Since I’ve last written, there have been a couple wild incidents. First, and scariest (of course involving the toilet), I was in the loo, having a staring contest with the big black spider, and the room started shaking. After realizing that it wasn’t normal, I hopped off as quickly as I could, only to find Duly laughing. It was a tremor! After seeing me jump off the toilet so fast, I wouldn’t be surprised if I soon come into the bathroom seeing a web that says “Some gringa…” (You know you love Charlotte’s Web).
The next experience is actually kind of scary: as some of you know, I have a soy allergy, as well as some other mild food allergies. Little did I know, I’ve recently developed an allergy to mango. Last Thursday, after spotting a mango on my counter and telling Duly how much I like mangoes, she cut it up for me to take on my bus ride to Antigua. I ate about five quarter-sized pieces and shared the rest with my crew. About 15 minutes later, my hands started itching, followed by my arms. One of my friends mentioned that my face was bright red, so we decided to get some Benadryl. I assumed I’d be fine and ignored the fact that I was getting itchier by the second, as well as developing hives all over my body, thinking that the Benadryl would soon kick in. Our language group and teacher got on the bus headed for a coffee museum, when I realized I was having a hard time breathing. I called the Peace Corps nurse in a panic, who instructed me to get off the bus and head to the hospital. Less than 15 minutes later, I was struggling for air and receiving injections. The next couple hours are kind of grey, but my friend Michele stayed in the hospital with me. I was kept for 24 hours and given 7 or 8 injections. After they released me, I headed back to San Antonio, where all of my symptoms started coming back. I called the nurse, took more Benadryl, and ended up having to be picked up and brought to the Peace Corps Medical Office where I was given more steroids and antihistamines. I was on steroids through yesterday, and I am physically back to normal. I’m a little anxious to try new fruits, though, and I’m super sad about not being able to even touch another mango.
The big news here is that the Pacaya volcano erupted in Guatemala this week. Guatemala City was covered in ash, and all schools across the country were closed. Guatemala is on high alert, as three people are confirmed dead, five are missing, and about 1,800 were evacuated from villages near Pacaya. This hasn’t affected me too much personally, other than the fact that we were supposed to attend a Mayan ceremony in Tecpan tomorrow. Peace Corps is on “Steadfast” alert, so we’re now not allowed to leave our towns for 48 hours. It’s affected my good friend Michele, though, as her step father passed away yesterday and she is stranded here until at least Monday (please keep her in your thoughts). We’re supposed to get some pretty bad tropical storms here this weekend, so I’ll try to keep safe.
My daily life isn’t too exciting; lots of language lessons and technical training. We’re kept very busy, giving charlas (presentations), studying, and learning about diarrhea. Next week I’m giving my first public charla on handwashing; my Spanish is certainly improving, but I’m sure I’ll stumble in this presentation and learn from whatever mistakes I make. June 6-12 I have field based training in San Marcos. A group of 6 of us will be working with 2 volunteers, doing at least 2 charlas each, as well as writing and performing a skit in front of a school and for the radio. It’ll be a jam-packed week, but in a new setting and with a mostly new group.
The lovely Miss Molly left a comment asking me some questions about Guatemala that I think might be good to share with everyone. 1.) What were your expectations going in, and are you finding that your experience is matching up to your expectations? Wow. Well, my expectations going into the Peace Corps were basically to hand my services over for 27 months. After applying in October of 2008 and not being officially invited until March of 2010, I was just happy to make it here. I feel like a person really doesn’t know what he or she is getting into, and there really is no telling how an individual’s experience will be since there are so many different countries and programs. I did, however, expect to be living with a dirt floor and a bucket bath, with a large host family, and eating fruits and vegetables all the time. I am living in a nice place with tile floor and a shower, with one host brother, eating a very large amount of carbohydrates – which are catching up to me!
The next question asked what stereotypes I’ve broken since I’ve been here. Well, no one likes to admits that they have prejudices, but everyone does; I probably have a lot that I haven’t even realized and that I might not realize. I wrongly assumed everyone was living in poverty, and not American standard poverty, but lots of homeless and starving people. There certainly are malnourished and homeless here, but everyone helps out where they can. Neighbors give each other food and places to sleep when times are tough, so I have yet to see people begging on the streets. I didn’t think that Guatemala would be very technologically advanced, but they are, more so than the United States. People don’t have shoes, and they have cell phones. They choose not to have shoes, though, which is something that’s changing my perception of different amenities. I think those are pretty big questions, so if anyone as any further questions or would like me to elaborate, let me know.
Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone, especially the Gokey family who will be hosting the annual Memorial Day fundraiser at Pete’s Hamburger Stand. If you’re in the Prairie du Chien area on Monday, stop by and have one with = )
New photos have been added to my Flickr page, check 'em out.
Loved the tour!
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