baby it's cold (or moderate temperatures) outside...

As I was sitting at my kitchen table/counter, eating cheerios (that I miraculously found one town over) with water instead of milk (because my box of milk had become a solid) I had the incredible realization that someday, I will miss this.

I also came to the conclusion that my secret ring had been compromised as I woke up to someone ringing my bell 3x in a row (now the code’s really compromised) starting at 6ish this morning and naturally, despite the fact that my landlords and their whole family are here for the holidays, I was the first one to get my ass out of bed to answer the door -and I’m thinking…that’s got to stop.

The family I’m sharing the house with/renting from has apparently shared the ring-code with others because it was one of the workers who rang 3x this morning, having arrived to start the day’s construction on the patio.

Oh…Construction on the patio…For the last few weeks or so I have been awakened not to the sweet sound of marimba practice (in my front room, where the marimba mysteriously appeared one day to ruin my peace and quiet), not to the squishing/squashing sound of the mother doing all her boys’ laundry (I say boys…despite the fact that the majority are over 20) or even exclusively with a headache from the aroma of exhaust seeping in through my window from the mechanic shop next door but, to a symphony of machetes chopping, power tools singing, squeaky wheelbarrows and (my personal favorite) various men hocking up phlegm. All of this is happening about 2 feet outside my windows/door and thus, with an overture of 3 chimes of my doorbell, it begins again- the noise that only exists in the United States after 8-9AM, on M-F (and sometimes never) but, in Guatemala happens at every hour of every day and so, I find myself awake and writing.

It’s probably for the best as I owe an entry about my trip to the beach for thanksgiving. As was projected, everything was better at the beach. The sun was incredible and despite my vigilance with the spf I came home with a peeling nose and a layer of skin the demanded the continual application of lotion to preserve the tan.

The beach was great. The black sand burned our feet as we raced down to the water and the waves crashed around us as we laughed at each other’s misfortune at being knocked down. Once we’d gotten our fill of being thrashed by the waves we would return to our little oasis by the pool and read our books, play on the slack line, snack, nap and drink cocktails while appreciating the sunset.

Thanksgiving dinner was a big operation this year. I was in charge of stuffing and found premium ingredients in Antigua to make it delicious. I used garlic bread that I found at Dona Luisa’s bread shop to make into croutons and then mixed it with cooked, ground, Italian sausage that I found at Epicure restaurant & delicatessen, and sautéed celery, carrots, onions, and mushrooms which I then covered in vegetable stock and baked in the oven.
I love stuffing.
Then there was mashed potatoes, pasta, vegetable medley’s, baked chickens, sangria, stuffed mushrooms, hummus, eggplant, bread, and molten chocolate cake. It was a really lovely time to be with friends and enjoy a home-cooked, holiday meal. Then, without further ‘ado it was time to return to our sites… and our normal meals of pasta with ranchera sauce.

Upon my return to my site I treated myself to a Christmas tree, adorned it with colored lights and watched them blink as I fall asleep. It would feel more like Christmas if it was actually snowy or even overcast here but, the truth is, it’s been really beautiful. Even as I write now, at 8AM there is sunshine streaming in through the gaps in my curtains and my thermometer tells me that it is 70 degrees outside. Sometimes at night I put on the video fireplace, plug in the Christmas tree and read a book in an attempt to trick myself into believing I’m somewhere else but then, inevitably someone will start playing some horrible ranchera music and I know where I am.

To celebrate the holiday ambiance I tried to create, Mari and I decided to cook a Christmas-y feast and watch all the Christmas movies we had in our possession so we made chicken rolls with contained the colors green, red and white and watched, The Grinch, Love Actually, Bridget Jones, Harry Potter, and Hellboy II (some of these were a stretch…obviously but, if there was a Christmas scene or snow we decided it was close enough).

I’m really bummed to not be going home for Christmas. I know that I will be home soon enough but I feel sad all the same. I thought I had something special to do this year when I was dating that horrible person, but that turned out to be a complete disaster and now I am alone and stupidly thinking of all of the things I was looking forward to that will not be happening now. So lame.

It didn’t really help that all of the people that I’m really close with here have all elected to go home for Christmas this year; I found myself posting on face book trying to figure out who would be in the country this year to find someone, anyone to hang out with. After asking around I found a few people who would be here and called them to invite myself to do whatever they were doing. I hate inviting myself to things, I know that it’s probably fine but I always think- what if they didn’t want me to come but they didn’t know how to say, “no”? I mean, shit, it’s the holidays right? How grinchy would you feel saying, “no” to someone who would otherwise be alone on Christmas? Buh.
So, I asked, I asked to not be alone on Christmas and now I won’t be. I am going to go with a couple of my fellow PCVs to the beach to lay, eat food, read, and be merry.

I’m excited to get to know both of these people better and to get back to the beach for a little relaxation.
When I get back from the beach I am planning on spending a few days in my site and then heading to Antigua to celebrate the end of this year, the beginning of a new one, Mari’s birthday, and the two-year in-country mark!

On Christmas day I will have exactly 3 months until my official Close of Service date. Time has flown by and I am ready for the next phase of my life to begin.

GUH so...It took a million an a half years trying upload the pictures on here so, I had to stop. For next time you can all look forward to pictures about all the things I talked about and bonus glamour shots I took of my stuffed animal bunny rabbit. It was one of those 2PM on a Tuesday type situations. Try and contain your excitement.

Thanks to all of my friends for the support- the emails, packages and cards. You make me feel loved.

So, until next time, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

XOXO!

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars. They’re delicious.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars. They’re delicious.

Now...To Quote "Knocked Up"

“We’re going to be positive. Positive! Positive! Positive!”

“How many Red Bulls have you had?”

“I’ve had about three Red Bulls in the
last fifteen minutes. And I feel
fabulous! We’re going to create a new
life and it’s going to be awesome!
Let’s go!”

Excellent advice.

I need to do the dishes but decided to write a blog entry instead.

It’s been a while. I sort of fell off the face of the world but, I’m back. Yay!

For comprehension purposes, you should probably read this blog with a large infusion of sarcasm. As I wrote a lot of it in a slightly self-deprecating and meant-to-be-humorous tone to downplay it’s seriousness for me at this point in time.

I’m actually not even sure if some of it’s appropriate to write about but…it’s what’s been on the brain and I figure if you’re reading...you're probably a friend or family member so it’s okay if you know. If we’re not friends…well, welcome to a more personal moment of my life in service.

That being said…Let's Go!

A lot has happened since my last entry. As I said in the last entry, Dad sold the house so I went home to help pack up the last 20 years into boxes to be moved to the downtown “flat“, the storage unit, goodwill and the dump. It was nice to be home, even if it was to say goodbye to my family home and sleep on a mat on the floor by the dining room table for the two weeks that followed in the new place.

I was also afforded an extra week of time in Portland because while I was there I received word from Peace Corps that it would be better for me to stay in the US for another week because they were evacuating my site due to upcoming elections that had the potential to bring about some violence. So, since I couldn’t go back to my site anyways, I stayed in Oregon for another glorious week.

It was actually a little bit awkward…since I’d already said my goodbyes and had my goodbye cocktails and goodbye dinners…I found myself actually kind of longing to get back to Guatemala. I was starting to feel a little bit self-conscious about my outdated, terribly unfashionable wardrobe and that I sometimes couldn’t think of appropriate words to make witty remarks in English. I was actually feeling ready to go back to my site, to my bed, to my peace corps friends, to my boyfriend.

