La Estafa
About a month ago a man, Benicio, from Coban (city up north), arrived in this small pueblo where I live and rented a room in the Hotel Casa Blanca where I am a permanent resident. He told me he was the director of a Guatemalan nonprofit which provides poor families monthly with 100lbs of corn, 25lbs of beans, 25lbs of sugar, amongst other provisions. The families pay 11 Quetzales (less than $2) a month. Malnutrition is a huge problem here but I wish there were more NGOs showing people how to start family gardens. There are many ways to fight hunger and the neediest require immediate relief so I didn’t argue the seemingly paternalistic aspects of this program.
He proceeded to hire a few locals to help with secretarial duties and work with community leaders promoting the program throughout villages surrounding our pueblo. In about two weeks time he had thousands signed up for the program and collected the first month’s payment, cash money that is. During this process I saw many COCODE presidents whom I’ve worked with bring hundreds of people from their communities to take advantage of this program. COCODES stand for Consejo Comunitario de Desarrollo which is a community development council. They are the legal development body at the aldea (village) level. It began to appear that Benicio should be working with the municipal planning office where I work. I asked him in passing if he would like me to introduce him to the staff and the mayor and encouraged him to coordinate his efforts with our office. He responded by saying that he didn’t want to work with the muni due to political reasons. I wasn’t sure what he meant by his comment and I decided not to dig any further not really knowing the guy and understanding how sticky politics can be here.
I was washing my dishes at the outdoor pila (large water container for washing dishes, clothes, etc.) one sunny afternoon when Guillermo approached me and said he had problemas. Guillermo lives up on the third floor at the Casa Blanca and had borrowed a pickup from a friend to drive Benicio into the villages. All in all Benicio owed him 4,000 Quetzales for his time and truck rental. Guillermo started explaining how Benicio left town a few days prior with about Q35,000 in cash ($4,375), a large sum here in Guatemala. Benicio robbed more than Q11 from these families, he vanished with their hope of receiving food to feed their hungry families.
La estafa means scam in Spanish and this country is full of them. It’s sad to see los estafadores (scammers, swindlers) preying on the poor and I learned a valuable lesson. From this point on I will make it a point to research organizations trying to fly under the radar of the local authorities. Nobody should be forced to work with the authorities, but avoiding the authorities is a sign and I missed it.
Paisana
The first familiar face from the U.S. arrived a little more than a week ago. I know Carrie from my days at the Orbis International House. She valiantly quick her job and decided to stuff her pack with the essentials and travel around the world. Her first stop was Guatemala where she is taking Spanish classes and preparing to volunteer for various NGOs as she makes her way down to South America. I applaud her efforts knowing it takes an exceptional person to do this.
I picked her up from the airport in the capital, Guatemala City, and we spent a few days in Antigua before heading to Xelajú, or just Xela, where there are some of the best Spanish language schools in the world. You can live with a host family and get one on one lessons 5 hours a day, food included, for as low as $150/week. Good deal. Look into it if you ever wanted to learn this remarkable and useful language.
Epifanías
During my Peace Corps training I was selected by my training group to give a speech during our swearing in at the ambassador’s house. It’s like being the valedictorian and I was honored to be chosen. In two weeks we will all be back at the Peace Corps country office/training center for a week-long conference and additional Spanish training called Reconnect. I will be giving another speech as part of my duties as group spokesperson if you will. I’d like to share some of the contents of my speech with my “followers” (all 8 of you). Much of this comes from people I’ve listened to or passages I’ve read. Many props to the great ethno botanist Wade Davis. Enjoy.
• People in the developing countries are not failed attempts at being us.
• There is no such thing as development. There are simply thousands of ways of experiencing humanity.
• Who knows what of England who only England knows?
• The measure of a society is not only what it does but the quality of its aspirations
• Western religion has and currently is destroying indigenous cultures.
• Fewer than half of the 6,000 languages spoken when we were born are not being taught to children. In our lifetime more than half of the human legacy will be lost forever if we don't do something to stop this.
• We are not so different from other people in the world. The things that make us xenophobic and ignorant are basically the same everywhere.
• Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
-- Robert F. Kennedy, University of Cape Town, South Africa, N.U.S.A.S. "Day of Affirmation" Speech June 6, 1966
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Mangos, The Zona Reyna, and mining in San Marcos
I just returned from a trip to the northern most extremes of the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. It’s called the Zona Reyna. The climate is mainly tropical. There are monkeys and all sorts of wonderful biodiversity living in the densely covered hills of this section of the Guatemalan highlands. I spent about 3 days there working with the staff of the planning office where I work. We went to 4 different communities to conduct a socioeconomic study which will ultimately be sent to the “Cohesión Social” office headed up by the first lady of Guatemala. She recently visited the area and promised a 40 million Quetzales investment for infrastructure, health and education projects in addition to building homes, donating water retention tanks and fuel efficient wood-burning stoves. This will keep us very busy all year and will provide me a chance to get deeply involved with project planning. Now that my Spanish has reached a higher level of fluency I am becoming a more integral part of the planning office which is what I’ve been working hard to attain for the last 3 months.
Anyway, the Zona Reyna trip was eye-opening. The central government has focused development projects on the 45 poorest communities of Guatemala; the Zona Reyna being one of them. So this was the first time I spent any significant amount of time surrounded by extreme poverty Guatemalan style. I’ll write more about what this looks and feels like in coming blogs. I’ll include photos and deeper thoughts. But for now I still need some time to digest it.
We’re now entering la cosecha de mango, mango season. Or literally, “mango harvest.” The large ones cost 1 Quetzal ($ .12) and the smaller ones Q .50. Both are delicious and I eat at least 2 a day. We also have a wonderful variety of fruit here from granadias to anonas to tomates silvestres which are wild tomatoes and taste like the cross between a tomato and a ??? I can’t figure it out. Some people have said guava but I disagree. Anyway, they’re delicious. And it’s my prediction that someone is going to become a millionaire exporting anonas to the U.S. From what I’ve been told there are no anona orchards and the anona fruit you find in the market is from the random tree people come across out in the hills. It’s worth looking into.
And now to the third part of this blog entry: Mining in San Marcos. I had the following article emailed to me from a Peace Corps colleague. It’s about a gold mining operation in the department of San Marcos. It’s owned by a Canadian gold mining company called GoldCorp and the article brings up many interesting points. I’ve even considered going on the next trip to meet with people in the community to discuss the effects mining is having on communities located around the Marlin mine as it is called. I may even take a water sample from one of the local rivers. There is a water testing laboratory where I live and it would be an interesting experiment.
I think you would enjoy reading this article so here is the link:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1711/1/
Thanks for staying in touch and reading my blog entries. I am now going to watch a TED Talk that I recently downloaded. And if you don’t know what that is exactly, I highly encourage you to visit www.Ted.com to find out.
And remember… UNGOWA!!
Anyway, the Zona Reyna trip was eye-opening. The central government has focused development projects on the 45 poorest communities of Guatemala; the Zona Reyna being one of them. So this was the first time I spent any significant amount of time surrounded by extreme poverty Guatemalan style. I’ll write more about what this looks and feels like in coming blogs. I’ll include photos and deeper thoughts. But for now I still need some time to digest it.
We’re now entering la cosecha de mango, mango season. Or literally, “mango harvest.” The large ones cost 1 Quetzal ($ .12) and the smaller ones Q .50. Both are delicious and I eat at least 2 a day. We also have a wonderful variety of fruit here from granadias to anonas to tomates silvestres which are wild tomatoes and taste like the cross between a tomato and a ??? I can’t figure it out. Some people have said guava but I disagree. Anyway, they’re delicious. And it’s my prediction that someone is going to become a millionaire exporting anonas to the U.S. From what I’ve been told there are no anona orchards and the anona fruit you find in the market is from the random tree people come across out in the hills. It’s worth looking into.
And now to the third part of this blog entry: Mining in San Marcos. I had the following article emailed to me from a Peace Corps colleague. It’s about a gold mining operation in the department of San Marcos. It’s owned by a Canadian gold mining company called GoldCorp and the article brings up many interesting points. I’ve even considered going on the next trip to meet with people in the community to discuss the effects mining is having on communities located around the Marlin mine as it is called. I may even take a water sample from one of the local rivers. There is a water testing laboratory where I live and it would be an interesting experiment.
I think you would enjoy reading this article so here is the link:
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1711/1/
Thanks for staying in touch and reading my blog entries. I am now going to watch a TED Talk that I recently downloaded. And if you don’t know what that is exactly, I highly encourage you to visit www.Ted.com to find out.
And remember… UNGOWA!!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lucky to be here
I wanted to quickly update my blog since some time has passed between now and the previous entry. I find myself very busy these days and I’ve worked hard to be this busy so gracias de antemano por ignorar the large time gaps between blog entries.
