First week or so in

Hey guys!

Life has been pretty fun and action packed for what I thought was going to be an experience for a PCV!  Of course there are the long chunks of time when there is nothing to do, but I am quickly learning that this is part of life and when they come it is a great time to just walk around the town, find someone to talk to, or take a little nap. 

The weather here in Huehuetenango is really beautiful.  I am at the foothills of the Cuchamantanes.  Many volunteers in this department are up in the mountains a some pretty high altitudes.  I am around 5,200ft.  That allows of some decently warm day with cloudless skies and sometimes chilly nights.  What I have heard from the other volunteers and talking to people in my town is it can get FREEZING up in the mountains and sometimes here as well. 

My first weeks of work have been typical for any position.  Trying to understand everything that the office is doing.  Who is who, who does what, or sometimes here who doesn’t do anything but ‘works’ and just trying to understand the process of projects, plans and how or where I might be able to fit in.  With my program of Municipal Development, I can work in a whole slew of areas and hopefully in my service time I will be able to work in many areas of the office to help, learn and support some areas that need some help.  Our program  helps work with community groups called COCODES (Consejo Communitario de Desarollo) that are formed by the respective community with a president, secretary, treasurer, and members of the group that have meetings and try to agree upon what type of projects are needed within their aldea. These projects can range from getting potable water to their village, making a new school, building latrines, getting electricity, paving a road or making it easier for travel, it can really run the gamut, it just depends on what they want.  Where I come in is I help strengthen these group by teaching them how to formally solicit the municipality, how to plan and come up with ideas for projects and help them function as a whole.  There are a series of charlas (that we give these group of how to be a group, what they do, how to properly hold meetings, the laws of the government and what they have power to do etc).  I right now am working on creating a database that compiles all the information of our COCODES including who is in them, their pictures, what projects they have received funding for, what charlas they have had etc.  We have 22 COCODES in our municipality so there is a lot of information, but hopefully with this it will streamline some of the office work and allows it to be stored accurately in an organized way.

We had the first lady of Guatemala come and give a little speech about a program called Mi Familia Progresa she is trying to push.  It a very political talk as there are rumors about her running for President in the upcoming election.

Currently it is our feria (fair) and the town is bustling with activities.  There are mini rides something comparable to the rides that didn’t make passing grades in the states and had to be sent down here.  It is crazy to see how some of these rides have been put together.  There are food vendors, video games, lots of foosball, and sweets.  I went to a beauty pageant but did not stay for the whole thing because it started at 8pm and went to 2am.  Its crazy!  There are marimba bands, dances soccer friendlys and just active things happening.

One scary thing that happened last weekend was there was a big soccer match.  We have a team within our Muni that competes in the 3^rd division in Guatemala.  Its not professional but the fans here act like it is which is fun and fun to support local people playing for our town.  During the game, fouls started to get a little harder and a little rougher.  Fans were not happy with the referees as they began to throw things at them  and red cards started being issued to players.  After the game, our fans and their fans started arguing and mixed with alcohol (where there is an abundance of here, also noted by the fact that there are two AA offices here) became rowdy.  I was with some friends and we decided to leave and get out before anything happened.  I then saw some other friends turn around and start running back fast to the stadium, which at that point I knew something was going on.  I decided to ride my bike back a little ways to see what was happening.  I saw a guy with a bloody face being surrounded by the police in handcuffs acting as a barrier with a mob behind him swearing, throwing rocks and whatever they could get a hold on at him.  Apparently this guy had a gun and pulled it out and started firing it over people’s heads in an effort to scare them off.  It’s crazy to put it bluntly but it is part of the lifestyle here and just a big reality check that anyone can do anything at any given time.  Yikes.  I am eager to see what these next few weeks will bring!!  

Finally At Site

Me and the Ambassador

I am an official PCV!  What a whirlwind of a week.  I can even describe the rollercoaster of emotions that I went through getting to this point.  I don’t even know where to start or how to tell what happened.  Well….there is this…..

So as you all know I love writing about my camioneta experiences.  This one definitely tops the charts so far.  This last week we were in our training center and had to go to the office every day.  So the last day I am heading back and after waking up around 5am for the entire week I am pretty out of it at the end of the day.  There was something different about the ride though, it just seemed a little dustier, dirtier.  I asked another PCV me if she thought the same.  She though so but we couldn’t do anything, and it is the beginning on summer where there is no rain and the dust can kick up really quickly.  Well then the next thing I know a truck with a load full of workers goes by yelling franticly at us…”tiene fuego, tiene fuego”.  Yeah fuego means fire, which took me a little bit to fully comprehend as I was sleepy but  yeah that means our bus was on fire.  Its Guatemala.  I thought I was used to everything but, then when I saw all the other Guatemalans pouring out both the front and back entrance of the bus somewhat franticly, I decided to follow suit and run like hell.  The ayudante (helper who collects the change) had an extinguisher and other store owners were running with water to help out.  So then I looked for the fire and it was under the engine and by the driver’s side wheel well.  Not a good thing.  After the fire was put out the ayudante insisted for all the passengers to get back on the bus.  When I saw the Guatemalan give the typical finger shake with their index finger, I knew to follow suit once again and not get on the bus.  Lesson learned here: when Guatemalans run, you run.  When they are scared, then it’s time to be scared too. 

As for swearing it, what an experience.  Earlier in the week, we had to sign our contracts which we agreed to defend the constitution and the same oath that all service men and women take before enlisting and for some politicians as well including VP Biden.  We had the pleasure of going to the Ambassador’s residence in Guatemala city to have our ceremony.  We got to walk around a little beforehand and see what his situation was like.  All that mattered to me was he had a tennis court.  I think this was the first tennis court I have stepped on in a few months.  Oh it was exhilarating. 

I got to talk to the Ambassador and ask him some questions about the Guatemalan political stability, and the problems he thinks that Guatemala faces.  The one thing that will stick with me for a while was after some introductions, he asked my group what our program was, with which we answered Municipal Development.  His next response “Yes…yes….that’s good for you all, yes…that is the hardest one we have here no doubt, I wish all the best of luck.’  I took that the best way that anyone could, and used it for motivation for journey ahead.

The night we as a big group got together and had a blast with one hurrah before we all were to deploy to our sites.  We came together reflected on our ups, downs, and everything from getting on the plane first in Washington D.C. to being sworn in a saying our oath with the Ambassador in front of us.  We also ended up compiling a list of superlatives and I happened to win the honor of ‘most likely to be elected mayor of my site.’  The next day we all left for our respective sites which was another journey unto itself.  It took me about 7 hours to finally get to my town as there was a national bike race ‘the Tour of Guatemala’ and we got stuck behind it.  So we meandered up along the high hills a slow pace for a good chunk of the trip.

One of the things that will stick with me for a while is the impact that my host family had on me and the amount of support I still feel from them and still continues to feel from them.  They are truly great people and it was hard to say good bye to them, but I am just so honored and blessed to have built such a great bond with people who were 3 months ago, complete strangers.  I know during my service that I will be going back to visit them and to just stay in touch.  They are an incredible family and did a lot to make me feel welcome here in Guatemala during my first few months here.  Kudos to them!

With other volunteers from my group, Justin and Carolyn

This week I will begin to walk around the town and do my best to get to know the people of my site.  I think I will just start by walking up and down every street saying hi to everyone I could possibly say hi to.  I have attached some pictures so please enjoy.  Thanks again everyone for all the support!!