*sigh*

Alas, “boyfriend“- I had one of those. Up until about a month ago I thought he was the best thing since sliced-bread (or, more appropriately, tortillas) but, he turned out to be, unfortunately, a total and complete loser. It’s funny how people can warn you about things but you go ahead and do them anyway with this idea that you aren’t the same, that you’re an exception to the rule. It turned out that this particular thing was something that I had to learn for myself. Other volunteers advised me to exercise extreme caution in dating a local dude because infidelity is really common and unfortunately, acknowledged but generally ignored in this culture.
So, I learned a lesson. Well, actually, I haven’t. Not yet (apart from “that guy is an asshat“ I‘m unsure what goodies are in this…but they‘re there, they‘ve got to be) I’m sure under all of these feelings of hostility and betrayal…there’s a lesson in there and I imagine somewhere down the road I will understand it all better.
So that's it, I was betrayed by someone that I loved. It was a real bummer.
I know that this happens everywhere…I am in NO WAY saying that Guatemala is the only haven for philanderers, it happens even in my beloved United States of America but dealing with everything within the framework of a culture where it is considered a very common occurrence is a really interesting twist. When I told my host-country friends about what happened I got, what I considered, "abnormal" responses to the situation I found myself in. They said, “oh gee, well that’s too bad. That happens here. Oh, Guatemala, oh men! Hah! Oh well, keep on!” and I’m thinking to myself, “would we laugh at this already?” as I was entirely unprepared to do that a day after I found out what kind of man I had been dating for the past 8 months.
While discussing my woes with Bri, she told me, someday this will be funny. It’ll be something that we can say to get you out of the “never have I ever” game; “never have I ever dated a guy who turned out to be married with two kids” and down my finger goes.
What really shocks me is how many people were in on the deception. I met his friends and the families of his friends, the girlfriends of his friends etc. and they all went along with it when he introduced me as his girlfriend, I didn’t even get a hint of what they all knew I really was- the other woman. At least his family wasn’t in on it…because I never met them. I didn’t even think to question the rationale he gave me, that he thought his dad would scare me away because he’s not the nicest person ever. In retrospect I would classify that as a “red flag“. AHA! A lesson. Nice.
It makes me think that you don’t often hear the story of “the other woman.” I had a picture of her in my mind, she looked nothing like me. Even though I know that it really isn’t my fault because I didn’t know (despite directly asking him whether he had a girlfriend, a wife, another woman or kids in his life) it doesn’t make me feel much better. I just can’t believe that scenario actually played out in my life, my life! it’s absolutely insane but, I digress…

So, with only 5 months left, I’m in a bit of a mood towards Guatemala these days. I am aware that “Guatemala” didn’t do this to me, that honor goes to Ricardo…but it kind of feels like I can’t catch a break in this country lately.

Even small things seem to be triggers that have the potential to completely exasperate me. For example, I have been trying to get this bolt to fix my elliptical (I know. I have one. It’s silly. We’ve discussed this, get over it…I was getting fat, I saw one for sale in Huehue and I went for it, okay? I had needs…wow, okay, we know I feel pretty silly now since I felt I needed to justify that purchase to all of you. Hah.) Well, I’ve been trying to get a replacement bolt for it since April- let’s do the math here…carry the…that’s 6 months! I’ve been to the place where I bought it about two-dozen times and each time they have some jacked story that always ends in, “so, that’s why we couldn’t get the bolt.” Two times now they have given me a replacement and I have gotten all the way back to my site only to find that they don’t fit. So I’m still trying to work with them on getting the right part but it seems they are having a very difficult time in troubleshooting the situation. I tried to take the reins into my own hands and went online to try and order the replacement part, send it to my parents and then have them mail it to me. I did a search and what did I find? That the brand of the machine doesn’t exist. I was only able to find one website that even had mention of “Mastertech Fitness” and it was in a Blog… from El Salvador. So It looks like I’m completely reliant on the employees of Tropigas to help me out on this one. So I wait… Touche Guatemala, touche.

So I can’t get the bolt to fix my elliptical, I find out that my whole relationship was a complete sham, and I finally got ripped-off by some jerk on the bus. I probably had this coming, just based on the odds and the fact that until this incident I had not been the victim of even a pick-pocket (probably due to my completely anal way of hiding my belongings about my person). Well, they rummaged around in my pack while it was stowed in the back and stole all of my makeup, some of my meds and some jewelry that was in a compartment of the kit…and while I always put the things I don’t consider valuable in my backpack, always mentally preparing myself to lose them, I am sad to have lost that kit. I can’t help but think of how it probably ended up in a garbage can minutes after the thieves checked it. It would do NO ONE any good here…since well, there aren’t many people with my complexion/coloring, the meds were unlabelled and all together loose in a plastic bag and the jewelry wasn’t really worth anything but sentimental value. It’s more annoying than anything else. I can’t replace what was stolen and that sucks. Losing my makeup isn’t the end of the world. It‘s lame but, I can make do. I mean, hey, it’s not all bad- it cut my getting ready time in half! Now I have more time to complete that Sudoku puzzle while I drink my coffee. Now that’s pretty sweet…

Blah.

Also, *warning* in addition to being a little bit unenthused with my current situation…I’m also a little bit peeved with men in general, so…that means that if you’re a man you should probably exercise caution for the next few months in any dealings with me, I may be forced to de-friend you on Facebook if you rub me the wrong way like that *snap* and then you’d have no way to see my awesome status-updates or tagged photos. I know you would all miss THAT so…tread carefully.

In other news, Bri has told me that she’s coming to visit just before Christmas! I’m so excited to show my darling wife about my life here in Guatemala! I’m also thinking about flying back with her to be somewhere familiar for Christmas…even if it is just the city of Portland as a whole. At this current point in time have no desire to spend Christmas by myself in Spanish. So…if you’re one of my wonderful friends in Portland you may want to accept it now that I may impose and stay with you as to avoid the sleeping-under-dining-room-table scenario at the ‘rents’ new flat.

On to other things that I’m excited about

- Thanksgiving is coming up! A group of us have decided to spend it at the beach. We’ve rented the same house we had last year and I can’t wait to feel the sand between my toes again. I think it may be just what the doctor ordered. After all, everything is better at the beach.

Let’s see…what else...
Here’s some randoms:

-The last time I wrote an entry that was sparked by price of water and whether or not it really went up or I was being taken advantage of. Good news on that, it actually did go up! I was not being fleeced out of 1Q by an old woman. She was just genuinely being nice.

- I got stung by a bee and this just in, that really hurts. I haven’t been stung by a bee since I was like seven and I had completely forgotten. Dear all seven year olds, you are TOTALLY justified in crying when that happens! Love, Kristin.

- an older woman sat next to me on the bus recently and asked me all about my life and work here and when I told her that I cook for myself she was really surprised and touched my knee and said, “how cute you are!” it was pretty nice to get some physical contact that wasn’t creepy. I wonder if she’ll stay in touch…

- I just had the startling realization that I don’t know how to cook without using Picamas (hot sauce).

- Liz Soucie and Jake Albright got engaged! Congrats you crazy kids, I’m excited for the wedding!

- I didn’t get my driver’s license when I went home because although I passed the written test (with flying colors mind you…) I couldn’t get an appointment to take the behind-the-wheel test while I was home. That was pretty lame…I felt like I was 15 all over again. The DMV lady suggested that I get my permit, then I could drive with a licensed driver over 21...to which I replied, if I’m with a licensed driver who’s over 21...they’ll be driving, this isn’t a matter of me wanting to practice driving, this is about me driving places by myself. So, I ended up riding my mom’s old yellow bike everywhere and by “everywhere” I of course mean the storage unit, the grocery store and (obviously) taco bell. I like that bike.

- I just finished reading the book, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins….IT. WAS. AWESOME. It was a quick read and highly entertaining. If you haven’t read it I suggest you pick up a copy.

- I just ate an entire container (bag) of green olives. They were really tasty and now I’m really thirsty.

- I think I’m expecting some packages from my friends and this brings me great excitement.

- I didn’t dress up for Halloween this year and that makes me sad. I love dressing up. So be prepared for next year’s costume to rock your world. It’s going to be awesome. I have to make up for a lost dress-up opportunity! Ah!

- After 2 months of being on strike the teachers came back to work for 2 weeks before ending the school year. So now I’m in search of purpose again. I’m thinking of doing a little garden project. Try my hand at making something grow. We’ll see. I’m not sure how green my thumb is.

- I will have something to do in the next few weeks. There is a group from habitat for humanity coming down and I’m going to help translate and train people on how to use and repair these new water purification systems that they’re installing in two locations within the urban area of my site! So I’ve got that to look forward to. That and, many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

- I am loving the new Adele and Maroon 5 CD’s. They are fantastic.

- I have been spending a lot of time lately on Craiglist looking at apartments and sectional couches.

- I have a thing for sectional couches.

So...yeah.

I miss my friends and family. I’m hopeful that the next 5 months of my service are going to bring better stories and experiences. I really do feel really privileged to have the opportunity to do this despite the fact that I have had some bad luck of late…

That’s why we run these tests! (right?)