I just returned to the office after working in the field for a week as a translator between a group of Canadian volunteers and people in the communities surrounding my site. It was my first time working as a translator and I learned an indescribable amount about the importance of being more of a cultural guide than a translator. The volunteers and I spent a week in rural communities building fuel-efficient wood-burning stoves (estufas mejoradas). These stoves reduce the amount of wood needed to cook for large families and also pipes the smoke out of the kitchen which prevents lung illnesses and blindness. Many families here are cooking on an open fire. With these stoves women spend less time overall cooking and communities as a whole can focus on reforestation projects.
The most important thing that I realized during the previous week is that I am in love with this community and my Peace Corps service. I realize now how lucky I was to have received this area as my site. Sorry I can’t post the name of my town on my blog for security reasons but you can email me personally if you’d like to know.
One project that I am just starting to work on with my site mate is a recycling collection center where recyclable material is dropped off and then used to make eco-bricks. Eco-bricks are plastic soda, water, juice, etc., bottles filled with plastic trash and when compacted correctly replace bricks or concrete blocks when building just about anything and they clean the community at the same time. I recently visited the NGO located near Lago Atitlan called Pura Vida which is the definitive NGO working to churn out eco-bricks. It was my first time at the lake and I must echo the words of Alduous Huxley and say it is the most beautiful lake in the world. Please visit it before you die.
Some of you have asked for an update on the landslide. The leaders of this community effort which I had the pleasure helping raised about 12,000 Quetzales ($1,540), a mountain of clothes and enough nonperishable food to feed certain families affected by the landslide. We actually didn’t bring any of the provisions to the shelters where evacuees are living. With the help of the national relief agency and Red Cross Guatemala we were able to identify families who lost a family member but live in communities not affected by the landslide directly. The vast majority of these families, if not all of them, had the father of the house or a working-age male son working in the fields where it occurred. These families, based on what I was told, are not receiving government aide so these families received everything we collected in my site. More provisions keep coming to us and when we have another significant load we will bring it to the families. What would really be nice are school supplies since school just started and it is expensive for a family to equip their children with what they need for the classroom.
I hope you all are doing very well and I look forward to seeing you down here in Guatemala some day. Thanks for reading and remember… UNGOWA!
I just returned to the office after working in the field for a week as a translator between a group of Canadian volunteers and people in the communities surrounding my site. It was my first time working as a translator and I learned an indescribable amount about the importance of being more of a cultural guide than a translator. The volunteers and I spent a week in rural communities building fuel-efficient wood-burning stoves (estufas mejoradas). These stoves reduce the amount of wood needed to cook for large families and also pipes the smoke out of the kitchen which prevents lung illnesses and blindness. Many families here are cooking on an open fire. With these stoves women spend less time overall cooking and communities as a whole can focus on reforestation projects.
The most important thing that I realized during the previous week is that I am in love with this community and my Peace Corps service. I realize now how lucky I was to have received this area as my site. Sorry I can’t post the name of my town on my blog for security reasons but you can email me personally if you’d like to know.
One project that I am just starting to work on with my site mate is a recycling collection center where recyclable material is dropped off and then used to make eco-bricks. Eco-bricks are plastic soda, water, juice, etc., bottles filled with plastic trash and when compacted correctly replace bricks or concrete blocks when building just about anything and they clean the community at the same time. I recently visited the NGO located near Lago Atitlan called Pura Vida which is the definitive NGO working to churn out eco-bricks. It was my first time at the lake and I must echo the words of Alduous Huxley and say it is the most beautiful lake in the world. Please visit it before you die.
Some of you have asked for an update on the landslide. The leaders of this community effort which I had the pleasure helping raised about 12,000 Quetzales ($1,540), a mountain of clothes and enough nonperishable food to feed certain families affected by the landslide. We actually didn’t bring any of the provisions to the shelters where evacuees are living. With the help of the national relief agency and Red Cross Guatemala we were able to identify families who lost a family member but live in communities not affected by the landslide directly. The vast majority of these families, if not all of them, had the father of the house or a working-age male son working in the fields where it occurred. These families, based on what I was told, are not receiving government aide so these families received everything we collected in my site. More provisions keep coming to us and when we have another significant load we will bring it to the families. What would really be nice are school supplies since school just started and it is expensive for a family to equip their children with what they need for the classroom.
