Guatemala

So I've decided it would be good to try writing a little summary and sharing some pictures of each country on this Central America tour. I've already realized two months is not enough time for the travels, but we'll do all we can. First of all, so you know who I'm referring to when I say we- I'm travelling with my friend Cali, a fellow volunteer and Lauren, who came to visit me in Belize and now is traveling the rest of Central America with me. Woot woot! Our first stop was Livingston, Guatemala, a quick boat ride from Punta Gorda where Cali and I both agreed felt much like Belize, especially when we met a lady who knew people I knew. We only stayed one night, getting a last Garifuna dish and booking our Rio Dulce trip for the next day. All I wanted was to hear some drumming so luckily while eating a few young boys came in to practice, sadly it was only a for a couple minutes... they were that good.

The ride up the river was so beautiful and as soon as we made it to the town we found a bus to take us to Finca de Paraiso, a hot waterfall, and what a treat it was. Not only the waterfall, but the company. I thought Rio Dulce was a Q'eqchi area, and was happy to find out it in fact was. While walking to the waterfall, Cali asked the young boys following us, "Como estas?" I followed with, "Ma sa aachol?" They were so excited to hear us speaking Q'eqchi and told every local we met on the way. You can see from my only picture of the falls that these boys made my day. The only thing
After Rio Dulce we spent a couple nights in Antigua, meeting up again with the ladies we had met during Easter. Since it was around All Saint's Day we were able to see yet another procession, although I did tell Cali it was for her, and how she'll have more for Christmas. We also went to a Halloween party, finding costumes from the ladies, that was hosted by Guatemala Peace Corps volunteers. It was nice to see Antigua again without the crazy amounts of people.
Next up, San Pedro la Laguna. I was ready to have a week in one place after sleeping in a different bed each night for the past few. We made our way to the Coopertiva school we would be taking classes at to find out where we would be staying. Cali and I took advantage of the opportunity to stay with local families. I knew right away my host mommy was a sweetheart when she came to pick me up from the school.
She only spoke Spanish, which was a good thing, I hoped this would help me learn even more. Our conversations were interesting, I´m sure and I realized staight away that Miss Melida was the most patient person in Guatemala. Her husband and daughter were away for the week, so I only met her and her son along with his wife who came for one meal. I was a little bit sad only staying with one person, but like to think it was nice for her that I was there and she didn´t have to be alone. I enjoyed our meals and even had the chance to cook with her a few times, wanting to learn how to flatten tortillas with my hands which is the way they do it there. She even invited me to visit with her which made me extemely happy. I do miss visiting, and this was the best because we went to see a newborn baby.

When I wasn´t in class or studying at my house I would walk the village which was quite enjoyable. My favorite part was seeing all the people resting on the side of the road with nothing better to do than watch others pass, chit-chatting with their neighbors and I could just tell, loving life. It´s a hard thing for me to explain, but at every corner I wanted to snap a picture of what was going on to capture the moment, this never did happen, but I´ll keep the memories with me in my mind and in my heart.
Even though classes kept me pretty occupied, I found time to do a few activites, one being horseback riding with another student since Cali was not going with me. I´m not really sure why I´d been wanting to ride a horse especially since my only memories of horses are not very pleasant, I guess that makes sense, I wanted to have a better memory, I want to like horses. Stephanie and I decided to take the three hour tour in the hills with our guide who ended up riding a bicycle the whole time. We were very perplexed by this, but it did bring some laughs seeing him hold on while going up the hills. Our horses were funny, too, the whole time competing to be up front, mine (Cinnamon) getting a little vicious in the end, kicking up his hind legs to lead the way. At one point we passed by a bull that was stinky and the guide talking to the owner exclaimed "chu" (few words are similar in the Mayan dialects) I then held my nose and said the same thing which made the guide tell me I understood more Tzúthil than Spanish. True, true.
Another adventure was on the weekend, a celebratory hike up Nariz Maya to see a beautiful sunrise over the lake. I had set up a guide through my Spainsh instructor, the only thing, he didn´t show up. Cali and I decided to try to make it on our own, since we already were up at 4am. We took a bus to another village and lucked out meeting an old man who was could tell us how to get there, sort of. He told us to go straight which sounded good until the path split. We then went up and towards the sun that was starting to rise, so afraid we would miss out, but no worries, the path we made ended up getting us where we needed to go and just in time.
Once we were finished in San Pedro we took a shuttle to Guatemala City to meet a friend of a friend we had never seen before so that made for an interesting pick-up. Is that Ronnie? Is that Ronnie? He ended up being such a gentleman, not only giving us a place to stay, but breakfast in the morning, a tour of Central Park, and a ride to the airport. Blessings upon blessings. Next up, Panana!