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

　
P.S.
I suck at taking pictures. It’s on my “try harder to” list.
So here’s a picture of me and some friends, Megan and Ingris in HueHue.
And a burger that I made with Mari (while she nursed me back to health, you’re a darling Mar) where I tried to mimic the double-patty situation on a Big Mac. It didn’t really work out. That’s a lot of meat.

XOXO!

i really like hot sauce on my taco bell.

Either the price of water just went up or an old lady just robbed me blind…

I guess I’m okay with it.

Water is normally Q15 but as I was walking up my street towards the store to buy some water (I’d been waiting all day for the guys with the water truck to pass but when they finally did they didn’t stop by my house, it was awful. I was very thirsty) anyways, as I was walking up my street towards the store to buy some water an old woman who lives across the street from me asked me where I was going, I lifted my empty water jug in the air and said, “to the store, I don’t know how I missed the truck!” and then she said, “well you can have one of mine if you like, I have 3” and I said, “that’d be fantastic, this is much closer” to which, she agreed with me.
Then she told me it was Q.16
As I mentioned earlier, water has always been Q15
So… I gave her a look that said, “uhmmmmm what?” to which she answered that, “the price went up” and by this time I was already salivating at the thought of a glass of water that I handed her my money without further incident.
Either way…I’ll let her have that Q1 and find out whether she took advantage of my laziness another time…

Cool story right?

Yeah, things have gotten pretty sweet down here.

I am sorry that I haven’t written a blog entry in quite some time…I really have no excuse except that (as demonstrated in the story above) I have been exceptionally lazy.

So, let’s see. Here’s what I’ve been up to since I last posted.

May happened and it was pretty sweet. I went to LA to visit KP and meet up with Bri, Liz and Mere and it was great! I ate some crab cakes and drank some dark beer and for my birthday I even got to go bowling and eat some taco bell. (see photos)



at the bowling alley, yes, it was glow-bowling



at the taco bell/kfc...so in love with my volcano burrito (which doesn't exist at taco bell in guatemala...just fyi)

Reunited and it feels so good! Bri, me, KP, Liz and Mere!

The day after my birthday we were walking along Venice Beach (which is awesome by the way) and ran across a tattoo parlor where I finally got my first Tattoo! I had been thinking about getting one since I was 18 and I had told Mom and Dad that I’d gotten one (to gauge whether I could realistically do it without ruining my “best daughter ever” status) but then I‘d chickened out….sidebar: I don’t think I ever had “best daughter ever” status but I am their only daughter…so…
Here are some pictures…you feel like you were there don’t you?

i thought i had a higher threshold for pain...embarrassing.

All healed.



Then I got back into the GUA and headed back towards my site… which was a real B*#$ because despite my best efforts, I picked up a bunch of stuff when I was in the states; primarily clothes that I didn’t really think about when I bought…because there is no way that I can wear them here. Guess I’ll have some new-ish things to wear when I get back to the states.
After I got back to site and reminded everyone that I still live and work here, which I always love, I started to get back to work. I decided that my next big step in my job here would be to move from small-scale, school visits (where I usually spend 30- 90 minutes traveling each way and only talk with the teachers or the principal for a total of 15-30 minutes) to more large-scale workshops with all of the personnel.
I didn’t realize how much of a hassle this idea was going to be. I had estimated that I only had about 50 teachers…but I was wrong because once I actually listed them out in an attendance sheet there were 84, in just my 12 schools alone. The solution was of course to divide my teachers between two days and then do the workshop two times, that way I would have a better shot at facilitating a successful workshop (not to mention to maintain order in the classroom).
The theme that I chose for the workshop was, “classroom management and health lessons” and I even got my little darlings, Claire and Mari to come up and help me out (seriously couldn’t have done it without those guys).
Claire came up for the first workshop and although there were some kinks to work out still, it went really well. The teachers thanked me for doing the workshop and I thanked them for being such a great group to work with, the participation was great and I only had to take away points from their workstation teams a few times… classroom management in action.
One of the notes that I did get from the first group was that the information about the Healthy Schools project is not making its way to the teachers. This was really discouraging information.
I prepared a review game of Jeopardy to play with the teachers and one of the categories was “Healthy Schools” and the amount of people who were clueless at the questions about the basic requirements of the program was astounding. They were mad (because they couldn’t get the questions right in the game) and I was mad (because for the last year and a half I’ve been having meetings with principals and teachers, putting on workshops that detail the program, and leaving tons of information and books, and very little of that information made it to the classrooms…yikes).

there wasn't a classroom that was big enough for all of us...so we held it in the patio/corridor area.

After the first workshop I took the notes and with Mari’s help, adjusted for the next day’s workshop. We woke up early and I was feeling great about the improvements we made in the plans and that we were that much closer to being finished. Well, the second workshop was a disaster.

No one participated.
People talked and messed with their phones.
No one came back from snack on time.
General loss of composure/ sweating profusely/ on verge of tears.
It was like pulling teeth trying to get through the material.

I think I was most hurt that 18 of the 42 teachers have been with the program since phase I, 5 and ½ years ago. They didn’t participate or share their experience with the rest of the class and that was really frustrating. I had to make a little speech at the end of the workshop to express how I felt about the lack of participation and general lack of respect for me, my work partner, Mari and their fellow colleagues.
They are the teachers and they were acting worse than children. It was a low point in my work here.

I am not a teacher and I do not want to be one. Mad props to all good teachers out there. I can’t even tell you how much time it took me to prepare a 4 hour workshop…and good teachers plan for every day, for every lesson - THAT is really something. When I lost control of the class all I wanted to do was put on a movie, like “Wall-E” and then let them discuss our carbon footprint or trash management…
That’ll be my backup plan next time.

I spoke with the superintendent with whom I’m working, and I told her that I am determined to have a firm hand with the teachers from now on- I do not plan to work with anyone who does not want to work with me, it’s a waste of both of our time. If only I’d learned this lesson earlier… sigh. It’s all part of the experience I suppose.

On to more upbeat things!

The 4^th of July happened somewhere in there as did the 4^th of July party for Volunteers. The party actually took place on the 2^nd…because the 4^th was a Monday and we had burgers, dogs, fries, beer, music, talent show, and dancing. It was really fun.
Those of you who have been following my blog since the beginning may remember that last year I sang the national anthem. Well, I somehow managed to get in on it again this year. We sang in a quartet, it was really great. Here’s a picture of us singing (or laughing)…we’re so red, white and blue.

I also got a haircut right before the party…and it didn’t go so well. Hugo did me wrong. I was visiting another volunteer and I went to get my hair done from their main guy, Hugo. I told him I was trying to grow my hair out really long and I just wanted him to take the ends off. CLEARLY there was somewhat of a language/style barrier there because as soon as he started cutting I could see longer and longer clumps of hair falling around my chair, and then he got out the razor and started giving my hair some “body” and “style.”

Hah. It actually didn’t turn out that bad but it was extraordinarily uneven, I even took a picture to illustrate how much hair I had to cut off the right side to make it even with the left after the fact. I felt like it was a lot.
He also advised me to only cut my hair on the full moon if i wanted to grow it really long...so i'm going to get my hands on a lunar calendar.

it's a lot of hair right?

Let’s see, what else?

I still sometimes pretend like I know what someone says when I don’t understand them.

I just received a package from Bri <3 <3 and it has rainbow chip cake mix and frosting in it.

Oh and Bri and Mike got engaged and she just asked me to be the Maid of Honor at their wedding next summer- I’m so excited, can’t wait!

It’s the rainy season again and Mosquitoes are eating me alive…literally.

Dad and Kathleen sold the house- The really funny thing about this is that they had just rented Kathleen’s house the week before on a year lease when they received an offer on 1990 and now they have no where to live! So now they’re thinking of living downtown for a year to get a feel for that lifestyle. Naturally I am on the apartment search from here, sending them links to all the nice places (and making sure I will have a place to crash for a month or so when I get back…)
I also have the great fortune that they have requested my help in getting the house ready to hand over and packing and moving 20 years into a new location and so darling Kathleen has bought me a ticket to come home in a few weeks!
I’ll be in Portland from the 24^th until September 7^th. The majority of those two weeks will be spent helping the rents but I do intend to sneak in a friend reunion some Friday or Saturday evening. Somewhere in there I will also have to get a new driver’s license…since mine is no longer valid. JOY.

