Peace Corps Journals / Guatemala / all updates

Guate & the F-Word

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 06:45:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Fumbles and Faux Pas)
Before some people get their panties in a twist (uhum Peace Corps I know you're monitoring) this isn't a post about that F-Word.Instead it's about feminism. And since March 8th (this past Monday) wa ...
1 reads

The Day I Knew I Was Culturally Integrated...

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:51:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Life in Guatemala)
..was not the day that Spanish rolled off my tongue thoughtlessly or the day I ate 5 tortillas at a meal it was the day my 4 host brother was crying from cutting onions and instead of snatching the s ...
19 reads

The Day I Knew I was Culturally Integrated...

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:19:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Life in Guatemala)
...was not the day that Spanish rolled off my tongue thoughtlessly or the day I ate 5 tortillas at a meal it was the day my 4 host brother was crying from cutting onions with a giant knife and instea ...
27 reads

Reconnect Visit to Antigua

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:24:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Living Poor in Guate)
On Feb. 16th we PCVs had our first gathering as a training class since our swearing-in ceremony on October 30th when we officially became Volunteers. The gathering was called “Reconnect ” to tie ...
11 reads

Fashion fallout

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:09:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Peace Corps Guatemala)
I wore a scrunchy for the second time this month...in public. Not only is it a scrunchy but my seamstress friend made it out of my skirt remnants. It goes into a low pony tail which is part of the lat ...
43 reads

Casino is back to haunt me…or rather my back

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:08:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Peace Corps Guatemala)
That injury I got way back in the day from carrying beer and kegs at the Casino has come back. I have always had pain since that fateful day but at least the US helped with some chiropractic work. No ...
7 reads

GREs Suck 3-9-10

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:06:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Peace Corps Guatemala)
I think I am somehow getting more stupid every moment. I started studying in December and now am retaking model tests I did last month and am getting MORE answers wrong. I don’t understand. I study ...
15 reads

March Madness

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:04:00 +0800

(Guatemala / The Katalina Chronicles: Peace Corps Guatemala)
These are the characters both real and painted that I pass on my bike each week as I travel to work. They greet me as I ride past and now they greet you too:
16 reads

Secretary Clinton Visits Guatemala

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:29:00 +0800

(Guatemala / My Guatemala Story)
Last Friday Guatemala had the pleasure of receiving a visit from Secretary of State Clinton. We in the Peace Corps community were invited by the embassy to a small meet and greet session at the ambass ...
12 reads

UV Water Purification

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:01:26 +0800

(Guatemala / the road less traveled)
So its UV water purification day with my kiddies out in aldea Pecajbabasicallyclean empty bottles + water + sun + 24 hours = more creative ways to reuse plastic bottles and clean drinking water. poco a poco we're cleaning up the environment and improving rural healthPhotos to follow!
11 reads

Peace.

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:28:19 +0800

(Guatemala / the road less traveled)
Lago Atitlan 3/6/09
10 reads

Welcome to the Jungle

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:17:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Earth to Brint)
I think from the title you can guess where my site is. Alone no running water a river close by mud heat and a Mayan language; I could not be more excited for this experience. My family can begi ...
13 reads

Speeding up and counting down

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:55:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Kristina in Guatemala)
Things have picked up quite a bit in the last few weeks especially now that the teacher strike has officially come to an end. The road to NebajI am currently recovering from a two-day hike this past ...
17 reads

I did not give her a cigar...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:32:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Pretty sure there are no bears here...)
My head peeks through in the back next to the dude with the glasses...Hillary Clinton extended her hand to Peace Corps Volunteer Jesse Festa. He responded with the following:A. Obama biotch!B. No tha ...
30 reads

The Competition

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:39:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Lauren's (Most Recent) Big Adventure)
Well gang here's a video of some girls playing basketball in one of the aldeas in my municipio. Just want to let you know what the competition is like.Last night I actually played a pretty good game ...
4 reads

Untitled

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:20:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Lauren's (Most Recent) Big Adventure)
Sunset on the Pacific Coast in San Marcos eating the fish Sydney helped bring in and yours truly. These pictures are from a weekend trip to the beach with some PCVs from my training group in January.
8 reads