Saying Goodbye

How is it that time already? So very hard to believe I left Santa Teresa this morning. No longer will I live there, only go back for visits. A sad sad day indeed. But before I go onto my going away, first some fun last stories. Tasty pickles anyone? Awhile back one lady gave me some cucumbers because she had so many growing in her garden yet noone in her family really liked the taste of them. I was happy to receive the plateful but didn't want her to waste a good thing the next time she had some to give away but noone to give them to, like that would ever happen, but anyways, my first thought was, let's make pickles! She was up for it, willing to try, even had her own jars, having learned to can in high school. We made our pickles and she promised to wait, only thing her husband wasn't informed so he opened the jar the same day, pickles gone, me sad. Luckily another lady was just as interested in making pickles, too, always liking to try new things. We made them exactly two weeks before I left so I told her I would have a very happy last day, trying pickles together. To me, it was a success, even Lilly - my closest neighbor volunteer- got to try them. Yay for pickles! The only thing I wish, I would have started sooner to try more things and that I would have helped my grandmother more when she was always making hers. That's on the list of things to do when I'm stateside again.
World Map! I've had paint for a world map for quite some time, applying through Peace Corps who gets paint donated from a store in Belmopan. In my mind this was to be a fun project I could do along with the new volunteer replacing me. My biggest challenge was finding a projector, which I also thought the school would have by the time we painted, since a group had promised to bring one, but things fall through and this time for the best. I had asked my friend Owen if we could borrow his projector and it ended up as an invitation to come help. I always love having visitors because most of them fall in love with Santa Teresa just like I have and seeing that reminds me how much I love the village and all the people there. We had great turnout, village leaders coming to help trace the outline and now the students are in the process of painting each country.
Paulina loves to go visit her auntie in a neighboring village, partially she loves just taking me as she thinks I should have married her cousin and stayed in Belize forever. My closest proposal was being asked if I could stay forever in Mab'il Ha' then being shown the house I would have if I said yes. Crazy to think had I said the words they wanted to hear I'd be a Mayan bride and Minnonite at that. Before our last visit to Mab'il Ha' while washing at the creek Paulina and I were discussing how I needed to wear a dress. We thought maybe just maybe I could fit in her mother's one and that I did. The whole walk to her aunties house she would look at me and start laughing, this made for an enjoyable hour. I then realized that I do still love playing dress up. Once in Mab'il Ha' we made some donuts and cinnamon rolls and of course they invited us back the following week for a birthday party, sadly we were not able to go, and a good thing, they may not have let me leave.
I've been asked to stay another two years by most everyone, but Mr. Chub actually had a job for me. He wanted me to stay and help his wife run her new restaurant. I must say I highly enjoyed making the few dishes with Gloria we had time to do for example fried chicken, stuffed fry jacks, and pizza. I also like to think our few business chats will help her, like when I asked how much she would sell her bread for. She wanted to sell it for 25 cents, basically giving it away until I asked her how much it cost to make. I hope she keeps that mentality when figuring her prices. Also, I must share that when we made fried chicken I almost cried when tasting the gravy, it tasting like home. Lilly's response to this, "Nebraska would taste like chicken gravy." Mr. Chub commented while eating dinner, "I feel like I'm at Miss Marian's - a nice restaurant in Punta Gorda." I said I felt like I was at the North Loup Cafe'. I'm curious to find out how the business thrives and hope to see it booming when I go visit again.
And now onto my goodbyes. They started with a trip to Maya Mopan, my first host family. Miss Santa was surprised to see my again and almost didn't accept my gift of a tiny kuxtal coin purse I had made for her. She was happy with my language improvement and I was happy to see her wedding pictures and talk with Mark about his second year of teaching. I then went to Valley of Peace to see the Mas family. I was pleasantly surprised that Ionie likes to make silly faces. She was almost clingy which seemed weird, I'm not used to so much affection here. I think I would have a harder time with these goodbyes if I believed it was truly my last time seeing the ones I love in Belize, I can't believe that though. I've already made promises to come back in December as I'm making my way north after traveling Central America. I'll be wishing for a car though at that time so I can go see everyone. So back in Santa Teresa I did my best to visit every house to say my good-bye, only a few were left out due to mud and time and I'm trying not to feel too bad about it. Every house was hard to leave, even those I didn't visit as much my two years because not only was I saying bye, but hi as well. Other reasons it was hard include a little girl singing the whole time I was at her house, "Amy don't go... Amy stay..." and every once in awhile I was surprised by those getting teary-eyed. I've been living two years without seeing much emotion, except laughter, so I was curious how my villagers would express their goodbyes. Of course they all wanted to feed me-gained back that 5 pounds I lost when sick real quick, and I have a box full of baskets, jewelry, and woodcarvings to send home. No way will I ever forget Santa Teresa.
I tried saying all my goodbyes on the weekend so I could go to the school on my last day. I went to assembly then went class to class. One class wrote letters to be opened on Christmas, one had students come to the front and say something to me, and one sand "I love you" while giving me hugs. Couldn't have asked for a better morning. The teachers then invited me for dinner on my last night and my favorite part was the dancing that preceded and then followed our meal. I danced Cumbia with the girls then begged Petrona to dance one Marimba with me. By this time her workers were eating their caldo, so not only were they fed, but entertained. I went home but first visited my neighbors for two more last suppers. Veronica had dreamt of me, us hugging and kissing and laughing while saying goodbye, she then followed me home not ready to give me up. Paulina also came over for a last goodbye and I have to stop writing soon before I get too sad, so happy thoughts again, this morning I flattened my tortillas with Tomasa and ate my pepper, just what I wanted for my last meal. I was surprised by small children at my house to see me off. The school bus was late which made for good jokes, me not supposed to be leaving, plus I got more last goodbyes. Once the bus finally came, I got on and sat down, waved out the window while passing, leaving all my favorite people in Belize.

Updates galore

I decided to read through my blog a bit and see what all I've forgotten to tell you, it seems I have in my head I've written an update, but obviously that's not the case. Wow, so much has been happening I don't even know where to start. I guess first can be a popcorn update in the spirit of Popcorn Days. It's crazy that a year has passed since I was home last year for the celebration. It was such a whirlwind of a visit, making it still hard to believe I was actually there. You'll all be happy to know that the popcorn is growing in Santa Teresa! A couple weeks ago I was visiting one family who had planted popcorn and after holding their pet gibnut, which I later named jippajopper (a little bit making fun of my friend Grace for calling jippy jappa - a tasty plant -that) we went out to their garden to see their plants. This picture is actually a little old but I thought I'd put it up anyways. The popcorn that day was, well, I thought ready to pick and I was greedy to try popping it even though it wasn't near hard enough. Oh, well, we only tried popping one small kernel and I think it was worth it for them just to see me get so excited hearing it pop, but they all turned out to be duds. I then exclaimed it wasn't Popcorn Days yet, so by the end of August it would be ready. This of course only made the family laugh more, no wonder they like having me around.