This isn’t really following any pattern…oh well.

I have had lots of time in the past three months to think about my future (one might use the word, “obsess” one might, but I certainly won’t) and I have come to the conclusion that my post baccalaureate Pre-Med work should take place at Portland State. I have made this decision based on a few things, 1) it will be the most cost-effective way to get this done and 2) I know and love a lot of people in Portland.

There are more reasons but I don’t really recall them at this point.

I’ve also decided that if I do ever buy a car again that it’s going to be a Subaru.

Yes, I’ve had some time on my hands to think about these things…and read consumer-reports. No big deal.

I also saw the last Harry Potter…I laughed and I cried…and I mean I cried. That movie was incredible.

So I’ve done it! I’ve caught you all up on my life and it feels darn good. So accomplished. To think- all it took for me to kick my writer’s block was a lady charging me Q1 more for water than usual…

Strange.

I hope that this entry finds everyone happy and healthy. I miss you all. I’ve got 8 more months to go, hard to believe that I’ve been here for 19... yikes.

Don’t do drugs. Stay in school. Other words of wisdom.

Love. Love. Love.

my picture blog...blog.

Pictures of stuff i've talked about/tried to explain about my life in Guatemala. enjoy(?)

these crazy flat spiders that are EVERYWHERE. this is a medium-sized one. they're also really, REALLY fast.

this is an enormous bug i found in my room and ushered outside.

this is a bottle kitchen project that the volunteer before me, Kristina, did with one of the schools. look at the triangle, that's a cut-out to show the bottle construction. there's also an unfinished world-map on the wall...that i may finish.

this is a rincon de salud (health corner) it's got toothbrushes, towels, cups, purified water, soap, toilet paper etc.

this is a lava-manos, it's got 12 faucets constructed around a water-tank.

this is a pila (outside sink) on the right i've got some dishes drying and on the left is where i usually wash my dishes and/or clothes by scrubbing them in the concrete-lined basin and scooping water out of the middle section with that little bowl (called a guacal or palangana).

this is how i do drinking water, i buy new jugs of water from the store and then lug them back to my place. they're somewhat heavy and a nuisance to carry but they only cost 15Q ($2.00) and usually last me about a week...not too shabby.

this is why my thighs are getting really strong (because i have to squat under my shower-head to avoid being electrocuted).

this is why i am afraid of being electrocuted. this is a calentador. I turn on the water and then i flip the fuse on. the shower head makes a gargling sound and then the water comes out hot. when i'm finished bathing i take a towel and flip the fuse down and then turn off the water.

just a little idea of what it's like in my site housing and terrain-wise.

  

despite it being the end of the dry season, there is still a lot of green happening.

this is a view of my patio taken from my roof. my landlord is a big fan of flowers and trees. the area where the cinder blocks are is where i burn my trash and you can see the pila in the back left-hand corner.

I think this may be where the winged ants are coming from...this is just outside the door that can be seen in the previous picture.

so...that's that.

in an unrelated note, my birthday is in 9 days and i leave for Los Angeles in 6 days.
i am so excited i can barely contain myself; fun times ahead!

hope everyone is well! love love LOVE!

Card Tricks and Pick-Up Stix

Card Tricks and Pick-Up Stix
I think that would make a great song title.

Maybe I’ll write that song.

Sometimes when I’m writing a new blog entry I experience fleeting moments of awesomeness, and I think to myself, “Kristin, we should really work on harnessing that, get some of that down on paper.” It’s like I’m in class and I have a really insightful comment to contribute to a discussion and I’m sitting there with my hand raised, literally straining to be called on, waiting while other people get called on and then when it’s finally my turn, I’ve forgotten whatever that brilliant comment was that I was so excited to share…then the teacher inevitably says something to the effect of, “well you’ll remember and when you think of it…” *sigh*
So yeah, that just happened to me; I thought I had something awesome to write about but it turned out that it flew out my head as quickly as the idea had come to me. Typical.

So here we are, a captive audience and nothing to say. So I’ll just talk around in circles until I either remember my awesome blog entry idea or come up with another brilliant one. We could be here for a while…try to contain your excitement.

Some observations I’ve made recently:

There have been winged-ant sightings in my room… and I don’t like it. I don’t like ants in general…just the normal ones in my house have the audacity to crawl all over my dishes while they dry in the basket out at the Pila and I have 2 problems with that (1) that it sort of makes me feel like I need to wash my dishes again and (2) when I grab a pot from the drying rack and bring it inside to start boiling some water, a few ants somehow stowaway in the creases of the lid. This ultimately leads to me finding little ant corpses in my boiling water/pasta (that’s right, sometimes I don’t notice until the pasta’s already been boiled. Yum Yum).

Oh, and (3) I don’t notice when they are crawling on me until I actually see them because they’re so light that I barely feel them. For example, today I spilled maple syrup on my sandals (I made pancakes for lunch and I got carried away with my syrup drizzling…) well, I thought I cleaned it all off but, from the number of ants that I found crawling all over my foot, later this afternoon, it would appear I missed a spot…

Anyways…on to these ants with wings. I don’t like them- they hop around, it‘s creepy. They irk me even more than those daddy-long-leg spiders with wings…woof; don’t even get me started on those guys…
These flying ants, in addition to having both the quality of an ant AND a bug that flies, are abnormally large and when I smash them with my flyswatter their blood is red. I know, gross; well at least I should be thinking, “gross“…but instead I’m just curious as to whether at some point, that red blood that I‘m seeing, was once mine? Could these winged (pronounced: wing- ed in this particular instance) ants be the culprits behind my many recent bug bites?

More than likely it is just the handiwork of my old bloodsucking friends, mosquitoes, however for unknown reasons (perhaps they’re getting sneakier) I have not caught many of them in the act of biting me, so it is hard to be sure. *sigh* I digress…

Well that was a nice little vent/distraction… still haven’t remembered the idea that I intended to write about when I opened this document…but I guess that’s okay.

I’ve been trying to get away from television and movies and reconnect with music and reading lately…I suddenly realized that I should save some of my media for the rainy season so that I don’t go crazy when I’m stuck in-site due to landslides, tropical storms etc.

Right now I have a few new music play lists…one of them is entitled “it’s raining outside” and I’m thinking that maybe I should make one called, “the power’s out” where the sum total of the running times of all the songs is equal to my computer’s battery life… that could be a fun little afternoon.

If I was going to make a CD that was called, Kristin’s March/April most played, it would include:

1. Hot Air Balloon - Owl City
2. She Moves In Her Own Way- The Kooks
3. Uncharted - Sara Bareilles
4. City Love- John Mayer
5. Ooh La La- Faces
6. West Coast- Coconut Records
7. I Hate Everyone- Go Set Go
8. Cryin’ Won’t Help You Now- Ben Harper
9. Holdin’ On- Citizen Cope
10. Waiting on a Friend- Rolling Stones
11. Tailor Made- Colbie Caillat
12. Right As Rain- Adele

So yeah, I guess that’s the kind of mood I’ve been in.

So let’s talk about April, since apparently I don’t write blog entries with much frequency anymore.

April started off innocently enough with my Mid-Service Conference at the Office. We talked about our successes in our projects during our first year and about what our plans were for the following school-year. It was a nice opportunity for us to see what everyone else has been up to, especially since the Phase II Healthy Schools Project is relatively new. It was also some great motivation to step-up our game for this year. I was really impressed with some of the projects that people have been able to realize. I had to remind myself that I live far away and don’t have access to a lot of the same resources and that there is still time for our schools. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed thinking about how fast this school-year is passing; yikes!

After Mid-Service Conference I elected to stay for a week of Spanish Classes to brush up on my linguistic skills. I think that Spanish was really beneficial but, by the end of the week I felt like I couldn’t speak Spanish at all. All of the different conjugations of verbs were floating around in my brain and hadn’t really had time to settle into my toolbox yet. I think now I’m just starting to pepper the new things that I learned in to my everyday speech, if not entirely correctly at least I’m trying to use them.

During this week of Spanish the other gals who were taking classes and I decided to do a sunset hike of the Volcano, Pacaya. It was so weird to revisit the volcano a year later, after it had erupted. It looks completely different. I thought of when we hiked it the year before during training and how much my life has changed since then- my attitude, my grasp of the language etc. I was able to listen to our guide tell us things about the volcano that a year before I absently nodded my head to and didn’t understand at all, and this time I actually did understand; it was fantastic and made me feel like I’d accomplished something.

