A Humbling Experience

Just as I was starting to think I was getting to know the Guatemalan culture, I got the opportunity to see some of what I do not know. A few days ago my roommates invited me to a special service in a church in a small village 15 minutes up the highway. I didn’t know what it was all about, but sure! Why not? So the 3 of us dressed up in traditional Guatemalan clothes. I borrowed Julie’s and she had to teach me how to put on the skirt. We pile into the car with Ingrid’s family this Monday night. On the way, Ingrid’s dad asked if I know any songs. In Spanish? Ya, I know some. So he had me sing one for them. Random, I thought. He asked me to sing another one, but by this time the windows were fogging up because I was blushing from embarrassment, and I couldn’t think of another song. We park the car, but there are no other vehicles. I have no idea where we’re going, but we walk up this dark path to a house beside the Nazarene church. Julie mentions to me that here people don’t greet with a kiss on the cheek like in Tactic, it’s just a pat on the arm. We are greeted at the entrance by who I assumed to be the pastor, and we pass through the “kitchen” into the back room. There are 30 of us total seated on plastic chairs or wooden benches around a dimly lit room. As the pastor starts talking, Ingrid, beside me, starts translating…from Pokumchi to Spanish. Some of the service is in Spanish, some is in Pokumchi. So I have to listen really carefully to know when to listen to the pastor, and when to listen to Ingrid whispering. The pastor prays. Then Ingrid is handed a Spanish hymnal and leads the group in a song. By the fourth verse I can sing along as I peer over her shoulder. Then Julie and I are introduced. We’re obviously new and very white, even in the dark lighting. Suddenly Ingrid is whispering to me that it is my turn to sing a song. Seriously?! Right now? Any song? Do I stand up? Yes right now, and sing the one you sang in the car, and yes you should stand up. Suddenly I’m thankful for the dim lighting, and for experience I have singing in front of people, and for her dad having me sing one in the car. As I begin, people slowly start to join in. Phew! They know the song. Maybe it’s not one they sing often, but at least I’m not doing a solo. Usually the chorus is repeated, but I sit down anyway. The service continues, we read some verses and I’m glad I brought my English/Spanish Bible. We turn and kneel on the floor to pray. One young man accepted the Lord and prayed with the pastor in front of all of us. By the end Ingrid is tired of translating. I don’t blame her, but I am thankful she did. It turns out this was a special service for the leaders of this church as they begin the new year. After the service, chairs are moved aside and a table is brought in. We eat a meal together, the kind I have eaten many times already since being here: deep fried chicken, rice, tortillas, and hot chocolate with cinnamon. No questions asked, I eat everything on my plate. I listen politely to what Spanish I can pick out among the Pokumchi. As we get up to leave, I am overcome by a deep feeling of humility. Here I am, a wealthy Canadian, having learned Spanish, in their country to teach my language, and I am the one who knows nothing of their language, their customs, their culture. Some of the Bible verses they read and discussed were about clearing your house of everything abominable, and not seeking riches because of the pride and corruption that comes with. Here I am, used to reading these verses from the point of view that God has blessed me and I am quite rich, and so often we pity poor people. Here these people are pitying the rich. What a humbling experience.  

Me wearing traditional Guatemalan clothes: güipil and corte

The woman who cooked us dinner, making tortillas in her kitchen

Eating dinner next to Ingrid's mom

Dinner around the table after the service

Getting Used to Things

Here are 10 things I'm getting used to here in Guatemala.

1) Corn tortillas at every meal

2) Children petting my arms (apparently they’re curious about my arm hairs)

3) Rain, puddles, and clouds hovering over the green mountains

4) Animals (children feeding their recess snack to a donkey through the fence, stray dogs in devotions, and the bus stopping so the chickens can finishing crossing the road)

5) Watching the sunrise from the bus just after 6:30

6) Guatemalan driving and pot holes

7) Going to the market almost daily (people don’t buy in bulk)

8) Students laughing at my Spanish pronunciation (especially of their names)

9) Interpreting people trying their English out on me (students, teachers, and random strangers)

10) People calling out Seño! (teacher) as I walk through town (students, teachers, and random strangers)

Special breakfast with the teachers: fried eggs with salsa, plantains, chorizo, refried beans, cream, cheese, tortillas, tea with cinnamon