I can't believe I haven't posted about the girl's trip to Poite. This was way back in the beginning of June! I'm quite sure I posted about the girls fundraising weekly to go on the trip and I just must say it wouldn't have happened without their hard work and the help of a few individuals - Mr. and Mrs. Teul who provided transportation, lodging, and food preparation,
Ms. Lilly for hosting my helpers Ms. Cali and Ms Manissa. We went on a Friday evening and came back early Monday morning. I'm still surprised the event took place without much hassle and no need to reschedule. At one point I made a comment while talking to the girls about strengths that I was not very organized. Manissa thought this couldn't be true me having planned the weekend, I explained later that I was resourceful, and things seem to just work out for me. The favorite activity was most likely yoga in the mornings, one of the girls still talks to me about it. They loved river time as well, which was the reason they wanted to go to San Benito Poite in the first place. All in all it was a good trip, I learned a little bit about event planning for 11-14 year olds that's for sure. We had sessions on leadership, strengths -which we used to make our own "super girls", HIV/Aids, puberty, and giving compliments/being a good friend - all topics the girls had chosen. I loved, too, that they invited the girls for Poite to join us and didn't even mind Julian taking part either, him being a boy. Another thing I'll never forget either was when it started to pour Saturday afternoon. We were going to go the ruins, but knew it would be too muddy, so what did the girls do instead? Play football in the rain. All I could do was watch them and smile, half wishing I would have went to play. Luckily I had a second chance to try when I went with the Mas family to move them to Valley of Peace. Hillaria and I played a little in the rain, and yes, it is quite fun, even falling on your behind- I don't know if she tripped me or I tripped her, all I know is we couldn't get up we were laughing so hard. But back to the trip to Poite. I feel very fortunate it happened and am proud of the girls for making it happen. Another follow up a couple weeks later, one of the girls told me they made a drop for their teacher's bucket. For the giving compliments/being a good friend
session I tried introducing the bucket theory to them. Hearing they had done this won the biggest smile award for that day.

There were a couple weddings in the village this summer. One being the preschool teacher's. I was so happy to be here for her wedding. Florentina was such a beautiful bride and I'll never forget how much her husband helped with the decorating. He was more about it than she was which surprised me. Gender roles seems to be quite rigid here, but there are always times I'm thrown for a loop. My favorite part about this wedding, besides the people getting married, was that the vows were in Q'eqchi, all the other ones have been in English. I really liked they were able to promise their lives to each other in their language.

The Max family are by far one of my favorites... what am I saying?... I have so many favorite families. I just felt very blessed to be part of such a special occasion. Mrs. Max wanted me there the whole weekend, helping prepare the food and decorate. Florentina and Juan asked if I would take pictures, then offering to pay for my services, which to me only made me feel appreciated, but of course wouldn't take their money. I can't wait to send her the prints though. That's going to be such a fun package to send to Santa Teresa. I so much enjoyed handing out pictures when I came back from my visit home last year and I have some more good ones to share this time. Funny though, what they're also wanting are pictures of Nebraska, so I'll have to take some of those, too, when I'm home.

One morning I woke up to find this chrysalis hanging in my door frame. I watched it everyday, hoping I would be around when it decided to come out. Sadly, that was not the case, but I guess the gold around the tip signified it being a Blue Morpho, one of my favorite butterflies, which takes me back to visiting the Omaha zoo last year with Mom, her loving the butterfly house, but me being used to it, seeing butterflies all the time, especially now, it's butterfly season again. Crazy, too, just this week a man came to Santa Teresa to buy a rooster and a pair of turkeys. He was talking to Alfonso, my new... host father I guess I could call him, but he's the same age, so I guess he can be my brother... or just closest neighbor, anyways this man was talking about butterfly farming and while he was talking about the chrysalis I was in my house searching for a bag he could put his birds on for the ride to town and what did I find on the bag? Another green and gold chrysalis, now talk about good timing. Alfonso has put this little guy on a string. We'll see what happens.
I had a pet for a few weeks! This cute little turtle I liked to call "Onion." He was named that simply because I like the way everyone in the village says onion. And I must say, he was the talk of the village for awhile. I wondered though how he liked living in my house and eating all the bugs, thought about finding him a friend but the next turtle I found on the road had a more beautiful shell, but scary eyes so I had to put him back. I made a water dish out of my water filter drip (resourseful, see?) and would let him outside in the evenings for some grass time. I noticed he was beat up quite a bit, a crack in his shell, plus one of his feet was without claws, but I still set him free, not being quite sure if he was happy or not. I've come to find out that turtles are so unreadable. Plus my first thought of giving it to the preschool was overruled by a second thought he might like to eat their little fingers. I'll need to find them a different pet. But what? Florentina not only managed to kill the tadpoles (which I guess can be easy) but also some winged beetle which may have been a cockroach - I thought those things never die.



With July came four new babies in the village, sorry only have pictures of three, must have forgot to save one. I had a good time walking to each house to hold them all wanting a picture when they were still very small. I actually got to see my friend Sarah's baby when she was on her way back from the hospital. It was so by chance I saw her, one of those, I'm so glad the day went as it did, had anything changed I wouldn't have held that few days old baby. She had to go up to Belmopan to have a c-section and hate to say she looked pretty rough making her way back south. She left a day or before they would have released her because she worried about paying the bill. This breaks my heart to think about still. She's doing well now and for the most part so are all the other mothers and their babies. There is one that is still very pregnant. We laugh about how big her belly is, especially because some of the other girls (I say girls because each of the mom's just having babies are under 20) you couldn't even tell. I told Estella I'd probably be the same way if I ever have my own, knowing both my mom and sister popped right out. She wants me to send a picture if that ever happens, plus we're both hoping she has her baby a little early instead of late so I'm here to see it. A fellow volunteer who's new in the country asked what I do when I go visiting. I told her lately, holding babies.

