Hola!

So, I’ve been in Guatemala for a little over two weeks now (sorry for those of you who have been waiting for an update email, internet access/free time has been a little scarce), and it feels really great to be back. I spent about 3 days in Cobán visiting la familia before meeting up with the research team in Antigua. It was so wonderful to spend time with the girls and relax a bit before diving into the work portion of the trip. They were as silly and beautiful as ever and Cobán hasn’t changed a bit; it almost felt like I had never left.

On Sunday (8/1) I said goodbye to Cobán after a short but sweet visit and headed to Antigua where we quickly got started on plans for the week. (Quick recap of what we are actually doing: A non-profit indigenous women’s reproductive health organization, FESIRGUA, invited us to come to Guatemala to conduct the formative research for a weaving cooperative that they are hoping to start. Our research includes in-depth interviews with young women who have participated in an adolescent pregnancy prevention program and also analyses of artisan markets, existing weaving cooperatives, and fair trade stores. The hope is that this cooperative will give the women the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned in the program while also generating an income.) Monday morning we (Genevieve, Tilly, and I) left for a four day excursion to the Quetzaltenango/Totonicapán area. We conducted ten interviews and stopped in to a number of markets to get some ideas for potential products. Thursday we left for Lago Atitlan (maybe one of the most beautiful places in the world, I think) where we did some more market studies and had a little R&R. We stayed in La Iguana Perdida which is a funky little hostel in Santa Cruz la Laguna- I would definitely recommend it. We visited markets in Sololá, Panajachel, San Juan la Laguna, and Chichicastenango. I bartered with a girl for a mask in Chichi but when I got her down to a good price I decided I didn’t want it and she called me loca. Our main finding was that those markets were completely saturated with souvenirs and artisan products so being creative in product development is going to be big. The markets were extremely hectic and rather pushy and we were tired from a long week of traveling and interviewing so we reserved some time on Saturday to relax. We did yoga on a patio overlooking the lake and then later enjoyed the hotel’s tuj, a traditional Mayan sauna.

Monday morning we came back to Antigua where we met up with Erica and Kelly, two more girls from GW who have graciously volunteered to help us with the research. We did some more interviewing in the communities around Chilmaltenango this week and have really collected a lot of interesting and rich information. Word to the wise- chicken buses, mountains, and motion sickness are not a good combo. This weekend will be dedicated to more market studies, organizing findings, and getting ready for an entrepreneurship workshop that we are putting on for the participants next week. A group of business students from Oregon State University got here Wednesday and are going to help us put on the workshop. So far, my role in the workshop is to present a summary of the interview findings- so I have a lot of work cut out for me this weekend listening to 20 three-hour interviews! A filmmaker also came with OSU to make a documentary of our project (completely awesome!) and we decided that it would be great for me to be her little assistant so I can get even more experience in global health communications. I know nothing about filmmaking but I’m really excited to learn!

That’s what I’ve been up to in a nutshell. We still have three interviews next week along with the four day workshop so we’ll be really busy but I’ll definitely make time to have some non-work-related fun before coming home! I’m pretty sure I’ll be transcribing interviews every day until November but this has really been an incredible learning experience.

Hasta pronto!

adios

I am going to begin by saying that this is the last entry that I will write in Guatemala and also apologize for being absolutely rubbish about updating my blog. I leave Coban on August 3 and will set foot once again on US soil August 5. So, this is my last week in Guatemala. I honestly cannot believe that my YAV year is over; it seems like yesterday that I was having a panic attack on the plane coming home from the placement event (funny story, ask me about it in person)!

So, let me bring you up to date. I went on a camping trip with the big kids at the student center at the end of June. I was the coolest kid at camp because I could dive off the diving board. It was fun. Then Kathryn (sister) and Becky (friend) came for an extreme Guatemalan vacation. I’m not kidding about extreme, either; we climbed an active volcano, went spelunking and then zip lining. They also got to experience the ritual of my host sister’s quinceaños. The church ceremony was really nice and I participated as part of the family which was very special. After the ceremony we headed off to a beautiful hotel banquet hall where we ate dinner and danced the night away. The other YAVs came for the party, too, and we all had a blast! I had such a great time showing the girls around Guatemala and introducing them to what I’ve been up to for the past year. Once the girls left, I headed off to Xela to say my goodbyes to friends there. Xela was beautiful, as always, and it was nice to visit and tie up some lose ends.

