primero Dios...

‘Primero Dios’ is a saying Guatemalans use frequently. Someone will say 'primero Dios we meet next week' or primero Dios we will have enough water to last through the dry season. What does it mean…literally it means God first. It translates as ‘if God wills it’…so if God wills it we will have enough water or if God wills it we will meet next week. Faith in God is a huge part of Guatemalan culture, even through significant adversity Guatemalans keep their faith and understand that plans can be made, but nothing is guaranteed. I have found myself often using this saying. Primero Dios I will make it through these two years.

Growing up in Boca Raton, FL and now living in a third world country has definitely been an adjustment. The sounds, smells, and sights are so completely different. Living here has definitely made me more aware of my surroundings and has heightened my senses. I’ve been at my site in Cubulco for 3 months now and have experienced things that I would have never had the opportunity to experience living in Boca Raton, FL. Guatemala held its national elections in September. The elections were on a presidential as well as mayoral level. There are 14 different political parties with 14 different candidates for president. Since one candidate cannot obtain at least 30% of the votes, there is a second election in November with the two candidates that received the highest percentage of votes in the first election. The two parties left are ‘Partido Patriota’ using the slogan ‘Mano Dura’ which literally translates into ‘Hard Hand’ and ‘UNE’ which is an acronym for something but literally means ‘United’. The two parties are pretty close in the races and the November election should be an interesting event. For the most part the elections went smoothly with some isolated cases of civil unrest, usually caused by mayoral elections. In my town of Cubulco an unfortunate case of civil unrest occurred and as a consequence the mayors house was burned down and two townspeople were killed. I was fortunate to not be in town that day, but was forced to stay in a different town for a week until things died down. I was a refugee for a week. Things are definitely ‘tranquilo’ or calm now and primero Dios that the presidential elections next month will not cause any more violence.

I experienced my first mosquito transmitted illness called Dengue fever…let me tell you it was not a picnic. Dengue fever is also know as break-bone fever or bonecrusher disease…which I think is pretty funny now…not during though. It was like a really bad fever, but strange because I didn’t have any of the normal symptoms like sneezing, sore throat, or runny nose. I did have the worst muscle and bone aches that I’ve ever felt. It was as if someone was constantly beating me. I also had times where I felt extremely hot and my face and neck turned bright red. And the last couple of days I had an itch rash all over my chest arms and feet. Needless to say it was not a fun experience. There isn’t a treatment for Dengue, you just take Tylenol for the pain. I was thankful though that I contracted it about a week before my parents arrived in Guatemala. When they came the muscle and bone aches were not bad I was only dealing with the rash. I just thought I would share my Dengue experience with you all…if you want to learn more about Dengue…check it out on Wikipedia. Primero Dios none of you ever get Dengue.

So I had my first visit from the states. It was great having my parents come all the way to Guatemala to celebrate my Birthday…now that’s love. Not only did they come but their Guatemalan friends from the states came to help show them around. We traveled all around Guatemala going to places that I’ve never been to. I fell in love with the country of Guatemala over and over. The places we visited were beautiful…here is a link to the pictures of when my family was here.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=9pierbn.6rewa61b&Uy=-grro5c&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1&UV=374778608800_482306886207

