Hydroelectric power at Corazón del Bosque

For those of you who read Spanish, here's the link to an article that came out in the Prensa Libre about the hydroelectric plant we now have at the Corazón del Bosque, which is pretty exciting!

Click here: Reserva genera su energía 

They say it'll cover about half of the park's energy needs, 2.5kW, 250 L/s max flow.  We're currently using the power for the administrative office and the dormitory/salon.

I find it pretty impressive that from a small waterfall on the edge of the park's property clean energy can be produced, not only lowering costs but it also serves as an example for community members and visitors.

Chicken!

So for those of you have keep up with my random blog posts know that they are just that: random.  Partly because I like to share a bit of everything that's going on in my life here, from work projects to family, adventures to daily life stuff.  And partly because I feel like that makes this mode of communication more interesting....you never know if you're going to get a brief on work in the park, photos from a trip to who knows where, stories from rural Guatemala or thoughts on life.  To not disappoint now, I thought I'd share a sad (but in a funny way) story from last week.

So I was at the park in the morning when I got a text message from Tigo (the main cellphone company here) saying it was triple day (this means that when you buy x number of credit for calls/msgs, they give you triple the amount you actually buy...it gets a bit complicated when you factor in how much that credit is worth on certain days, experation, etc, but I do my best to work the system).  Anyways, so I decide to head in to El Novillero to get some credit when I run in to the little old chicken lady as I'm exiting the corn fields.  As usual she's barefoot, her smiling face overflowing with wrinkles and carrying a basket with 3 creole (cage-free?) chickens inside.  She asks me as usual in a mix of K'iche' and Spanish if I want to take one home.  Now I always say no, that's there's no money but that day I had some extra besides paying Tigo and thought it would be a great thing to have in time for Semana Santa (holy week).  So we do some bartering and I end up with this nice black chicken for Q50 ($6).  He had a good weight, and I just love pollo criollo (it may not be as juicy or tender as normal chicken but that's because normal chicken isn't really normal...so many hormones!) so I walked home with my chicken pretty content.  Oh and I should mention that although I've witnessed many chicken purchases, this was the first one I had done all by myself and half in K'iche' :)  I untied my chicken, put it in the pen out back and headed to work.  Imagine my distress when the next day Doña Oralia informs me that my chicken has a cough and she had to quarantine it!  When I went to go see, sure enough he was coughing just like heavy smoker.  We fed it tomato, hoping this old remedy would help....but alas my chicken did not make it.  I'm sure most of you know you can't eat chickens that die from sickness so my excitement and money were all for not.  To make matters worse, he had infected another chicken in the pen and she died too!  Sigh.  Such is life.  To end on a happier note, we got a hold of some more chickens and ate them at lunch yesterday to celebrate holy thursday (delicious!)

There's a lot to mention regarding holy week, but I'll have to wait to post on that (along with updates from the past few weeks).  Had a fun mass last night, after lunch today we have a procession and mass, tomorrow there's another mass in the afternoon and Sunday too.  Inbetween all that time at church we eat lots of good food, watch reenactments, visit people, make arches out of fruits and plants, create amazing "rugs" from colored sawdust and flowers and watch old movies like The 10 Commandments and Quo Vadis.  Fun times!

Hope everyone's having a good Easter!

The beautiful, brand-new, bizarre….and the birds!

Almost a month has passed since I’ve graced you all with the presence of a new post and the reason can be summed up in a single word: research. It’s been a while since I’ve written about my studies (that I’m in the Master’s International program, getting a master’s while serving in Peace Corps). I completed two semesters before coming to Guatemala, and then spent the last year getting to know the people here, the culture and digging in to my work. Earlier this year I decided on a direction for my thesis, which is the next part of the degree and will be consuming my time this next year :) I’m always interested in the economic impact of development initiatives, but since working at an ecological park I’ve also been hooked on conservation so to combine my passions I’m going to try to take a look at the economic impact of conservation activities in community tourism (comparing 3 community tourism sites in Guatemala, one of course being Corazón del Bosque, where I’m working). Unfortunately I don’t have much formal training in this field, so I’m doing quite a bit of catch-up. If anyone happens to know of any good resources or has some input please send it my way…I’d be very grateful!