Pacaya- where the top used to be

I also had the opportunity to visit my host-family from training, it was really nice to see them. I brought with me some photos of all of us together from my Parents’ visit in December which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Then it was time to head back to site and I made it back just-in-time for the Teacher’s strike! Yay! I returned to site feeling anxious to get back to work only to find that I was the only one, that school would not be happening until the strike was resolved. So…I spent the next week walking around, reminding people of my existence. Every time I leave for a long weekend or a week at the office etc. people are inclined to think that I’ve left forever and gone back to the States. So, generally, when I get back from a little trip I like to make my rounds in town and say, “hi” to as many people as possible. I have a few key tiendas that I like to visit and then I play the rest off the cuff.

After a week of being back in-site and having nothing to do I was starting to feel weird about all of the time I had on my hands…and restless in my SPOTLESS apartment. So I would start my days with a workout video, Jillian Michaels is insane (how does she know when I’m starting to fatigue and “phone-in” my workout? It’s creepy, creepy Jillian), then usually bathe, apply a ton of sunscreen (it’s been the inferno here) and then leave my house to chat with people. On one such occasion it occurred to me that my memory sucks…and I need to do something to sharpen it. I ran into this guy in the market and he threw a, “Hello Miss Kristi” my way, so I turned around, recognizing him instantly (but unable to place from where) and assumed he was a teacher. I started babbling on about school and if he was anxious to get back to work to which he looked confused, we said goodbye, and went our separate ways. Later, at home, it dawned on me that he’s not a teacher at all, he’s the guy who brings me new tanks of propane…nice one Kristin!

I wonder how many times this has happened and I just haven’t noticed…probably a lot.

So if any of you have any ideas on how I can bring my memory back to it’s former glory (I think it was at it’s highest capacity during Alpha Phi Recruitment ‘06 and has since, steadily declined…) I’m open to ideas.

my kitchen in my really clean apartment...

After a week of being unproductive and appearing in need of attention to Tienda ladies everywhere Semana Santa (Holy Week) hit and any hope of productivity vanished. The Schools were on vacation but, I was informed that the strike would be over and that everyone would be returning to work the following week; I had something to look forward to, thank goodness. Feeling that I was allowed to be unproductive I became a recluse and lazed about my house, reading, listening to music, cooking and threw in the occasional workout/hike. Thursday and Friday were the biggest days here, like the previous year, there were alfombras (carpets) made out of beans, sand, flowers etc. covering the pavement, outlining the path in-between the big Catholic Church in the center of our town, to the other Church at the top of the hill. I didn’t end up going to watch the parade this year, it started to thunder and lightning and rain really hard so I elected to stay inside, figuring the alfombras would probably be ruined. I was told the following day by my landlord that the alfombras were ruined but that once the rain stopped people went back to work and fixed them into the night, finally ending at around three in the morning. *snap*

an alfombra

I have mixed feelings about celebrations like Semana Santa, Feria and Carnaval…for everyone from here it’s a really exciting time, all of their family is together, they are enjoying each other’s company and celebrating out with the rest of the town…but, for me, the experience is a little different. I like to go out and take in the festivities and say, “hello” to people I know, show my face a little but, I have to really choose my moments because with all of the celebration comes things that I don’t love. They usually bring people from out-of-town who don’t know me, drunk people at all hours of the day (but especially in the evenings), unwanted attention from both the aforementioned parties, and a lot of pressure to attend religious events. It’s kind of a bummer because no matter how many people I know or how good my Spanish is, I can never disappear in the crowd here, I stick out like a sore thumb (literally a head taller than the crowd…also, red-headed and pale…). So, I usually go out and try and make the most of the morning celebrations and then, if say, a thunderstorm hits during the late afternoon-evening festivities, I have zero qualms with staying-in and missing-out; it kind of feels like a get-out-of-jail-free card.

The church in our central park...pretty.

So I’ve made it to the end of April without having worked in the schools a single day…and yet, while each day dragged-on, I blinked and the whole month disappeared. Crazy.

As for the rest of this month, I am happy to report that school is back-on and I am filled with purpose again!
What’s next?

Bring on May!

I have planned a trip to visit Los Angeles in May to celebrate my 25^th birthday (it’s the 22^nd…write that down…) I am so excited to see KP, Bri, Liz, and Mere!

I hope this finds everyone healthy and happy (oh, and Happy Easter!)
　
Peace, Love & uncomfortable too-long hugs.

"Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

“where we‘re going, we don‘t need roads” sorry about that…Back to the Future is on the brain.

That’s why we run these tests!

I have tried to do a few things recently that have just simply crashed and burned. One of those things was trying to make a compost heap which apparently is more complex than I initially thought (don’t worry…I’ll figure it out) and the other was getting in 30 minutes to an hour of cardio on a daily basis which seemed possible until my elliptical broke last week (yep…I put an elliptical on a bus and brought it up to Mexico so that I wouldn’t have to run in the streets with dogs chasing me and everyone staring) well, the pedal came completely detached from the rest of the bike (the bolt broke in half…) and I fell to the ground, thankful that no one was here to see. I believe that both of these things are repairable…but will not know for sure until I buy some plastic and new boards for my compost heap and a wrench and a new bolt for the elliptical…both of which are going t to take some organization and funds on my part…so…there’s that.

Here are some vocabulary words I never thought I’d need to know…

Llavero - Keychain
Manguera -Hose (like for watering plants)
Pelechar- to shed (like shed hair)
Agitar(se)- to fluster
Voz ronco- husky voice
Sudar- to sweat
Teclado- keyboard
Lancha- boat
Chippy- choppy (like the quality of the surface of water of a lake)
　
There are more…but I can’t seem to recall them right now.

Speaking of the quality of the surface of water of a lake…

I went to the lake! FINALLY! Here’s what that looks like.



El Lago.


 I had a wonderful time. I stayed in Santa Cruz La Laguna (which is right on the lake, and you must take a boat to get there…because there are no roads…)

I went on a Monday and a Tuesday and it was pretty calm at the Hostal which I generally prefer. I spent Monday traveling to the lake and then on Tuesday we went Hiking at this nature reserve in Pana where there was a Mariposario (a butterfly house) and lots of trails, bridges, and monkeys…see à

Hammock bridge...in cartoons people always fall through them...so i was naturally, very worried.

monkey.

I also played a lot of cards…which reaffirmed my love for gin-rummy and was audience to some pretty sweet magic tricks…which I had no idea I was so fascinated by; in case there is any debate: magic = awesome. End of story.

I feel like my hand looks weird here...

After my mini-vacay at the Lake I was off to Antigua for a doctor's appt. and a celebration at the Ambassador’s house to mark the swearing-in of new volunteers, the closing of service for the group 1 year my senior, my group’s 1 year in service anniversary and the 50 years of Peace Corps celebration.

My friend, Mark, who just had his Close-of-Service, did a photo comparison of people in his training group, entitled, “Rapid Aging as Illustrated by Picasa Collages” and shows pictures of people from training versus at their closing of service conference…and the general consensus is that Peace Corps ages you…so I have that to look forward to. Ha-ha

So, I went to the Dermatologist…concerned with rapid aging and scars from my cool face infection and he told me to wear more sunscreen…and I laughed because of the way he said it…like no one has ever told me to wear sunscreen before; dad beat him to the punch like 20 years ago...so i'm going to stay the course with that. ha ha.

As for the party at the Ambassador’s house….that guy’s got some nice digs. How do I get a gig like that? Foreign Service and being friendly seem to be some of the pre-req’s there…I wonder how long that would take…

There were a lot of speeches (wow…auto-correct just changed speeches from how I was trying to spell it “speaches” so…so wrong, embarrassing) by Peace Corps Guatemala Staff, The Ambassador and a representative from Washington DC…which was pretty neat. Then we had a snack…which they underestimated in a big way…as it was lunchtime and everyone was starving. So by the time I got to the front of the line I grabbed about 4 chips that were left on one of the platters and we all stood around, agitated, waiting for them to bus us back to the office so we could all go get some food ha-ha. Other than that tiny hiccup I thought the party was awesome, it was outrageous how many Volunteers were there; so many of whom I had never met, it was nice.

