July wrap up

A great deal has happened since my last post over a month ago. I’ve had site assignment, site visit, swear in, and finally I’ve moved into my site. Site assignment day was pretty exciting; our APCD Basilio drove to each of our training towns and handed us each a colored folder based on what department we’re in. Mine ( which was kelly green) told me I’ll be living in Cajolá, Quetzaltenengo, for the next two years. Cajolá is about an hour away from the second biggest city in Guatemala, Xela, and within an hour of good friends. During my site visit, I learned I would be taking over for the first volunteer in this site, Ashley, and saw where I would be living. Ashley was an amazing volunteer and the more I’m here I realize that I’ve got a lot to live up to. She showed me the ropes and introduced me to a lot of people in town, including the mayor, all of the city workers, and of course all of the health workers. I had already met my counterpart, Julissa, and my doctor, Raul, on ‘counterpart day’ earlier that week. Julissa seems sweet, really busy though, so I will just have to wait and see how much we actually work together once I get settled. Dr. Raul and I get along great; I’ve heard countless stories of male doctors not wanting to work with female volunteers, or giving them a hard time. Luckily Dr. Raul was a medical professor in Guatemala City for the past 30 years and has experience working with and respecting women. He’s only been working in public health for the last 5 years so he’s still very passionate about what we do.

After site visit I had to return to a bittersweet week back in San Antonio Aguas Calientes. I hung out with Duly, Carlos, and Sandra as well as my fellow trainees. Friday, July 16, was my official swear in date. We had a ceremony at the Peace Corps headquarters with our host families, the U.S. ambassador, and all of the Peace Corps workers. Afterwards, the five of us from San Antonio took our families out for lunch in Antigua and the said our goodbyes. We spent Friday and Saturday letting loose with the group of 45, and on Sunday we went our separate ways.
I’ve been in site sine July 18 and in this short time I can say so far so good. Cajolá has approximately 2,000 inhabitants, but including the aldeas (villages) the health center serves about 14,000 people. The elevation level is about 8,000 feet, so I am usually in several layers, a fleece, and long pants; who would’ve thought I should have packed more sweaters when moving to Guatemala?? I’m definitely the only gringa in Cajolá, or “ix’nula” I should say, since I will be learning an indigenous language called Mam. Believe it or not, I am super excited about this! It will be super useful to know and I will be able to educate more people with the more Mam I know. It’s a little difficult as initially it sounds like clicking and many of the sounds come from deep in the throat, but as I’ll continue to say, poco a poco.

I live in a house with a 28 year old couple, Estella and Romeo, and their 4 year old son, Junior. Estella is pregnant and will have the baby in the next couple weeks in our house with a midwife. They did not pick the right Gokey girl to live with them, as I will definitely not be attending the birth. I instead offered to hang out with Junior. Junior speaks Mam and is just learning Spanish, so he hangs out in my room a lot and we practice together. I’ve been teaching him colors and names of common items, and I think he’s catching on.

I’ve lucked out again in my living situation; Romeo lived in the States for 9 years and understands Americans’ crazy need for privacy. They help me when I ask, and I spend a lot of time in their kitchen practicing Spanish with Romeo and learning Mam from Estella. I plan on calling a Mam teacher next week, but Estella is helpful thus far. I’m completely moved into my part of their place, which consists of a make-shift kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. I almost feel guilty for how great it is, as most of my friends have latrines and bucket baths. I do recognize the fact that Romeo worked very hard in the US for several years to send back money to build this nice home. A lot of people in Cajolá have family in the States. It’s really interesting to be able to view this side of the immigration argument; it just reinforces my already strong opinions.

The past week and a half have been pretty slow. I go into the health center every day and for the most part just hang out; people need to get used to seeing me and associating me with the health center. Along with this, I’ve assisted in a couple 5 hour health charlas to different groups of teachers, sat in on a few medical consultations, and walked around to different aldeas (villiages). I was done with my work (read ‘poster making’) by 3:30pm today so I decided to go exploring (don’t worry Dad, I took a big stick and had rocks in my pockets in case dogs started attacking ). I walked in a 2 hour giant circle and met a few old women who walked part way with me. Two of them could barely speak Spanish, and since my Mam is pretty limited we had very broken conversations, but I think we understood each other enough. I also met a lady who wanted to know when she was going to get a project at her house, so as we walked I had to explain to her that I won’t be working on projects for a year and that to have a project done in one’s house, a person has to come to multiple educational charlas within the next year as well as be able to put forth a percentage of the cost and labor. She wasn’t too impressed, but since Peace Corps is pretty new here, I have to reinforce the fact that Peace Corps works with the people and local resources to mainly educate, rather than coming in and giving material goods away.

