiday, we didn´t have work! It is a big deal in Guatemala, (kinda like Dia de los Muertos) and everyone goes to the cemetaries to adorn with flowers and spend the day with the passed and relatives and eating atol and tostadas outside the cemetary. We went to Sumpango, the town that´s famous for having the huge kites, and saw the festival of a lifetime.

Above on the right is one of the kites flying, which takes many people to run to get it into the air, and a lot of wind. To the left are some examples of the beauty of the kites. SO. BEAUTIFUL. And so intricate. Family teams work on one kite together, (it takes anywhere from 1-5 months) and make the kites as a symbol to communicate with the dead up in heaven. A pretty cool tradition, if you ask me!



Here is the whole group in front of one of the kites. ¡Magnifico!

November already?!

Wow I cannot BELIEVE it is already November. How time flies....
For all of my faithful blog fans, (yes I know it is throngs of people) (haha) I have to apologize for not writing for the past week and a half or so. Life has been busy!

For one, I had a team here, Best Buy. And everybody knows that when I have a team here, I have little time for much else. I usually make it home from work by 6:30 or 7 and collapse on my bed and stare at my ceiling. Usually the staring at the ceiling turns into staring at the backs of my eyelids, and I am sound asleep in bed, lights on, clothes on, by 8:30.
(I am an old lady, I know.)
Then I wake up (before my alarm) at 6:15am, with a mental to-do list repeating itself in my head. Sometimes I even dream about work. (Last week I dreamt I had a conversation with Louise about who was going to lead the final reflection, and I woke up wondering if we really had the conversation or not.) Haha. But this only happens when I am really busy!
Luckily, however, when we have a team here like Best Buy, I also wake up excited to go to work. They were a truly fantastic team, and their energy and enthusiasm just radiated around Common Hope, and rubbed off on me. I thoroughly enjoyed every day with them. Saturday morning, after seeing them off from the project site, I was actually sad to see them go. Such wonderful people and a wonderful week. I always enjoy working with people who really ¨get it¨ and go back to the states changed people. I find myself thankful once again that I have the fortune of living down here and working for a whole year, with the ability to help so many people make life changes and leave Guatemala different people.
Even at 22.
I always feel a little silly teaching people about Guatemala, and calling upon my own life experiences to help them process what they´re experiencing. However, living down here really does give you a different perspective, and I absolutely love sharing with others what I have learned in my now 9 months total in Guatemala.
(Okay, personal reflection aside haha!)
Anyways, the team was great. They built a house and a HALF, they worked so fast in construction. Below is the team and the affiliated family outside the house they put up.

The house to the left is the model that Common Hope makes. As you can see, it is made out of fibrolite, and is not meant to last forever, only about 10 years, but is meant as a stepping stone for families, to get them off the dirt floor, out of the rain, while they can work for themselves to one day establish a nicer home.

During the week, Best Buy also brought us:

-Trainings on leadership and teamwork for our IT staff and others,

-Trainings on how to speak in public and give an effective Powerpoint presentation to our managerial staff,

-Shared information, techniques, and games with CH psychology department

-Painted partner school, public elementary Santa Catarina--the entire school!

-Activities with the daycare and the library group on shapes in English and Spanish

-Creative t-shirt activity with our Youth Group (children at risk of falling out of school)

-Sponsorship visits for 3 new children!

Also, when we went to visit Mayan Ruins on Sunday, a town called Iximche, we had the privilege to see a chicken get sacrificed. It was some of the Mayan rituals/celebrations that they are doing more of now, because December 2012 is the big change/¨end¨ of the world, so the Mayans are practicing rituals more often. And, lucky for us, we got to see a real live one. Which included chopping a chicken´s head off and spurting its blood over the fire. YUM. (Sarcarsm. But, it was a good experience at least!) More later, I´m off to lunch!

A few photos!

So, Mom has been NAGGing me for WEEKS to put up pictures of my house...(Haha just kidding, she hasn´t been nagging, she just asked me once, very politely!) BUT, I finally have a few downloaded on my work computer. More to come, of course, but these are just a few pictures from the week. Below is my wonderful bedroom. Unfortunately it looks a lot nicer than it smells. (Still getting over the mold people)

Here is another shot of the room. The door to the living room is to the right. The black door I was forced to cover, because light streaming in from the neighbors was a slight annoyance. This door is also the wonderful window to hearing everything that goes on next door with my neighbors. They have 3 sons, 9, 13, 18, and a dog named Yogi. Sometimes I yell at Yogi through the door. ¨Yogi. SHH.¨ But only when he barks like a maniac.

Here is my living room...note how much furniture I have! Its over

whelming, I know.

The rest are just random shots from the week. Salsa dancing with Oso, a dear friend from the city, with whom I Love to dance, and then Maura and I, (the Bennies of Common Hope!)

More Letters!!

AHHH I got more letters today!!! :D
One from Grandma, one from Dad, and one from Poppy!!!!
(For those of you who don´t know Poppy, no, her name is not actually a flower, or the seed, it is Megan Poppler, but we call her Poppy as a nickname :))
I loved all three of the letters. (Well, except Dad´s, which included a....dental card...with my next appointment on it.) Hahahahhah just kidding thanks Dad :) It made me smile!
And Grandma, I loved your letter! My favorite was the picture of Minneapolis. I am going to hang it on my wall at home.
So fun to get mail! I loved hearing about the latest of what you and Grandpa are up to. Love you both!

And, Poppy, can I just tell you how much I loved your letter??? It made me smile COUNTless times, and I actually laughed out loud at one point. I think it was about when you said ¨Whats new in music? Are you kidding me, its me¨. I literally laughed. Hahahah Poppy I miss you so much!

It was so fun to get mail guys. Thanks so much!
Love to all.
(Heading to the beach tomorrow! Guatemalan Revolution day. Overthrew the dictator Ubico in the 1940´s, after he had been in power for 17 years.)

Still alive and kickin...

Yes I know I haven´t updated the blog in about 2 weeks, but it has been so darn busy, I haven´t had time! (Even now, I STILL don´t have time, which is why I find myself blogging during the lunch hour.) (Even if its just to let people know I´m alive.)

I am alive and well, loving the sunny weather, and loving being busy! I´ll take busy-ness to sitting in my office and blogging all day during work, that´s for sure.
Shelly just had a Vision Team leave on Saturday, so last week we were all very occupied with them. (They were a great group, btw, thanks guys)

My next team (Best Buy) comes Saturday! So this week will also be a busy one, finishing up plans and preparing everything for their arrival. (Plus a holiday thrown in there midweek, Guatemalan Revolution day) (Which means BEACHTIME!!!) But which also means a crazier 4-day week at work, trying to finish up all the Best Buy details. I am very excited for them to come--already sound like a wonderful team.