It was a pretty big to-do. We made the cover page of the Prensa Libre (the newspaper).

Más de un centenar de estadounidenses, entre nuevos y ex voluntarios, participaron en la celebración, en la residencia del embajador de EE. UU

Then we all went out in Antigua…which was pretty great also. And then I got up on Saturday morning and traveled back to site…which SUCKED. Lately I HATE riding on Camionetas…I’m really over it. 10 hours is entirely too long and my body can’t take it like it used to. I literally can not sit down in a chair right now because my tailbone hurts so bad- I have to lie on my stomach and then roll over on to my back to be comfortable. It’s horrible. I could really go for a soak in a hot tub.

And the best thing ever- I get to get back on a bus on Wednesday to be at a security meeting in Huehue on Thursday and then, Thursday night, go to Antigua to be at mid-service conference on Friday morning… nice one; I’m going to seek reparations for the psychological and physical pain that comes with traveling that distance twice in two weeks… I’m not pleased, I think it could very well be an aging factor, those “free radicals“ that age skin have nothing on a Camioneta ride.
To make the second trip worthwhile I have elected to take Spanish classes the week of the 4^th-8^th and am very much looking forward to improving my ability to tell stories in Spanish…and brushing up on some of the fancier conjugations. Should be good.

Bueno pues…


I’m ready to sign-off; It’s time. Until next time, I’ll be thinking of you all…
Wash your hands, wear sunscreen, make good choices etc. etc.

XOXO!

i think. i just ate. a bug.

i think. i just ate. a bug.
I just choked on something in my water...and i dont know what is worse, that I (a) swallowed it or (b) am not really concerned about it ...meh.

Moving on…

Today Peace Corps Celebrates it’s 50^th anniversary… so…I thought I’d do an update and support that 3^rd goal by sharing some more of my experiences with you…my friends, family and fellow AMUR-KINS.

Yeah…
Please say Americans exactly as written above, thanks.

It’s funny how often I go back and fourth with being ready to leave Guatemala and wanting to stay here forever.
At times, I think to myself: Peace Corps Guatemala has been great for figuring out my next steps- I know what I want to do when I leave here…so I should just like, do that. Sometimes I get so excited thinking about the future that I make lists and research deadlines for applications and mark them on my calendar (even though they are about a year away) and stare longingly at it envisioning my new life in a post bac pre med program walking around, crunching dry leaves under my boots and feeling very smart on a campus that looks like a Harry Potter book.

Then, there are other times when I feel like my life is suspended in a good way here. There’s this little part of me that gets all anxious thinking about the future; what if I know what I want to do but what I want to do does not fit? Like the admission counselors are going to go, “okay, we’ve got a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, good college grades, good high school…oh, wait, would you look at that, 11 years ago she received a C+ in Advanced Earth Science? This girl would be entirely out of her league here. NEXT.”
I knew that Mr. Goodrich was going to be trouble…
Actually, now that I think about it I’m pretty sure I got a B in that class and the C+ in Spanish with Mr. Stewart…yes, that is exactly right.
Well, looks like I showed him.

I also go back and fourth between thinking the transition back to living in the US will be easy for me and conversely worrying that I will be overwhelmed and pushed to a nervous break from pretending I have any idea about what’s going on. Like someone will start to talk about a pop culture reference or anything about politics and the news and I will nod my head noncommittally and look like a real poser.
I figure it’ll be kind of like what happens when my computer performs a background scan and tells me it has fixed detected threats and gives me the option to click to view the them. Naturally, I click this link and it takes me to the data about the virus’ that my computer found and I have no idea what it means; I have no idea what I did to get that virus and I think to myself, “okay the next time I see a link that says, ‘download Trojan virus backdoor/E$Mca‘…I do not click it(?) problem solved. good talk, see you out there!”
I have to wonder, what good does that information do me if I have no idea what it means- and why am I compelled to click that link when I know that in no way will that information be useful to me? I kind of feel like the same logic applies to my catching up on current events from down here…once I have that information- what will I do with it? Is there a window where you can talk about something without coming off like a total jerk? Or are you more of a jerk if you say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, can we go bowling?”
I was thinking maybe I should just start with events that are happening now and try and put those into my conversations but, a part of me doesn’t seem to want to rise to the occasion: excusing myself from reading the news online with the logic that, “if I’m going to watch that movie, I need to watch it from the beginning, otherwise it wont make sense.”

*Sigh* sometimes it’s just so much easier to just talk about the weather in Guatemala.

Speaking of the weather in Guatemala- it’s been lovely. Currently working with a temp of 85 degrees and sunshine for miles.

The dry season is here and it’s making me feel like I really should be traveling and seeing some more of this beautiful country before the rainy season comes and takes away my reliable transportation (the term, “reliable” is of course, relative). So here are the things I need to do before the rain arrives:
1. panajachel (the lake)
2. alta verapaz (the jungle)
3. My friends’ sites (everywhere)

I’d also really like to get up into Peten and see some ruins…but I’ve got a lot on my plate, better pace myself.

As for the state of things in Guatemala, the “state of seige” has officially been lifted and the volunteers who were evacuated from their sites have been given permission to return to the coban/alta verapaz area which is excellent news.
I have since heard murmurings about the possibility of the army coming to huehue now that they are leaving the alta verapaz region...and this causes some concern for me, but i dont know how much truth there is to that rumor and am tempted to call, "baloney."
…this is one of those times where I really have no idea what is going on but I try and talk about it like I do… My lines to the news, aka misc. chatty people in my town, have been known to be unreliable…(especially when concerning bus schedules) so please, rest easy; i'm safe and sound!

In other news, I have been having a pretty incredible time in Guatemala recently… I feel really lucky to have made so many great friends here and have been having a wonderful time with them. I also feel really lucky to have the support of my friends and family back home- thank you guys so much for the packages and cards! You have no idea how nice it is when the postman waves me in to his office and tells me I have something waiting for me; it’s such a lovely surprise.

As for my in-site life, we just had our Feria last month…and I took some pictures so here are a few...




the people in the masks are the "spanish"



the worlds scariest ferris wheel.





bulls covered in fireworks...

 I decided that Feria is not really for me…it was nice to buy stuff from all of the vendors but other than that there were a lot of drunk people everywhere…suffice it to say I didn’t leave the house past-dark without Damian and Juan Jose and I’m glad that it’s over haha.

Concerning my career as a budding musical sensation…I abandoned the guitar all together after I hurt my fingers a few months ago but have decided to take it back up with more discipline this month.

In my, “I miss the US” life… I miss the following things:
- washing machines (but especially dryers…specifically for my socks).
- ethnic food (or American versions of): Greek, Mediterranean, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Mexican…mmm
- Driving
- Shopping trips in target
- reasonably priced cosmetics in shades that match my skin tone…
- drive thru coffee windows
- shower heads that are high enough and won’t electrocute me.
- garbage disposals.
- walking around with my camera or ipod/ not worrying about being robbed all the time.
- being able to tell when people are joking/witty repartee (wishing I could do it in Spanish).

Things I’m loving in Guatemala right now:
- pretty much everything about Xela
- less cat-calls on a daily basis in my site.
- PACAs (the used clothing/goods stores)
- the weather
- avocados: they’re awesome right now
- my new place
- having a shower: it’s INCREDIBLE.
- latin pop music
- free Peace Corps Volunteer to Peace Corps Volunteer calls
- roses blooming around my patio
- la hora de hygiene song one of my directors sang for me
- collaboration on projects with other volunteers.

Here’s a picture of an adorable Rincon de Salud that one of my classes had up…

Yes that is Bam-Bam in the background...no big deal.

In my intellectual life (would we call it that? Intellectual? *sigh) I just finished reading (for the second time) a Marian Keyes book, “Rachael’s Holiday“…and I loved it; I like it when it has been so long since I’ve read something that I can enjoy it again like it was the first time. I also just finished reading a new book by Mike Birbiglia (the comedian) called, “Sleepwalk With Me” and it was really funny…if you like Mike Birbiglia’s stand-up…you’ll probably like this book. I also re-read (shameful…) “Twilight” and…I still like it; I don’t care if it makes me a pre-teen.

In my social life…well…it’s going well; I think my Spanish is going to really improve this year…
　
I will conclude this entry for now. those pictures took forever and three of them mysteriously disappeared...which is annoying. I will try and update again soon!