And now, I have pretty much spent the entire month of July saying goodbyes. I wore my traje (traditional dress) on my last day at the student center and my coworkers threw me a surprise despedida (going away party). Cake and kind words, it was great. Sarah and I went to a despedida at Cedepca, the librarians took me out for a refaccion despedida (going away snack), the group I run with took me out to breakfast after my last run, the señoras (women) at the church threw we a dinner and I have a few more despedidas this week. As you can tell, saying goodbye properly is really important to Guatemalans. My mom asked if I wanted a welcome home party but I told her I think I’ll be partied out by the time I get home.

So this week is chock full of packing, more goodbyes, and lots of mixed emotions. I’m really sad to leave all of my friends behind, anxious about whatever comes next, excited to see my friends and family again, astonished at how quickly the year passed, looking forward to the comforts of home (especially crispy bacon, my bed, hot showers, driving, four seasons and organic milk, just to name a few!), unsure of what exactly I accomplished this year, etc. etc. But even with all of these feelings floating around, I feel very content. There are some things that I would go back and change if I could but, overall, I am tremendously satisfied with my time in Guatemala and am very thankful to all of you who have been sending your love and support my way for the past year.

Hasta luego Guatemala, Hello USA!

1/2 Marathon, etc.

The race was awesome! About 6,000 people raced with the Kenyans coming in first and me trailing close behind with a whopping time of 2 hours and 29 minutes. I think that’s pretty good, seeing as how it was my first race ever and I don’t have to run from lions on a regular basis. I placed 2,432 and had a great time just trotting along and listening to my music. A gazillion people came out to watch and the whole time I felt like I was smiling and waving at both people I knew and didn’t know. It helped that my number said Mary and the back of my shirt said Alejandra so people could cheer for me as I was coming and going. The Cobàn Internacional Medio-Maraton is one of the best organized races in Central America and it was so exciting to participate in it. The energy was incredible and I am definitely going to try to make running in half marathons a more regular thing. And that would give me a fabulous excuse to come back to Cobàn next year!

In other news . . . we had another retreat the week before the race at a nature reserve in hopes to see the elusive quetzal bird that is so celebrated in Guatemalan. Unfortunately, we didn’t see one but the scenery was beautiful and it was great, as always, to spend time with the other girls. We talked a lot this time about CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and what we as Christians should do in response to seemingly unjust policies. We also talked about reentering our consumer driven culture after a year of living simply. I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty nervous, it’s going to be culture shock to the max, and Good Will is going to get a huge donation from the Sutton household.

On a similar note, my leaving has become a popular topic of conversation. The other day one of my coworkers asked me if I could leave my eyes as a reminder of me. I don’t like the idea of leaving but it will be here before you know it. We have a retreat in Antigua this weekend, Compassion is taking the older kids on a camping trip the following weekend, Kathryn and Becky come to visit me/Raquel´s 15th birthday bash is the week after that and then vuala its July. I´m planning on spending my last month here completely absorbing all that is Cobàn. August 3rd will be the saddest day of my year as I leave my precious city and head to Antigua to meet up with some more sad YAVs and then August 5th will be a painful mixture of sadness and joy as I leave my Guatemala but arrive back into the presence of the beautiful Americans I have been missing for so long.

So that is what I have been up to/will be up to. I don`t even know if anyone reads this anymore but if you do, and you, by chance, know of some kind soul that wants to give me a job when I get home, please let me know because I have become completely obsessed with planning my life and its driving me crazy. :)

mom&dad and what have you.