Life in Cubulco…

Sorry it has taken me a while to post an update, the Internet connection here is painfully slow so I haven’t been able to connect. I’ve been in Cubulco for about 3 weeks now and it feels as if I’m starting over again. The Peace Corps says that the hardest time in a volunteer’s service is the first 3 months at their site. It has been a challenge, sometimes I think about how life was in the States and I start missing home. Work is what has really kept me motivated. There is tons of work to be done. So what do I do? Well currently I have been familiarizing myself with the areas in which I will be working. I will be working in 14 different communities in an area called Chitanil. The only catch is that these communities are pretty far from Cubulco. So my typical commute to work goes something like this: 45 minutes to 2 hour motorcycle ride through the mountains (no paved roads), it’s kind of like dirt biking…except that you start walking funny after the 2 hour rides. The motorcycle ride only takes you part of the way there, since the paths are pretty treacherous. We have to leave the motorcycle at a certain spot and then start hiking. Some hikes are better than others and they range from 1.5 hours to 4 hours. So I’ve definitely been getting my exercise in the mornings. Because of the extensive commute, sometimes we have to stay the night in the community…this is the tough part. I’ve only had to stay 1 night out so far, but it is exhausting! Not really any food in the towns, we usually eat eggs and tortillas, so I usually pack a couple of sandwiches to take with me. The living conditions in the communities are pretty harsh. Water and food are scarce and only few houses have latrines. My job now is to map out the communities needs i.e. figure out what they have, what they need, and then prioritize those needs. Once we figure out the needs of the community we will put a proposal together to get funding for the projects. The hardest part is getting people in the community organized and motivated to help in these projects. We want to get as many people in the community involved so that these projects are sustainable…meaning when we leave they will be able to maintain and if needed replicate the technologies. But people in the communities have to work everyday just to survive so asking them to give up a day of work to help build latrines, for example, is asking a lot.

As for me, I’ve been doing well health wise. There are lots of mosquitoes here so I’ve had to put a mosquito net around my bed and build screens for my windows. The weather here is pretty nice, it’s hot but without humidity and at night it gets cool. I had the opportunity to visit some really scenic waterfalls around my area and also a huge rope bridge hanging over a river. I will try and post something at least once a month, if possible! Thanks for reading and for the emails…they are encouraging!!

Here are some pictures that I’ve uploaded:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=9pierbn.cl7g5s9j&Uy=-uymrrz&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1&UV=955503786911_189647905207

Training is almost over...

So training is almost over and my 2 years of service will officially begin July 19th. The last 2 and a half months have been challenging. But I have prevailed, 25lbs lighter I might add...can you tell in the pictures? My home for the next 2 years is called Cubulco...shortened by the locals to Cuba. It is located in the department called Baja Verapaz about 5 hours away from the capital. So anyone planing to visit better stock up on Dramamine...it's a rough road trip, but very scenic. The town is small, about 8,000 people. I do have a site mate living in my town and 2 other volunteers living about 25 minutes away...so I won't be entirely on my own. The NGO we are working with is called CARITAS and is funded by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the US. I had an opportunity to meet many of the "host-country nationals" (Peace Corps jargon for Guatemalans) that I will be working with and they are all extremely friendly. I'm excited to get to my sight and settle in, I know it will be tough at first but like any move it will just take time to adjust. I've been feeling much better in terms of health lately which is a blessing. Here are some more pictures of Guate and the work we're finishing up in our towns! Thanks for checking in...I'll write more soon, a huge line of Peace Corps Volunteers have formed around the my computer and I have to get off now.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=9pierbn.2pq2qyj3&Uy=chjabb&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1

My first visitor...

So this week I had my first visitor in Guatemala. I got a call on my cell phone around lunch time on Wednesday from my cousin, Sebastian, telling me he was in Guatemala city, it was an awesome surprise. My host family welcomed him and loved having him...I think they liked him more than me :) . Sebastian was taking a class in Costa Rica and is making his way back to Montreal, Canada...now that is a long road trip. He ended up helping out in our construction of the lavamanos. My cousin is somewhat of a traveling musician, so we had jam sessions with the guitar, drums, and another trainee brought her Irish flute...it actually sounded pretty good.

On Saturday we headed for lake Atitlan to meet up with a friend of Sebastian's. We had a blast, the lake is awesome and the little towns around the lake even better. I participated in my first street performance, here is a picture of us jamming out in the street. I was on the maracas...unfortunately I didn't have my trusty cow bell with me...but I held my own on the maracas. My cousin's friend also helped out with the singing. We did pretty good, made about 60Q in about an hour...not too shabby for my first street performance and I had a blast. I headed back on Sunday and my cousin stayed behind, hopefully we will meet up before he heads north again!

