Algunas Fotos Mas

Almost done with the second phase

Shakira!

cuteness

I found a chicken coop on my roof the other day. Now I know why I eat eggs for breakfast everyday.

Joel helping sand the playground

The Guarderia

Seguro Canguro?

Hola a todos,

Gosh the last two weeks have been unbelievable. There is too much to share so I think I will just stick with the highlights. If you're not into reading, skip ahead to the pics.

Student , no more

Last week was my last week of class. I was sad to see it come to an end but I believe Luis, my teacher,  and I will continue meeting up to have chats half in English/half in Spanish because he would like to get better with his bilingual abilities as well.

Guarderia

Now that I am no longer studying, I will transition into becoming a full time co-coordinator with Amy at the Guarderia (that´s what we call the daycare/afterschool care/family center).  The Guarderia is made up of about 40 kids with ages ranging from 1 to 17. All of the kids receive scholarships to go to school through donations given to Pop Wuj. These kids come from very poor families in the surrounding rural area where the Guarderia is located. Most of the kids’ moms work all day to support their families and are still unable to afford the low cost of school for their kids. The dad´s have either passed away or abandoned their families for a better life in the states. In addition to helping with the day to day operations of the Guarderia, I will be working with the youth development program called Jovenes Juntos which focuses on equipping adolescents with the resources they need for positive social, emotional, and physical development. Amy has been organizing field trips,  guest speakers, and special  events for years, but is spread a little too thin as one person trying to do it all…and that’s where I come in. I just got approval to lead an enrichment workshop series for the older kids at the Guarderia. The curriculum of some of the workshops will be modified so that the younger kids can participate as well.  Some of the topics include: personal hygiene/self care, nutrition, sexual education, self-esteem/self image, leadership, gender stereotypes, etc. I would love to lead an art lesson or two if there is time.

Also, after all of the positive feedback from Laura’s (a Spanish student who just left) yoga class with the older kids yesterday, I hope to continue what she has started. Kid yoga looks a bit different from what is normally considered yoga. It focuses on simple breathing exercises, stretching, and playing games like “Yogi says” (like simon says but with yoga positions).

Stoves

Yesterday I went with the social worker to the home of a future safe stove recipient. The woman that I interviewed was a widow with 6 kids, but 6 more have passed away due to illness. After a long chat and tour of her current stove/kitchen setup (open flame in the house), we made arrangements to start gathering materials and building next week. There were a lot of volunteers this week with stove construction, so we completed three phases of different stoves. I am going to take a step back from the stove project and spend more time at the guarderia for the remainder of my time here. I will help interview/orient families with the stove project and build/lead construction days when help is needed, but I do not think construction is quite my skill set. Also there are two other volunteers interested in taking charge.

Water purifiers

This past Monday I had the privilege of going to a rural village called La Victoria with a couple Tufts University students, Carmen, and representatives from a Guatemalan business called Eco-Filtros to distribute water purifiers to about 30 families. The two students had fundraised to buy filters and came to distribute them during their spring break. They are coming back for the summer to volunteer with Pop Wuj so it was “nos vemos” instead an ”adios” for us. It was full days of listening to the representatives give a tutorial on how to install and maintain the purifiers (with a translator translating from Spanish to their indigenous language), surveying the families to inquire about current water access/use, eating questionable food that I culturally couldn’t refuse, and playing tag with some of the kids. I really enjoyed getting to travel to this little village, getting to sit together with about 30 indigenous women, and getting to be a part of this much needed project.

Xela life

Life in Xela is buenisima. I have started taking Hatha Yoga classes a couple of nights a week at a Yoga studio downtown for the low price of $2 a session. Also, this past Wednesday I joined the ragamuffin Pop Wuj soccer team for a duel against a Guatemalan team.

Life with the host family has been wonderful. My host mom’s cooking has been incredible lately with homemade dishes every day like lasagna and strawberry cheesecake. And the highlight of the week is the new addition to the family…they got a puppy! Her name is Shakira and she is part German shepherd and part who knows. She looks a lot like Sheila, Sean’s pup and they are about the same age. I am a little concerned that she may not get enough attention and care that she needs because the majority of the family is indifferent about getting her. Like most other dogs that are pets here, she is destined to live a life as a roof dog spending her days atop our house never to come inside or get a proper walk. But in the context of Guatemala, she is going to live a life of luxury, since most dogs are strays.

Lake Atitlan

Last weekend I went with four other Pop Wuj students to Lake Atitlan, which is a massive lake surrounded by volcanoes a couple hours east of Xela. While we were there, we hopped around the various lake-side towns via motorboat, ate some delicious food, took a yoga class by the lake, and soaked up the beautiful sites. We discovered early on that there is a large hippie presence at the lake with tons of dreadlocked, barefooted hippies who have made towns like San Marcos and San Pedro their new home. There were flyers for “mystical yoga farms” and “lunar meditation retreats” and “cacao ceremonies” at every turn. While the lake was beautiful, it didn’t feel like Guatemala. By the end of the weekend, we started to get a little drained by all of the vendors trying to sell of scarves and excursions around the lake.

Well I think this has been the longest post yet. Congrats for making it this far! Here are some photos to make up for all of the words.

-adios

Carrie

A safe stove in its first phase

Quetzaltenango's colossal cemetary

Me and a new friend at the stove site

The restaurant at our hostel

At the docks in San Pedro, Lake Atitlan

He is hardcore

Textiles in Santiago, Lake Atitlan

Me hijacking an abandoned Tuk-Tuk

The group on our last boat ride

Tajumulco

Hola!