Now moving on to life stuff…the beginning of February I helped translate and such for the National Birdwatching Encounter, which took place in San Juan La Laguna. The object was to increase awareness of Guatemala as a birding destinantion in the international market. I'm fairly new to the whole birding world, but since last year I've learned quite a bit and have grown rather fond of going to check out birds :) A while back I compiled a list of birds found in the park (from studies by biologists and practicum students)- we have over 70 species, 20 of which are endemic to the area. Birding is a great product for us to offer, as it's a low impact activity with high economic returns...so far it's been difficult for the park to capitalize on, although we do offer a basic guided bird tour through the forest. Anyways, here are a few shots of the event, the first is me with two other members of the Red de Turismo Comunitario de Solola sharing different tour packages with an international tour operator.

Birds!

I had the chance this last weekend to hang out with some good friends at another volunteer’s site. Jamie works with a municipality close to the Mexican border in their park (El Refugio del Quetzal) which is around 90 hectares of dense forest with lush vegetation that houses Guatemala’s national bird, the quetzal. It’s an incredible bird, and although we only saw its tail for the better part of an hour, our patience was rewarded with the glimpse of it majestically flying through the air. I don’t have pics of that unfortunately but you can check some out on google: link to quetzal pics Below you'll see Jamie swinging on a vine, which I attempted as well with more dramatic results... And also an artificial nest they put in the park, with the male's tail sticking out. He's a modern man, taking care of the eggs while the female is out looking for food.

The beautiful park and friends:

Remember when I lived in San Antonio my first three months in Guatemala? As part of training I worked with a group of women weavers. One of their products is the traditional San Antonio huipil (woven blouse) but it’s also one of the most expensive because of the designs/time it takes to make. Ever since I lived there I’ve wanted to have one of my own, so I saved up and made payments from July to January to the aunt of the family where I lived….and now I have one! Here’s a pic of me wearing it for the first time, with Doña Oralia’s mom.

My brand-new huipil:

I have to admit that since living here I’ve grown skeptical of many things…people tell tall tales more often than short ones? But I always listen and respond with the appropriate, “ah, sí?!” So when last month my family tells me they heard about a Catholic church not too far away where a miracle had taken place, shown by floor tiles that lifted up in the form of a cross, my first thought was that someone was playing a joke. However, the next day we head over with the grandparents to check it out and hear the story from the people first hand. A couple weeks before a couple from a town 15 minutes away had come to the church to pray because the husband was sick with a terminal illness, and the doctors said there was no hope for treatment. While at the altar they felt strong tremors of an earthquake. Scared, they began to make their way to the exit when the tremors suddenly stopped. But what they saw in front of the entrance shook them more than ground moving….the floor tiles had raised to form a peak in the exact form of a cross. When they went outside to tell the people what happened, they found out that outside of the church, no one had felt the earth move. Shortly after, the man’s health began to improve and people from far and wide began to frequent the little rural church, praying for healing as well. Everyone began to praise God for this miracle. Maybe you’re like me and have a hard time believing in miracles in today's world (where we use science and rationale to explain everything), but I’ll honestly tell you when I saw this with my own eyes there was something I felt…

The bizarre:

Life is Beautiful

I am so thankful for the life I have and for what makes it up: the unique experiences, the wonderful people I'm blessed to have around me and the incredible lessons I continually learn.

The view from my tent in the early morning, camping with the family on the mountain near where we live.

Enjoying the night eating and talking by the fire. A little cold but way worth it :)

Picnic by the river! We decided to make grilled chicken, salad, guacamole, etc outside one Sunday afternoon as a sort of goodbye party for Eddy and one of the cousins, before they took off for other cities to start school. Here we have Fatima and Danika...my favorite girls!

Doña Oralia making lunch with me in the shade.

I taught the boys how to throw an American football...super fun! Now we head out occassionally to go play.