Other than that not too much going on here. On Wednesday we find out our site locations. It is actually pretty exciting...this is where I'll be for the next two years! Thanks for reading! Here is a link to more pictures of the lake...

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=9pierbn.8eut92uf&Uy=v4458j&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1

Survived Field Based Training...

Well we just past the climax of our training finishing up Field Based Training (FBT). The last two weeks have been rough, I know sometimes I exaggerate but I can honestly say that I struggled. Living in an aldea (small town) is no joke. During the week we lived and worked in an aldea of Nebaj, a very mountainous region in Guate. I didn't realize how cold it gets in the mountains. I slept with two pairs of socks, thermos, two layers of shirt, a sweeter, and a beanie and I was still cold most of the night. 15 appropriate technology trainees, 2 current peace corps volunteers, 2 technical trainers, and 3 Spanish teachers all slept in an old school house, where everyone got wet when it rained and it rained every night. This picture shows the tent that I decided to build after waking up soaking wet in the middle of the night...this is an example of appropriate technologies. The latrines were outdoors which I had frequent visits to at night...which was an experience all in itself. The purpose of FBT is to have hands on experience in building all of the technologies. We built more efficient stoves for 4 families, we built a latrine/hand washing station for a school, we did water surveys to determine whether or not a natural water spring would be able to provide an adequate water supply to a town, and we built egg shaped water tanks that are capable of holding 2,000 L of rain water, so that families have water during the dry season. All in all it was a mentally and physically challenging experience. I know I will look back at all the great things we accomplished and have some pretty cool memories. It was an experience that brought the 15 of us (appropriate tech. trainees) closer together.

So what is next...well this week we begin construction of our lavamanos project in our aldea. This will occupy the bulk of our time for the next two weeks along with Spanish classes and preparing for a presentation we each have to give in Spanish to our communities. Next week is also a big week because we will find out the towns we will be living in for the next two years...it's pretty exciting. One more month of training left and I will be on my own. Well I know a picture is worth a thousand words so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Hope everyone is doing well. There are so many things I miss right now I don't know where to start...so I'll just say I MISS YOU ALL! Here is a link to more FBT pictures...enjoy

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=9pierbn.61coj3t3&Uy=-20za9k&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=1

One month down...26 to go.

So I've been here for a month and Montezuma is still taking his revenge on me, but other then that things have been great. Tomorrow I leave for 2 weeks of training in Nabaj a small town in the moutains. It is supposed to be pretty scenic so I'll try and post some pics when I get back. I've decided that posting once a week is probably pushing it so I'll try and post whenever something good is going on. Only thing pretty funny that happened was a chicken got loose on the chicken bus...ironic...like the scene from Borat. Thanks for all the emails, I'm still waiting for my first care package though! Next post will probably be when I get back from training...around June 18.

chicken bus...

Just to clarify the pictures I posted from last week. The first is obviously of me when we first arrived in Guatemala. The picture in front of the old looking building was in Antigua with the other PC trainees from my town and some of our host family. The cute little girl in the picture is part of one of the host families in our town…unfortunately she’s not part of my host family.

Well this week started off rough as my body went through its adjustment to “Guatemalan food/water” phase, hopefully I will be fully adapted soon! But other than that I am really beginning to enjoy my time here in Guatemala. I look at each day as a new adventure. I’m making an effort to live in the present and stop worrying about what tomorrow will bring. As I get use to my neighborhood I feel that people in my neighborhood are getting use to having me around too. It was kind of nice to hear my name being called by the neighborhood kids yelling for me to come over to play soccer.

This week we had our first ET or early termination. Not sure what the reason was but it is unfortunate. Hopefully it won’t lead to others. From what I have heard, it seems that everyone is pretty content or at least willing to stick it out for a while. I have obviously asked myself if I really have what it takes to do the full two years. As a fellow volunteer said, “it’s a marathon”.

On a lighter note. I was eating a bowl of captain crunch, with warm milk of course that is the way they eat cereal here…it’s not so bad, and I noticed that I had spilled some milk on the table, so I went to the kitchen to find some napkins to clean up the spill. I came back to find a chicken on top of the dinning table pecking away at my captain...it made me laugh, don’t see that everyday!