Ok so this is the long overdue entry about my amazing week with my parents and some other stuff that’s been going on down here in the Guat. My mom and dad came to visit the week before Easter and I could not have asked for a more fantastic visit with them. I’m pretty sure I wore them out trying to squeeze every activity possible into a week’s time and they just about wore me out with all of their questions. There are just so many exciting things to experience here that I wanted them to see and do everything! In Coban we went to Semuc Chamey, a really cool river that goes underground and then comes back up and has a lookout point that you have to hike to get to. We also went zip-lining at a coffee farm, went on a walking tour of Coban, and went to Chamelco so they could see where I work. I had a great time showing them around but my favorite part of being in Coban with them was having them meet and spend time with my host family and everyone else that is special to me here. We spent the last part of the week in Guatemala City in a really posh hotel. Thursday, one of my host mom’s cousins took us on a tour of the historic district and then we spent the majority of the morning with my mom and I shopping in the central market and my dad and our kind tour guide patiently observing. We went to Antigua that Friday to see all of the celebrated Semana Santa festivities. The week before Easter in Latin America is called Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and is very regally observed with extravagant decorations of sawdust rugs, called alfombras, and purple banners, candles, and flowers. Enormous floats of Jesus carrying his cross, called andas, are carried by hundreds of people and paraded over the rugs and around the entire city. These processions take place several times a day during the entire week in cities and communities all over Guatemala. We saw a few processions during the week but the celebration in Antigua is particularly renowned for its beautiful alfombras and solemn processions. People come from all over the world to take part in the festivities and the town was packed! One of the processions that we saw was complete with Roman soldiers on horseback! It was a very interesting to see and I’m glad my parents got to experience that side of Guatemalan culture with me. Easter is by far my favorite holiday and they really know how to do it up right here! Plus, my mom brought me jelly beans!

So after a week of gallivanting around Guat. with the folks, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to Antigua to spend a couple days before our next retreat in Santiago Atitlan. After a few days of hanging out with the gang, I went back to Coban and realized how much I missed my parents! I had had so much fun with them and really enjoyed being able to catch up that Coban seemed really lonely and boring and I was pretty homesick for a couple of days. It sounds horrible, but I had become so caught up with all of the new people and happenings of my life here that I’d kind of gotten out of touch with how incredible the people in my life at home are. I slowly got out of that funk once I got back to work. Compassion is still going well, as are my English classes. April was nutrition month and we are going to talk about the environment in May and are going to plant trees. I’m pretty excited. Other than work, I’ve been teaching Sunday school and running a whole whole lot. The half marathon is May 18 and I’m stoked! Tons of people from everywhere are coming in for it and I’ve even heard it might be on ESPN. Apparently, the Kenyans always win but that’s ok with me, I just want to finish with a somewhat respectable time and get my race t-shirt. The group I run with and I have ordered bright yellow tank tops with our names on the back to wear for the race which is just really fun in itself. I helped translate a Cedepca workshop on “integral health” a few weekends ago which was pretty interesting; a lot of talk about balancing body energies and stress management. I won’t be traveling again for a couple more weeks so now I’m just doin’ my thang here in Coban.

One last thought: It is impossible for me to sit peacefully in the park and read or talk to a friend or what have you. It appears that having light skin and blue eyes is an invitation for random people to approach me and ask for help with their English, profess their love for me, or want to chit chat about politics, war, or other heavy world issues. A recent example of this being the other day, when Sarah and I were talking in the park, this ridiculous drunk or stoned or I don’t know what guy came up to us and started talking. He asked if we wanted to meet his friends but then said we couldn’t because they were in his head. He then proceeded to tell me that he wasn’t a lion but he wanted to eat me. He said this while holding his “claws” up and holding his mouth open entirely too close to my arm. I told him that just as he was not a lion, I was not food, and he was not permitted to eat me. Very humorous, very random, very obnoxious because I really like going to the park.