In the meantime thank you for reading; I hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all!

Peace & Love!

XOXO,
Kristin



A New Year

…and the beginning of my second in service.

It was a dark and stormy night…

Well, it wasn’t dark, or stormy. I live in Guatemala and it’s the beginning of the dry season. So…


It was a dry and cool-ish day, and Kristin was freshly back from her vacation with her family and out on the hunt for a new place to live. As she turned the corner to say hello to her favorite tienda lady, there it was, the biggest dog she’d ever seen, looking at Kristin as if she had personally wronged it and it had a taste for her blood.

Okay, writing in the third person is starting to wear on me (probably on all of us) so I’m going to put and end to it right here and now and vow (well, try) not to do that again.

Ahem.

So I turned the corner and saw none other than the canine stunt double for, “Hercules” (aka, “The Beast”) from the Sandlot with his teeth bared. Now, the old me might have started to cry or yelled some sort of unconvincing, “no” in that dog’s direction, but the new me, the newly empowered me (hanging out with people who don’t speak any Spanish makes your confidence in your grasp of the language and culture skyrocket, try it sometime) decided not to take that abuse. So I knelt down to the ground and picked up a rock and as I stood, the dog retreated and order was restored.

I know, kind of anti-climactic…but I really wanted to start this blog with, “it was a dark and stormy night” and that was one way I could make that happen, indulge me.

I have returned to my site after having a wonderful visit with my family (story to follow) and I feel a renewed sense of enthusiasm for my work and life here in my site.

I have been in Guatemala for one year, as of January 5th, and probably by the time I actually post this blog entry it will be more towards the 13 month mark (almost half way!). It’s funny to think about because while some hours/days seem to drag on and on, the weeks/months pass so quickly that without even having realized it, I’m into my second year of service and my last 10 months with the schools.

Time to get some work done!

I have so many ideas on how to work more effectively with my schools this year that I am giddy with the possibilities (and conversely stressed out knowing that in the best of circumstances I will probably only accomplish ¼ of my goals…if I’m lucky). Such is life.

As school has only been in session for a week, having begun on the 17th that is all I have to report on my work-life at this time. Stay tuned for more updates.

As for the state of things in Guatemala, there are some issues. The Army has been deployed in Coban/Alta & Baja Verapaz to address the unrest surrounding the Zetas in Guatemala… no, not the Sorority; the drug Fraternity from Mexico. This is concerning to me (as I live close to the border with Mexico) but more so for those Volunteers who are stationed up in that Coban/Verapaz region, who have been evacuated from their sites and are awaiting clearance to return…they were evacuated just before Christmas and as of mid-January, the state of siege has just been extended and it is looking less and less like they will be returning anytime soon.

Now, let me be frank, I am in no way an authority on what’s going on in that area, to be honest, those of you in the states who have BBC or any other major broadcast news company probably have a better idea on what is going on than I do, as my news resources are a bit limited. So, lets just say, it’s about drugs being trafficked, power dynamics of those narco-trafficking groups, the government and maybe the upcoming elections…I also suspect involvement from the dancers on “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
All of which I would like to steer clear of.
…also that was a joke.

On to things I am an authority on…

“Burn dust and eat my rubber!”
-Christmas Vacation

Primarily quotes from movies… I’ve got PLENTY more where that came from.
The first half of my family (which consisted of Dad, Kathleen and my youngest brother, David) arrived into Guatemala the 12th of December and we spent the next few days getting to know Antigua (complete with me scaring them into hiding their money in their underwear).
Their first full day in Antigua, I took my dad to the Peace Corps Office, where I got my stitches taken out…which was great, barely left a mark. Then we spent the rest of the day taking in the endless amount of artisan markets and some restaurants that I can’t normally afford…which were choice.

The second day, I took them to meet my host family from training, Dona Betty and her four children, Mike, Yaccholi, Kimberly and Brandon. I had wanted for them to eat a typical Guatemalan meal…but as we were traveling the next day to Costa Rica, I opted for us to bring food to eliminate any chance of anyone getting sick. We brought a couple of chickens that we baked in the oven at the Hotel, I made a fruit salad, and Dona Betty prepared some tortillas and black beans for all of us to enjoy. The end result was a nice meal with me translating the conversation between my two families.

This gave my parents A LOT of motivation to learn Spanish, my dad in particular is really eager to learn after his experience and I am supportive of this goal.

Did I mention that we took all of this food on a chicken-bus to get there? Well, we did. I think this was a little hard on the fam…everyone was kind of big-eyed and white-knuckled by the time we arrived ha ha. Sometimes I forget how outrageous the Camionetas are to people who haven’t been on them before. Dave said it was like being on a roller-coaster and was “fun“, Dad (being the veteran camioneta rider, as I had taken him to the office with me on the Camioneta the day before) played it cool while he held on to the bar, and Kathleen…well, Kathleen decided that Camioneta rides were not for her haha.

from left to right, Dave, Dad, Kathleen, Dona Betty, Brandon, Kimberly, Mike, Yaccholi and yours truly.

After trying to give my family a little taste of the real Guatemala it was already time to catch our plane for Costa Rica.

Our first sunset from the deck of the house in Costa Rica

We arrived in Cost a Rica where my other siblings, my brother Rob and my Stepbrother, Jason, met up with us and we all piled into a matchbox SUV I must say that I disagree with the size assessment of cars in Central America. There were 6 of us and all of our luggage, including 2 surf boards, getting cozy in like, a CRV…and it was the biggest car they had for us. (Oddly, I was more comfortable on that ride, wedged in-between my brothers and Kathleen than I have been on many of my trips on busses here in Guatemala…so I was ready to rock.) Only after we had put our Tetris skills to the test in pushing the car to it’s max capacity, we were on the road, headed for Dominical down on the Southwest, Pacific Coast.

We stayed in a private home, that’s for sale I hear…so if you want to buy it, I can direct you to the couple who owns it.

We arrived at the house and cooked some brats and went to bed, tired from the day’s journey and spent the next 12 days swimming, surfing, boogie boarding, and taking time to relax. It was excellent.

another view from the deck

On our second night in the house the power went out around 8:30PM. Having spent a portion of my life in Guatemala without power (when it goes out inexplicably for days at a time) I pulled out a book and my headlamp and went to bed. For others, it was a less comfortable dark night; my brothers in particular were concerned about our safety because after looking down the hill and up the hill from us, it appeared that we were the only house without power; Robert slept in the living room that night, like a good guard dog.

The next morning we woke to the gardeners, Heber and his son, outside at the pool, keeping our little slice of heaven well-maintained. As the power had still yet to be restored, I walked outside in time to hear Robert asking them if they knew where the breaker-box was or if they knew why we didn’t have power, and here’s what Heber had to say about it,

“oh, no; someone probably cut the power to come up and rob the place but they must have come up and seen that you all were here and then left.”

“what?! Wait…someone cut the power to come up and rob us?”

“Yes, to cut the alarm; they probably didn’t know anyone was here, so when they got here and they saw there were people here, they left.”

Sensing that there was a miscommunication in there somewhere I got in to clarify…

“so, you’re saying that this has happened before? That people have cut the power to this house to come up here an rob it?”

“yes, maybe that was what happened”

“maybe? Okay, so is there a way for us to restore power?”

“yes, it is down the hill, we will go check it out”

A minute later, the power was back on but our insecurities about why the power was out in the first place were still at large.

Luckily, later in the afternoon, our neighbor and the house’s caretaker came by and cleared our confusion. What had happened was that there was a power surge on the town’s power grid. The other houses around us did not lose power because, unlike our house, they are not wired-in to the town’s main power grid. All that needed to be done was to walk down the hill (and I mean like…steep cliff when I say, “hill”) and reset the breaker.

So what was Heber talking about then?

Well, turns out that he was talking about something that had happened years earlier when the house was getting wired-in to the main breaker on the town’s circuit. Before the wiring was finished and buried underground, what actually happened was that thieves had seen that there was a bunch of electrical wires, out in the open, assessed that the copper wires were of value and come back to cut and to steal them.
This news put us all at ease, but before we let the caretaker leave we made sure to walk down the hill and learn how to reset the breaker, should the town experience another power surge we did not want to be without light for another 12-18 hours.

We played endless games of bananagrams...and it was awesome.