Feeling Guatemalan

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:46:59 +0800

(Guatemala / Hilaryinguatemala's Blog)
Tuesday morning February 23 I woke up to a pretty good shaking a 4.6 earthquake. I guess that 4.6 is nothing compared to the one in Chile but it was strong enough for me to know that I don’t really want to feel one that is any stronger. It felt like my little house was [...]
16 reads

Diary of a Happy White Man

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:43:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Earth to Brint)
Here we go… a post to be proud of: Wednesday (3/3) started with anxiety over traveling by myself across the country for the first time. Two camionetas later I arrived in the beautiful (inse ...
21 reads

Workshop with Midwives PART II

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:57:41 +0800

(Guatemala / YouTube)
Author: TheEss1975 Keywords: Added: March 8 2010
7 reads

Workshop with Midwives PART I.mov

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:51:32 +0800

(Guatemala / YouTube)
Author: TheEss1975 Keywords: Added: March 8 2010
8 reads

International Woman's Day

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:45:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Just South of the Border...(The Mexican Border))
What a success! The last few weeks I've been organizing a parade for international woman's day and got the Centro involved by having a Jornada bringing in extra doctors to give out free pap-smears ...
16 reads

Marching Forth on my Birthday Weekend

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:40:00 +0800

(Guatemala / The Katalina Chronicles: Peace Corps Guatemala)
I turned 24-years-old last Thursday. I completed 24 glorious years of life. 2010 – 1986 = 24. However ask some rural Guatemalans how old I am and they will tell you that I’m 25. I’m entering m ...
1 reads

Skype

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:27:57 +0800

(Guatemala / the road less traveled)
So I live in the middle of the jungle (seriously 600 square miles with less than 200 000 inhabitants in over 200 villages) but on occasion my little Tigo wireless modem will pick up a signal fast eno ...
16 reads

Greenhouse Report-spring 2010

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:42:52 +0800

(Guatemala / Jim and Emily's Guatemala)
The name is misleading; it’s more of a “Garden Report”. I’ve moved many of the plants outside of the greenhouse this season for a few reasons: Only a few things really li ...
4 reads

2010 so far

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:39:25 +0800

(Guatemala / the road less traveled)
Alright so its been awhile and while I’m sure that no one is complaining (does anyone even read this anymore) I figure that someday I’ll look back at my Peace Corps experience and think what did ...
18 reads

A joke that went wrong

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:01:34 +0800

(Guatemala / Sergio in Guate)
As you may remember last month my training group of 5 had a barbecue (cookout) for our host families. It was our way of showing thanks and our way to show off our cooking skills. Somehow I was elected to be the MC or speaker for the group – mainly because I like to talk in [...]
91 reads

Play-by-play

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:41:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Guatemalteca)
The moment you have all been waiting for.Ramirez-Stanaway productions proudly presents the engagement play-by-play that took the breath away of your favorite leading lady....Valentine's Day Eve 2010. ...
29 reads

Getting my hands dirty

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:21:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Just South of the Border...(The Mexican Border))
Last week I went down to another volunteer's site Favi she lives in San Martin Sacatepequez to help her build stoves. Favi has been in site one year longer then I have and has therefore been train ...
7 reads

Warpspeed

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:10:00 +0800

(Guatemala / ChaosBeyond)
4.3.10Our 11 weeks of training that eight weeks ago seemed to be a lifetime are now entering warp speed. It is unbelievable how fast the Peace Corps experience seems to be whizzing by and it scares ...
12 reads

Taller: Lesson Planning in a Healthy Classroom

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:28:32 +0800

(Guatemala / Adventures and Mishaps Aplenty)
gWhat makes a good lesson?So far the idea of using creativity in the classroom is fairly new in Guatemala and most of the teachers still use dictation and lecture as a main teaching style for all of ...
18 reads

More Tires...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:44:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Undersong Adventure)
As well as a new project we have added a new group. Today we planted with a group of women that live a short walk from Chirijox. The women were very ...
16 reads

Wayeb'

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:04:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Lauren's (Most Recent) Big Adventure)
Wayeb’ is the Mayan New Year. On February 21st around 7pm I was walking back from the bball court with my friend Mariela when we passed the Cultural Center OVERFLOWING with people. Mostly young pe ...
11 reads