Just wanted to post some pictures from the volcano hike. It was an incredible trip. Our trek started in the middle of the night a couple hours outside of Xela. We were greeted by a multitude  of twinkling stars and planets above. Soon after we began our ascent, we were above the clouds and the cities below; it felt like we were on a different planet. After a long and arduous climb, we made it to the snow-covered top around 6am, just in time for the sunrise. While the majority of the hike was a steady incline, the last part was quite treacherous, especially with feelings of dizziness and nausea from the altitude. The descent was my favorite part. The scenery reminded me of a scene from Narnia or Lord of the Rings with mountains, enormous pines, melting snow, and crisp blue skies. Actually, we passed by a field where a battle scene from Lord of the Rings was filmed. At the base of the mountain was the agricultural community of San Marcos where farmers were at work in their fields. Some of us even spotted the elusive quetzal, a symbolic bird for Guatemala. When we made it back to the city we headed to the hot springs, Los Fuentes Georginas, for a nice soak. It sure felt good on the muscles. After such a long day/night I slept like a rock.

This week is my last week of class with Luis, the best teacher ever. I’ve been hanging with the kids at the daycare and translating some documents for Pop-wuj when I am not in class. Tomorrow is the first day that I will lead a group of student volunteers in safe stove construction.

Adios y disfute las fotos,

Carolina

Sunrise at the top

Going back down

awesome views

There it is. We climbed that.

Gringos at the hot springs!

steamy!

Como se dice don't throw flour at me?

It’s been a full week for me here in Xela. It’s my second to last week of Spanish class. I have a new teacher this week named Luis who is exceptional. He is one exam away from becoming a lawyer with a focus in family law. He comes from an indigenous community outside of the city and has lot to share about his country. He also likes going on “field trips” around the city during class which makes it interesting.

On Tuesday, I went to a nearby town with Carmen, the social worker, and Ali, another volunteer. We met with 8 women whose kids are scholarship recipients. Ali and I led a little discussion on self-esteem and did a couple activities with them. They were very receptive to us gringas coming into their home. They even cooked us some higote as a way of saying thanks. Being a part of the social work program has allowed me to enter into the culture in a way that I would never have been able to by myself.

That evening was Carnaval, the only day of the year when it is perfectly acceptable to throw eggs and flour at total strangers. I myself fell victim to such devious acts. Gringos seem to be a favorite target for packs of middle school boys eager to launch their homemade ammo at innocent passerbys. I suppose it builds solidarity among them. As I walked home from Tuesday’s conference that evening with a few other students I knew we were in trouble when I heard “Gringos! Gringos! Vaya!”…seconds later I was covered in flour.

Wednesday and Thursday were my first stove construction days which took place at two different homes out in a rural area beyond the city. The efficient, safe stoves that the Pop-wuj constructs are built in three phases, one day for each phase. There are several stoves in the process of being made at any given time. The person who leads the stove construction is Doña Leti. She is an impressive lady. She can out work anybody, all the while wearing her traditional indigenous dress with Domingo, her one year old,  wrapped on her back.

This evening a group of crazy gringos and I are going to hike up the tallest volcano in Central America. We should make it to the top by sunrise. Hopefully we will live to tell the tale. Hehe!

hasta luego,

Carrie

Chicabal

Hola a todos,

Just wanted to give an update on the week. I am making progress everyday in my Spanish class. This week I spent some time at the daycare, which they are changing the name to El Centro de Apoyo Familiar (Family Support Center) because it is a lot more than a daycare and the kids’ ages range from 1 to 16. On Friday, the director, Carmen, organized a meeting with the mothers of the children that go to El Centro. She had a social worker come and talk to the women about self-esteem. We did some fun activities together and had a discussion afterwards. The children of these women receive scholarships from Pop-wuj to go to school and then they come to El Centro for the rest of the afternoon. Most of the women are widowed or abandoned by their husbands with hopes for a better life in the US. Alcoholism and domestic violence are major issues for the families still intact. These women work during the day to make ends meet at the market or as maids. If they didn’t receive scholarship money to cover school costs, the kids would most likely be working as well. It was cool to see these women, who have been through so much, come together and know that they have Pop-wuj and each other for support.

This Saturday a group of us from Pop-wuj went on a hike to a volcano called Chicabal. There are several volcanoes around Xela, but this one hasn’t been active in 3,000 years. The top is now a lake that Mayans consider to be sacred. Many come to the lake and have ceremonies praying for rain, work, food, good fortune, etc. While our guide, Alberto, didn’t seem to have any trouble at all, it was quite a trek for us gringos who weren’t used to such heights. The fog gave the lake a sacred and mysterious feel but it also kept us from really seeing anything when we finally got there.

I’ve been battling a cold this week (sure beats a lot of other illnesses I could have gotten!) that has kept me from stove building. Hopefully next week I can let my construction worker side come out. Hope you are doing well! Enjoy some photos.

-Carrie

                                                   shepherd in training

                                                      the start of our hike

                                                 600 steps to the laguna

We made it!

                                                          

                                                              The laguna

                                                          "Sacred Waters"

Somone's offering to the lake

 

Felix my new pet.

Some photos of Xela

                                                      Iglesia de Espiritu Santo

                                                        Me on the roof of the Pop-Wuj

                                               My abuelita making tomales from scratch

                                          The view from my front door. I spy a volcano.

                                                          A street in Xela

                                                  The view from my bed room

  

My room