Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Legitimate Blog Post

Soooo... with my previous posts I usually only had about ten minutes and was wanting to give the brief Cliff's notes version of my experience. But now I have internet in my bedroom- woo woo!  I only paid for two weeks so I need to make the most of it now!  This may be the world's longest entry but I' going to try and be thorough this time!

What I'm doing:
Right now I'm a trainee for the Healthy Schools Program (Escuelas Saludables) and if all goes well I will be sworn in as a Volunteer at the end of March.  The mission of the Healthy Schools Program is to provide training to teachers and administration on healthy habits for the students.  I won't have too much interaction with the children but the hope is that by training the teachers this program will be much more sustainable in the long run. Some of the topics for Healthy Schools can be proper nutrition, handwashing, brushing teeth, self esteem, general hygeine, etc. Please know that Guatemala is a country with a high rate of chronic malnutrition which does result in stunting and learning deficiencies.  For example, last week I visited a school and there was an 8 year old boy but he was the size of a 4-5 year old. Additionally, water is not always available so that makes practicing hygeine hard. Another health concern for children in Guatemala is respiratory problems. There were many children (older children) that had runny noses with lots of mucus. And this is the norm.  So Healthy Schools is a necessary and beneficial program that will hopefully in time teach students and teachers the importance of hygeine.

A Typical Day:
During training it is very structured and I totally thrive on structure- surprise! Anywho, I digress.  Mondays are usually Spanish class all day. Tuesdays we head to the PC headquarters and recieve lessons on Health (ie: diarrhea and std's), safety (you're prob going to be pickpocketed so be smart/safe/always alert), and our technical program training.  Wednesdays includes tech training and so I visit Tecpan and see the Volunteers in action. Thursday is half day Spanish class and half day technical training in Parramos. Friday is spanish! And Saturday is usually cultural outings in the mornings.

A Typical Meal:
Not that I'm counting... but since January 13th I've consumed 64 tortillas.  Breakfast is usually two eggs with beans and some bread. Lunch is probably the biggest meal and usually includes beans, tortillas, and a meat.  My favorite meal so far has been helaches.  It's like this shredded beef tomato thing and it's tasty. I tried googling it to see a picture/recipe but nothing comes up. Sorry! I'm definitely not starving here!  I wanted to lose weight moving here but alas I don't think that's happening. Dinner is usally much smaller and has been tortillas and beans or maybe the same lunch but a smaller portion. 

I'm actually pretty proud of myself and my eating habits. As y'all probably know I'm not one to try new foods or sauces or veggies or meat with the bones still in it. However, I pretty much clean my plate every time.  Even the time I was served fish that still had it's face and fins staring at me!  And most of the sauces are tomato based so I'm in the clear there. As for veggies... I've tried all sorts of new ones. Chipilin, chintla (tastes like potato), quiskel (tastes like squash and I'm sure I spelled it wrong). At lunch today I think I had cabbage and I've never really ate that before either.  I also had beets and i think they taste kind of like dirt and this veggie that looked like spinach but wasn't also kind of tasted like dirt but... a tortilla helps everything go down!

My Health:
Surprise- I've been sick!  And no it's not the hypochondriac in me coming out!  I literally pooped in a cup and the lab results determined I had two viruses.  Two freaking diarrhea inducing viruses. That's all I should say about that. I could totally and elaborately go on but I won't.  And then this week I struggled with allergies which surprise then turned into a sinus infection.  So needless to say I'm a big wimp when it comes to being sick. I just ached all over.  And a fever. And snot. And etc. My host dad wanted to take me to the doctor asap so he called the PC and they said I'd be fine. ha!  I don't think he necessarily liked that response- he was ready to take me to the doctor stat- but miraculously I totally felt 100% better the next day.  I guess ibuprofen and sudafed can be cures.

About acclimating
In my opinion I think I'm acclimating with the cultre very well.  Living in Corpus Christi and having an understanding/appreciation for the Hispanic culture translates pretty well here. It's not the same but I think it's a start!  The value of family and God are the two main values here and I can totally respect that.

I've been to a wedding and witnessed a few funerals in the street. The other day I actually witnessed a burial.  It was really special.  Don't get me wrong- it was sad.  I was sitting at a school and the cemetary was only a few yards away- the kids were playing there during recess- and a procession walks by.  It was a funeral for a child or baby, I'm not sure, all I know is that the coffin was being carried by one man on one shoulder. They proceeded to lay the casket in the ground and one by one shoveled dirt in the grave.  I think the procession through the town and the literal act of burying a family member with your own hands is very respectful and moving. I don't imply this was a happy time but I think that it was beautiful.  I was freaked out when they would compact the dirt and then shovel more and then compact again. That bothered me but I took comfort in the fact that the whole town and family was in attendance until the grave was covered. 

Some Differences
There are lots. For example I think we like everything nice and neat and packaged. Gravediggers compact the dirt at cemetaries but we don't necessarily stick around to see that be done. Our funeral processions are in our cars not pysically us walking in the streets from church to cemetary.  And I understand logistically this may not be feasible and it's totally fine- just a different approach.  And let me tell you about the meat markets.  I totally prefer my food in a nice neat package.  I don't want to see the freaking head of the cow or the feet of the chicken.  Or do I want to smell the smell (it's a very distinct smell I doubt I'll forget).  However, seeing where my food actually comes from and what it once was makes me appreciate it more. When we walked the streets of a huge market in Chimaltenango and I could buy a baby cow for about $75 I got really sad. The cows looked sad, the pigs looked sad, and I think it's becasue they knew they were gonna be food eventually. And maybe they were sad because they were covered in their own poop.  But probably they weren't thinking any of that.  Ha!  Anywho, long story longer, I do still want my food in a nice sanitary package but I'm glad I'm able to reflect on the true origin of where my food comes from and have a little more respect for the animals and not just objectifying them as a literal piece of meat behind the counter at Walmart.

Anywho, that's almost everything in a nutshell. However, speaking of nuts. Google where cashews come from and how they are prepared.  I had no idea until I saw it in the market.  It's a tedious process and the raw cashew is highly acidic/toxic.  Jsut an fyi.

Double anywho, write me letters or emails!  Hope everyone is doing great and Happy Superbowl Sunday!  And... to show how uch I don't know about sports I just found out this week it was being held in Dallas.  Oops. My bad. I'm rooting for the underdog... whichever that team is... I don't even know. But I want them to win. ha!

Lots of love!