Feliz Cumpleaños ( a mis dientes)

Since my last post my birthday did pass on the 8th.  For my 23rd birthday (I feel old) a group of us went out for Cuban food and mojitos!  This also marked the last night I saw former fellow volunteer Kelsey, who recently finished her service.  I look forward to seeing her again soon in New York City on my visit home, as she starts at Columbia this fall.  She better be wearing her traje!

 Although my first birthday abroad did pass, the 'happy birthday' title is in reference to a recent dental health workshop we had with one of the schools on our Cooperative, we including my first visitor Luis and my sitemate Kamille.  Health studies have found that upwards of 60 percent of Guatemalan children in the highlands experience severe dental caries, or cavities and tooth decay.  Monetary priorities do come into play in regards to the importance of dental health.  The majority of the parents of the children here on the Co-op make 30q per day, less than the cost of a single tube of toothpaste.  In a culture in which if you ask for an agua (water) it is understood that you want a soda unless clarified as 'agua pura',  it is a difficult task to tackle.  Uncertainty if toothpaste will be able to be refilled upon use is also an issue.

Luis organized a collection of floss, toothbrushes, and toothpaste at his university.  He ended up bringing down upwards of 100 brushes and toothpastes.  Likewise, a friend of Kamilles donated brushes and tablets that indicate plaque on the teeth by dying it purple.  The workshop included instructional handouts, brushing practice on soda soaked eggs, a plaque indicating example/ challenge for the coming weeks, a discussion on healthy habits and even a trial session in which the students practiced brushing.  The students sang Happy Birthday twice, once  for the top and bottom level of their teeth respectively, to  better time their brushing duration.  Kamille and I will return next week to check up on the students, administer plaque tablet tests and introduce flossing into the mix ( knock on wood there isn't too much blood!).  Knowledge is power and hopefully the students took away the negative effect sugary foods and soda have on their teeth and that brushing with solely water is better than not brushing at all.  We shall see next week when we see who the winner is in the least plaque contest!  One brush at a time....

Jo Wan Sheep

In Q’eqchi Jo Wan Chik (Ho-kwan- cheek) is used as a 'see you later', literally meaning something along the lines of there will be more. Since it has been over a month since my last post I should have closed with a wambi (kwam-bee), or 'goodbye' with another meeting unknown. A week from this past Sunday while returning from a hike to a few caves we passed a sheep, to which a fellow volunteer said jo wan sheep. A sad pun, but we all found it really funny. Shows how life in the campo can go to your head (the other three volunteers having arguably the three hardest sites in my entire group). There is another pun to follow, but don’t hold your breath.

This past weekend all the Peace Corps volunteers reunited in Santa Lucia for a 4th of July Fiesta. I purchased red male traje pants which are only worn in Hue Hue out west ( I am jealous). The 4th is one of the two true USA holidays we have off for, the other being Thanksgiving. It was great to see everyone after being away and this week marks our half-year mark in country. Below are a few pictures from the event:

Lauren "Peace Corps Baby" and I

"Best Dressed" in my traje pants

Rather than a monotonous update of my past month’s activities, I thought I would recount the cave venture Brent, Jordan, Fife and I undertook (Plus I have photos).  With two sites on the far outskirts of the other side of our major city, we all ventured to one of Fife’s sites where the tourism is more or less nonexistent.  Having two sites (one not meeting PC living standards, hence him living in the second) we stayed the night in the one up to standards.  His other site has a bird tour in a gorgeous cloud forest (See FBT visit entry "Cascada" in March).  There is no electricity and they blow in a conch shell to congregate for meetings, pretty unique place.   Without much of a viable product at his other site, Fife had heard there were caves about an hour and a half hike away so we planned a day trip.

After the few mile hike in the night before, we all went to a home in the village center for a tilapia dinner.  Not having had seafood in months this was super exciting.  The fish was deep fried in it’s entirety with little meat.  I say this to lead up to the lame pun which began it all, not  to complain about the quality of the food.  I surely sat there in the dim room and contently  ate fried fin and other various bones.  Due to the lack of meat (Kar is fish in Q’eqchi) Jordan pointed out there sure was a lot of KARtilage. Funny, right?

The following morning the four of us woke early, had a rice breakfast in Fife’s house and took care of business in the outhouse before heading off.  I distinctly remember this because I wiped my butt with a Justin Bieber newspaper clipping ( I have recently found out Garett has put a poster of him in my room).  Us volunteers and two of the local townsmen trekked through the woods and up steep muddy hills to the first cave.  The trip was long and slippery and included a hand full of slips, falls, the splitting of a walking stick between my legs and a couple cuts.  After exploring the first large cave we checked out a smaller, yet closer cave to the town.  Probably better suited for tourists, the small cave was amidst the forest; a descending ‘stairway’ of mud in the middle of the vegetation.  It almost seemed to be a secret passage way.  The trip was an exciting experience and I must say holds product potential down the line.  Check out the photos I snagged from Brent and Fife:

Provecho- Kar(tilage) ut wa (Fish and toritlla)

Subiendo

Entrance to the large cave

The second cueva

Jordan couldn't not laugh

Best 'mean mug' I have seen yet

It Rained On My Parade!