Paved roads and marching bands

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:59:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Lauren's (Most Recent) Big Adventure)
Marching bands in my pueblo? It sounds like they are having practice down on the campo at the end of my street. I haven’t walked down there to confirm my suspicions but the little neighbors kids ac ...
13 reads

Busy busy... boring boring to you im sure

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:31:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Peace Corps Guatemala)
I have been crazy busy…for my Guatemalan life… lately but as usual quite content with what I am doing. I do love teaching and I love most of my kids. I have my favorite classes of course which o ...
9 reads

Being recollected

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:30:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Peace Corps Guatemala)
Hugo a man my age a peer by all intents and purposes is about to get married. Shockingly he has waited 5 years dating his girlfriend before getting engaged. AND he is a farmer not even a professi ...
24 reads

Women´s Meeting Gossip and Juicy Details Continue

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:29:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Peace Corps Guatemala)
So apparently a young girl the younger sister of my prior student is getting married. He is the kicker she is Catholic and her soon to be husband is evangelical. She must be pregnant. My friends we ...
17 reads

International Women's Day

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:01:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Life in Guatemala)
In celebration of el Día Internacional de la Mujer I'd like to say a few words about some of the incredible women that I've been working with for the last 18 months. As I've alluded to in other posts ...
1 reads

Ode to Don Juan

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:44:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Undersong Adventure)
...
12 reads

Building Classrooms With Plastic Bottles

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:17:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Staples' Service)
BackgroundAs recently as thirty years ago plastic products were few and far between in Guatemala. Sodas came in glass bottles that were reused over and over. Tamales cheese tacos and assorted snac ...
2 reads

The Mayan Laser

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:07:13 +0800

(Guatemala / Jim and Emily's Guatemala)
This week began the construction of the Rafael Juárez teachers’ school. I guess we’re really going to build this thing! I hope to post regular updates as the work progresses so you can s ...
2 reads

The MAGA Redeemed

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:51:51 +0800

(Guatemala / Jim and Emily's Guatemala)
Today’s story is a little shorter than yesterday but here goes. The last time I talked about the MAGA (the Ministry of Agriculture) I was pretty frustrated. They were a complete pain to work w ...
10 reads

Untitled

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:34:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guatemala)
Then the coffee needs to dry after washing. They do this by spreading the seeds out on large patios in the sun. Every so often the beans need to be turned/raked which creates lines in the coffee it ...
5 reads

How Coffee is Made

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:24:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guatemala)
After the coffee is depulped it sits in large concrete tubs to ferment for 36 (?) hours. The fermenting gets rid of the slimy residue still left on the bean. After fermenting the beans are washed a ...
4 reads

Untitled

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:19:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guatemala)
Then the coffee cherries are de-pulped seperating the coffee beans from the fruit. The fruit pulp and sent to concrete tubs to be composted with worms.
5 reads

How Coffee is Made

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:04:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guatemala)
Coffee is grown as a small tree/bush in the understory of a forest. The coffee beans are the seeds inside red berries called coffee cherries. Coffee pickers go around with baskets tied around their w ...
5 reads

Untitled

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:49:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guatemala)
0 reads

Untitled

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:42:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guatemala)
0 reads

The Adorno

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:17:41 +0800

(Guatemala / Jim and Emily's Guatemala)
I went to town today to run some errands. Pretty mundane stuff really: check in on the progress of the two girls we matched up with scholarships get some groceries look for mail at the post office and stop by the jobsite of the new high school. The last thing on the list was to [...]
8 reads

Working with the Women

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:52:49 +0800

(Guatemala / Jim and Emily's Guatemala)
The greatest joy as well as the greatest challenge of my Peace Corps service is working with women’s groups specifically the group here in our home community. I’m in a strange spot these ...
9 reads

Let's get organized here...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:52:00 +0800

(Guatemala / Notes from Guate)
Phew what a month February has been! March looks like it should be a little smoother so I'm happy to be getting myself organized. The 16th I attended our Reconect meeting at the Peace Corps office ( ...
17 reads