Another event I was so happy and feel a little fortunate to have been involved with was Maya Day.

A brief rundown would be a two and a half day competition, teams of ten from different villages, coming to Blue Creek to take part. Most of the events were, in my eyes, turning their everyday chores into a game. They had a water backing relay contest - carrying water from the river in buckets on their heads, firewood splitting, corn grinding/tortilla making, shucking and shelling corn, a communication drop- basically hitching from town to Blue Creek, fishing, trapping - the middle picture is of the fish trap the Santa Teresa team made, they put it in the river, the leaves blocking the fish and forcing them to go in the funnel trap, etc. A few of my favorites included dress the farmer, which was creating a list of everything a farmer would need (long shirt, pants, kuxtal, seeds, hat, planting stick, food, dog...) then having five minutes to find all you could. Another was the forest food collection which had the teams go in the bush and collect plants and fruits used for consumption and some medicinal herbs, quite educational. Last but not least was fireball. I'll have to get these pictures from Breezie. Take a second to guess what fireball is, keep in mind it's 15-20 year olds playing... wait, that doesn't matter, give them a ball of fire and let them play field hockey. Ay yi yi! At first the girls were playing in their flip flops and skirts, but after awhile got smart and borrowed some boots. Santa Teresa ended up getting third place overall. I'm undecided if they felt it worth the medal for their prize, but I've heard talk of trying again next year. They were a favored team though, those running the event commenting on their spirit and how well they worked together. I was proud of them even before the event started, putting together a last minute fundraiser of selling tamales and to make sure they had enough and because the boys didn't feel they had worked the same, they chopped my yard, which really needed it. Man, I miss Alejandro, he really did take care of me. While making the tamales I mentioned how ashamed I was walking in my yard it being so high, me thinking I'd get lost. They of course noticed it was horrible, but would never tell me to my face. Oh Belize.

There are a couple places I wanted to go before leaving, one being Monkey Falls and the other the cave.
I was surprised to hear there is a cave just outside of Santa Teresa. I've gone a few times already, always bringing a crew along. I feel I have written about this already and saved it on Cali's computer, so I'll find that to post, I'm about all blogged out.
I guess this waterfall will explain itself. Ha ha!

And to close I'll give a quick synopsis of what I've been keeping myself busy with. Of course visiting is on the top of the list. Wanting to spend time with the people I've come to love these past two years. I've been making soap galore and enjoying birthday parties, maybe a little too much.

This little boy was giving out kisses on his birthday, lucky for me. It's so much fun seeing the few 2 year olds in the village, crazy they were born when I first came. Also, the library was fully functioning this summer, about 20 people a day would come to borrow books. A group came to paint the outside of the school buildings and I loved seeing our PTA step up and help, even started painting without the group when weather kept them from showing up the first day, luckily the paint was delivered early. I've had a couple Peace Corps friends come learn to make shoulder bags from Paulina, both seeing how blessed I am to live in such a place as Santa Teresa, not even meeting half the people who have made life here so wonderful. A couple things I'm excited for is helping Gloria who has just built a new restaurant outside the village. On Sunday we're planning to make fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and coleslaw. I may have even talked her into making bread the night before. Yum! A taste of home for sure, bringing North Loup to Santa Teresa. Mr. Chub, her husband has invited me to stay another two years to bring the business up, he's convinced I'll start my own though when I come back. I've joked about staying though and changing the name to Xan Saq Wa (Ms. White's food) - because I'm white they call me xan saq, so it makes them laugh when I call myself that. I also just bought some pickling jars and lids and am overly excited about those as well, probably because I thought they would be impossible to find here, especially in Punta Gorda. There's a lady who just gave me a handful of cucumbers when I went to visit her, noone in her family liking them. I suggested we make pickles to see if she likes them. Can hardly wait to try. It will be a learning experience for me as well, just like the soap, but I love how they take my craziness. So much more to say, but I guess that's all for now. Loves and hugs!

COS Survey

A few weeks ago we had our Close/Continuation of Service conference. Of the 41 trainees that stepped off the plane only two years ago, 40 swore in as volunteers, 23 made it to the COS conference, and now we're down to 20. I'm back to that roller coaster of emotions being super excited to come home, but very sad to leave. Once while talking to a man from Santa Teresa, him trying to convince me to stay saying all the children are used to me now and will miss me when I'm gone, I explained to him how I knew what they would feel already and turned it back around saying, "They'll all just have one person to miss, but me... I'll have 500." He then nodded his head and said, "Ohhhh" For the conference we all filled out a little survey and I thought I would share it with you, it being something I've already typed up and me not updating my blog near enough. Hope you enjoy!
COS Survey:
Name:Amy JoAnn Waterman

Nick name/house name:Miss A, Auntie Ames

Project Assignment:Primary Teacher Trainer at Santa Teresa R.C. School

Project Reality:Teacher training, reading groups, library, girls’ club

Most Useful thing brought to country:cookbook

Least useful thing brought to country:rain jacket

Best “I know I’m in the Peace Corps” moment:The first night I was in my site we arrived late and I had to use the bathroom. My host family was so excited to meet me and feed me, and I was a little nervous to ask to use the latrine, not sure if I was ready to see what it looked like- especially after all the cockroaches during training. After dinner and a little conversation, I couldn’t hold my bladder any longer, so I finally asked Mr. Mas where to go. He took me to the backside of the house, pointed in the direction of the latrine but said, “It’s dark Miss; you can just piss here.”