As you probably have heard, Guatemala has just experienced two natural disasters within four days. The explosion at Volcano Pacaya and Hurricane Agatha have left an estimated 153 individuals dead within this country alone. The 30 story deep sinkhole in the capital city is truly terrifying and mind –boggling. Check out these links:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070226-sinkhole-photo.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0601/Tropical-Storm-Agatha-floods-kill-150-cause-giant-sinkhole-in-Guatemala-City

Failing to follow the demands of Barbara Streisand, hurricane Agatha literally rained on my parade (tour, same thing). Despite a Peace Corps authorized stand fast while I was on the Cooperative, a few short mile walk from my home, a group of 24 tourists came to take the Tea Tour in the midst of the torrential downpour. With the help of Luis Pena Jr., I translated and revamped the tour document into English the night before, thinking it would be useful to learn the information and have it for future tours. More than likely no one would show up in a hurricane, or so I thought. The majority of the tourists in the past have taken the tour in Spanish, whether that be school students, semi-fluent visitors or Guatemalans.

Needless to say, the Cooperative was full of gringos and the tour went on. As a missionary group taking their first trip with a group of college students, it was funny to hear sarcasm from the States again. Agatha kindly offered a rain strong and prominent enough to make using a paper script as an aid nothing less than comical. Luvia, one of our tour guides, a monk from their group who speaks Spanish and I went through the tour, blindly presenting the material with every squish of a step. The tour brought in over 700q (about 87 U.S. dollars). This may not seem substantial, but to put this into perspective each worker on the Co-op makes 30q per day. This one tour brought in an individual’s monthly salary.

Although the shotgun approach is what we as volunteers look to implement throughout our service; that approach being taking on a number of projects- not going all-in if you will, the tour is my primary project. Despite this fact, within my first two months the motivation factor for investment of time and funds into the tour has been inconsistent. It seemed that this past tour, bringing in a significant chunk of income, may have been the tipping point for increased interest down the line throughout my service. This same group who took the tour ironically ran into my friend and fellow volunteer Brent out in the campo earlier in the week. Even more ironically, Brent had mentioned the religious group earlier on to me, which brought up the topic of hand-outs / religious preaching motivation in development work.

As volunteers looking to accomplish sustainable-- infrastructure, projects, knowledge, products/services, healthy practices, etc, hand-outs can be frustrating to our methods and goals. You need motivation through self-investment and knowledge in order to have lasting results. Although some help is generally better than nothing, it can negatively impact the mind-set as a country—the ‘things will just be given to us/done for us’ mentality--.

One of the trainers stated during training “Say there is a problem with individuals falling into a river/ drowning, a missionary/hand-out group may go to the point down river where these people are helplessly being carried away and give a net/ pull them out of the water, often times placing religious literature in hand thereafter. With hopes of completing sustainable work and that of the Peace Corps, we go up the stream to where the people are falling into the river and help fix the cause of the problem/ work together for long-term avoidance of the issue.’ I found this analogy interesting. I don’t mean to personally offend those who may be involved in religious groups and realize hand-out work isn’t always religiously connected. I am simply stating my viewpoint from my experience. Sticking with the theme of religion and water, an allusion to baptism, my neighbor Mary Jr. is pregnant! She is due this fall and has asked me to be the godfather. This is exciting news and being torn between moving onto the Co-op or staying in my neighboring village, this definitely makes me want to stay close to the family I have become so close with.

I have already been in country for nearly five months, two in my site. Although certain days drag on, overall time is moving rapidly... that is life. Beyond language study…. I currently have a meeting lined up with an NGO to build a bottle-school on the Co-op ( using an ‘eco’ brick of plastic bottles packed full with plastic wrappers) following student collections, am working with another NGO to set up a sustainable book program in which the students invest a few dollars—which in turn is invested into the following years books, am teaching English with a number of students who did not pass in my town (and planning classes with those I work with), and have promoted the tour throughout local facilities in the nearby city.

Additional work ideas in progress include: an increase in Q’eqchi history within the tour ( a typical home, comedor/food option, etc. with a future increase in foreigner tourists). Holding ‘an outsiders view,’ it is easy to see how interesting the culture truly is, something overlooked by someone living within it on a daily basis. Other events for this month include establishing a guide feedback system, getting involved in family planning work through a PC program, trail maintenance and planting 100 trees with the local school and my site mate. These future ideas and completed work are currently flowing in my head because my Project Director is visiting my site this Friday and I just put together a presentation to use during it, highlighting a handful of these topics.