Walking from Chicoy to Mocohan

Rainy weather at Chicoy

Taking the bus from Purulha

Tactic, on the way to Chijacorral

First Week of Classes

Well, I've finished my first week of teaching. Here is my schedule:
Monday: Mocohan School Grade 4-6 (morning)
Tuesday: Purulha School Grade 4-7 (morning)
Wednesday: Chicoy School Grade 4-7 (morning)
Thursday: Chijacorral School Grade 4-7 (morning)
                Chijacorral Jr. High Grade 9 (afternoon)
Friday: Chamche School Grade 4-7 (morning)
           Chijacorral Jr. High Grade 8 (afternoon)
Plus: devotions before school every morning, church Sunday afternoon, and prayer night on Thursdays. If it weren't for these, I wouldn't make it through the week. I need that time to focus on God and be refreshed each day.
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays I take the bus with the rest of the teachers to the outlying schools at 6:20am, and return at either 1 or 4pm. Thursdays and Fridays I can walk 10 or 15 min to either school for 7:30am and go home for lunch. My Jr. High classes are 3:30-5:50pm. In elementary school my classes are 45 minutes, and in Jr. High I teach double blocks, for a total o f 70 minutes for each of the 4 classes.
In total, I teach in 6 schools, 6 grades, 23 classes, 19 hours, and over 500 students per week.
After the first week I can say I'm tired but happy. What I have planned and envisioned seems to be appropriate for all my classes so far, even though each class is a little bit different. It feels good to have finished university and be doing what I've wanted to do since Grade 12. It feels good to have my own classes (as opposed to being on call or doing practicum) and be teaching my own lessons from my own curriculum. Already I'm learning a lot about lesson planning, classroom management, and Spanish. I'm excited for what this year will bring and everything I will learn. And right now, I'm hoping for a restful weekend so I'm ready to go for round two.

First Day of School: Morning devotion at Purulha

Me with children at Chicoy

How to Make Peanut Butter (a first attempt)

Peanut butter is one of my favourite foods. I eat it on toast, pancakes, and s'mores. It is a common North American food. It is a rare commodity in the rest of the world. Here in Guatemala, it is pricey and hard to find. So, I decided to try and make it myself. 

Step 1: Find "How to" websites.  
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Peanut-Butter

http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-make-peanut-butter

Step 2: Buy peanuts.

How much to buy? Your guess is as good as mine. 2 lbs peanuts in shells cost $2 in the market.

Step 3: Shell the peanuts.

1 lb of peanuts + 2 hours in the sun = lots of time to think and pray. A relaxing way to spend a Sunday.

Step 4: Roast the peanuts.
Well, before I could roast them I had to light the oven. It only took 3 matches. Then the peanuts closest to the flame roasted faster. All in all it took about 6-8 min for 2 cups of peanuts, just like one recipe said.

Before roasting

Oven is lit and ready to use.

After roasting. That's not burnt right?

Step 5: Blend.

Add some sugar, salt, and oil. Not olive oil. When the blender makes noise but you no longer hear peanuts spinning around, that does not mean it's mixing the peanut butter. Automatic reaction should be to stop the blender. If you do not have a strong food processor, do not put all the peanuts in at once. Maybe 1/4 c at a time.

Oops! Good thing the blender came with a spare.

Step 6: Finish. Since I left it flaky and crumbly, not as a paste, it needed to be finished (6 days later). Add more oil and sugar. One recipe says 1 1/2 tsp and 1 1/2 Tbsp. Which is right? The double recipe calls for 3 tsp, so I went the safe route and added 1 1/2 tsp. It needed more.

Step 7: Eat. Mmmmm. So far it goes well with bananas in a wrap. I expect it will go well with chocolate fudge on ice cream. It doesn't spread so well on toast, but that isn't going to stop me. After all, I have 2 cups of peanut butter to eat in the next week or 2 before it goes bad without preservatives.

Step 8: Repeat. I still have 1 lb of peanuts left. Maybe next time it will turn out even better. By the time I come home, I might be an expert. (Key word = might).

I hope this was informative and interesting. If you try your hand at making peanut butter, please let me know how it goes.  



