Trainee Visit

One of my favorite things during training was visiting a current volunteer so I was more than willing to host a trainee from the new group and I'm so glad that I did. I wasn't sure what to really plan for, just thought my visitor would enjoy a taste of village life, so I didn't change my weekend routine much. I met my house guest Friday night in town and right away we realized why we were matched together. Besides KC being the sweetest lady, she was able to explain my stomach issues a little more. (By the way, my stomach lining is no longer peeling, but healing. Woot woot!) We did the usual Saturday morning routine, breakfast at Snack Shack, market time, and grocery shopping. KC even bought me a new shirt. What's with these newbies buying me gifts? First my penpal and then my visitor- I luck out with the matching. Once we made it to Santa Teresa we went to the school for a GLOW meeting. The girls group is just starting and we wanted to hear from those who had gone to camp and plan our first service project, a village trash clean-up in honor of Earth Day. After the meeting we had a late lunch and much needed hammock time, which we were sure to fit in our busy schedule whenever we could. We then went to visit Paulina, taking some thread so she could show us how to make kuxtals. What a neat process. I even got to help! One thing I love about Paulina, she always knows when I want to try- plus she's a good teacher. So yes, I'm making my very own shoulder bag, it's a small one, but maybe next time, there will definitely be a next time, I'll attempt a larger one. After our craft lesson we borrowed a bike and took a ride to kawaiy ha' (horse's drink) I love how different water spots have different names. This one is a nice fresh spring bathing hole I had yet to use and it couldn't have been more perfect after a long, hot day. When we made it back home, the Mas family invited us in for tasty chicken caldo with corn tortillas even though neither of us were very hungry. I'm finding it too hot to eat, the other day it was 6pm and still 90 degrees in my house, luckily there was a nice breeze.
On Sunday I told KC of our church options and she was excited to go to mass even though it was in Ke'kchi. On our way back from church we stopped at the community center to check out the village chairman and council nominations. I'm so happy we went inside to experience the once every three years event. I was surprised to see one man decline running for chairman and the multiple men refusing to be on the village council. After Luisa's younger brother declined a nomination I caught his eye and he almost made a nomination of his own... Miss Amy for village council... hahaha. After the floor was closed, only a chairman election was needed. Since we couldn't vote we went back to my house and KC made delicious potato salad. I never really thought to make potato salad at home, because there's no refrigerator, but I need to remember leftovers are easy to get rid of. The officer that watching the election stopped by to visit and I was glad to have food to offer, not only potato salad but kalalu with eggs, another favorite and tortillas, both corn and wheat flour. Wheat flour tortillas are a treat for me and I guess they taste like adding ground green banana to the corn masa before making tortillas. Interesting. Having someone, "just stop by," reminded me how much I love Belize. The officer was from Punta Gorda and knew the volunteers in town, but even if we wouldn't have had mutual friends the visit still would have been nice. We had more hammock time then went to bake cinnamon rolls with Sarah, which turned out beautifully. Again, it was so hot I was sweating twice as much as Sarah just standing there holding the piece of plastic as she was kneading away. I love my Sunday afternoons with Sarah and that I was able to share the experience with a next Peace Corps. I didn't plan much for the visit, just wanted her to see the joys of typical village life, and believe it was a success. Honestly, we didn't do as much as I would have liked, there were other people I wished she had time to meet, but you can only do so much in a day and a half. Having KC was such an encouragement to me. She kept voicing how great I have it here, which I can't disagree with, and how great of a job I'm doing, which is always nice to hear. This makes me even more excited for my next visitors! Loves and Hugs!