I hope to take part in a dental hygiene day within the local schools this July, with activities, information, etc. and an award of diplomas and toothbrushes following completion . Although I have only received packages from my mom, Luis and Meg T.(in no way demeaning you three!), if you want to help out feel free to send toothbrushes or toothpaste down this way! I mean, if you want to throw in a magazine or something I won’t complain. Until next time-- Ivan

Go Shawty, Its 'Yo Birfffday

          The above title is in no way directed at the fact that many Guatemalans happen to be of small stature, but at the fact that last night we celebrated Mary's (My neighbor and mother of ten children) 47th birthday.  When one thinks of birthday celebrations music, food and dancing may come to mind.   There was no dancing at this gathering, but to quickly sidetrack a couple weeks back two of the past volunteers from this Co-op came back for a week long visit.  Both volunteers completed service here in 2007, therefore are only a few brief years removed from service and still fresh in the minds of the people here.  Marsha, one of the two volunteers, just finished law school at U-Penn (congrats) and ironically enough studied international business at the same university (UIBE) in  Beijing as I did (Shout out to my China buddy Liz R. on your new full-time employment!).  We all decided to meet up and go out dancing one night in Coban, all of us being them and their two friends.  The five of us tore up the dance floor, or more accurately their two friends were possibly the best dancers I have ever personally witnessed (Better than hood-baller).  The guy, Jose, won some major dance competition and is apparently 'The Best Dancer' in Alta Verapaz, the department in which I live.  This would be equivalent to being the best dancer in a state in the United States, even though this entire country is the size of Ohio.  Let's just say he'd be the best dancer in all of Rhode Island. 
                  Flash-forward to last night.  This was the second birthday I have attended in my town thus far, both of which have been within Evangelical families.  Both events consisted of a decent amount of people gathering together, prayers being said and feast of caldo de gallina (Chicken soup, more specifically a broth with a piece of chicken a few herbs and possibly rice in it).  After this meal, cake is served and everyone seems to wander home.  I had been sick this past weekend (actually pooped myself as a 22 year-old man- TMI I know) and was specifically excited for this meal with a newly restored appetite.  With ten kids and five grand-kids all living in the same compound the house was packed.  I helped Gloria serve tea and atol to the guests and then ate dinner with the family in the kitchen.  Eating dinner in the cramped kitchen standing up was a great feeling, a passage if you will, from seated guest to family member.  Check out the photos:

                             Ammunition for a whole-lotta tortillas!

"Chicken Little" as Mary Jr. calls them

Playing cards with Pancho

Miguelito in a basket

Michelle serving the tamalitos

Gloria and the caldo

Baby Lisbeth- 11 months yesterday

The guests sitting down to eat

Wooden walker!

Jacqueline y Jimmy

Mary Jr. 

Stray puppy

13 y.o. Byron failing to not crack a smile while doing the I now kill cows for a living pose

Regalos!

Some of the Don Domingo Tribe

Qawa Domingo ut Qana Mary

Baile de Venado

In a quick attempt to summarize a unique experience I had last week, a recent blog post by my friend and fellow Upstate NY'er Jordan Brown popped into my head. Jordan had an eventful cultural experience himself (Check it out: http://jbrownspeaks.blogspot.com/2010/04/importance-of-taking-initiative.html )
'Life is about wandering down an unknown path and smiling when you realize where you have wandered.' This past week Kamille (my sitemate), her friend Ty, and I did just that. Okay, we knew our destination, but not what we were getting ourselves into. We headed through the tea fields (head lamps and all) down to the house of Alberto, the current President on the Co-op. Having been invited to a gathering it could have been assumed we would all greet each other, quickly eat caldo, and be on our merry way. As Drake would say, 'never pay attention to the rumors and what they assume.' The large wooden home was filled with excited people dressed in clothing ranging from traditional traje to more modern attire, an abundance of food/tortillas and drinks, colorful decorations and a long table up front. On top of the table lay a number of masks, ranging from a tiger to deer.

Following a number of speeches, a large meal (despite insisting we were thankful, but had already eaten... always come to eat!) and a performance on the marimba the b'oj was served. B'oj is a fermented sugar-cane drink, which logically varies in strength depending on the period of fermentation. Normally a conservative community, the b'oj was flowing, the music was playing, and even cigarettes were smoked as part of the ceremony. We then all proceeded out to the front of the beneficio, miramba and all, where the men took part in the dance of the deer. This took place directly next to the new gravel road funded by Fedecovera (an independent organization working with 36 cooperatives throughout the Verapaces), who were likewise in attendance at the event. Coming up on the corn harvesting season, the dance was symbolic of the correlation and harmony between man and nature. Around midnight, following nearly two hours of dancing, the three of us decided to call it a night. The music continued on well into the night, but this was merely a practice round for the following day's full-costume event at the Fedecovera office in Coban. The actual production was vibrant and colorful, but there was undoubtedly a little extra excitement (a little B'oj in the step of the dancers if you will) that Wednesday night we decided to venture out.

                                  

Masks on the center table.

 The pre-baile feast.

Kamille, Ty and I outside of Alberto's house.

Baile de Venados @ Fedcovera Office