So much has happened in the past 2 weeks I don´t even know where to begin....
So I´ll just hit the highlights and lowlights.
1) Definite lowlight: The Twins lost. BOOOOO. We even were able to WATCH the last game in the series, all of us Minnesotan baseball freaks crowded the one sportsbar in town that sometimes shows MLB games...and cheered them on and everything...but despite all of the cheering, the Twins broke my heart and lost their third and final game of the series. It was disheartening. They didn´t even PLAY well. Oh, well, there´s always the Vikings to cheer for I guess...(whose games ALSO seem to appear in Antigua sometimes! Strange.)

2) Highlight: It has been sunny for going on 3 weeks now. HOLLA!!! I love it. My house is starting to dry out a little, and I haven´t seen a single slug in about a week, so I am eternally thankful. I LOVE the dry season, and the only downside is dust everywhere and dirty feet. I suppose there isn´t a compromise, is there. I´ll take what I can get! THE SUN.

3) Otro highlight: 2 Sundays ago, I spent the day translating in a hospital in Antigua for a group of doctors from none other than Minnesota. It. Was. Sweet.
I have found my profession. I wanna be a translator. It was the coolest thing ever, helping people who would otherwise be helpless. This translating however was even cooler, because there were 2 translators. Most of the patients came from 8 hours away, from remote Mayan villages, and didn´t speak Spanish. They spoke indigenous Mayan--I forget what dialect. But anyways, they would speak to the Mayan/Spanish translator in Mayan, who would then speak to me in Spanish, and then I would speak to the doctor in English. It was quite the translating train. But it was so. cool. To know that I was a part of helping people who would otherwise be two languages away from understanding each other was really cool.
The doctors I worked with were gynecologists, (gynecological surgeons, I guess they were,) who were visiting patients for pre-op to schedule operations the following week. They saw some of the worst cases--mothers who had had 8-10 children whose actual uteruses were falling out....some who had pain for 7-10 years and this was the first time they were able to get to the doctor....I won´t even go into it all. But it was amazing the cases we saw. One of the doctors, Jerry, works at United Hospital in the cities, when I asked him about translators, he said that the hospital hires out from a translating organization and calls them in when necessary. (Hello, future occupation.) But anyways, it was really neat to work with them.

The weird part? His name was Jerry (noted above), real name Gerald. (Isn´t that funny Dad?) I have not met many Jerry/Geralds in my life.
The REAL weird part??
He has a daughter named Brianna! Can you believe it? I was incredulous. I was like NO WAY! Your name is Jerry and you have a daughter named Brianna....and MY name is Brianna and my Dad´s name is Jerry! It was too strange. Here we are, down in Guatemala, both from Minnesota, I worked with him in the hospital, AND I happened to translate his sponsorship visit later on that week as well.
I should have asked if his wife´s name was Sandy.

:) Anyways, speaking of Jerry´s, its my FATHER Jerry´s birthday tomorrow!! :) Happy birthday Dad! Love you.
´
I think thats all for now folks...
Oh and Karsten thinks I´m a prodigy.
That´s definitley the highlight of the day. I love being compared to a child prodigy. Not to mention the fact that its MOZART. Hahaha. I am definitely going to brag about that one for the next...ohhhhh, 6 months.
:) Love to all! More news to come later.

¿Movie advice please?

As Shelly and I were sitting in our office this morning, mourning the Twins loss and working hard, we somehow happened upon the topic of movies. We mutually discovered that we have absolutely NO idea what current/good movies there are.
Actually, we discovered that we haven´t known what current/good movies there are for the past four months.
I mean, I´ve heard on facebook that some movie called The Social Network is good, but what the heck is that? Also, some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio is supposed to be wonderful?
Anyways. I decided to reach out to family and friends on this one. If anybody has seen any movies in the last 4 months that they would recommend, please comment or let me know what they are! I will look for them in the market :)

Same goes for music, because I officially recognize 3 songs of the current iTunes top 20. This is an issue. (Of course, on iTunes Latino, I recognize all of them) At least I am up to speed on my Latin music. Anyways, post your favorite songs and movies and I will be ever grateful :)
Thanks guys!

Earthquake Central!

Last night, I felt the strongest earthquake tremor that I have felt in all my time in Guatemala, ever. EVER. (And I´ll have you know that that is a total of 8.5 months, people.)
I think I have felt about 6 or 7 tremors, and last night was DEFinitely the strongest. It actually made me freak out, a little. And made all the dogs in the neighborhood start barking in fear.
I was literally startled. My house shook. My bed rocked. Its a strange sensation, really, because your entire surroundings shake. The whole house--the windows rattled, the whole foundation of EVERYthing shakes. Luckily my China teacup collection didn´t fall off the wall.
(Nah, just kidding, I don´t have a China teacup collection)

Later I found out that the reason this felt the strongest was because it actually originated in Antigua, Guatemala! It was only a 3.8 on the Richter scale, but since it originated in Antigua, it felt a lot stronger. It lasted 6 seconds, which doesn´t sound that long, but trust me, it feels long. 6 whole seconds of foundation-rattling? No thank you. I´ll pass.

But, you can add that to the list of natural ¨disasters¨ that I´ve experienced while living here....earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes-turned tropical storms, floods, and landslides. I am starting to appreciate Minnesota´s relatively flat, dry, and solid landscape...where the biggest fear is a hail storm or tornado.

The Latest

Not too much to report in a world of no vision teams and rain. Haha but I will do my best to give a report.
The biggest news around here is that Shelly bought a puppy...a cocker spaniel that is SO cute that I actually have fallen in love. I usually don´t like dogs, (at all) but this one I love! Probably because its so small and sleepy and adorable. VERY cute. Ya quiero un perrrrrooo!
What else is there...hmm yesterday Mo, Kevin, and I went on an excercise jaunt to a nearby soccer field, ran some laps around the track, and played a little soccer. It was fun to get out and excercise! Although today my nose is not thanking me; little did I know the sun was actually quite strong beneath the clouds. (Also, my running muscles are not thanking me, because the majority of exercise I do is walking and dancing. Neither of which are RUnning.)
But it felt good.
Also. What most definitely did NOT feel good: Seeing allllll my roomates and allllll my college friends and fellow classmates of 2010 going back for homecoming this past weekend. Seeing all the pics and statuses on fb? IT. WAS. TORTURE. SOOO not fair! Homecoming the year after is like, THE biggest thing for the graduates to come back for..and I missed it. OH well. I will try not to get TOO jealous by looking at all the pictures, and remind myself that the time will come when I can come back for reunions this winter to good ol´ CSB/ SJU.