Before I headed home for Christmas, we were visited by April (the volunteer who was here before me). It was a grand surprise that I struggled keeping for several months. In honor of the visit we of course had a party :)

Found this huipil from Santiago Atitlan super cheap at the market and wore it celebrate the birthday of the Virgen Guadalupe.

My dear friend Patty from San Antonio Aguas Calientes made the trek out to visit me. Unfortunately it was one of the coldest weekends in December and we stayed outside till late watching the fireworks/firecrackers in Santa Lucia Utatlan for their fair!

On a random trip down to San Marcos La Laguna with Selvyn and his family...the new baby (Mariajose) is absolutely adorable!

Eddy was the only one who'd go on the ferris wheel with me. I think I've determined that half the fun is the movement of the wheel and the other half is the rush of wondering if it'll fall apart.

Fatima's 4th birthday. My favorite is when they make them take the first bite out of the cake.

Mayra (on the left) came to El Novillero from the coast to work for a time with her sister. Mama Lupe and I put her in traje to take pictures to remember her time with us.

I know it's late, but here's a pic from Thanksgiving. We have Molly, me, Luis, Beberly and Erin- good times, good food and good friends.

The first of November there's always a huge festival in the town of Sumpango, with giant kites intricately decorated.

Chico, Oralia, Braulio and Luis hanging out at the marimba concert during the fair.

Again during fair week, watching Braulio play soccer again a team from the capital. Marta (our accountant at the park) lent me this pink traje (for those of you who know me well will be surprised, as I am definitely not a pink person!)

Work...almost too much fun :)

Corazón del Bosque is part of the Red de Turismo Comunitario de Sololá (the Community Tourism Network of the Department of Sololá). Last November the majority of the members sent representatives to visit Ak'Tenamit (http://www.aktenamit.org/), a developed site of community tourism (one of its many programs) on the eastern coast of Guatemala, in Livingston, Izabal. One other volunteer (Erin) and I were given the opportunity to accompany the group with the goal of learning all we could from the interchange to improve not only our own sites but to strengthen the network overall. It was a quick 4 day trip (two days of travelling!) that included several meetings, a visit to their fair-trade store, restaurants, a community stay and a stopover in Rio Dulce. Here's most of us visiting the Castillo San Felipe.

This is the view we had on our boat ride from Livingston back to Rio Dulce- it's almost breathtaking to see the cliffs covered with trees that plunge down to the water's edge.

We hiked two hours to a community, spending the night at their "hotel", sharing a meal with community members and ending with a marimba concert/dance party. The community's called Plan Grande Quehueche (http://adrenalinatours.com/comunitarytourism/aldea-maya-plan-grande-quehuecche.html) Don't worry, I didn't hike in my skirt...this was on the way out, which was in a pickup.

The ceiba, Guatemala's national tree.

One of the many interesting bugs we found in the jungle. It was great to explore a different ecosystem and be reminded of how diverse Guatemala is. It felt like a different country compared to my neck of the woods (all mountains, and pine/oak forests).

So I don't have a picture yet of the finished product, but here's a little taste of the playground we started building last fall. It's made of recycled tires and wood from the forest. They went a bit crazy on the colors, but what can you do. Now we're only lacking a few finishing touches, benches and flowers. I'll post when that's done (hopefully soon!!!).

Another project we started last fall was a course on making handicrafts. We started out teaching a group from the community, mainly women, on how to kill rabbits and cure the skins to use the fur. I would have included some of those pictures but wasn't sure how people would react...especially my animal rights friends! I have to admit it still makes me a bit squeamish...I'm much better at murdering chickens. But anyways, after we finished learning about furs, we moved on to making baskets, jewelry and such out of pine needles.

Here are some examples from one of park workers, Don Martin. Absolutely beautiful and 100% natural pine! If the group gets a little more formal I'll start helping them make contacts, as there's already a domestic and international market for such products.

When the Sicklers came to town

My two families together! Crazy to see the cultures of North Dakota and rural Guatemala meet up; it definitely says something for globalization :)

My parents hanging out in the corn field on my walk to work.

We stayed at a beautiful hotel for a couple days on the lake...incredibly refreshing (except for the 100 stairs we had to climb up the mountain to reach our room!)