I have a lot to look forward to in the next month (lots of breastfeeding and family planning charlas AND big birthday plans!), and I will keep updating as time goes on. Pictures will hopefully be updated Saturday when I'm in the city with fast internet (I'll also hopefully be on Skype if anyone is free and wants to check in). Thanks to everyone who has been keeping in touch, it means a lot!

Congrats Jordan and Ty on your engagement!

Little by Little

The remnants of Tropical Storm Agatha and the Pacaya Volcano eruption are constant reminders of the hold that mother nature has on us all. This past week I was able to take some time off with my San Antonio group and help dig out houses that are still filled with mud. Our Spanish professor, Edwardo, has between 2-4 feet of mud in his house, depending on the room. The house was 8 feet under at one point, and it’s taken over 3 weeks to get to where he’s at now. We put on our work gloves and dumped out bucket after bucket of mud, rocks, and common household items. I don’t think the amount of damage that I saw with my own two eyes had yet sunk in until I really just stood and looked around after working for a few hours. I saw each individual cup and plate, coated in dried mud; the muddy and damp chairs, now rotting, filling our nostrils with a smell you can only imagine. I was exhausted after my two short days of work; I can’t imagine working like that day in and day out, throwing out all of your possessions, finding heirlooms, sometimes bodies.
While Guatemala is, as a whole, still recovering, as Peace Corps trainees we are still working hard giving presentations and learning about our future role as volunteers. I went on FBT- field based training- June 6-12 in San Marcos San Lorenzo. Six other trainees and I were driven 6 hours to give several charlas and learn what other volunteers in our program are doing. We were the lucky group that was able to visit 2 volunteers and see how differently they worked, yet how successful both of them were in their own ways. I personally gave 2 presentations on nutrition/micronutrients, 2 on acute respiratory infections, starred in a radio sociodrama, and acted in several skits. We put on a 4 hour HIV/AIDS workshop for a group of 65 high school students, where yours truly was in charge of, along with other things, the condom demonstration, as well as teaching the students how to put a condom on a banana (there are definitely pictures). I was also able to experience a Mayan Chuj - it's basically a sauna. A few of us girls got undressed and stepped in, while a little old Mayan woman kept coming in a throwing water on the hot rocks to make it nice and steamy. I could definitely do that again = )
Last week our San Antonio group assisted another town with a shortened version of the HIV/AIDS workshop, as well as put on the presentation to a group of 245 students in San Antonio. Overall it went well, although there were a few eye-opening questions that really shook me up. Following the workshop, we saw a man have an alcoholic seizure. We were unsure of what to do because we were informed that if we attempt to help in situations like that we will get kicked out of the Peace Corps. Two of the girls went to the health center to get help, where they told them that the guy is a drunk and there’s nothing to be done; needless to say it was a rough day.
Today is Michele’s birthday, so yesterday we went out to eat in Antigua to celebrate. It was nice and relaxing. Today I gave a hand-washing charla in the morning, and did work for the rest of the day. I leave for IDA – individual directed activity – on Wednesday and come back Saturday. They basically tell us where we’re going and who we’re visiting and say “good luck!” It’ll be another nice change. I’ll get back just in time to rest up for my little brother’s 7th birthday party on Sunday. Today I helped my host mom fill the party bags for all of his 70 friends that are coming over.
I find out my site on July 1, and I am super excited for this day!! In my interviews with Basilio, the housing director, I told him I don’t have any preferences in regard to weather or location, or anything else for that matter. I’m just excited to finally find out where I’ll be exactly for the next two years – where you all will be visiting me!!! I love my host family and my training group, but I’m beyond excited to cook for myself, have my own space, and be an adult again. I was recently able to talk to Megan Bender, who just returned from PC Uganda, and she explained that training is pretty tough for several reasons, and that it gets a lot better after. It was VERY nice to hear that!
I’ve been here about two months, and reflecting on my journal entries and interactions with my lovely group, I can definitely see myself experiencing the ups and downs of moving to a new place and living in a new culture. I’m struggling with the machismo and with women’s roles in Guatemala. I’m struggling with my American perspective of a different kind of corrupt government. I’m getting used to the constant sound of fireworks and church bells. I’m loving black beans and avocados. It’ll be a while until I’m fully settled in, but I’m getting there. Lots of love and support stateside- it’s appreciated!!!