On another note...
Best Buy comes in a couple of weeks! I am already getting excited and pressing forward with their planning. Should be a fun group, I will undoubtedly learn a lot.

This Sunday, I am spending 8-5 translating for a doctor from the states in an Antigua Hospital. That will be 1) a very good experience and 2) very very, VERY nerve-wracking. I dont know how I feel about translating in a hospital setting, translating around here (without blood) is already stressful enough, trying to separate out the two languages in my head and speak to each party in their respective language. Its harder than it sounds, people! Its really easy to start speaking to the Americans in Spanish, because you´ve just been conversing with the Spanish-speaker, and then sometimes its so easy to begin the conversation in Spanish. But, it will undoubtedly be an amazing experience, and give me a glimpse into the life of a translator in the states. (In case its ever something I want to do when I get back.)

I think thats about all for now...I can´t believe that its already October. It seriously feels like....June. (Surprise, surprise, its felt like June for 4 months!) Haha. But the sun is FINally out today, so I am ever thankful. Its the first day without rain or clouds that we´ve had in....oh....uh...4 months? Haha no jk. Maybe like 2 or 3 weeks however. I cannot believe it did not rain ONE DROP today!!!!!!
In 40 minutes, I plan on walking home, (in the SUN) opening my windows (to let the SUN in) and making dinner and eating upstairs (in the SUN) on my terrace. Should be wonderful :)

Strawberry-Avocado Salad

Ask Mom or Grandma: It´s by far my favorite salad, ever. EVER. I think I ask for it for every birthday and/or other fancy meal that we host or where Grandma asks which salad we would like her to bring.


Anyways, I eat it a LOT here, know why?
Cause fresh strawberries cost Q.5 a pound here. Thaaaat´s about, ohh, .75 cents. A pound. And avocados cost about .50 cents each. Its wonderful.

It´s not EXACTly the same as Grandma´s, because I have to make my own dressing (out of lime juice, olive oil and spices) (they don´t sell Italian dressing in Antigua)

But its pretty good anyways.

Healthcare--CH and Guatemala

(We are now back to my section-by-section Common Hope manuel, as it is verry slow around here this week.)

Healthcare.
For starters, if we thought healthcare was bad in the states, just try Guatemala. For example. (and this isn´t even necessarily healthcare, just plain madness,) --nobody pulls over for ambulances. This is sad, but true. I do not know why; perhaps noone ever was taught that rule during drivers ed. (Or, perhaps its cause a large population of said drivers didn´t ATTEND drivers ed)
Regardless. It´s rare that people pull over for ambulances.
Also. The said ambulance drivers are actually volunteer firefighters.
The public hospitals have poor quality healthcare and have LOOONG waits.
The private hospitals have better quality, but cost un monton. (Mucho $$$$).
Affording to get to the doctor or dentist is something that almost never happens to many families in the rural poor communities in Guatemala.
This is one huge incentive for the affiliated families of Common Hope. As long as their children stay in school, the family as a whole remains affiliated and therefore gets access to healthcare at a free or reduced rate. But. If they decided to pull their children out of school to work and contribute to the family income? They no longer have access to our clinic and health programs. It seems like a pretty good incentive, to me.

At CH, we have a clinic with 3 Guatemalan doctors, 1 nurse, physical therapist, nutritionist, lab technician, community health specialist, and receptionist. We also have a pharmacy, a dental clinic, and a number of health and parenting programs. (for example, programs for people with diabetes and hyper-tension, two VERY common diseases down here).
The clinic and pharmacy are very accessible to families. The affiliated children (and pregnant women) always get free clinic access, but because we believe in putting a value on our services, and not giving them away for free, the rest of the family pays a very reduced rate. We are talking VERY reduced. The most a family member would possibly pay for a clinic visit is Q.5--or less than $1 USD. They also get medications from the pharmacy for an extremely reduced rate--medications that normally cost Q.90, for example, they can purchase for Q. 2.

The clinic is a primary care clinic, so emergencies are sent to a hospital in Antigua with which we partner. As a primary care clinic, the most common things the doctors see are 1) malnutrition 2) Upper-respiratory disease and 3) Diarrhea/gastrointestinal issues.
1) Malnutrition is sadly common in Guatemala. 50% of Guatemala´s children are chronicly malnourished--in some areas, its even as high as 75%--among some of the highest rates in the world. One reason, of course, is poverty. However, more so than that, its poverty combined with a lack of knowledge and ability to change the diet. If you look at the staple of the Guatemalan diet, (corn tortillas and beans) some of the cheapest foods you can buy, they are not at all nutritious. The children get full off of tortillas and beans--so they´re not neccesarily always hungry, persay, because tortillas are very heavy and filling, but severely malnourished. Tortillas have almost NO nutritional value. Children are lacking fruits, vegetables, and colorful nutrients that corn tortillas and beans do not provide.
This is another reason why much of the country is short. They aren´t just cute little Mayan people; their development as a child was severely limited due to malnutrition.
2) Another common disesase--upper respiratory. When mothers have children, they spend the first year + of their life strapped to their mothers backs, doing everything their mother does. This is wonderful bonding time, but when the mother is cooking over an open fire all day long, the smoke severely damages not only her, but her baby´s lungs. Upper respiratory is common--to help combat this, CH also has a stove program (families can work for just 10-14 hours to earn a stove) which come with chimmneys--to tunnel the smoke up and away from the room.
3) Gastrointestinal. That is pretty self-explanatory. Many poor families can´t afford to buy pure water, so they drink the water from the faucets. This, of course, is not healthy, and leads to diarrhea and other related illnesses in both children and adults.

I could go on and on about ailments in Guatemala--(Cervical cancer, the number one cause of death in Guatemalan women, is also tres interesante....how much teeth-pulling the dentists have to do because turns out drinking Big Cola--the off-brand of COke--is cheaper than purified water....etc. etc. etc. There are so many interesting facts. But I will leave this food for thought for now; if anybody has any further questions I would love to answer them.

Love from Guatemala--and count your blessings that you can afford to buy vegetables.

What I Miss (After 4 months)

This list excludes family and friends, because obviously those are a given and cannot be numbered! But besides that, this is what I find myself missing after 4 months.