marzo update

Last week I went on another extraordinary translating trip with CEDEPCA. This time I had the opportunity to accompany the Presbyterian Student Fellowship from Vanderbilt University on their Spring Break mission trip. I know, I know, I have a hard job but someone’s got to do it. We went to Santiago Atitlan (the most beautiful place in the world, I think) and helped build a retention wall for a hospital called Hospitalito. In 2005, Hurricane Stan caused a mudslide to bury the original hospital. Now, plans are underway to rebuild a modern facility that will provide care to a community of 45,000 mostly indigenous Guatemalans in Santiago and the surrounding area. We spent the week digging and hauling dirt and sand, mixing cement, moving big rocks, enjoying a chocobanano or two (chocolate + frozen banana = delicious), and playing a little futbol with the workers. A little bit of sight-seeing was also thrown into the mix; we went to Chichicastenango, the home of a massive and very colorful market, visited some Mayan ruins, and spent the last night in Antigua. I had a fabulous time sharing in the mission trip and getting to know the group- there are some pretty fine folks at Vandy! I hadn’t realized how much I miss American humor! We are one funny country, if you ask me! I have to say, though, that my favorite part of the trip was the chance to share my YAV year with the group and facilitate in their discovery of the country that I have become so fond of. A little hard work for a great cause, wonderful people, beautiful country. Yup, another first-rate CEDEPCA trip.

This week I gave talks on buenos modales (good manners). I had planned to play Mother May I? with the classes but it turned out that fluoride treatments were also planned for this week so we didn’t have time for games. I spent Monday and Tuesday up close and personal with horrendous dental hygiene. I’m telling you, my little tooth brushing classes couldn’t even come close to helping these teeth! Five year olds should not have black teeth and 12 year old molars should not be rotten and falling out. It was very disheartening to see this reality in the majority of the children at the center. It took all I had not to cry as I gave fluoride to my sweet little babies and saw them cringe with pain and tremble with fear. I had to keep reminding myself that I was giving them a valuable treatment that they wouldn’t otherwise get. I had a tooth ache all day Monday. I think I was having sympathy pains.

Wednesday and Thursday I was in charge of distributing lice shampoo to the mothers of infected children. This method of louse control bothered me because even though the mothers received the shampoo there is no guarantee that they will use it on their kids or clean the infected bedding etc. in the house. Yesterday I helped treat a little girl and her sister whose mother didn’t feel like coming to the center to get the shampoo so she just shaved half of their hair off. My heart really goes out to these unfortunate kids who have to endure poor health and subpar living conditions due to lousy parenting, lack of education, poverty and countless other societal problems. Again with the sympathy pains; I made my host mom check my head for lice last night.

I was pretty busy all week what with strengthening teeth and de-bugging children and all. I also was about to burst at the seams with excitement . . . excitement because my mom and dad come tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely can not wait for them to see my Guatemala! I will be playing tour guide all next week while soaking up some parental lovin’, then I’ll spend Easter in Antigua and the following week we have our next YAV retreat. Man, marzo is a good month!!

Sea Turtles and Tooth Brushing

A lot has been going on since the last time I wrote so let me fill you in on all the new happenings en mi vida . . .

Belize!

We had to leave the country to renew our visas so we went to Belize. So to avoid being deported from Guatemala, I was forced to lie on the beautiful beaches of the Caribbean for a few days. It was rough. We went to Placencia, a cute little town that is mainly accessible by boat or plane and whose “main street” is a side walk. It was a really nice getaway and we all had a great time playing and catching up. It was also refreshing to see different looking people, white, black, and not just Guatemalan. Guatemala is definitely lacking in it´s variety of people. And the Caribbean culture is so chill! We went snorkeling one of the days and it was incredible! Our guide picked us up in a boat on the beach outside of our house and we spent all morning snorkeling. Who knew there was so much going on under the sea! We saw gigantic star fish, a sea turtle, and a sea cucumber (which are really gross!) and watched our guide hunt and spear lobsters. We later docked on a private island where the captain of our boat prepared a seafood feast with the lobsters that we’d caught, fish, and conch. It was fabulous! We did some more snorkeling after lunch and then headed back. It was such a fun day and a great retreat that ended all too soon! Definitely a recommended way of renewing one’s visa!

Compassion

Compassion continues to be a joy in my life. First of all, I don’t think I mentioned that I decided to only work in one of the student centers instead of two. This way I can be more involved in Chamelco instead of having to divide my time between two places. So far it’s proven to be a good decision. Cograts, Al! I substituted a 1st grade class last week and kept the kids pretty much mesmerized with my magical ability to count in English. I really didn’t realize English was so entertaining- they are constantly asking me how to say things in English and amazed that my family and all my friends at home speak English and not Spanish. After I counted to 100 in English and left the kids thoroughly impressed, we colored. I must admit, I make for a pretty good sub.