New pictures from FBT on flickr!

A devastating time

As most of you are well aware, Guatemala has had a difficult couple of weeks between the Pacaya Volcano eruption and the wrath from tropical storm Agatha. The Peace Corps approach is not to jump into everything "go, go, go," but rather hold back to see what long term assistance can be given. Most of the Peace Corps staff has been helping with one of our language teachers, Edwardo, as his house was completely destroyed, and I've only been able to personally help in small ways, such as making bandages at the local health post. I've recently received a letter from one of my always amazing and philanthropic aunts who passed this organization along. Help where you can, and please keep these people in your thoughts.

This is part of the e-mail:

Chandra Sherin (La Crosse, WI).
""This comes from Melinda Van Slyke, my good friend, who supports indigenous survivors of genocide in Guatemala in solidarity. She just found out that the main group of weavers she does fair trade business with was hard hit by the tropical storm. See her note and request for help below, thank you."

Supporting the Guatemalan Weavers in the Aftermath of Tropical Storm Agatha
If you've been following the news you know that Guatemala has had a horrific week. A violent volcanic eruption, coupled with torrential rains from Tropical Storm Agatha, have left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. Currently, as of June 1st, the death toll is at 152. This will undoubtedly rise as the outlying communities dig out from the landslides and count their dead. Tragically, the main weaving collective that I work with in Guatemala, Trama Textiles in Xela, has been devastated. Members of their weaving groups lost their lives in raging rivers, children were buried alive in mudslides. Crop damage is extensive. Needless to say their looms and their materials have been destroyed. Here's how you can help: You can donate to Trama online at https://guatepay.com/donate-asotrama.htm . You can also help by ordering from my website. http://www.HeartOfTheSkyFairTrade.com/ Through June 8th I'll be donating all of the profits from web sales (every last cent) to Trama Textiles. This will help by a) sending them money right away so they can begin to rebuild their lives and by b) depleting my inventory so I can place another order ASAP, ensuring a steady flow of income for the weavers. THANK YOU! Please spread the word far and wide. The need is urgent. The need is great. "

News

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/05/31/honduras.storm.emergency/index.html?hpt=C2
This is the CNN article of what's going on. I'm safe, but this is a very tragic time for Guatemala - keep the people in your thoughts.

May 28, 2010

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.

Continuing the chronicling of my bathroom fears...

Although I’ve overcome pee stage fright, I cannot bring myself to go to the bathroom at night. This is not helping out my goal of staying hydrated, as I try not to drink water after 8pm, but I have a very good reason: our parrot. You may think, “Oh Megan it’s just a bird,” but wouldn’t you be scared if you went to the bathroom at 3am and heard “Hola, Amor??” I certainly am, but it’s something I’m working on. Also, there is a HUGE spider that stares at me while I'm in the bathroom. He makes me super nervous, like he's going to jump at me and I won't be able to do anything because I'm on the toilet... YIKES!
This week went a lot faster than last week, and if I’m lucky it will keep going fast. Our language teacher, Miguel, took us to Antigua on Saturday to get cell phones. After a few long conversations with a couple different providers, we picked “Plan Gringo.” (Gringo means white person) I’m not kidding, and I think it’s ridiculously funny! Side note – high five to PCVs who did this without technology – even my post office has been out of stamps since I’ve been here. Anyhow, Antigua was a nice city, lots of European and Americans, as well as pushy vendors. I will certainly be taking all of my visitors there for an excursion = )
Sunday was Dirk’s birthday, so after he killed the chicken for dinner, we all walked to the pool. It was beautiful – a tropical lagoon in the next village over! The pool is full of natural water fresh out of the mountain stream, so it’s a little cold. It was a nice excuse for me to get out of the pool, though, as I felt a little scantily clad… no one told me that most Guatemalan women don’t wear swimsuits, but shirts and shorts, so I have to say I probably reinforced a couple of stereotypes about American women.
Language class on Monday was pretty interesting. We went to the Women’s Artist Cooperative where they explained the patterns and colors of their weavings, as well as explained the traditional dress to us. We had a mock wedding, and, big news – I got married. Sorry I had to break the news to you all this way, but they move fast here in Guatemala = ) Really though, it was neat to understand the ceremony and the symbolism.
Tuesday was our weekly trip to Santa Lucia for the whole group training session. I got horribly bus sick on the way there and back – I feel like I’m 9 years old again. The only Dramamine I have here is drowsy, so I’m hoping my beautiful parents mail me some non-drowsy! (And if they wanted to throw a small bag of M&Ms in I wouldn’t be the least bit upset!) Yesterday I had a miserable headache and literally laid in bed the entire day. I was nauseous because it hurt so bad; I’ve never experienced it before and I didn’t do or eat anything out of the ordinary, so hopefully it was a one time deal.
Today we went on a field visit and hung out with a current Healthy Homes volunteer. It was nice to ask her questions and see what her typical day is, but it sounds like everyone in my program does something different, so odds are that my experience won’t be like hers.
I’ll leave you with the a bit of wisdom from this week’s Peace Corps training:
1.) Don’t get poop in your mouth.
2.) Try not to get pregnant.
3.) If you have unexplainable night time butt itches, you probably have pinworm.
I also am pretty sure I am now the expert on Diahrrea from all of this training, luckily not from experience, so if you have any questions, I’d skip Dr. Casey and come right to me = )