Matt and I kayaking on Lake Atitlan.

My family looks like giants compared to my old host family in San Antonio!

I never thought I'd be the one to end up teaching my mom how to do laundry...but then again it changes things when you don't have a washing machine. I wash my clothes at the pila (the cement basin) almost every weekend...super fun...

We hiked up Pacaya with a guide and were fortunate enough to see the lava! It was spurting out slowly, and they grey you see on top is the lava cooling. Although I wouldn't by any means call it cool; the air was thick with heat.

El Volcan Payaca

My poor mom going up the volcano on horseback...I don't know if she'll ever forgive us!

We stopped on the way to my house for a quick visit to the ruins at Iximche.

My dad and brother at the top of Cerro de la Cruz, overlooking Antigua. The volcano in the back is the Volcan de Agua.

A New Year….lots to update

So I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve posted, and for that I apologize. It’s not that there’s been a lack of things to share; just so many that I haven’t taken the time to sort them all out and share. But now the hard part is where to begin. So let me start with a brief refresher: I’m still in Guatemala, (it’s been just over a year since my arrival). I still call El Novillero home and have grown quite used to life here (except for the cold that sometimes comes and leaves me frozen to the bone…for example it was 45 degrees inside my room when I woke up this morning). Work in the park has been good, keeping busy in the office trying to implement better procedures, increase marketing, improve the products and services, do client studies and monitor conservation. One fun (albeit difficult) project we’re completing is a playground out of recycled tires and wood. I got a manual from a fellow Peace Corps volunteer and it turned out pretty good, I’ll have to post pics.

I’m still living with the family and enjoy it more than ever. They’re a joy to be around, love me like family and are super fun overall. One of my more recent adventures with them was taking them camping for the first time (well, the two oldest boys had gone before, but not the parents, the youngest and some cousins). One thing you might not know about Guatemalans is they NEVER go camping (who wants to sleep outside on the ground when we have a perfectly fine house and beds?) Well I wanted to go so I got together some tents, my dear friend Molly and s’mores materials. We hiked up to some land Miguel Angel owns and camped at the top of mountain with the most gorgeous view (in the morning the sun rose over the volcanoes- amazing!) Although it was cold, we all loved it :) Besides that, there never seems to be an end to family get-togethers, movie nights and cooking experiments.

The last few months of 2009 also brought me some important visitors; my parents and brother were able to stay for a week in October. It was great showing them around (although for those of you who know my mom, you can believe she kept me busy translating!) and sharing a bit of my life, mixing my two worlds. Highlights include hiking up Pacaya (my mom on horse), hanging out in Antigua, visiting ruins, kayaking at the lake and hiking around Corazón del Bosque. And now everyone understands why I’m so tall (they still talk about Matt…)

Thanksgiving was spent at the lake…beautiful view, friends and food. I have to admit it was a little cheesy buying deli turkey breast and heating it in the toaster over. But at least the stove top and package gravy made a good combo with the chive mashed potatoes. The best part of the meal was Molly’s gift to us of squash pie (tasted just like pumpkin from home!) And there was enough left over for breakfast :)

Christmas I decided would be a good time for me to head back to the States and be with family and friends. My girls from college picked me up a snowy night at the airport in Chicago- it was quite interesting to experience the extreme cold again, walk on carpet, have hot water come out of the faucet and turn on the heat. Things I don’t spend time missing in Guatemala but definitely took advantage of when I was home. I only had two weeks in North Dakota and they flew by- so much to catch up on (sometimes I feel like I forget other peoples’ lives keep going even though I’m not there!) After having my fill of Christmas goodies and old fashioned consumerism I headed back to my life Guatemala (which feels now so comfortable and simple), arriving in time for my welcome-back party at the house (how I missed caldo de pollo criollo and tamalitos!).

The best part is I’m excited about 2010. We’ve already started some new projects at work, I’m working more on my master’s thesis (I’ll get in to that later), learning more K’iche’ and livin’ it up. I hate catching up so briefly when there’s so much that’s taken place….so I’m setting more goals for myself to post. Keep checking in and don’t feel back to nudge me when it’s been awhile!