Semana Santa

My favorite customs from Semana Santa in El Novillero:

• Baking baskets full of "semana santa" bread (a sweet bread sometimes made with milk or raisins) that gets exchanged among families.
• Constructing "arcos" which are different sized arches made from fruits, breads, plants, etc and are placed in homes, in front of churches or businesses to celebrate holy week (see bottom left).
• Holy Thursday: in the morning there is a traditional breakfast with the family of semana santa bread, hot chocolate and a garbanzo/plátano sweet dish; in the morning all the god-children stop by to visit and exchange food (usually fried chicken and a veggie salad); lunch is also had together at home and includes way too much food (the food dropped by and more); and a mass takes place late afternoon with neighboring communities.
• Holy Friday: a procession starts mid-day from a community up the mountain, which carries down the image of Jesus carrying the cross, stopping at altars ("rugs" made from colored sawdust, flowers, fruit and pine needles, check top left) in front of several homes to pray (we joined half way down, walking "procession-speed" for a couple hours) till we arrived back in El Novillero joining up with other processions for a huge mass in the soccer field.  After the 3 hour mass Jesus is taken off the cross (bottom center and right), put in a coffin-like box and there is yet another procession through town, ending up at the old church...crazy long but fun day!
• Sábado de Gloria (Saturday of Glory): families go out during the day to have picnics, visit relatives or just hang out together (at the park we had over a thousand people enter!)  There is another mass in the evening (with a bonfire outside and everyone enters with candles); many things take place such as confirmations, baptisms and this year there were 5 weddings too :)
• Domingo Resurrección (Resurection Sunday): although this day is often the biggest day of holy week in the US, here it is the calmest, with a normal mass either early in the morning or in the afternoon.

Proverbs & Culture

Russian Proverb:

If God does not bring it, the earth will not give it.

Chinese Proverb:

Don't depend on heaven for food, but on your own two hands carrying the load.

During training to become Peace Corps volunteers, we went through several sessions on cultural differences.  The purpose was to help us understand the thoughts, motives and actions of others so we could effectively carry out our work in a context quite distinct from that which many of us were accustomed to.  One topic that stuck with me was locus of control.  A person who has a high internal locus of control believes that they have the control to change events based on their actions and behaviors.  Someone with with a high external locus of control relies more on fate, and believes that chance or some higher power determines events.  North Americans generally have a high external locus of control, believing that if they study enough, work hard and don't give up they can achieve their dreams and be successfull.  Even those of us who believe in God still lean in the direction that we were given the capacity to look for or create our own opportunities.  The tendency in Guatemala is definitely more passive, noted with a high use of the phrases "si Dios quiere/manda" (if God wants/wills) or "primeramente a Dios" (first to God, used in my region when talking about if something will happen or not).  For me it's been interesting (and perhaps frustrating at times!) to see how this plays out in work and social situations.  Generalizing a bit, I can many times trace a lack of initiative, lack of future planning and the inability to own up to responsibility to this cultural trait.  


Going back to the two proverbs above, maybe that explains a bit of the difference between the Russians and the Chinese...


Where do you find yourself on the spectrum?

I do!

I had the privilege of attending two weddings during the month of March.  The first was a mix of the indigenous and ladino cultures of Guatemala, set outside the country’s second largest city- Quetzaltenango.  The second took place near San José, Costa Rica and was also a mix of cultures, with a bit of the US, Costa Rica and China.

Here´s the recap:

 Chuck and Laura

I like this story a lot.  It begins just over five years ago, when I decided to study abroad a semester in Costa Rica.  I was placed with a wonderful host family that had three daughters, one son, and was half tican (Costa Rican) and half Chinese.  Only the youngest two still lived at home, Beiy Sim who was a few years younger than me and Chuck Jun who was slighter older.   There was another girl in the same program that lived just down the street from us and we became fast friends.  She would come over to the house often, and we would go out with my host brother Chuck and another study abroad friend, Steve.  By the end of the semester Laura and Chuck had definite chemistry, but alas, she had to go back to the States.  Luckily, Chuck ended up going to San Diego the next year for a few months to study English….Laura just happened to go to college in San Diego as well :)  From there their story goes back and forth from Costa Rica, her Peace Corps stint in Bolivia, being relocated to Costa Rica, being together a bit in her home state of Washington, etc.  All this to say that this couple has traversed (and is currently exploring!) the hemisphere together, they love each other deeply and I have absolute confidence that they will make it work no matter what.  It was such a blessing to be able to join them on such a special day!!!  Better pictures can be viewed at http://blog.theyoungrens.com/

The old host family and I back together again!

Claudia y Maynor

Claudia is one of my favorite cousins of the family on Miguel Angel’s side.  She’s such a sweet person, 22 years old and studying marketing in the university.  A couple of my favorite memories here that include her are the time we all went camping on the mountain and the training I went through on how to kill and defur(sp?) a rabbit.  She had been dating Maynor for several years before joining him in marriage at his family’s home outside Xela. 

Their version of the dollar dance....women pinned money on Maynor and the men on Claudia :)

Doña Oralia and I

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!)