Library Update 1

Plans for the library are starting out slowly, but I wanted to update you on where things are at so far.
1) Illiteracy in Guatemala is worse than the statistics allude to. Apparently one department (province) recently declared themselves 100% literate. BUT, I also found out this only means that they can sign their name! When the stats say 27% of the adult population is illiterate, please define literacy.
2) Because of the corruption in the country, it is easier and cheaper to get a photocopy of a book than get a real book. For example, a university professor might show his class the assigned book to read for that class, and then tell them to take it and photocopy it. Therefore, books are extremely hard to find in this country.
3) The word for Bookstore in Spanish is Libreria. I'm finding out that Libreria really means stationery store. They might sell blank noteboks, but no books to read.
4) Because literacy is low and books are few, people do not value reading. For example, in a class of teachers, not a single one raised their hand saying they like reading. If they don't, will their students? This class was told to read a novel. As soon as they were allowed, they all ran to the front...to grab the thinnest book.
5) The postal system is corrupt; therefore, we do not trust any packages to arrive that are of any value. If a package looks interesting, the postal workers will open it and keep it for themselves. We are also still working on an address where something could be sent to here. Most Guatemalans have no need for the postal service, and so have no need for a mailing address.
6) The start of school is always a busy time, therefore less time has gone into this than I had hoped. There are also things to work out with me getting settled into living here.
For these reasons, not much has been done yet for the library. But know that we are thinking about things and trying to sort out the best way to work this.
Now, I want to warn you of stereotyping all Guatemalans as corrupt. They are not all this way. I also want to remind you that we, as North Americans, have our own ways of cheating the system, and we need to be careful not to think of ourselves as better than they are. Compare photocopying a book to pirating a CD or DVD. Please be careful before judging the Guatemalans too harshly for their actions. In a society where children starve and people die for lack of simple medicine, who can blame the postal workers for taking what they can get? All this to say, we are figuring out how to best work with the system that there is. And I will let you know when things progress further. If you have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

One Week

Well, I have been here for a week. It feels like a month. On Wednesday the teachers started meeting every morning for the week and a half before the students come. The first day of classes is Jan. 18. As it turns out, I will be the only English teacher for the 5 elementary schools. There is one person doing junior high, and one doing high school. So the way we have it worked out is I go to one school a day, and teach grade 4-7, 45 minute classes each. I'm excited to finally have a set schedule and get into a routine. To give you a sense of what life is like here, I will describe a day for you from this week.

The roosters are heard around 4:00 in the morning and are in full swing by 5:30. The church bells ring at 6. My alarm goes off at 6:15 but I am fully awake by then. Dogs, car alarms, the guard on the roof, and advertisements via megaphones on vehicles driving by all sound like they are right inside the house since the walls have no insulation and the windows are glass slats that dont seal. All of this is normal life here. Then, I stand under the trickle of hot water. The deal with the shower is that there is an electric current that heats the water. The more water there is, the less heat for the amount of water. So I could have a cold shower with lots of water (gravity fed, so still no water pressure), or a little bit of water that is actually warm. I won't complain about the hot water, though I might complain about my cold hands after washing the dishes in cold water. For breakfast, if there is no food in the house, one of us might run to the bakery and pick up some sweet bread. I'm realizing that people don't shop for more than one or 2 days at a time. I've gone to the market or a store at least 10 times in the 7 days I've been here. Opening the double-locked door and gate to leave, the fog is rising from the mountains. They say if it is foggy in the morning, it will be a sunny day. As I pass people on the way to the school, we say Buenas, Buenos Dias, or Adios. The sidewalks are cracked at best. Many sections are uneven, are crumbled, or just end, so I really have to watch where I'm walking. It is easier to walk on the road, but there is rarely enough room for 2 vehicles and someone walking. If it is a big vehicle coming, they will often honk to let you know to move out of the way, although the old diesel trucks are usually loud enough themselves. Pedestrians have no right of way. Vehicles will also honk if they pull out to pass, if they slow down for a speed bump, or if they see someone they know. This is a little annoying since there is a speed bump outside our house! It's as if cars have signal and break lights, but no one trusts them, and they have different meanings. For example, hazard ligths might mean that the vehicle is really slow, or it might mean they are going to turn soon. Maybe they aren't sure which direction to turn?