The rest of our trip was pretty tranquil. We swam in the pool and spent countless hours in the ocean; reaffirming my assessment that everything is better at the beach.
I even tried my hand at surfing…to find that it doesn’t exactly play to my strengths (or lack thereof in terms of upper-body muscle). However, I did get a chance to boogie-board my face off and it was magic.
It was also really awesome to have a kitchen to cook in with my family. Having discovered my deep love of cooking since leaving for Guatemala it was so nice to be able to cook and share recipe success secrets with my Dad.
Christmas/Robert’s Birthday was especially enjoyable this year. I will say that I missed having a Christmas tree and a fire in the woodstove but, passing the day at beach, dining out that evening and throwing some sugar cookies together that night more than made up for it.
More than anything I think that this trip was a really great opportunity for us to leave all of the holiday baloney behind and really try and appreciate our time with each other; all-in-all I think it was a very successful vacation…

our last sunset at the house...sigh

We parted ways in Costa Rica, Jason Portland-bound, Robert heading back to Chile and then on to Peru, and Dad, Kathleen, Dave and I back to Guatemala, where we would say our goodbyes and I would wonder in awe why (having not bought anything ) I always seem to leave with more than I came with before traveling back to site.
After my family left, I packed up my bag and left our beautiful hotel and headed for my old friend, the Burkhart hostel where I met up with Claire and we dished about our vacations with our families and how successful we thought our dinner to “introduce the folks” went the night before (general consensus: very pleased we did that).

We extended the fun and put off our trips back to our sites for a few more days to spend New Year’s Eve in Antigua with friends and then….with heavy steps (and even heavier backpack) I headed towards Mexico.

Once I was back I started fresh on my search for adequate housing only to find that I would not find anything nicer than where I was already living. So, defeated, I called the landlady of where the previous volunteers had lived and said, “is it still available?” to which she said yes and met me that evening to hand me the keys to my new castle.

I spent the next few weeks painting and cleaning and fantasizing about appliances that I would someday be able to afford to add to my little studio apartment.
First things first: painting. I decided to do a few walls in green and the others a fresh coat of white, which really made the place look so fresh and so clean. I had ambitions to paint my bathroom Fuscia/hot pink…but I was informed that they don’t carry that color in the smaller quantity of oil-based paint, naturally they only sell that color by the gallon….which I think is odd. So I went for purple instead, leaving one wall white as to avoid turning my bathroom into a cave. Between the paint and the tireless scrubbing of my bathroom’s tiled walls and sandpaper-esque floor it looked slightly cleaner than when I started; but I assure you, the amount of bleach and scrubbing that was used/done is proof that the bathroom is clean, despite it’s…shall we say, “rustic and musty” appearance and odor.
Task 2: Bathroom door. Now, since I have lived in Guatemala I have lived in 2 separate homes that have not had bathroom doors but rather, curtains. In my first home it was a heavy, lycra-knit (can that even exist?) curtain, and in my other home, it was a plastic, tissue-paper thin one. So I’m not going to judge the whole, “curtain” for privacy thing, once you get over your initial shock, in a house it works just fine. The problem with my bathroom door (well…my curtain) was that in addition to the charming scent of sewage that occasionally comes up through the drain in the shower/toilet, having only a curtain separating the bathroom from the kitchen just did not sit right with me. So I asked my landlord if we could put up a bathroom door; to which she replied, “yes, of course! No problem.” I was shocked by this…mostly because she was SO interested in adding a door and so not interested making me pay for it or taking it out of my rent; which was awesome. Then it was just a waiting game…mostly me waiting for the guy to come and install it. I would hear one thing and make sure that I was at the new place for the door to be put in and then after waiting a whole day, call my landlady and hear that, on no, it changed, he’s coming on Tuesday, not Monday. Well, that went on for a few weeks until last Friday when I came by after cleaning at my old place all day to find that a brand-new door was up; and it is BEAUTIFUL.
I texted Damian to share my excitement about my new door and he replied, “I guess we’re at the point in our service where a bathroom door is exciting.” to which I replied, “yep…pretty much.” so there you have it.

 

check out that fancy bathroom door...

my tiny, purple bathroom

After the bathroom door was installed I was in such an elevated state that I went right out and dropped my cash on an oven, a fridge, and a pressure-cooker. I will be spending the foreseeable future in my new apartment, eating beans and rice to recoup expenses on that one, but it was definitely worth it. The only things I need to buy now are bowls and plates (and probably some more silverware and some wooden cooking utensils) but luckily our Feria is right around the corner and will bring with it TONS of plates and bowls and hammocks…etc. that I will definitely take advantage of.

my sweet ass kitchen, also note the ducks poster on the wall on the left...

In my spare time I have been revving up my décor, I’ve always loved that part of moving. I have the old Oregon calendar from 2010 that I have turned into an art piece to remind me of all of Oregon’s natural beauty, from the Oregonian that Kathleen brought me, I have acquired a poster of LaMichael James doing WORK on the Oregon Football Field, and just around the corner from the map of the US, I have strung up some thread on the wall to hang all the cards that my wonderful friends have sent me since I’ve been down here J .

where all the magic happens...clearly.

my rad oregon tribute and cards from friends

another angle on the room...totally not the Harry Potter credits running...

And, in an effort to Feng-Shui my apartment (which gets more and more difficult the less space and more crap you have), I repainted my dresser in a calming, pastel-yellow (changing it from black…a real chore actually as it took the better half of a week to dry).

my little shared courtyard, fully intend to grow some vegetables.

Oh, and, amidst all of my painting I learned something about paint-thinner and Styrofoam cups; maybe everyone already knows this and I am just late to the party, regardless, I‘m sharing: they do not mix well. 

I went to the hardware store (la Ferreteria, as they’re called here) covered in oil-based paint and asked them for what I thought was paint thinner (still not entirely sure what it is). Outside of the store I was asking guys what it was called so that I could ask the guy in the hardware store for something specific and they cautioned me against getting it on my hands; citing that it would burn me if I did. Well, I figured; come on, I’ve put lighter fluid/paint thinner on my hands before to get paint off; maybe if I did it all the time it would hurt me but this is a one time thing. So I ignored their advice and bought some gasoline-scented mystery liquid, which they gave to me in an old plastic coke bottle. I got home and put some on my hands only to find that it did kind of burn and decided that I would go and buy some baby oil the next day to get the rest of it off (which I still have yet to do, priorities…). Then I decided to clean up the area where I painted the dresser and a few drops of paint went askew; so I grabbed a Styrofoam cup and poured the stuff in there only to watch the cup completely disintegrate within 3 seconds; I was shocked and impressed followed by extremely concerned about how long I had put it on my hands a few minutes earlier… that’s why we run these tests? Yikes!

So far none of my skin has melted off, for which I am thankful, and as of yesterday, all of my furniture was officially moved thanks to my friends being awesome. FINALLY feeling settled again and ready to resume working in the schools; whoop, whoop!

so there they are…pictures of my new place- I’m so pleased with it; try not to get too jealous.

In addition to my renewed enthusiasm for my life in my site I also feeling more and more confident about what I want to do when I am finished with my service. I was kind of waiting for something to convince me of what I really wanted to do with my life, something to more or less give me the go-ahead to spend the money to go back to school and pursue medicine and a few weeks ago, I had that moment.

I spent some of the week before school started getting to know a really friendly bunch of people who were down here from Ohio on a medical mission. I helped them out a little bit with translation of symptoms of people who came to see them while they were in my site (when I wasn’t visiting schools) and it really, really piqued my interest to pursue a career in medicine. It also helped me to see first-hand how the work that I am doing as a Healthy School’s Volunteer can help to reduce the cases of preventable illness through education. It was great motivation to get our schools on the right track with their health lessons and infrastructure needs.

So onward into the school year I trek.

Naturally, as soon as my vacations were over I started planning my next trip (to have something new to look forward to) and have gotten all of my ducks in a row to take a trip to Los Angeles for my 25^th birthday, so if you’re in the area…let me know.

ANYWAYS, enough of that; this blog entry has gotten a little bit out of control. if you have made it this far, give yourself a pat on the back haha.

One of my new years resolutions was to take more pictures….so hopefully this year will yield some more colorful/phototastic blog entries.

Miss & love all of my friends and family- thanks for reading! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and other holidays I can’t spell. Cheers to the NEW YEAR!

XOXO!