Well Internet access hasn't been as easy as I was hoping it would be. That is mostly because I am still not here at the project full-time, that will change in a week though so I should be able to update a little more often. I am still confused about why my computer doesn't want to connect to Kodak so I may just try and host my pics else where..., now for the conclusion of my first week in Guatemala.
Tuesday 11/13 saw me awake at 6:45 to have breakfast and leave for the project, day 2 of orientation. I got to have orientation with Hospitality, they are the ones that work with the Vision Teams, so I was pretty familiar with their program. It lasted about 15 minutes. I then spent some time chatting with different people and headed to the warehouse, Bodega, to work with Bob sorting and organizing donations. I left for lunch around noon and then was off to more school. That evening after school I headed back to the project to play soccer with some of the staff, only to find no one there and find out that it had been canceled for Tues. Dinner with the family and I watched Signs with Mel Gibson and Juaqine Phoenex.
Wednesday started like Tue. and I got to work in Centro Infantil today. Yes, I got to hang out with the 6 and unders. We played outside and it didn't take long until I was going back and forth from swing to slide to play house to play car and so forth to my name being shouted..., good times. We then headed inside to play with blocks and read, Mr. Spanish here read to them. It was very difficult and they were just children's books :( The kids were great though, they knew most of the stories and if I said a word wrong they would giggle and correct me. I got to read one story that I knew, Where the Wild Things Live, I think that's the name, I'm having trouble remembering it specifically. That wasn't as hard as the others. After about 3 hours with the little people I went to the Social Work department to be orientated. Here as well in Centro Infantil they spoke nothing but Spanish and after the reading my head was starting to hurt. By the time I left for lunch I realized that it was so difficult for me because I was translating every word from Spanish to English in my head to comprehend it. I had the 286 processor and needed to upgrade to at least the Pentium II. Anyway, school that day was hard too because I just couldn't stay focused any more, my brain had checked out. That night was nice though. After dinner I went out to meet up with Andrea and Ingrid, a short-term volunteer with C. H., at Ricci's Bar where we had a drink and moved into this little room in the front of the place to listen to a live Salsa band. They were great, and on one of their breaks I talked to the Leader/ Lead Singer, Ignacio. He played with the Buena Vista Social Club for many years and is now in Antigua. The group he is playing and singing with now call themselves, Buena Vista de Corazon. There were several people dancing as well, one little guy in particular and this young blonde were just fun to watch. I spoke to the little guy, Gerson, after words and found out that he's an instructor, so I got one of his cards..., I'll be taking some lessons here in a few weeks. Also got to meet and talk with a guy from Quebec who was here learning Spanish. He quit his job a couple of years ago, technology work of some sort, and got his pilot's license. Now he flies helicopters for 6-8 months out of the year and travels/hangs out for the rest of the year. From there we all headed to the after hours bar and paid Q15 to get in, got home around 3 A.M.
Thursday started shortly after Wednesday ended, when I got to the project I sat around for a little while waiting for my social worker. Today I was going on some visits with a social worker, Paola. We went to San Juan del Obispo and visited with four families, including one in which the teen aged son had been in a motorcycle accident the day before. He was banged up, but going to be all right, and he had waited a long time for medical attention and hadn't gotten any medication for the pain yet because the family couldn't afford it. Paola told them to go in and see the clinic at the project and they could help. We were done with our rounds by 11:30 so I went home and studied my new vocab before lunch. School was good and then back to the project for a soccer game..., yet again, nothing... I chatted with Narciso (Chicho) for a while and he invited me to go riding with him at 5:30 AM on Sunday. I wanted to but I was going to run in the 10K of Antigua Sun. morning, so we scheduled it for the following Sunday. Came home had dinner and went to bed early... One week down...
Friday was routine, I started my orientation with Sian in communications then was off to the library, but Luis Felipe wasn't there so I went back to the construction area where I made windows for the rest of the morning. The afternoon was routine as well and after school I went for a walk and ended up in Cafe 2000. It's a bar that shows movies in English with Spanish subtitles. I enjoyed a Bombay on the rocks and a Moza plus the end of Hairspray. Then it was to the house for dinner a shower and back out again. This time to Cafe No Se, where I met up with Ingrid and her schoolmate Tonya. Tonya is from San Francisco and has a sister who lives in Highlands Ranch, so we chatted about Denver and skiing for a while. There was a table full of people that had a couple of guitars and come castanets and spoons jamming out. After a few beers we moved back to the Tequila Bar, behind the kitchen, for some Tequila and more conversation. We met the manager and talked to her for a while, she had been a chef with some French guy in Guatemala City but left to move to Antigua and was now managing Cafe No Se and another restaurant near by. Tanya left us and Ingrid and I sat in the front bar, enjoyed a few more beers and music then bi our farewells, Ingrid was leaving the next day. Walked home and went to bed.