I hope you all are doing very well and I look forward to seeing you down here in Guatemala some day. Thanks for reading and remember… UNGOWA!
Monday, January 12, 2009
La visita al derrumbe y los albergues
The dense fog from the night before has yet to burn off. As I sit here looking out my window on this opaque Sunday morning, the low hissing of water heating on my miniature stove, a live version of After the Gold Rush gently radiating from my computer speakers, it’s a near perfect morning to update the blog.
A lot has happened this last week and that is a nice thing to be able to type because during my first two months I’ve mainly had a lot of time to study Spanish and read. As 2008 wrapped up so did much of the work and since I arrived here in my site in November it was difficult to identify where I could lend any assistance. Coupled with the fact I was new to office and we all needed time to build confianza, it lead to much free time and playfulness. But now things are picking up and there are many areas where I can dedicate my time and energy.
El derrumbe
My sites mates and I recently had a chance to visit the site of the giant landslide that occurred about twenty miles away last week – my first time in a disaster area. A person in our community put the visit together and contacted the national disaster prevention/relief agency, CONRED, and the Red Cross of Guatemala (RCG) and they agreed to show us around the shelters. Three volunteers from Pamplona, Spain, our pueblo’s publicity officer, and a few other committed community members were along for the journey. I luckily secured a spot in the back of the pickup.
The representatives from CONRED and RCG greeted us with open arms as we pulled up after an hour-long dusty yet scenic ride. The static, red record light on the camera came on and after a few words from CONRED and RCG everyone broke for lunch. I ducked into the market just before we had left for this area and luckily had a few bananas and an orange in my bag. As I was getting my intake of fruit and sitting in the sun I noticed that across the street was a house were people were receiving food supplies. The line extended out the door and every few minutes a Mayan would walk out with a bright orange bag full of food and other things delicately balanced on their head. And behind me was an ad hoc thatched-roof shelter where a group of Mayan women and children were resting. Three or four dogs were laying in the shade and there was a heap of bottled fruit juice and soda in the center. If there was water there wasn’t much of it amongst the bottled high fructose corn syrup.
After about 30 minutes CONRED and RCG lowered the rope barrier and we drove into the area where we were to be brought to visit the shelters (el albergue). Most people were staying in churches, normally the largest structure in these remote and rural areas villages tucked away in the highlands of Guatemala. I asked the CONRED official about the latest figures and he told me that there were 38 dead, more than 20 missing (I’ve heard as high as 60), and 1,300 without a home. He also said that the numbers were conservative and I’m sure we can expect them to rise in the coming weeks.
We got to the first shelter, an Evangelical church. The children were playing, the women were making corn tortillas or breast feeding babies and the men were standing in a circle talking with the leaders in our group; a glance at the omnipresent social structure here. There were volunteers from many different national and local agencies roaming around; some were involved in serious conversation, others were snapping photos. The children LOVED seeing their digital images after a photo was taken and I even showed one of them how to take a picture. Some asked if I could give them their photo and the explanations of how the photos first needed to be printed were followed by looks of confusion and curiosity. In an area this secluded from the modern, high-tech, flashy western world, I can understand why they were left wondering why I wouldn’t just give them their photo.
After visiting another shelter similar to the first, we headed to a place located alongside the dirt road where there were two large trucks which were turned into shelters. Up to four families were living in each one and one of the displaced living there was very candid in what they needed. Soap for washing clothes and dishes and bathing were in dire need as was chlorine to sanitize the water and children’s shoes.
We returned to our pueblo and the publicity people got the videos on the local TV channel that very night. And on Saturday night they had an event in the park and collected food and clothing and almost 400 Quetzales (Guatemalan currency). My site mates and I are working with other volunteers in the country to collect more items as there will be need in this area for some time to come.
El pan
I made my first loaf of bread yesterday. I followed a whole wheat bread recipe but improvised by adding a little oatmeal and flax seed. I think it turned out pretty damn well and will be making a few more loaves today with one of my site mates. I intend to never have to buy mass-produced bread while serving as a PC volunteer. The big manufacturer of bread here is called Bimbo. The name alone creates a desire to be proficient at making one’s own bread. If any of you come for a visit, you’ll get fresh, home-made bread and by that time I’ll surely be an artisan.
Thanks for reading.
¡Que siga la lucha!