At the school, the teachers have a time of devotions, which includes singing songs of praise to God, reading verses from the Bible, and having a discussion about what the verses mean for them, personally. This week, devotions are followed by reading through the teacher's handbook aloud, which is good practice for everyone, and increases my understanding simply by hearing it rather than just reading it. This is followed by "cafe", which means any hot beverage and a snack. For example, tea, coffee, or hot chocolate with cinnamon, with packaged crackers or sweet bread. After this the teachers go to their separate classrooms to plan, prep, and decorate their rooms. Not having a room of my own, I head on home to work. Now that the fog has cleared, I can see the vultures circling in the distance. I can feel the heat of the sun on my head and I wonder why no one wears sunglasses in this town. By now market day is in full swing, the big market days being Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. After dropping off my things at home, I walk the 2 blocks to the market in search of strawberries. After passing a table covered in unfolded clothes, a table of bras, a blanket on the ground covered in DVDs of movies obviously illegally copied, and a booth of dollar store items, I finally get to the produce. I squeeze between people selling banana leaves, peanuts, and vegetables I have never seen before. Some adults call out what they are selling. People watch me as a I walk through, ducking under the tarps that keep out both the sun and the rain. When I smile at children watching me, many of them smile in return. I try not to look too interested in items unless I am pretty sure I am going to buy them. I leave without strawberries, but with a pound of potatoes, a pound of tomatoes, and 2 humungous carrots, all for $1. I know I probably got ripped off, as a canchi, which is what they call blonde/brunnette/pale people here. Guatemalans would have gotten the same produce for less. I don't even know that what they gave me was actually a pound. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure it wasn't. But is my purpose to get the best deal? In the past I've viewed bartering as a challenge or a game. But I came to bless these people. My main purpose may be to teach English, but there is a lot more to life than that. My view of being frugal, generous, and wise in regards to finances has been changing. For people who live on $2.50 a day or less, $1 goes a long ways for a large family. So as I learn to let go of my tight grip on my money, I challenge you to seek out little opportunities to give of yourself in a way that will bless someone else. Something small can go a long ways.

 

I will likely talk more about the market at a later date, along with pictures of the market. For now I have attached some photos of my house, and the view from it. Oh, and did I mention the circus down the street a couple lots from my house?

The Yellow House - La Casa Amarilla

The view up the street in the direction of the market and the high school.

The view down the street in the direction of the highway, church, and the other 4 schools.

 

The circus - El circo

Are we there yet???? YES I AM!!!!

Well, I finally made it Guatemala after 19 days, 7 flights, and about 45 hours in the air. Phew! Thank you for all those of you who were praying for me. I had no problems with flights, connections, getting sick, overweight luggage, or lost luggage :)
- The weather is currently drizzling and about 18C and 88% humidity (which is cool with no insulation or heating in my house).
- The language is currently Spanish (I am surprised at how much I can understand when listening, but how hard it is to find the words to respond with).
- The time is currently 8:00pm (2 hours ahead of BC, 18 hours behind Perth).
- The food is currently Gringos (a cross between Burritos and Quesadillas).

Three facts about me that are completely true in Guatemala but only somewhat true in Canada.
1) I am tall
2) I am a clumsy speaker
3) I am blonde

Here's how things are shaping up: Tomorrow and Tuesday I'll get settled in, unpack, go grocery shopping, and buy a cell phone. Wednesday all the teachers meet (and get to know the new ones) and start work. The first week and a half are reserved for prep time for teachers. Students don't come until the 3rd week in January. Here kids only go to school for half days every day, so they can work at home the other half. Elementary school is in the mornings, high school in the afternoons, so I will be teaching 8:30-12:30, and devotions are 7:30-8:30 every morning. In the afternoons I am available to help students, and will be planning, marking, preping etc.

I have been warmly welcomed and it is finally starting to sink in that I'm really here again (the 4 hours drive through the mountains and the 2 1/2 hr church service in spanish helped with that). Please keep in touch. Email me, let me know what you're all up to, ask me questions, and I'll try to keep you all updated with things here.

Dios les bendiga (God bless)

Bringing in the New Year Right!

What better way to start off the first day of the new year than by praying on a mountain top with over 80 people at sunrise! Yes I got up at 5:00am (after enjoying fun and food with friends and going to bed at 1am). Yes it was cold, going from Australia with 40C weather to San Deigo with 8C weather (at that time of day), and standing outside for over 3 hours. But it was totally worth it. I felt refreshed, rejuvinated, and empowered to walk with God even closer this new year. I hope 2011 brings exciting, challenging, and rewarding things for you all. Happy New Year!
Here are a couple pictures from this morning on Mt Soledad. 

PS. It was such a clear morning that on our way back to the car, I was able to stand in 1 spot and see snow capped mountains, the ocean, and Mexico.