Easter Holiday

Even though Easter came and went without JELLO eggs, I'd have to say I enjoyed it quite a bit... a mean, a lot! I started my break on Thursday, March 25th with a trip to Belmopan to meet the new trainees. I missed the early bus, unable to make it to the airport, so instead I finished my bi-annual report and saw them at dinner but really didn't meet them until later that night. Honestly, I was super happy just to see current volunteers I hadn't seen in awhile (ahem.. Kevina). It was so fun to meet my pen pal, Jenna and she made me feel super special bringing me a gift, wrapped and all! I now have sparkly pens, new hairties, (I'm not sure why this is something I had forgotten to pack or how the three I did bring lasted so long) and two beautiful pairs of earrings. The pink ones perfectly matching my Ke'kechi dress. Thanks again, Jenna!
I made it back to PG Friday night, ready to be home on Saturday, but instead decided to spend Palm Sunday in Poite. Since neither Grace nor I had clean clothes and were feeling ambitious, we decided to get off the bus at my house, grab my dresses, leave bags we didn't need, and try our luck a next vehicle would be heading that way. I'm pretty sure I had a few concerned villagers worrying about two crazy white girls thinking they could walk the however many miles to the only village down that road. I have yet to figure out how far it really is, I think Mr. Chub said 13.5 miles... but we did end up walking the whole way for a total of four hours. Although it would have been nice to have caught a ride I'm glad we walked just to say we did and I would even do it again, or course trying to cut back the time it takes. The highlights of the visit included fresh chips with salsa and swimming in the beautiful river, there was a little water fall and everything. All the kids were adorable and it was nice to meet some of the people in Poite especially since I see them on the bus. Some already knew my name so I was glad to learn theirs. yeah, even when Grace and I first reached Poite while walking through the village some called out, "Miss Lilly," which is understandable, they would most likely think a white girl walking through their village was their own PCV, but a few girls greeted me with, "Hello, Miss Amy!" How neat!
As much as I enjoyed my walk to Poite, I was happy for a bus ride back to Santa Teresa early Monday morning. I had two days at home to prepare for my visitors coming to see the Deer Dance. Cali, Grace, and Megan all came to Santa Teresa for the cultural even and were stuck until Saturday morning because the buses didn't run on Good Friday. Belizeans are quite superstitious about Good Friday, some of them refuse to do anything that day, even bathe afraid they would turn into a mermaid. They believe you must by extra careful during Easter time as that is when many accidents happen. Not too long ago a young girl chopped her finger while cutting open a coconut with a machete. (I have yet to find out if she actually cut the whole thing off or only made a large gash, the story changes each time I ask and she keeps it wrapped up.) This was blamed on it being close to Easter. Anyways, back to the girls' visit. We came in on Wednesday, rested a little, then went to play games with Paulina's family. We had so much fun! I had wanted us all to bake there, but had trouble arranging the chicken situation so we just went back to my house to make kalalu with eggs and flour tortillas for dinner. While preparing meals during their stay I was reminded how different it was cooking for more than one person. I also have to say my guests were the best! They helped out so much cooking meals, washing dishes, cleaning up to leave, they even helped with making popcorn for the school's fundraising during the dance. And about the dance, we watched practice for a bit Wednesday night and made our way to the church a few times during the next couple days. The costumes were beautiful, but I'm still not exactly sure why they do the dance. The most common answer was simply to teach the younger men the culture, but I want to say there was more meaning. There were men dressed as dear, night walkers (monkeys), tigers (jaguars), and Spanish men, plus there was one old man, an old woman, and a dog and the dance seemed to tell a story. I want to say they'll do it a couple more rounds, so maybe I'll hear more later. I was surprised that they danced all day and quit before dark. I was so used to them practicing all night long. We stayed pretty busy in the evenings though. Thursday night the Max boys came to find us. Mariano (he's nine) wanted his new friends to come over for dinner so he killed his chicken. Maybe I'm over thinking the gesture, but to me that's incredibly sweet. Chickens are usually saved for special occasions, like birthdays, but to him, having those three girls come back over was reason enough. Then we were asked to eat with the Mas family on Friday night. I was surprised by Mr. Mas's dinner invitation and Hillaria was so cute reminding us of our meal at the "Mas residence." I'm trying to think what else was important about having friends visit Santa Teresa except how everyone was super kind and wanted to meet them. They also loved to see us in cultural wear and I think my new favorite outfit is the po'ot uuq (blouse and skirt). While wearing it a lady from my village took off the beaded necklace she was wearing to give to me since I didn't have one of my own and needed one to make me a true Ke'kchi. How incredibly sweet!
Alright, I've already written a lot and haven't even mentioned our trip to Sarteneja and lovely stop in Orange Walk Town on the way back. Sarteneja is beautiful! I can't believe Manissa lives so close to the water in basically a touristy spot. She's doing good work there, helping a tourist agency, hoping for an animal clinic, and just finished her World Map Project. My favorite part was wading in the water then kayaking for the first time in the sea, soaking up the Caribbean sun... glorious. I can still easily close my eyes and take myself back there. I randomly met a guy from Denver who had grown up in Hastings. What a small world! I probably could have stayed longer, but we decided to spend a day in Orange Walk Town with a next volunteer. My time in OWT would best be described as relaxing which was much needed. We were given a nice tour on Monday although everything was closed as it was still holiday. I was glad we stayed until noon the next day to experience the delicious bakery and fabulous thrift stores. I had a wonderful break that's for sure, and just wanted to share it with you all. Sadly, my camera decided to quit working- luckily this was after Picture Day at the school and I traveled with friends. Feel free to check out their pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/cali.zimmerman/SantaTheresa# Loves and Hugs!