A lot has happened this last week and that is a nice thing to be able to type because during my first two months I’ve mainly had a lot of time to study Spanish and read. As 2008 wrapped up so did much of the work and since I arrived here in my site in November it was difficult to identify where I could lend any assistance. Coupled with the fact I was new to office and we all needed time to build confianza, it lead to much free time and playfulness. But now things are picking up and there are many areas where I can dedicate my time and energy.
El derrumbe
My sites mates and I recently had a chance to visit the site of the giant landslide that occurred about twenty miles away last week – my first time in a disaster area. A person in our community put the visit together and contacted the national disaster prevention/relief agency, CONRED, and the Red Cross of Guatemala (RCG) and they agreed to show us around the shelters. Three volunteers from Pamplona, Spain, our pueblo’s publicity officer, and a few other committed community members were along for the journey. I luckily secured a spot in the back of the pickup.
The representatives from CONRED and RCG greeted us with open arms as we pulled up after an hour-long dusty yet scenic ride. The static, red record light on the camera came on and after a few words from CONRED and RCG everyone broke for lunch. I ducked into the market just before we had left for this area and luckily had a few bananas and an orange in my bag. As I was getting my intake of fruit and sitting in the sun I noticed that across the street was a house were people were receiving food supplies. The line extended out the door and every few minutes a Mayan would walk out with a bright orange bag full of food and other things delicately balanced on their head. And behind me was an ad hoc thatched-roof shelter where a group of Mayan women and children were resting. Three or four dogs were laying in the shade and there was a heap of bottled fruit juice and soda in the center. If there was water there wasn’t much of it amongst the bottled high fructose corn syrup.
After about 30 minutes CONRED and RCG lowered the rope barrier and we drove into the area where we were to be brought to visit the shelters (el albergue). Most people were staying in churches, normally the largest structure in these remote and rural areas villages tucked away in the highlands of Guatemala. I asked the CONRED official about the latest figures and he told me that there were 38 dead, more than 20 missing (I’ve heard as high as 60), and 1,300 without a home. He also said that the numbers were conservative and I’m sure we can expect them to rise in the coming weeks.
We got to the first shelter, an Evangelical church. The children were playing, the women were making corn tortillas or breast feeding babies and the men were standing in a circle talking with the leaders in our group; a glance at the omnipresent social structure here. There were volunteers from many different national and local agencies roaming around; some were involved in serious conversation, others were snapping photos. The children LOVED seeing their digital images after a photo was taken and I even showed one of them how to take a picture. Some asked if I could give them their photo and the explanations of how the photos first needed to be printed were followed by looks of confusion and curiosity. In an area this secluded from the modern, high-tech, flashy western world, I can understand why they were left wondering why I wouldn’t just give them their photo.
After visiting another shelter similar to the first, we headed to a place located alongside the dirt road where there were two large trucks which were turned into shelters. Up to four families were living in each one and one of the displaced living there was very candid in what they needed. Soap for washing clothes and dishes and bathing were in dire need as was chlorine to sanitize the water and children’s shoes.
We returned to our pueblo and the publicity people got the videos on the local TV channel that very night. And on Saturday night they had an event in the park and collected food and clothing and almost 400 Quetzales (Guatemalan currency). My site mates and I are working with other volunteers in the country to collect more items as there will be need in this area for some time to come.
El pan
I made my first loaf of bread yesterday. I followed a whole wheat bread recipe but improvised by adding a little oatmeal and flax seed. I think it turned out pretty damn well and will be making a few more loaves today with one of my site mates. I intend to never have to buy mass-produced bread while serving as a PC volunteer. The big manufacturer of bread here is called Bimbo. The name alone creates a desire to be proficient at making one’s own bread. If any of you come for a visit, you’ll get fresh, home-made bread and by that time I’ll surely be an artisan.
Thanks for reading.
¡Que siga la lucha!
Monday, January 5, 2009
El gigantesco derrumbe
Recently we have experienced a "derrumbe" of gigantic proportions close to where I live. A "derrumbe" is a landslide and this one let loose some 10,000 tons of rock and earth and buried an "aldea" which is the word for a small community. As of right now the media has reported 33 deaths and many people were brought to the hospital here. I'm safe as are my site mates and our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
If you would like to read more information in Spanish here is a link:
http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/enero/05/286819.html
And here is an English report on CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/05/guatemala.landslide/index.html
If you would like to read more information in Spanish here is a link:
http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/enero/05/286819.html
And here is an English report on CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/05/guatemala.landslide/index.html
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas in Nebaj
I spent Xmas in Nebaj which is a pueblo in the Ixil region located here in the department of El Quiche. Don, an older gentleman originally from the hills of eastern Tennessee, owns a restaurant and hostel called Popi's. Every year he makes traditional rice tamales and distributes them to the hospital and jail. A group of us gringos, some PC volunteers and some trekking guides, helped hand them out on Xmas eve (noche buena). Then on Xmas we partook in a wonderful duck dinner and were joined by some travelers from Israel and Italy.