P.S. The pictures are: two from the pool, two from the top of my house, and one from Antigua. It only lets me post 5, so check out my flickr page for more (www.flicker.com/photos/megangokey).
P.P.S. Congrats to Patrick and Casey for finishing school!!!!!!! Wooohooooo!!!! I’ll be there in spirit!

I've arrived..

...and if one thing is for certain it's this: I am over my "pee stage fright." You know when someone else is in the room and you are too nervous to pee? I'm over it. My host mom, Duly, has a curtain to block the door, and when you've got to go, you've got to go. It took me about 48 hours to get over this "fear" that has built up for 23 years. I've already accomplished so much!!
I arrived last Wedensday and moved in with a 34 year old woman (Duly) and her 7 year old son (Carlos). Duly is an entrepreneur - she owns a beauty salon across the street, she weaves, and she makes and sells ice-cream out of the house. Her husband lives in the US, but I don't think they have a relationship currently.
From now until July 16, I'm a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee). I wake up around 6:30am, and have 4-6 hours of Spanish 6 days a week, as well as 2-4 hours of technical training. I live in San Antonio Aguas Calientes, and it is a beautiful little town. We travel by bus once a week to the Peace Corps HQ in Santa Lucia, where we have more training. I live in the same town as 5 other PCTs, and we all get along great.
The things I thought I might have a hard time getting used to are the ones I've seemingly almost forgotten about: the toilet paper goes in the trash can, NOT the toilet; the water needs to be purified before drinking; I have to be home by dark; etc. There are certainly things that will take some getting used to, including the fireworks going off during ALL hours of the night, the 4am masses that last 2 hours, the rabid dogs, the machismo, and the conservative nature of the people.
I'm excited to learn what the people here have to teach me, including the many interesting aspects of the Mayan culture. I would love to work with some of the midwives here, but I won't know my real assignment until the middle of July. I have learned a few things from my language teacher, who is also a Mayan spiritualist: if you're in a room with a baby and you don't touch it, you and the baby have a bad connection and the baby will get sick; chewing three orange seeds will cure a fever; if you are stung by a bee, place a small stick behind each ear and the pain will go away; pineapple will get rid of kidney stones; if a scorpion bites you, you are to suck on a sugar cube and bite a machete; and pomegranates cure cancer. The Mayan midwives have the real secrets, but these are some common ones that Guatemalans know and use.
I had my first experience on a 'chicken bus' the other day. I suggest you Google that, because I don't think it's possible to describe the ridiculousness of these buses!! We're taking the bus again to Antigua on Saturday to get phones. If you'd like my number feel free to email me (megangokey@gmail.com) and I'll give it to you!
I've been pretty lucky thus far, I'm one of the only PCTs that has yet to get sick. After my lunch today, however, I might not make it.
The house that I'm living in is very nice - I have my own room that opens up to a courtyard. The kitchen is very open, as well as the bathroom and shower. I am lucky to have a real toilet and a (sometimes) hot shower. Some of my fellow PCTs have dirt floors and bucket baths, so needless to say I am easing in to the Guatemalan way of life rather than being slapped with it.

That's all for now folks, hope all is well will you all!!!