I started teaching health classes this week. YAY!! We have planned that each month will have its own topic- February is Hygiene Month. I made some pretty stellar posters and talk for about 15 minutes about what we can do to maintain a good personal hygiene and the proper way to brush your teeth. Then we go out to the pila (large outdoor sink) and practice brushing our teeth using the bottoms of soda bottles, toothbrushes and shaving cream. The soda bottles resemble teeth and they work as models so the kids can make sure they cover the whole tooth with tooth paste (shaving cream). It’s a really cute activity and the kids really enjoy it; although, I have to keep an eye on the shaving cream so they don’t eat it or spray each other with it! The kids are adorable and say the funniest things. Today a little boy interrupted me to tell me that he has a cow at home, a girl wanted to tell me that her dad uses Vic’s vapor rub, and another boy wanted to know what time I get back to the US everyday. They are def. entertaining! And I now have a Compassion work shirt. I´m so official!

So what else, what else . . . I am now a singer in my church’s worship band, I’m translating a Bible study for the women’s group at church, I’m training to run in the Coban International Half-Marathon in May (so excited about this!), and my English classes start up again on Friday. I also witnessed my first serenata (serenade). My 14 year old host sister’s boyfriend woke her up (and everyone else in the house!) on Valentine’s Day with a mariachi band serenade. I was pretty ticked to be woken up at 5am but it was really sweet and I’ve decided that that might have been the most romantic thing ever and I would like to be the recipient of a mariachi band singing outside of my window at some point in my life. The cold and rainy “winter” has come to an end and now it is the perfect spring day EVERY DAY! It’s gorgeous! Sure beats putting tortillas on your face (which is what I would do to warm myself up on particularly cold days)! I’m translating for another CEDEPCA group the first week in March and my parentals are coming for a little Guat- vaca the week before Easter. I’m super excited for both and can’t wait to see my mom and dad! Ok, I think that’s all the news for now. Ciao.

El Salvador

Last week I had the opportunity to accompany my first CEDEPCA group. I traveled to El Salvador as one of the interpreters for a workshop for women on domestic violence. We left Friday morning and arrived in El Salvador around dinner time. El Salvador is much warmer than Guatemala (than Cobán at least!) and a lot flatter. We stayed in a retreat center that was actually a former home for children that were “lost” during the war. The history of the retreat center kind of set the pace for the rest of our time, as the majority of El Salvador’s people still remember the atrocities of the war.

Saturday we did some sight seeing in the morning and planned for the workshop in the afternoon. We visited the UCA, the university where several priests were assassinated for speaking out against the war, and we also visited the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was also killed for having a voice against the injustices of his country. Sunday we went to Suchitoto, a small touristy town about an hour from San Salvador, for church. After a very moving sermon given by one of the group members, we put on a puppet show for the kids. It was so much fun and they seemed to really like it! Then we had lunch, did some souvenir shopping, and went to a lake. It was so nice to be a tourist!

The workshop started on Monday and ended on Wednesday. It was jam packed with emotion as the women (and we) dealt with the troubles related to violence of all types. The women responded well to the information that they learned and it was really awesome to see them building trust and coping with unexpressed feelings. I could get really deep here, but I won´t. I´ll just say that violence and war are very dark aspects of our human reality but spending time with these women helped me relate, if even just a little, to what the people in El Salvador and most of Central America have lived through. We all got pretty close during the workshop and even stayed up late talking "slumber-party" style the last night. So, although the topics of conversation were pretty dense, it turned out to be a lot of fun and I learned alot.

I discovered that I really enjoy interpreting, although, in retrospect, it was a tad on the frustrating side in that the interpreters did most of the talking but never actually said anything themselves. And it´s tiring! I felt like I never shut up! It was still a really cool experience, though, and I´m looking forward to the next time I work with CEDEPCA. We got back to Guatemala City late Wednesday night and after sleeping in and a fabulous last breakfast with the group, I made my way back to Cobán.