Saturday I got up for breakfast at 8 AM then went back to bed. When I did get up around 11:30 I went to La Bodegona, the supermarket in Antigua, and picked up some food for Sunday, laundry detergent, and drier sheets. After lunch with the Velasquezs I went to the project to do my laundry, checked my e-mail and changed my blog address. By the time my laundry was done the sun was down and I needed to leave the project, as the road isn't real safe at night for travel on foot or bike, so my first post was cut short.
Week one..., I promise pictures are coming soon...
PICTURES: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12584&l=cd489&id=752630746
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007
My first week in Guatemala
Well, I'll start by saying that the weird void feeling that I had while I was in Atlanta passed. I found myself at the end of a long and amazing journey that had been 25 years in the making. I have experienced so many things, good and bad, and as I sat in the airports in Denver and Atlanta I felt an overwhelming feeling of not belonging. But, I have arrived and I feel at home.
I did take a nap after I posted last and it was great. I had some food, watched the sunrise, and rested. Then boarded the plane to Guatemala. When I arrived I made my way throught the new wing of the Guatemala airport to pick up my bags and go through customs and immigration. That all went smooth and I exited the airport to find my ride. I was met by a huge crowd of people, but alas they weren't there for me. Some Latin-American TV Host Laura Bosso? was arriving as well. I made my way through the crowd with my wide load (my bike box, not my head OR butt...) and met my driver Jaun Carlos. After an uneventful drive I was at the project by 2 PM and settled into my room. There was nothing scheduled for me until Monday so I got to do whatever I wanted. I went back and started working in the construction area with Mario, department manager, Felix, Pablo, and Narciso (Chicho). There was a short-term volunteer as well, Ingrid. She's from the states but has been living in Germany for 14 years. So, Thursday afternoon and Friday all day I worked with the construction crew. On Thursday night I made my way to the Foosball table and found that my Foosball skills are seriously lacking, it is a nightly thing for several of the Guatemalan staff including Mario and Felix.
When I arrived several of the staff from St. Paul were here for budgeting meetings. Shari Blindt, the executive director of Common Hope, and I had met a year ago when she and John Huebsch, co-founder and former exec. dir., came to Denver to speak at CUC. They stayed with Jody and I and we spent a lot of time together. Anyway, she invited me on Friday night to accompany her and her friend Suzan to Lake Atitlan. How could I say no. I got up Saturday morning and jumped in the van with them. It took a while to get there and we were impeded by construction which left us sitting on the road at a complete stop for about half an hour. Then once we started to move again we were almost crushed by both a chicken bus and a dump truck, very exciting. We did finally make it to Panajachel and met our guide for the day. We got in a Lancha, a small boat/ water taxi, and were off to tour Santa Catalina, San Antonio and Santiago Atitlan, our final destination. Our tour guide, Thomas, was a funny,as in strange, guy. He would walk us around and show us stuff and then take us to shops to see some cool things, but it was obviuos that the store owners were friends of his and we think he must have been getting a kick back for anything that we bought. It was great though and the lake is beautiful.
{side note: I want to post pictures,and there are a lot of them, but my computer is fighting with Kodak's web site right now..., I'll keep working on it and hopefully have them posted early this week.}
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, Posada de Santiago, and enjoyed some cocktails while watching the sun go down. The next morning we had breakfast and headed back across the lake to Panajachel. We shopped for a while, well Shari and Susan shopped, I walked and took pictures, then we got in our shuttle back to Antigua. This ride was a lot quicker as we didn't go on the same road. When we got back to the project I assembled my bike!! Showered and went to dinner with some volunteers from New Hope Village that were headed home, Scoti and Holli. Lacy, another volunteer from New Hope also joined us. When we were done with dinner we headed to La Sala, a bar that has Salsa dancing on Sunday Nights, for their despedida, going away party. Several of the other volunteers showed up and it was a great night of conversation and laughs. After the despedida, scoti gave me his cell phone so I didn't have to get a new one and he could no longer use it.
Monday began with my first step in the orientation process, my formal introduction to the whole staff. That entailed going around the entire project and saying hola and mucho gusto while forgetting all of there names. It was nice though, it was over in about an hour and I was off to work with the construction crew, mixing and pouring a foundation for a home that will be built in the coming weeks. Then back to the project for lunch. After lunch I hoped on a chicken bus with Lucia, Tamalyn's assistant, to Antigua so I could get set up and started with spanish school. I met my teacher, Luis Godoy, and started my first three hour lesson. We sit on top of the school, the roof is a patio, it's tough :) When I was done I got to move in with my family, Jorge and Catherine Velasquez. A very nice old couple who have been hosting students for 45 years. There's another youg lady staying in the house as well, Andrea is from Holland and here volunteering with Safe Passages. That night it rained as I was falling asleep, very nice.