1) CSB/SJU and going to class. (Yes, I never thought I would miss it. BUT I totally do)
2) The Blarneystone and its crappy heat and weird noises and having 6 roomates to run up and talk to at any given moment...
3) Tommy/Johnnie homecoming games and #13.
4) Sal´s bar and grill. (Yes Nicole, the ¨and grill¨ was necessary.)
5) Fall weather. Colorful leaves. Ahhhh fall.
6) Carpet. (This never fails to be on my list)
7) My hair straightener
8) Manju´s class. Learning. Political science.
9) Driving.
10) Target. TARRGETTT!

Anniversary: 4 months

4 months already?!
It feels like I just got here a month ago. However, last Friday the 24th was officially my 4 month anniversary. Which is weird.
What´s even weirder is the fact that my entire study abroad program was 4 months. (January-May) I feel like those 4 months were WAAY longer than these past 4. It could be because that was my first time out of the country, and I was learning SO MUCH. Those 4 months were jam-packed with so many first-time life experiences, and I learned so much that it feels like they were a whole year of my life.
Now, I continue to learn constantly, however, the language is already there, which was a big part of the learning. Also, the personal/political development is already there, (after living in Guate for 4 months and writing a 50-page thesis) so although I continue to learn, I already had developed opinions this time around.
That must be why this 4 months flew by. I have still yet to be super homesick, which is great. I talk to the family a lot more this time around, and skype with friends, so its easier! I think the worst part is seeing (via facebook) all the CSB/SJU alums going back for homecoming and Tommy/Johnnie and etc. It KILLS me. The first year after graduation is when the most people come back for homecoming and football games. SO. NOT. FAIR!
But, at the same time, I am glad that I could move right down here in May and not miss going back to school quite as much. Its a trade off, I guess.

Beautiful Guatemalan Sunsets

The evening view from my street.

On non-rainy evenings, that is.

Vision Team...but not mine!

Finally I can sit back and look on while someone else gets all the stress of having a team here. Haha (just kidding, I love what I do!)

Shelly´s first team is here, Holy Name Catholic Church from Plymouth, MN.

I´ve been doing a lot of translating and helping out--but it is so refreshing not to be first in command. It´s still tiring on the brain to translate, but also so enjoyable.

The following are pictures Shelly took yesterday while we were doing an activity with kids from the library. I translated while Jacqueline, the book club/library activity maestro, involved members of the team with the kids from the library. We read a children´s book about animals, played a matching/memory game of English/Spanish animal names, and then painted kids´faces

to top off the afternoon. It was wonderful. Jacqui is amazzzing.

To the left is the ¨living room¨area of our Antigua site, where Vision Teams stay. Since the libary was being painted yesterday, we did the activity upstairs in the living room.

Below here is a display of my wonderful artistic ability. Butterflies were my specialty. Iguanas were NOT. (I tried my very hardest to draw an iguana on one little boy, but in all reality, it looked like a humming bird. But I mean, c´mon, how the heck do you draw a iguana?!)

(The worst part is when he ran to the mirror afterwards, all excited to see his iguana, and then he goes ¨Se ve como un pajarito!!¨ (¨HEY, this looks like a little BIRD!¨

Its bad when the 7-yr-olds are calling you out on your animal drawing skills.

My official letter of pardon from the President of Guatemala.

I know. Its kind of a big deal.

September 20th, 2010

1) Walking home from work just now, in the rain, I realized my umbrella has holes in it. Completely defeating the purpose of an umbrella in the first place.
2) Walking TO work this morning, I realized I was wearing one blue flip flop and one black flip flop. Hmm.
3) Scurrying home in my holey umbrella, I flopped on my bed to open the 3 letters I had received at work this afternoon. YAY letters! One from Mom, one from Dad, and one from Grandma! They were dated 9/11, 9/9, and 9/11, respectively. Not bad I guess, to receive them one week later? The last letters I got, I got even faster than that. Could be because the 15th was a national holiday, Guatemalan Independence Day, and a lot of vacationing and festivities go on around this week. Anyways, I was delighted to read my letters. I decided that anyone who writes me a letter gets a mention in my blog. Because I really truly enjoy reading them! For some reason it’s more fun and more personal than email. So thank you, Dad, Mom, and Grandma, I really loved the letters! I love hearing updates on news and life from the good ol’ Nort country. (And Karsten, I await your long juicy complaint/gossip-filled letter with excitement :)) Hopefully it comes soon.
4) I suppose some of you want to hear about Mexico…..well let me tell you, it really wasn’t all that great. We traveled 8 hours in bus to get there, (not usually so long, but we had to take a different route due to flooding) arrived at 4pm, walked around the town, in the rain, ate dinner, went to bed, and got up the next morning at 8am to leave again. Really not a vacation. And really not a pretty town—typical border town, I guess. Nothing spectacular. Just any other old city in Guatemala. (Unlike San Cristobal de las Casas, the other place in Mexico I have been, which is BEAUtiul!) So it was kind of a disappointment! However, I achieved successfully what I had come to achieve, leave the country and then re-enter, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much. It was a trip of business, so to say, not pleasure. Haha. And my Guatemalan bodyguards (friends) really helped the whole crossing-the-border process go smoothly. And let me just reiterate one more time (Mom)—the Mexico/Guate border is NOTHING like the Mexico/US border. I mean, really. At the US border, everybody wants to enter. And traffick substances. At the Guate border, everybody’s like, uhh, I live in the same circumstances as you, and we have the same laws, so why should I make a big fuss about going back and forth?
Really. That’s how it is. Te lo juro.

My first homeade spaghetti sauce

It was pretty good! Not quite as good as Mom and Dad´s, but I was just inventing as I go, so next time I´ll have to get their real recipie :) But with lots of fresh tomatoes and fresh herbs straight from the market, it was delicious.

More Catching up from Last Weekend...

And so the stories continue.

Friday, after my bout with migration, I convinced our driver to drop me off at Miraflores, a mall in Guatemala City, where I would wait for an hour until my friend Kevin who works in the city would come pick me up.
So, I know that I am living in Guatemala and living the simple life, but let me tell you guys.

This Friday afternoon in the mall was the best thing to happen to me in, like, a long time. It was pure relaxation. After the day from hell in immigration, waltzing around the American-style mall, eating a crepe, and making the accidental shoe purchase was JUST what the doctor ordered.
(This accidental purchase, by the way, was very justified by the following reasons)

1) They were Q.80 (10 dollars)
2) They were on sale for 50% off
3) I have boughten a total of 2 items of clothing for myself in the (almost) 4 months since I have been here.
4) They are excellent shoes

5) It was total therapy shopping.