Funniest experience in country:It’s always the little things that make me laugh and there have been quite a few, especially when talking to the children. I will share just a few.
One favorite was everyday I would ask this little boy, “How are you?” And he would respond, “Five years old!” Every time, well, now he’s seven, but I wondered if he ever thought when I would stop asking how old he was. I don’t think so.
Even though some people are annoyed with the pointing out of the obvious, I find it more funny everyday, remembering back to instances from even over a year ago, like a little boy stopping me in the middle of the road while the rain was pouring down just to say, “It’s raining Miss,” like it was the most important news of the day and I didn’t know already.
Another time Kevina was visiting me in Santa Teresa. Always villagers ask me the name of my friends and always I wish they would just talk directly to the person they want to know about, so when a boy did, I responded, “Ask her.” He nodded his head, “Ohhh…. Oscar”

Most memorable illness/injury:The first weekend in country I jumped off a cliff and ruptured my eardrum.

Most Belizean habit to take home with you:never using silverware
Most creative way to kill time in site:knitting pot scrubbers out of onion sacks

How have you changed?I always thought I would be able to live a lifetime of travel, but I’ve realized I’m quite a homebody.

What will you miss 6 months from now?Six months from now I know I’ll still be singing, “Where have all the brown eyes gone” in the style of Paula Cole.

Favorite Belizean clothing:po’ot/uuq

New skill? Besides weaving shoulder bags, whistling with my bottom lip.
What’s next?Two month tour of Central America. Family time.

Number of trips to the US: 1
Number of guests who visited you: 8
Belizean phrase I will most likely still be using in 6 months:Chaab’il. Us.

Most interesting creatures found in your house:a beheaded lizard under my bed, a butterfly chrysalis on my doorframe, quite possibly a Blue Morpho, and the biggest beetle (?) I’ve ever seen, as long as my hand, with wings
Favorite Belizean food:lancha – fresh fish covered in pepper then wrapped in wala leaf, cooked over the fire
First thing I will eat in the states:ice cream
Favorite book read in PC? Donald Miller –A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Experience that changed my attitude or perspective:During Christmas after midnight mass, I went to the house that was servingcaldo. Everyone was sitting around waiting to eat, each mother bringing her bowls to the kitchen. I didn’t know I was supposed to bring my own bowl and realized I had no family to take care of me. I never really felt homesick before this and it may have been the first time almost crying. There are quite a few families I’m close with in the village, but nothing can compare to my real family.
I am most proud of:Anytime I seesomeone I’ve worked with doing something on their own whether it be reading aloud to their class, dramatic play in the preschool, making soap, baking cinnamon rolls, coming to the library, setting up softball games, raising money for a trip, and more I’m sure.
I will most likely be remembered for:visiting villagers
Most important lesson learned:importance of family
Countries visited:Mexico, USA, Guatemala
After two years of service what I know for sure:I’ve been given far more than I ever could have given.
Haiku:
To be more, meet more.
I am part of those I’ve met.
To meet more, go more.

Link to Lauren's blog

http://ichliebereisen.blogspot.com/2011/06/donde-esta-el-banco.html

Yay, Easter trip!

Baker's Elbow and more

A couple weeks ago I had baker's elbow. Explanation, if needed. First of all, baking is what they call flattening tortillas by patting them out on pieces of plastic. Secondly, it was planting season all of May which made me realize I know many people in the village. A couple of times I was asked to help at a few houses, which I tried my best to do. This means waking up at 2a to help kill the chickens, well actually I couldn't get myself to break their necks, so close, the chicken's head was under my foot even. All I needed to do was pull up on the feet, but no. Have you ever held a live chicken before its death? Between that and watching pig after pig being pieced, I just may become a vegetarian when I'm back in the States. Back to the pain in my elbow, I go from one house to another, flattening tortillas, the ladies laughing at me when I shake my arm because it started to hurt. I've fully recovered by now, from that and eating too much caldo.

How have I not been to the farm before? I went on my first trip and of course what do I do... pick peppers! After helping Elicia with her wash two days in a row - I really like going to the creek with her and not being in a rush to go anywhere, this will be more often come July. Anyways, while finishing, Elicia asked when I was going to the farm with her. I replied whenever you ask, which happened to be that evening. Yippee! I had no prior commitments and would be ready as soon as it was a little cooler. By five o'clock we were ready, biked about 15 minutes then walked a little, spotted a family of monkeys, crossed on a fallen down tree, then there we were, at the farm, pulling peppers. To me it was more like picking wild peppers, the plants being scattered between banana and papaya trees, but the girls told me they had planted them. I'd say it was a success, too, filling half of a 50# flour bag, at least I think that's the kind of bag it was. It looked like a lot to me, probably enough to last an entire year had it been only for me, but them, they'll be needing my help again to go back by next week, if not before.

The rain has finally come! I was talking to Jerry a couple weeks ago, asking how things were going and he mentioned all the rain. My comment, "That's where it is! Send it south!" I was happy it wasn't lost and even more so it listened and came to Belize. We've had some lovely rainy days and my favorite, rainy nights, when I sleep so well being lulled by the sound of it coming down on my thatch. Mr. Mas even fixed my roof, so I no longer need to worry about it coming in my house. Yay! Also, how fitting to do an activity with the preschoolers on the clothing worn to protect yourself from the rain. I brought in my jacket and umbrella, then had Florentina bring in her boots to make them all try putting it on and walking across the room. Maybe more for my entertainment than their learning, but I'll share the pictures as soon as I can (forgot to bring my cord to hook up my camera). They were so cute though, my jacket a floor-length dress. Those little ones know how to make me laugh, and smile. I can no longer walk past their room without stopping for my group hug. So happy Florentina taught them that, maybe it will spread throughout the whole village.