So if any of you have visited Guatemala or where born here you know what I’m talking about when I say ‘Chicken buses’. For those not familiar with what a ‘chicken bus’ is, it’s basically an old American school bus. You know the yellow ones that have flashing stop signs when they stop. These however have been modified with larger row seats and racks for bags. We were told in orientation to be very aware while riding these buses because of the large number of pickpockets and thieves. Well it's hard to stay conscious of your surrounding when your body is stuffed between rows holding 7 people across (try and picture your little yellow school bus) while an ayudante (helper) is trying to squeeze by to collect money. All the while you are barreling around curves going way to fast, not to mention curves with no guard rail and a significant drop off. But it’s all good because at least they have awesome Reggaeton music playing!

I do have a cell phone now in Guatemala so feel free to call me whenever, incoming calls are free here!

502.5908.8468

Also any letters or packages for the first 3 months can be sent to the Peace Corps office in Guatemala City here is the address (they usually don't take that long to get here):

Felipe Sutantri, PCT
8 Calle 6-55, Zone 9
Guatemala City, 01009
Guatemala, Central America
Office Tel. #502.2384.3800 (needed for courier packages: FedEx, DHL, etc…)

I made it...

Well, I have survived my first week in Guatemala. It has been an emotional roller coaster of excitement, sadness, and constant wondering of “what am I doing here”. I’m not sure what is scaring me the most. The thought of not having a hot shower or Starbucks for 27 months or getting malaria, amebas, rabies, or any other of the common illnesses here. I’ve definitely learned a lot about myself in this last week. I understand why people never leave the comforts of what they know. Let’s just say I am definitely out of my “comfort zone”. Starting a new job in a new town is pretty tough. Try starting a new job in a new country, speaking a different language and adapting to a new culture…might be time for me to consider counseling.

The next 3 months I will be living in a municipality called Parramos in the department of Chimeltanango. My host family is nice and my living conditions, compared to some of my fellow volunteers, are not so bad. There are 3 other PC trainees in my town. We have Spanish classes in the morning and technical classes in the evening. The workload has been pretty intense, it’s like being back in school again. We will be constructing “lava manos” or hand washing stations at a school in the aldeas (small town) about an hours walk away. Currently the school has 1 hand washing station and 4 latrines, all outdoors of course. We will add an additional 4 or 5 hand washing station. We will also be working with a local health center. The health center has all kinds of issues, so there will plenty of work. In addition to constructing much needed technologies we will also provide health education or give “charlas” (presentations) to the community on common health issues. This should be interesting considering my level of Spanish.

Thanks to everyone who sent me words of encouragement through email or comments on my blog, I will definitely need more of that in the coming months. Since I have email access every Monday, I will try and post something each week. Thanks for checking in!

The Countdown has Begun!

I've tried writing a blog once before, it was for my trip to Indonesia. I wrote the first blog entry and never logged in again. Hopefully I will do better here. I'm not sure how often I will have Internet access, so my postings may be sporadic. So here goes...

Countdown, two days before I start my Peace Corps journey. On Monday I will travel to Washington D.C. (yes, I told people I would be leaving from Miami...surprise for me too.) for two days of orientation, this is where I will meet the others who will be serving in Guatemala with me. The group has already started email correspondence back and fourth, everyone seems great. On Wednesday we leave DC at 7:30 am to Guatemala. For the first 3 months we will be training in a town called Santa Lucia Milpas Altas and we will be staying with Guatemalan families. During this time our language skills and other technical skills will be tested determining where we will be placed.

I'm constantly asked how I feel about leaving. I don't think the reality of my trip has hit me yet. This question might better be answered in my next posting after I've arrived in Guatemala. Until then all I can say is that I will miss my family and friends immensely. So hopefully this will get the ball rolling on my blog, please feel free to comment. I will try to put up pictures as soon as I get some. Thanks for reading!