Needless to say, the mall was amazing. Most of the stuff was outrageously priced, (even a little expensive according to U.S. standards,) and definitely not the kind of pricing you can find at the Pacas. (I was used to paying Q30 for a shirt, or 4 dollars) The shoes however? Well worth it.
After Kevin picked me up from the mall, we went to TGI Friday´s, to complete my evening of American indulgence, and then he took me home. It was wonderful. I was in bliss. It was like a day in the spa.
Definitely made up for my frustration with the stupid country about their immigration laws.

Exiled to Mexico

Friday: Last Friday was such a frustrating day that I am just now ready to write about it. Six days later. Barely.

So, Friday I went back to migration otra vez. For the third time. Ready to pay my fine that the President had pardoned 75% of, re-apply for my long over-due visa, and get on with my life. (still tiffed about the fact that I had to pay Q400 for something that I should have only had to pay Q30 for in the first place, but I was ready to accept, in an attempt to keep myself from being blacklisted)

Walking into the migration office, I could actually feel the nervous pit in my stomach; that building has caused me so many hours of stress that I was NOT excited to step foot again in it. I had the feeling not everything would go 100% smoothly. (As I am writing this, I am realizing that my English is having a few...dificulties...is it possible to say 100% smoothly? Idk. I am getting my languages intertwined)

Anyways, I had the premonition that SOMEthing would not go as planned. After all, after the amount of problems they have caused me, was it really realistic to hope that I could just pay my fine and exit without problem?

No, of course not. I discovered this soon after I pushed aside the butterflies in my stomach and bravely marched up to the stupid migration counter, where I faced the same crowd of familiar faces who had been abusing their power with me for the past month.

(It doesn´t help that they remember me as the ¨beautiful gringa who is always crying¨ either.)

Hrmph. I can´t help but cry; I have never been so innocent--yet charged so much-- in my life. The amount of powerless-ness (is that a word?) that I have in that building is enough to make anyone cry. I swear.

Anyways. I tried to put on a face of ¨don´t-mess-with-me¨ bravado for the first part of the encounter, demanding I talk with the head of migration...but after I heard the bad news from the boss himself, I couldn´t help but start crying again. (Much to my dismay! I swear, that place just has an effect on me!) They told me that after paying my fine, I had 24 hours to leave the country.

Yes. Leave the country.
(I like to tell people I am exiled to Mexico. It sounds so cool.)
I have to go to Mexico or Belize, before the 22nd of the month, or the President will no longer pardon 75% of my fine, and I will be left to pay the whole thing. At first I was outraged, because I have only been here for 90 days, after all, not 180. (Every 90 days we have to renew in immigration, and every 180 days we have to leave the country.)
BUT, rules are rules, and I am done fighting. There is nothing I can do, except to back to migration yet again tomorrow, and then leave the country within 24 hours. (going to Mexico on Friday with 3 Guatemalan friends. It will be safe, Mom, don´t worry.)
The Guatemala/Mexico border is not like the U.S/Mexico border. Its just another normal border. Don´t worry!
So anyways, a little Mexican adventure is taking place this weekend. On the bright side, it will be fun, I guess, to travel!

Favre is back?! WAIT, Vikings are on in Guate?!?!

I´m not quite sure where to begin this post: Round 3 to migration? (Expletives may be involved) Last-minute Guatemalan wedding on Saturday? (yes, I attended one) Shopping in a REAL U.S-quality mall on Friday? (gasp) Going dancing on Thursday night and glancing up to see a Vikings game on the television? (double gasp)

I guess the logical thing to do would be to go in chronological order. So here goes.

Thursday: Thursday night, after work, a group of us from work went out dancing. It had been a few weeks since I had been, so I was happier than ever to get out and get serious. (Plus, Thursday nights there´s a live band from Cuba who play all sorts of amazing salsa/reggaeton music, so with it blaring live, I literally feel like I am in Cuba)

The night of salsa was fun, as always, but the real highlight of the night didn´t come until later, when we went next door to Mitos, a different club. (Mitos is more of a...reggaeton...discoteca, so after the salsa, we headed next door to switch things up a little) However, at about 12:30 p.m, I, while dancing, glanced up at the television in the bar....and lo and behold, the first thing I see? Brett Favre, in a MN Vikings jersey.

WHAT, said I?! Brett FAVRE!?!?!?

Sadly, the first thing that went through my head (and this shows how much of a rock I live under) was not ¨What the heck is a Vikings game doing on in Guatemala?¨

but ¨OHMYGOD, Brett Favre´s back with the Vikings?!?!?!??!?¨ I then proceeded to run around in a frenzy until I found a Minnesotan (which proved to be not that hard, because Shelly, Rui, Mo, and I are all from MN) and asked her: ¨Omg, Rui, did you know that Brett Favre was back with the Vikings?!¨

Rui: (squints eyes and looks at me in incredulous disbelief) ¨Um, yeah, like since forever, where have you been?¨ Me: ¨UMM, last time I heard, he was announcing his retirement for good!¨

Rui: ¨You are a terrible Minnesotan. Leave this place immediately.¨ (No, just kidding, she didn´t actually say that)

But I was in so much shock, it was probably unhealthy for my system. What are the odds of finding a Minnesota Vikings football game, on the T.V. in a Guatemalan bar?? NOT very high.

And of course, Favre´s jersey would be the first thing I see. Leading to a lot of confusion and excitement. But hey: At least I was smart enough not to think that it was re-runs from LAST season. Thank you.

Beware: Don´t Get Brianna Started on Education. This is the result.

Education in Guatemala:
Speaking of education and costs, (continued from my last CH post) education in Guatemala is something quite different. In Guatemala, education is said to be free and mandatory through the 6th grade. (This is a relatively recent development) However, if you wander through Central Park on any given morning, you will see that clearly nobody is enforcing the mandatory education rule. There are children out in the streets, selling gum and shining shoes. The good thing is that Colom, the current President, has done away with inscription fees for all public schools, so attending the school is now officially free. However. This does not mean that it actually IS free for the families. In Guatemala, all public schools have uniforms—they are no longer mandatory, but children without uniform are often socially shunned and looked down upon. The list of expenses for sending a child to school are as follows: Uniform, shoes, gym uniform, gym shoes, notebooks, pencils, textbooks (yes, they have to buy their own textbooks) other school supplies, and lunch money. We estimate that the cost of sending a child to school for one year is about $100 American dollars. When you consider the fact that the average family income per year is about $900 USD, you can see how it would easily become cost-prohibitive to send children to school.