Let's go!

Whoever would think planning field trips is easy needs to think again. I was one of these misinformed souls until I tried. From losing forms to losing money we easily could have thrown our hands up in defeat, but whoever would think the trouble is not worth it is also mistaken. To begin, the educational trips were possible through Kids to Kids http://www.kidstokids.org/ an organization that connects classrooms that raise money for projects in developing countries. Initially the upper division would go on three trips to see two Maya sites, two institutions of higher learning, and I thought we'd see a few other things in Punta Gorda as well. Plans changes, imagine that. Since the school year was getting away from us, we decided two trips would be better, one for the upper division and one for the lower, this way every student would benefit. Our first trip was postponed because the form wouldn't be handed in on time so we did better the second time around, getting it to the manager only to be misplaced. I'm not sure why those planning the trip have to personally wait for the signature, then take it to the education office to be signed by the district officer. I then learned when planning the lower division trip this second signature is just as important to be waited for as well. What makes this hard is catching those you need while they are in their office-hardly ever, and even when they are ask, "Do you need this right away?" Ay yi yi! I think for each trip the form was filled out 2-3 times and that's besides it needing to be done in triplicate. Enough about the form, let's move on to money. I almost forgot the trouble of getting the MoneyGram itself. It had to be resent becasue Mr. Chub was unable to pick it up the first time, him being a teaching principal and all and not having the chance to just go to town during the week. As with the forms, the only thing I can think is give us village people a break! Which is exactly what happened. Luckily, the man in charge of sending the money for K2K is a kind soul, understanding the situation. Sadly, this wasn't the end of the money troubles. A few days before the trip Mr. Chub brought the money to the school to pass on to me to pay for the bus in advance and refund the money spent on snacks. When he checked the drawer to then hand me the $550 it was gone. A sad sad day in Santa Teresa. The standard VI boys were the only ones suspected so we had a meeting that evening with the alcalde and their parents. Testimonies were in Q'eqchi, but after the meeting Mr. Chub claimed the clues were there, the stories not lining up, some boys blaming each other, but no further investigation was had. Honestly, that night was my lowest of low of my Peace Corps experience, crying "living tears" with Mr. Chub, not for the money, but the idea of someone stealing from the school then Mr. Chub going on to state the lack of support from the village, claiming they didn't deserve a volunteer, basically telling me to go home, "cancel the trip, cancel TFABB, cancel Peace Corps." Heart. Broken. (I almost didn't want to share this because it still makes me a little sad and honestly don't want you to think badly of anyone here because maybe some parents don't support the school but no villager has ever made me feel they don't want me here.) Luckily, Joanna and Beth were here at that time. They gave me the support I needed, which translates into a long group hug and the strength to get the weekend as planned. I wanted them to see Blue Creek cave and Machacon Falls. The following day Mr. Chub had great news for me. A woman in town, Ms. Dorla Bowman from Socio-Economic Outreach heard the story and donated an amazing $200. Also, there happened to be a check from a tourist group led by Mr. Mas, my host father, for $200. He wanted the money to be used for the trip and told Mr. Chub if the village leaders had anything to say to take it up with him. That was enough to pay for the bus, so... the trip was back on! And I was all smiles! Our first stop was ITVET a technical high school for students interested in learning different trades. We saw the automotive, electrical, and woodworking departments, also took a look at their chickens and goats. Every time they were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, blank stares, but I keep telling myself that maybe now it's something they will think about. We then went to Lubaantun followed by Nim Li Punit, with a free lunch in between. A school group canceled their trip, so the residence who had prepared lunch for them invited us. Mr. Chub and I couldn't believe the blessings kept coming, we were supposed to go on that trip. The last stop was a lodge that housed two jaguars, a highlight for us all. The trip was such a success we did basically the same thing for the lower division, but instead only saw one Maya site and two lodges. This time when we saw the jaguars we got to climb the ramp and see from above. The mothers were so cute, being more afraid then their children. Some of the little boys saw the ruins as an adventure, so I was a little overwhelmed, but boys will be boys. Our last stop was the Lodge at Big Falls, but before going there we stopped for lunch. I really enjoyed our picnic-like feast outside the bus. With the grant I was able to buy some food for snacks, knowing not all the children would bring their own. The highlight of the Lodge tour was their swimming pool - raxi ha - all of them being surprised to see such blue water. My favorite part was the girl out sunbathing. I wanted to act as their guide saying, "And this is what you call a tourist..." I was surprised noone fell in the water. We made it back to Santa Teresa by 3pm, so our half-day turned into a whole day which had some students tuckered out. A fun-filled day for sure! Loves and hugs!

Gardens Galore

Fences are going up everywhere in Santa Teresa. This makes me so very happy as it is great to see families in the village starting gardens close to their houses. Some are high school students wanting to apply what they have been learning, the others, I think, are funded by an organization in town. Of course this means I've been asked for seeds, so if you have some, send them my way. I'm curious to find out what will grow here. How exciting to try popcorn! Thanks to my mom for asking, Popcorn County USA for providing, and Joanna for bringing, I've been distributing popcorn seeds to anyone who asks. I even got to help the Ack family while they were planting. Another family ready to plant as soon as I brought the seeds to their house was the Bo family. Olivia, the mom, is one of my new favorite people. I wasn't sure why exactly until her husband pointed out she loved to laugh, yep, that would be it. I've only recently started visiting them. She is actually from Poite, her youngest brother being one of my favorite people there. Olivia and Pedro have the cutest little boy, too, Arnoldo. He repeats almost everything you say, or at least tries, and with me this is an English lesson. The best part was when he walked away saying, "tzakal"-enough. So he likes to talk and is being started young learning to garden. I was surprised though when Pedro told me the organization giving the supplies to start the gardens had yet to give much training. That seems backward. I was asking, too, if he had any solutions of keeping ants out of his garden. He didn't know that either. Time to do some research of my own, unless you reading this have any suggestions. That would be great! I'll soon put up a picture of the plants growing, don't you worry. Yippee! Now it's just keeping the bugs away. Loves and hugs!