The next morning I woke with a stomach ache (duck is a thick and greasy meat). I stupidly ate a big breakfast and topped it off with a piece of apple pie. Then I got on a micro to head back to my site. It's a long, windy and bumpy road. With that combination I proceeded to barf after I got off the micro to wait for a connecting ride. Thank goodness I was able to hold out until I was outside. So, that was my Xmas.
I came to understand that Xmas is a big holiday here and everyone stays up to midnight on Xmas eve. There's lots of partying, fireworks, music (blaring music!!) and general clamor in the streets. Glad to know people are having fun but I wish I had my ear plugs. The music didn't stop until 3am. There seems to be a phenomenon here were people use public space in any which way they choose and either disregard or don't consider the people around them. Their short term goals outweigh the overall desire or health of the community as a whole -- Tragedy of the Commons I suppose.
Hope you all had a great holiday and that your New Year's celebration is fantastic and safe.
The next morning I woke with a stomach ache (duck is a thick and greasy meat). I stupidly ate a big breakfast and topped it off with a piece of apple pie. Then I got on a micro to head back to my site. It's a long, windy and bumpy road. With that combination I proceeded to barf after I got off the micro to wait for a connecting ride. Thank goodness I was able to hold out until I was outside. So, that was my Xmas.
I came to understand that Xmas is a big holiday here and everyone stays up to midnight on Xmas eve. There's lots of partying, fireworks, music (blaring music!!) and general clamor in the streets. Glad to know people are having fun but I wish I had my ear plugs. The music didn't stop until 3am. There seems to be a phenomenon here were people use public space in any which way they choose and either disregard or don't consider the people around them. Their short term goals outweigh the overall desire or health of the community as a whole -- Tragedy of the Commons I suppose.
Hope you all had a great holiday and that your New Year's celebration is fantastic and safe.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Ungowa! Introduction
Thanks to everyone who requested I start a blog. Now you guys better read it and post some comments! I'm glad that we now have a medium in which I can share updates, thoughts, and photos and have them available to a wider audience.
I have been living in Guatemala now for over 4 months. I spent the first three of them in the department (equivalent to a state in the U.S.) of Sacatepéquez training for my assignment and the last month here in my site. I don't think I can mention it's name due to Peace Corps rules. I should mention that I'm a PC volunteer working in the area of municipal development. More about that to come.
My site is the largest, in regards to area, municipality in all of Guatemala. It's the birthplace of the Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. But nobody here seems to really care about that. I'll explain why in a future blog. If you're interested in the subject, I recommend you read "I, Rigoberta Menchu." And then read the book, "Rigoberta Menchu: And the Story of All Poor Guatemalans" by the anthropologist David Stoll.
I'm located in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala and my site is about 80% indigenous Maya. The predominant language is K' iche' (kee-che) and most people speak Spanish although they would consider it their second language. Makes for communicating slightly difficult especially when I'm shopping on market day.
Well, that's all I have time for today. I'll make sure to post a longer blog next week when I can dedicate some more time to it.
I have been living in Guatemala now for over 4 months. I spent the first three of them in the department (equivalent to a state in the U.S.) of Sacatepéquez training for my assignment and the last month here in my site. I don't think I can mention it's name due to Peace Corps rules. I should mention that I'm a PC volunteer working in the area of municipal development. More about that to come.
My site is the largest, in regards to area, municipality in all of Guatemala. It's the birthplace of the Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. But nobody here seems to really care about that. I'll explain why in a future blog. If you're interested in the subject, I recommend you read "I, Rigoberta Menchu." And then read the book, "Rigoberta Menchu: And the Story of All Poor Guatemalans" by the anthropologist David Stoll.
I'm located in the northwestern highlands of Guatemala and my site is about 80% indigenous Maya. The predominant language is K' iche' (kee-che) and most people speak Spanish although they would consider it their second language. Makes for communicating slightly difficult especially when I'm shopping on market day.
Well, that's all I have time for today. I'll make sure to post a longer blog next week when I can dedicate some more time to it.
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