Well, I've only made it through Monday and it's already really long, so I'll leave this post as is and do the rest in another one.
PICTURES: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8779&l=4f3e2&id=752630746
I did take a nap after I posted last and it was great. I had some food, watched the sunrise, and rested. Then boarded the plane to Guatemala. When I arrived I made my way throught the new wing of the Guatemala airport to pick up my bags and go through customs and immigration. That all went smooth and I exited the airport to find my ride. I was met by a huge crowd of people, but alas they weren't there for me. Some Latin-American TV Host Laura Bosso? was arriving as well. I made my way through the crowd with my wide load (my bike box, not my head OR butt...) and met my driver Jaun Carlos. After an uneventful drive I was at the project by 2 PM and settled into my room. There was nothing scheduled for me until Monday so I got to do whatever I wanted. I went back and started working in the construction area with Mario, department manager, Felix, Pablo, and Narciso (Chicho). There was a short-term volunteer as well, Ingrid. She's from the states but has been living in Germany for 14 years. So, Thursday afternoon and Friday all day I worked with the construction crew. On Thursday night I made my way to the Foosball table and found that my Foosball skills are seriously lacking, it is a nightly thing for several of the Guatemalan staff including Mario and Felix.
When I arrived several of the staff from St. Paul were here for budgeting meetings. Shari Blindt, the executive director of Common Hope, and I had met a year ago when she and John Huebsch, co-founder and former exec. dir., came to Denver to speak at CUC. They stayed with Jody and I and we spent a lot of time together. Anyway, she invited me on Friday night to accompany her and her friend Suzan to Lake Atitlan. How could I say no. I got up Saturday morning and jumped in the van with them. It took a while to get there and we were impeded by construction which left us sitting on the road at a complete stop for about half an hour. Then once we started to move again we were almost crushed by both a chicken bus and a dump truck, very exciting. We did finally make it to Panajachel and met our guide for the day. We got in a Lancha, a small boat/ water taxi, and were off to tour Santa Catalina, San Antonio and Santiago Atitlan, our final destination. Our tour guide, Thomas, was a funny,as in strange, guy. He would walk us around and show us stuff and then take us to shops to see some cool things, but it was obviuos that the store owners were friends of his and we think he must have been getting a kick back for anything that we bought. It was great though and the lake is beautiful.
{side note: I want to post pictures,and there are a lot of them, but my computer is fighting with Kodak's web site right now..., I'll keep working on it and hopefully have them posted early this week.}
We stayed in a beautiful hotel, Posada de Santiago, and enjoyed some cocktails while watching the sun go down. The next morning we had breakfast and headed back across the lake to Panajachel. We shopped for a while, well Shari and Susan shopped, I walked and took pictures, then we got in our shuttle back to Antigua. This ride was a lot quicker as we didn't go on the same road. When we got back to the project I assembled my bike!! Showered and went to dinner with some volunteers from New Hope Village that were headed home, Scoti and Holli. Lacy, another volunteer from New Hope also joined us. When we were done with dinner we headed to La Sala, a bar that has Salsa dancing on Sunday Nights, for their despedida, going away party. Several of the other volunteers showed up and it was a great night of conversation and laughs. After the despedida, scoti gave me his cell phone so I didn't have to get a new one and he could no longer use it.
Monday began with my first step in the orientation process, my formal introduction to the whole staff. That entailed going around the entire project and saying hola and mucho gusto while forgetting all of there names. It was nice though, it was over in about an hour and I was off to work with the construction crew, mixing and pouring a foundation for a home that will be built in the coming weeks. Then back to the project for lunch. After lunch I hoped on a chicken bus with Lucia, Tamalyn's assistant, to Antigua so I could get set up and started with spanish school. I met my teacher, Luis Godoy, and started my first three hour lesson. We sit on top of the school, the roof is a patio, it's tough :) When I was done I got to move in with my family, Jorge and Catherine Velasquez. A very nice old couple who have been hosting students for 45 years. There's another youg lady staying in the house as well, Andrea is from Holland and here volunteering with Safe Passages. That night it rained as I was falling asleep, very nice.
Well, I've only made it through Monday and it's already really long, so I'll leave this post as is and do the rest in another one.
PICTURES: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8779&l=4f3e2&id=752630746
New Blog...
Thanks for coming by, I decided to switch sites because you can post comments with out signing up. So thanks for being flexible!
Hasta Luego
Hasta Luego
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