FRIEND

Focusing Resources in Education and Nutrition Development is an initiative through the Ministry of Health along with the Ministry of Education doing just as the project’s name states. Only a few schools in Toledo were selected to take part, Santa Teresa being one. There was an opening ceremony in town to start the program and other activities have included creating a health corner in the classroom, BMI testing, a walk-a-thon, and mini-sports day. The walk-a-thon was simply a parade through the village, parade meaning the students marched themselves down the road and back again. They created a banner “Love That Body. Move That Body” and signs to promote healthy living. A few of the village leaders came along and it was perfect timing as Megan was in Santa Teresa to visit. We joked that the parade was for her then topped it off with making a cake the following day. See how well my visitors are treated?
The mini-sports day was in San Antonio where five schools came to compete in such contests as marble/spoon, three-legged race, egg toss, etc. The best part was being surprised by Dan, another Peace Corps Volunteer. I didn’t know his school was part of the FRIEND program. I hadn’t talked to him for quite some time and it was nice to be with a fellow photographer, as we decided that’s why we were brought along. Fine by me. I always like traveling with the students especially since they always are wanting me to go.
Another event encouraged by FRIEND was the Food Fair. All or at least most of the schools in Toledo come to town and create a booth, displaying health information and selling healthy foods. This was during Lauren’s visit and she had brought along some little prizes, not knowing exactly what to do with them, but they were absolutely perfect for a punch board. I’m pretty sure I’ve expressed the greatness of these games before… see the garden graduation post… and my opinion still stands strong. Yes, the sun was hot, but we had a line of children at our booth until the prizes ran out and made about $150 for the school, that’s a lot of shillings.

Through the eyes of another...

I asked my friend Lauren who visited in April to write her own blog post. Here it is:
"Lauren, do you know what you’re getting yourself into? You know you are going to have to bathe in a river." my friend Amy said as she was explaining the living situation in Belize. Amy has been volunteering with the Peace Corps for about a year and a half now and lives in a village with no electricity. While telling fellow family members and friends of my travel plans to visit her and to teach in the school she volunteers at as well as travel, many responded to me not only with puzzling faces but also with many questions. "People actually choose to live like that?" they said. "What do they do with their lives?" "No television?" "Are you going to have to drink out of the water you bathe in?" All valid questions that I was eager to find the answers to.
I left Colorado as it was snowing early in the morning on April 4th. The plane ride was fairly quick compared to traveling to Europe. A couple hours to Houston, then a couple more hours and I arrived at the Belize International Airport in Belize City. Once I stepped off the plane, warmth and humidity instantly welcomed me to the city. I quickly passed through customs, picked up my luggage and made my way to the waiting area for my connecting flight to Punta Gorda. The airport was pretty tiny and cute so I took a couple pictures, bought some water and sat on a bench until it was time to board. As I was drinking my water, I noticed a lady with a really cute hat sitting across from me. When the lady started to speak, I quickly realized by her southern accent it was none other than Resse Witherspoon with her new husband and her children. So crazy! I really couldn’t believe it! What a fun way to start my Belize adventure!

After about an hour and a half domestic flight, I arrived at my final destination for the day, Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda(PG) is often described in travel books as a sleepy town in which the people are soooooo tired that they cannot even pronounce the entirety of the name hence its initial nickname PG. I liked the quiet town and enjoyed meeting up with my friend Amy there and catching up on life! We stayed the night at a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) house and got to see more of the town the next day. My favorite thing about PG was the Jonny Cakes (these delicious biscuits filled with cheese) and Fry Jacks (similar to sopapillas) that are served with beans and eggs for breakfast.

Later that afternoon, we took the high school bus for a two hour ride into the village where I would be living for the next two weeks, Santa Teresa! I absolutely loved everything about the village from the kindness of the people, to the culture, to the food, to the simplistic way of life and even the language. Santa Teresa is a relatively small Mayan Indian village where the people speak a language called K’ekchi (Q’eqchi). English is spoken as well). It was actually really fun to learn some basic K'ekchi. Here are some of my favorite words and phases:
Yo’os- Hello
Ma sa aachol? How are you? (literal translation- Do you have good in your heart)
Sa inchol- I’m fine (I have good in my heart)
Chaabil -beautiful
Laa’in X…-My name is……
Tojokre -Thank you
Tawil Awib -Take Care
Naka thin ra- I love you
Mas chick sak’e – The sun is hot.
Heehe- Yes
In’ka- No





..
The way of life would be considered old fashioned compared to the States. Most women stay in the home during the day taking care of the children, cooking, doing laundry (in the river) and household chores while the men are out working various jobs from farming to bus driving. Women are almost always seen in knee length skirts and shirts that have short sleeves. A lot of the women and girls also wear the Mayan traditional clothing (uks and po’ots). Amy was so sweet and had some traditional wear made for me to wear in the village. I absolutely loved wearing it!