This is where Common Hope comes in. We affiliate at least half the children in a family, so that the family can afford to educate all of their children. For all affiliated children, we provide school supplies and cover the costs of their uniforms and all other school-related expenses. (A child stays affiliated with Common Hope as long as they decide with their family to stay in school.) At the university level, students compete for one of two scholarships, which cover 100% of the expenses. We are working very hard to try and get families to see the long-term economical benefits of keeping their children in school.
Since a child can technically work after he or she has finished 6th grade, many parents tend to want to pull their child from school at that point so that they can be contributing to the household income. However, we try to point out to them that if they can hang in there just a few years more, and the child can graduate from high school, the child´s economic earning potential will be doubled, and they will be able to help out their parents even more for even longer. (High school in Guatemala is vocational—it is the equivalent to a 2-4 year college degree in the states. Kids can choose to go to high school to be teachers, mechanics, secretaries, etc, and when they graduate from 12th grade, they are certified and ready to work in that field)

This leads to another problem with the school system. Teachers. Either teachers are old and stubborn (doing things their own way, the way they’ve been doing them for years,) or young—just graduated from high school, barely 18 years old, and handed a classroom of 30-60 children, without materials, without books, lesson plans, etc. These two factors, combined with the fact that less than 2% of the government’s budget is spent on education, leaves for very straight-forward and bland classroom learning, mostly just copying off the board and trying to memorize.
Therefore, it is very easy for any child with a mildly creative learning style or a propensity to distraction to “slip through the cracks”.

This is ALSO where Common Hope comes in. We have what we call Educational Promoters, who work in 4 public schools in the area, coming into the classroom once a week as teachers and doing supplemental lectures and activities to help both the teachers and the students. They bring in interactive reading activities, math games, groupwork, and other more diverse ways of learning, to 1) inspire the teachers and 2) help the kids who need interactive learning. We purposely work in the public schools, instead of forming our own little common-hope school, so that the community as a whole is benefiting from our services, not JUST the kids who are affiliated.

Overall, we have found that our program is very successful. Though on national average, only 50% of children in Guatemala will graduate from 6th grade, for our affiliates the percentage is between 97% and 99%. At the high school level, nationally, only about 25% of students go on to graduate, where as with our affiliates the percentage is double again at 52%. We double national averages. Just by encouraging kids to stay in school. (Also, a big factor in this is that if they drop out, their family loses access to our other services—the big attraction being the clinic on site.) Which I will talk about next.

Now you know a little bit more about education in Guatemala—I could go on forever and ever about the subject, but I think I have already crammed this post full of bastante information! Hope it is as interesting to my readers as it is to me 

More natural disasters...

Guatemala seems to be the place for natual disasters as of late.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/09/05/guatemala.landslides/index.html?iref=allsearch#fbid=oCGW9-1AiYI&wom=false

This happened Saturday, after it rained all day Friday. In my head, I was thinking, ¨please no more Agathas. Please no more.¨

Luckily, (¨luckily¨) it was landslides this time, not hurricanes.
The roads in Guate aren´t built all that well, and are built on the sides of mountains, without retaining walls. I was thinking, if this was the states, this would never happen when we got a day of rain. However, since its Guatemala, the roads just get washed away with erosion.
Not. Safe.

You would think that even a poor country would be able to afford to build roads on mountains that have retaining walls, or SOMEthing. At least. But everytime I ask a Guatemalan why don´t they DO something about it, their answer seems to always be: ¨It´s Guatemala.¨

How Does A Family Become Involved?

Affiliation:
Common Hope works in 19 villages, or pueblos, all within a few miles of the Antigua area. We involve families by affiliating them, so that they have access to all of our services that help them work to improve their lives. We affiliate ½ + one of the families children. (For example, if the family has 5 children, we affiliate 3). For the other 2 children, we leave it up to the family to help send them to school—we don’t want to be simply giving away 100% of what it takes to send children to school, we want them to be working with us toward the common goal of educational success. However, once a family has children affliated, the entire family gains access to our family support systems--clinic, housing program, psychological and social work services. There are 3 main ¨rules¨ to affiliation:
1) Basic Geography: The family has to live in one of the 19 pueblos.
2) Economic need: I know it sounds silly to say that we look for the families who are the poorest, when the country as a WHOLE is very poor, but we really want to be sure we are helping the families with the greatest economic need. Several factors are taken into consideration here: Income, job stability, number of children, single parent, if they own their land, rent it, if they have water, electricity, etc.
3) (And most important to us:) The family already must have at least one child enrolled in school. Because education is our philosophical center, we look for families who share this value with us already—we don’t believe in pushing our values on other people, rather we look for families who already have that in common with us—families who see the value in education. (Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules, for example if a single mother is raising 7 children and makes tortillas for a living, she might not even be able to afford sending even 1 child to school—this would be a case for which we would make an exception.)

Reverting back to Common Hope...

Here it is, as promised, the guide to Common Hope. All the tours I give in a nutshell.
I hope this will be as interesting to all of you as it first was (and still is) to me. I literally still am absorbing all it is that we do here, and it is in fact way too…impacting… to sum up in a blog post. But, I will do my best. I will post one section a day—that way, hopefully it won’t be too overwhelming and people will actually read it.

History:
Common Hope was started by Betty and David Hubsch, a Minnesotan couple, in 1986. Back then, it was called the Godchild Project. They started not in Antigua, but in a small town called Santiago Atitlán, on Lake Atitlán. The couple had been down in Guatemala on a Catholic mission trip at San Lucas Toliman, a well-known missionary site to Minnesotans, and they were inspired so greatly that they decided to begin their own small project nearby the lake. They started small—and directly from the community. They went around asking the locals what it was that they needed the most help with in their community—and the answer was overwhelmingly ¨education for our children¨. Therefore, Dave and Betty started a small sponsorship program, writing to their friends and family in the states to ask for monthly donations for school supplies and other essentials to be able to put kids in school without the family having to pay. (Sponsorship is still today our basis—and where 60% of our funding comes from)

However, the Hubsch´s quickly noticed that when kids were coming to school starving, or with illnesses, or if their home life wasn’t ok, they weren’t able to do well or even stay in school. The Hubsch´s realized they would have to begin to work with families as well, not just kids—when the family as a unit is healthy, the kids are healthy, and therefore able to stay in school. This became their long-term goal—family development programs including social work, healthcare, and housing programs.

