Wednesday, June 22, 2011
¡Estoy aquí!
I can´t believe it´s only Wednesday - I feel like I´ve been here forever. I have to be honest, the first couple of days were pretty tough. Saturday night I stayed in a hotel by myself (my school is closed on Saturdays) and I was petrified to go anywhere, considering my sense of direction is close to nonexistant. To make matters worse, when I went to leave Sunday morning to meet my host family, I found that I was locked inside the hotel. I don´t know where the owner was but I had to wait an hour for them to come back. However, that was the last of the mishaps (so far), and everyday I feel more and more at home. I am living with a host family and I love them so much! I am living with a host mom, grandma and two little sisters who are about 6 and 12. They are so sweet and made me feel like a part of their family after 10 minutes. One thing I´ve loved about Guatemala is that everything is so cheap compared to the states. To buy a cellphone with minutes was equivalent to $15 (100 quetzales) and my daily bus to work is 2 Q each way, which is about $0.50 in total. Despite the laid-back attitude of Guatemala, I have a fairly hectic routine. It consists of walking to El Calvario, where my bus is at 7:45am, from which I take the ¨chicken bus¨ (an old, dilapidated school bus that´s painted and decorated) to work, taking it back to town around 1pm for lunch a mi casa before I head to class at 2pm. The classes are 4 or 5 hours long so I get home just in time for dinner, and then I relax with my host family or do my homework, go to bed and repeat. It´s pretty exhausting but it hasn´t been that bad this week because there is not much to do at work. My job is in the Children´s Health Program, but the local schools are on vacation this week so there are no children for us to teach. Today, we took a machette to the overgrown weeds and grass on the side of the building (photos to come) and I made an advertising poster for the clinic. I´m excited for next week when I get to go into the schools and teach. Although I have a busy schedule, I am definitely making time for travel. On Sunday I am going to hike a dormant volcano about an hour outside of Xela with a friend from work, and there are a million other organized trips that the schools plan for students that I want to take advantage of. The only things I´m having trouble adjusting to are the food and no hot showers (they´re luke warm at best). The food is a lot of refried beans, plantains and tamalitas (a kind of dense bread made of corn) and some processed meat. I like that the food is for the most part local and fresh, but I just need to get used to the new tastes. Guatemala is an interesting juxstaposition of awe-inspiring landscape and poverty-stricken neighborhoods. Both are beautiful in their own way, and I am eager to explore what the natural environment and the local community have to offer. ¡Hasta luego!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Almost there!
I just got home from an amazing and exhausting week at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee. It was so much fun, but left me only 2 1/2 days to do last minute arrands, see my family and friends, and of course, pack! Thankfully, my excitement is starting to win the battle against my nerves and anxiety. Here's hoping it will last and I can fully enjoy these last few days at home.
I recently had the scary thought that I will be working and interacting with individuals that lived through the genocide and war that I have been reading about for the past couple of weeks. In school and in personal research I have learned and advocated for victims of countless genocides and other human rights injustices. However, this is the first time that I will be able to speak to the people and experience the physical space in which these atrocities took place. That, to me, is both frightening and exhilarating. The ability to have a direct hand in healing the wounds of human rights abuses is at the root of my desires as an activist and a development major (at Clark they call it the International Development & Social Change major) and I hope that I will be able to fully appreciate this opportunity. I also hope that I will be tolerant and open to different perspective and ideas of development than those that have been taught to me or that I have formulated on my own.
On an entirely different and lighter note, I am so so so excited for good Guatemalan coffee! I am bringing my host family some Vermont maple syrup - I hope they like it and don't just think its weird!
More to come once I land
P.S. Here is a preview of a documentary that addresses the recovery experience of those affected by the genocide in Guatemala, which I found very informative and moving (Thanks Morgan!) http://vimeo.com/16498850.
I recently had the scary thought that I will be working and interacting with individuals that lived through the genocide and war that I have been reading about for the past couple of weeks. In school and in personal research I have learned and advocated for victims of countless genocides and other human rights injustices. However, this is the first time that I will be able to speak to the people and experience the physical space in which these atrocities took place. That, to me, is both frightening and exhilarating. The ability to have a direct hand in healing the wounds of human rights abuses is at the root of my desires as an activist and a development major (at Clark they call it the International Development & Social Change major) and I hope that I will be able to fully appreciate this opportunity. I also hope that I will be tolerant and open to different perspective and ideas of development than those that have been taught to me or that I have formulated on my own.
On an entirely different and lighter note, I am so so so excited for good Guatemalan coffee! I am bringing my host family some Vermont maple syrup - I hope they like it and don't just think its weird!
More to come once I land
P.S. Here is a preview of a documentary that addresses the recovery experience of those affected by the genocide in Guatemala, which I found very informative and moving (Thanks Morgan!) http://vimeo.com/16498850.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Why I am going to Guatemala . . .
Hola!
I am still two weeks away from going to Guatemala, but I would like to explain more on why I am going. Firstly, I would not have this opportunity were it not for Shelly Tenenbaum, and her introducing me to the Holocaust & Genocide Studies Summer Internship Stipend. With this stipend, I am able to cover my expenses, such as air fare, home stay and Spanish school, and without which I would not be going on this adventure*. The stipend is intended to compensate students for unpaid internships (mine is technically a volunteer position) in a non-profit that works on genocide prevention and/or awareness. Primeros Pasos, the clinic I will be working at, addresses the detrimental effects of the genocidal Civil War of Guatemala on the Mayan population. It does this by providing the indigenous Mayan people with affordable health care, medical access and health education programs. My dad sent me a great NY Times Op-Ed about the Civil War that was just published today: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/opinion/04schlesinger.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
This article, in my opinion, does a great job summarizing the US involvement in the genocide that occurred during the Civil War.
*Fun Fact - the other two students to receive the summer stipend are two of my best friends and roommates at Clark, which is amazing and kinda a crazy coincidence!
Countdown - 12 Days!!
I am still two weeks away from going to Guatemala, but I would like to explain more on why I am going. Firstly, I would not have this opportunity were it not for Shelly Tenenbaum, and her introducing me to the Holocaust & Genocide Studies Summer Internship Stipend. With this stipend, I am able to cover my expenses, such as air fare, home stay and Spanish school, and without which I would not be going on this adventure*. The stipend is intended to compensate students for unpaid internships (mine is technically a volunteer position) in a non-profit that works on genocide prevention and/or awareness. Primeros Pasos, the clinic I will be working at, addresses the detrimental effects of the genocidal Civil War of Guatemala on the Mayan population. It does this by providing the indigenous Mayan people with affordable health care, medical access and health education programs. My dad sent me a great NY Times Op-Ed about the Civil War that was just published today: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/opinion/04schlesinger.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
This article, in my opinion, does a great job summarizing the US involvement in the genocide that occurred during the Civil War.
*Fun Fact - the other two students to receive the summer stipend are two of my best friends and roommates at Clark, which is amazing and kinda a crazy coincidence!
Countdown - 12 Days!!
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