Since there is no electricity, food is made fresh daily. Most families live on caldo (soup), beans and corn tortillas. Silverware is not needed because everything is eaten with a tortilla. I had the opportunity to enjoy many of the foods when I met and visited with the families. Everyone always offers you food if you come to visit. The food is amazing! They really like to make their food peppery (spicy) which was great. I had everything from fresh fish, to caldo with a wild rodent, to chicken tamales, to tons and tons and tons of corn tortillas, sometimes flour (my favorite), the most amazing beans as well as porridge and a cacao(chocolate) drink. They also had the most beautifully tasting zestful oranges! One night Amy and I visited 3 families and were so extremely full but it’s considered rude to not take or eat the food that is given to you. Amy told me once that she went to visit a family that had only 3 eggs to feed 4 kids and the family gave her an entire egg to eat for herself. She felt so bad about it but ate it out of politeness.
My days spent in the village were always fun! A typical daily schedule looked like this:
5:30- Wake up (Usually by dogs barking, rosters crowing, howler monkeys making a creepy howl sound or the neighbor family playing Mexican music which was fun because it reminded me of my family and covered up all the animal noises)
6:00- Go for a walk or run
6:45- Go
to the creek to do laundry and bathe
7:45- Get ready for school and eat breakfast
8:30-School
11:00- Lunch break (1½ hours! )! Make lunch and rest in the hammock!
1:30- Walk back to school.
3:30- Schools out!
4:00- Rest
4:30- Play futbol(soccer) with GLOW girls (they play with bare feet..wow)
5:00- Visit various families to make tortillas and play with the children.7:30- Back to the thatch house to relax, read, write, talk with Amy, get things ready for the next day, etc.
8:30- Bed time! :) :) :)

Getting to teach at Santa Teresa R.C. School was a very great experience. It was really neat because the school in the village happened to be Catholic although there are 3 different religions in the village (Baptist, Protestant and Catholic). They start the day in prayer, have religion class in the morning and transition breaks/lunch as well as ended the day in prayer. A priest comes into the village once a month for a school mass and the children spend a week preparing the songs to sing at it. It was neat to see how a Catholic School works and is operated in Central America.




In Belize, most of the teachers start teaching right out of high school and don’t receive any training to teach. I had the opportunity to teach math to all of the grades showing the teachers different strategies to use when teaching as well as ways to get the children to participate and make learning math fun. I am really a big advocate on positive reinforcement and will never forget the first day I taught math in Belize. I was teaching Standard 3-4 students how to reduce fractions in which I did whole group instruction, board practice for the students, a fun game and then seatwork review practice. When the students were finished, I checked the problems and if they were all correct I gave them a star with a pen. I have never seen kids so excited to receive a star on their paper. Once other kids heard about it, I started hearing many voices say “Can I have a star, Miss?” “I want a star, Miss.” I don’t think I will ever get over how excited these kids were to receive a star on their paper!

Something else that I got to experience in Santa Teresa R.C. School was a field trip to the Food Fair. If you have ever been on a field in the States you might remember your teacher always counting and taking attendance multiple times to make sure no kids are missing and everyone has showed up. Belizean culture by nature is just very relaxed. We arrived on the bus by the school a little before 7:30 and at 7:30 the principal, Mr. Pop stepped onto the bus, and announced, “Well, looks like everyone is here.” And we were off for the two hour ride to the nearest city Punta Gorda. There were literally 6+ children in some seats and tons of children were standing in the aisle. When we arrive at the fairgrounds the kids were free to do what they wanted. No real supervision. There were many booths set up that sold various types of foods and some were learning booths. There was also a MC that had music and games.
I was really excited for our booth! We not only had great food and drinks to sell, but the kids, Amy and I made a punchboard for this event. I brought a ton of prizes from my mom’s classroom to Belize and we used them for the punchboard. We had the kids write the prizes on white slips of paper and also messages about healthy eating on others. We folded them and punched them into the board. At the food fair, kids came up to our booth and paid a shilling (25 cents) to pick a slip from the board. Some would win the prizes I brought and others just got the message. The kids loved it! With the prizes, we ended up raising $164.25 for the school!! So cool!





Highlights of life in Belize:
*Amy and I have birthdays that are 4 days apart so we spent one weekend on the beach in Placencia for a little relaxing birthday bash. We had a blast snorkeling, swimming in the salt water, and Karl-okie-ing!
*Also for my birthday, killing a chicken to make tamales, learning how to weave a kuxtal (purse) and then having homemade doughnuts made by the neighbors.
*Going to Blue Creek to swim in the caves. I felt like I was in The Goonies movie…it was awesome.
*Biking 2 miles up and down the steepest hills, then hiking a mile to see and swim in these beautiful waterfalls.
This is definitely an adventure I will never forget. I loved living in the village, napping in a hammock as well as playing with and teaching the children. I always wanted to be in the Peace Corps so it was really cool that I got to have a mini-experience. Amy does so much good in her village daily. Peace Corps is known as, “the hardest job, you’ll ever love.” She is pretty much always “on-call” to any of the villagers at all times and spends the days working with reading groups in the schools, putting together field trips and leading an after school music club. The kids are currently learning to play the recorder and one afternoon I taught them, Hot Cross Buns. Amy has also taught many of the women in the village new things to bake as well as showed them how to make soap. In addition she has taken over a GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) group for Standard 6. I had the privilege of leading a GLOW group session about inner beauty and self-esteem. The village is extremely lucky that they have Miss Amy and everyone loves her very much. It will be so hard for her to say goodbye in October.
Looking outside at all the Colorado snow falling in May as I finish writing this makes me miss the humid heat of Belize (even the days I needed a sweat rag). I hope to go back someday. I was telling my mom I want to adopt a Belizean child…lol

I have so many other fun stories and things to share about the culture in Belize that I could probably write a book. If you are still reading and want to know more, feel free to ask! Also if you are thinking about going, don’t think…DO IT!


A BIG THANK YOU (tojokre) to Amy for inviting me to her village, sharing her Belizean life with me and being a superb hostess! I am very thankful and blessed to have such a wonderful friend! I have been extremely fortunate to have so many amazing experiences in travel but this has been hands down my favorite!


Guatemala travels are up next!


All my love,
L