In 1988, however, only 2 years after the program started and right smack in the middle of the civil war, the Hubsch´s received a credible death threat and were forced to close their doors and return to the states. They were forced to permanently close the program, because it wasn’t strong enough without the two of them to stay open on its own. They went back to MN, but never intended for it to be a permanent move. Unfortunately, during the time that they were in the states, Betty Hubsch passed away (from a cause not related to the war).

In 1990, Dave and John, (the Hubsch´s son) decided to return to Guatemala and re-open the project, to continue the work that they had started with Betty. This time, however, they chose Antigua, (which has always been a peaceful place relatively un-affected by war) to open the project. For a while, they rented office space in downtown Antigua, and then little by little, bought an old coffee farm and began to build the Family Development Center, in which we work still today. The building started out small, only one complex, and today it has grown to be a truly multi-complex building with a clinic, pharmacy, psychology wing, social work offices, education department, daycare/preschool, library, computer lab, construction area, and MOST importantly (ahem,) the hospitality area! (Haha, kidding, I don’t say that in the tour )

Coming Soon: The Common Hope Handbook

I have recently realized that my blog has become more of a ¨Brianna´s daily-life-and-complaint¨ guide than an accurate description of what I am doing down here in Guatemala. Somehow, it is more fun to treat the blog as an online journal in which I detail fun weekends and frustrating trials than the big Common Hope picture.
And although I know how much you all LOOOVE reading about my trivial complaints and recounts of my weekends, I think that also there should be a little more Common Hope focus to the posts!
So, as a resolution, I have decided to only make my blog HALF Brianna´s-exciting-life focused and HALF Common-Hope-what-we-are-accomplishing-as-a-whole-focus.
Starting tomorrow.
Because today, I don´t have much time left at work.

(The thought occured to me today, after getting ready to do a Pueblo Tour, that, working in Hospitality, and giving tours frequently, I have learned incredible amounts of information about what the program does, and haven´t even passed on even a quarter of it to my lovely blog readers.) (I thought it would be a nice idea to type out the schpiel I give to all the lovely tourists, so that you can all read it and start to ask questions ahead of time, instead of me bombarding everyone with information when I come home for Christmas and attempting to tell EVERYone EVERYThing about Common Hope in one sitting and inevitably forgetting half of it)

So, that being said, tomorrow I will begin to comprise the Project Tour/Pueblo Tour information guide to Common Hope, in my own words, so that all of you can read up and become impressed as I am at the fact that Common Hope really has, in fact, thought of everything. All the gaps are filled. They really really do know how to work to help these people improve their lives.

Weekend Wanderings

I feel like this past weekend just flew by--¨is it already Monday??¨--I found myself thinking last night, along with the quick annoying Sunday night thought of--¨Shoot I never cleaned the bathroom¨.
As much as I love my job, and everything about it, I also am a HUGE fan of a couple of things:
1) Alone time.
2) Time to just BE in my house (there always seems to be something to clean or do)
3) Time to catch up on life (whether it be cleaning, cooking for the week, grocery shopping, or sleeping)
And these things seem to happen most on weekends, which is why I cherish them!
However, with a packed weekend like this past one, I find myself on Monday morning with thoughts of ¨crap, never cleaned the bathroom.¨
I have found that it´s easier to have jam-packed weekends when you live with Mom and Dad, because you don´t have to maintain a whole house (and cook) all by yourself.

However, having more work during the week is worth it when the weekends were as fun as this one.
Friday night: Dinner party with Shelly, Maura, Kevin, and David. We cooked them a delicious meal of appetizers, soup, salad, bread, and special K bars! Mmmm. After dinner we played a few card games and stayed up late just hanging out and playing games. And eating. Ugh we ate SO MUCH! But it was so delicious. It was the first big multi-course homecooked meal we´ve made since being here. Que rico!

Saturday: Shelly and I took Maura (Mo) into Antigua and shopping to the market. Her first experience of the crazy latin-american markets! It was (finally) a sunny afternoon, so it put us all in good moods as we strolled from table to table in the market, without a rush. We also discovered Q.4 ice-cream cones at Pollo Campero, the Guatemalan equivalent of KFC, which is located right next to the open-air market. The ice creams definitely have become a market tradition. It´s necessary to have a little something to lick on on sunny market days, as you´re walking around shopping for fruits, veggies, soap, rope, etc. And for .50 cents? Please.
So after we did about 3.5 hours of meandering and bargaining through the market, we decided to retreat, market bags full of oranges, shelve brackets, soap, scrub brushes, sunglasses, and pineapple. (You really can buy anything at the market.) We went to El Zapo y La Rana (The Frog and The Toad!) for dinner for pupusas, a typical Guatemalan food. They are corn tortillas stuffed with melted cheese and an assortment of beans, chicken, veggies, or whatever else you would want inside. Definitely delicious. My favorite was the black-bean-and-cheese. After that, we headed home, 8pm, tired, and after a successful day at the market.

Sunday: Woke up to sunshine, yet again! YEsss. I scrambled out of bed to hang towels out in the sun, since sun is such a rare thing these days. (My life is pretty much DAMP. Towels never dry. For this, I am ever excited when there´s sun and I happen to be at home) After that, I made a delicious egg scramble with broccoli, onion, ham, and cheese and cooked myself up a delicious Sunday morning breakfast. After breakfast, at 10:30, me, Shelly, Mo, Rui, and Rocio headed out to climb a mountain. Being 5 girls, we thought we were pretty safe, but we decided to take Rocio´s 2 dogs just in case. We packed water bottles and sunscreen and headed out! 2 hours later, we arrive. With very tired legs and nalgas (bottoms). It was honestly a 2 hour hike straight up, and its a good thing I walk an hour everyday, cause if not, I think my legs would be a little more than sore today. However, we made it to our destination, just in time for the rain, which started about 2o minutes after we arrived. On the top of the mountain, at a place called Earth Lodge, La Raiz, my favorite Antigua band friends, were playing, so we chilled for the afternoon and listened to my amigos and their amazing band.
At about 3:30, we jumped in the back of a pickup for a ride back down the mountain, because it was raining and verrrry chilly. And not to mention we were a little tired from the hike up.
When we finally made it back, wet, cold, and tired, my hunger pains took over my need for a hot shower, so I dropped everything and made pancakes. Slices of banana in the pancakes made for JUST what my stomach was craving, delicious banana pancakes. While I was enjoying my solitude and pancakes, however, and contemplating cleaning the bathroom, Mo called and asked if I would go to church with her. I agreed, since I had yet to try out church in Antigua. The last service I went to, in Xela, wasn´t the most exciting thing ever, so I was kind of reluctant to go through it again, but I figured, ¨why not? Antigua is like the church capital of Guatemala, so it HAS to be better.¨ Luckily for us, we seemed to have found the ¨contemporary service¨ at 6:30, because they had a choir, keyboard, and drums, and the music was great! It was WAY better than the other service I had been to, and despite the fact that I cannot say the responses yet in Spanish, it was still an awesome experience. We went in the main Cathedral in Antigua, and it was ABsolutely beautiful. Absolutely. All lit up with candles and big beautiful flowers...it deserves a picture, next time I go.
After walking back home, stopping for a lollipop on the way, it was about 8, and I was WAY too exhausted to clean ANYthing, much less the bathroom. I did manage to shower, since I didn´t have time between the hike and church (EEW I know right) but after the shower, watching a movie on my laptop and a cup of hot chocolate beat cleaning the bathroom.
(Well, half of a movie. I started to fall asleep at about 10:30, so I had to shut off Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler (great movie so far, The Bounty Hunter,) in favor of sleep.