Falling into place.

"Have you heard the latest?" This was my morning greeting from Mr. Chub while on my way to wash at the creek. He then went on to tell me he was informed by his brother that a tourist group would be bringing two computers along with a printer and a generator later in the day!! My response, things just keep getting better! This was just after a group donated enough practice jerseys and competition uniforms for our girls and boys football teams. A man from that group has also recently emailed me asking about a light construction project and I have high hopes dreaming of a playground or even fixing up the old library, making it a computer room. Also, if you take note of the comment on a previous blog, Bernard will be bringing some school supplies for us, too. Yippee!! I can't help but think I'm just in the right place at the right time. I feel I haven't brought much to Santa Teresa, but I'm sure enjoying being part of the excitement when things come along. What's next? Loves and Hugs!

I could never be Maya.

As far as integration goes, I've been doing my best but I've known for quite some time now that I could never be Maya. One of the first times I realized this was while washing clothes in the creek. I don't mind scrubbing my wardrobe bent over a rock, actually find it quite enjoyable. The problem lies in only being able to do my own. No way could I wash for an entire family, not to mention Luisa still washes my sheets. So I can wash for myself just fine, or so I thought until given a lesson by a six year old. "Miss Amy, your socks are dirtied again." She grabbed them out of my bucket and placed them back on my rock. I scrubbed them a little longer placing them, okay, I admit, I even tried hiding them knowing they weren't as white as they should be. My critic was right on top of it though. "Miss Amy, your socks are dirtied again." I explained to her maybe I didn't know how to wash socks... obviously. She then cleaned my socks white white and must have worried about me not being able to wash my person because she asked who would wash my hair and after I shampooed it once myself she had me sit down so she could do a better job. The soaping didn't stop there and I have to say this was the first time I've been given a bath since, well, you'd have to ask my mom when she thought I was able to do it on my own, I guess I'm still not. But now I"m getting off topic because having someone shampoo my hair is definitely something I could get used to. I felt so refreshed plus my companion spoke to me as if I understood Ke'kchi and that would help with the next reason full integration will never take place.
You want me to make what sound? The glottal stop is where? Ever since training I've struggled with pronounciation. The throaty j's and silent b's give me trouble and after several times trying to say "jun" correctly I realized this will never happen. I'm also convinced I'll never have the extra layer of tough skin that allows for walking barefoot and grabbing hot panhandles. My attention span isn't as long either since I'm unable to stay awake until midnight for church service, mostly singing and clapping, then wake up to do it again the next morning for another six hours. I can't hear the bus until it's coming up the hill let alone distinguish one from another and if the corn mill is running there's no hope for me. I feel like if I would try searching the bush for edible plants I would end up poisoning myself and anyone unlucky enough to have dined with me. Maya women also have the ability to make a meal out of nothing it seems and they can knead like mad. I'm at it for what seems like forever only to find out the dough is still just as hard. I can't figure out how to wash my hands while holding the bowl that's pouring the water and I don't know what to do with chicken feet. I just realized how negative this post may seem, but it's all good; I'm having fun trying. Maybe in time some of these things will come along. I mean I was told by a woman in my village, "you can do what we do," after helping prepare a meal to feel most of the village. And being told you're a hardworker by a Mayan woman is quite the compliment, but all the time in the world could make me able to breast feed a toddler while standing on a moving bus, and keep in mind how bumpy those rides can be.