The only downside to the weekend?
Didn´t get the bathroom clean.
BUT it is a sacrifice I am willing to make. (Name the movie, someone, anyone)

Finally Friday: And I received letters!!

YAY its finally Friday...it has been the longest week, ever. Tuesday at the migration office seems like ages ago. (The latest with that--Tamalyn told me that if the President doesn´t pardon the fine, Common Hope will get a lawyer involved. So I feel a lot better after talking to her)



Anyways, it has been a long and frustrating week indeed. (The majority of the frustration was on Tuesday, but it just set the dynamic early for the rest of the week.)

The other frustration was coming home Wednesday to a house full of gas. Somehow, at breakfast in the morning, (despite the fact that I ate cold cereal) I somehow bumped the gas knobs on my little Coleman-like appartus from which I cook, and it was on ALL DAY, proceeding to leak gas into my house. When I came home from work, I almost doubled over, and thought something had died. My first instinct was to call my father. Hahah imagine that. 22 and still calling Dad when something happens. Unfortunately, his cell was turned off (imagine my surprise). (Ahem.)

So I called a Guatemalan man friend who told me what to do. (Open up ALL doors and windows, and don´t light a match or cook to save your LIFE)

So I ate peanut butter and ice cream for dinner. Luckily, the only thing seriously damaged from the gas incident was my plant. He was looking a little....green...this morning. (Well, brown, actually).

But that was the only thing damaged, so I am lucky. I am going to make sure to NOT accidentally bump ANY MORE of my burners. Or perhaps disconnect my gas tank when I am not cooking. ARGH.



On another happier note, I GOT 2 LETTERS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!! One from Mom with 2 lovely photos to hang on my wall (the one of Mom, K, Aunt Karen and I I hung up at work) and the other of the family I will hang up at home! Lovely pictures, although we are looking quite... red. Must be the camara. Usually we are not so tomato-ish. Shelly told me ¨you look like your mom!¨ And I said ¨ that´s funny, everyone tells me I have my Dad´s head¨ And then upon another look, she said ¨You look like your Dad too.¨ And then ¨Well, you just look like your whole family!¨ Haha.

My other letter is from DANI!!!! It is the most beautiful homemade card I have ever seen! I wish I could show everybody :) It is seriously beautiful. 2d and everything. I am going to put it on my wall at home. Thanks love I loved it :)

That´s all for now folks....I am leaving work shortly. Happy friday to all--we´re having a mini dinner party, and I am making HUEVOS DIABLOS (deviled eggs haha) and Mom´s fresh salsa! MMMMMMMM.
Love to all in MN!

CLASH with Migración

I am still so livid right now that it might not be a good idea to NOT blog. But I will try my hardest to limit the expletives and insults to Guatemalan systems.
Went to immigration today in the city to renew my visa....aaaaand renew I definitely did not do. When I went to pay the fine (Q30, because I was 3 days past the 90 days mark) they said that I couldn´t pay to renew my current visa stamp because my arrival was not documented in their system. In fact, my last 2 comings-and-goings to the country were not documented in their system. What the crap says I, not in their SYSTEM??? So how ever did I leave in January and come back in May and not be documented?? Apparently I have been living illegally in Guatemala since December 27th, 2009, which is my last ¨registered¨ appearance in their system. AND, apparently after 90 days, they charge you a fine of Q10 a day. So I owe Migration Q1,510.00, of my own money, for something that THEY messed up.
Here´s the thing that really gets me: I HAVE the stamps in my passport. One on January 3rd, exit Guatemala, and one on May 24th, entering. How they don´t appear in the computer but appear on my passport?? IS FREAKIN BEYOND ME. And how migration can´t just ADD the two entrances to my record, transfer from paper passport to computer? IS ALSO FREAKIN BEYOND ME.
But no, the head of migration, who I talked to, is ¨only a person, not a machine, and the machines won´t listen to a human being¨. (Oh, really?? So NObody has access to change this database?) I am SO frustrated.

Their best solution was this: ¨Ok, ma´m, you can pay the fine now, leave the country tomorrow, and after 48 hours return, and you can stay here another 90 days! That would be the quickest and the fastest way to resolve this :)¨ Smiley face.
Yeah. That´s what I´m gonna do. Pay Q1500, leave the country, stay there for 48 hours, when all i SHOULD have to do is pay Q30, renew my visa for another 90 days, and go on my merry way. If they thought I was gonna be like, ¨oh, ok, smiley face, that sounds wonderful! Smiley face¨ they had another thing coming.

Sooooooo what I did, with the help of our driver Mauricio, who took me to the city, is write a letter to the President. I explained the situation, gave him photocopies of my passport and stamps, and turned it in with the fine I owe migration. (Obviously, I didn´t turn it into the President himself, hahaha, but the Secretary to the President´s office). They are going to look at it, and within 10-15 days, contact me telling me how much of the fine they will lift. They thought I would only have to pay 25% of it. But 25% of a fine that is not my fault in the first place??? That is 25% too much, my friends. Also, between now and the 10-15 days that its in limbo, I am still going to be charged the accumulating late fee. (its currently been 3 days past the 90 day marker so I owe Q30, and after 10 more days I will owe another Q100)
Its just so much inequity that I don´t even know what to do with myself. I was SO so so so frustrated I don´t think I have ever been this frustrated in my life. Certainly not about something this ridiculous. MAYBE when I found out we were moving to Brainerd.
(Hahaha)
But while in the stupid unrelenting unkind migration office, I kept thinking, ¨if this was in the states, somebody would just click a few buttons and apologize for the error...¨
Seriously Guatemala.
I am SO unlucky.