I apologize or the lack of a post last week. I was busy trying to prepare a POAA Plan Operativo Annual — basically a plan of action to accomplish a certain goal, FODAA business analysis tool that looks at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to accomplishing a certain objective, and charlatalk or presentation, usually informal and didn’t have time to blog.
So far I’ve had a couple requests to know what my daily life is like here so I will indulge those requests, though with a caveat. This coming Thursday I’ll find out my site for the next two years. Which means that this “Day In The Life” won’t be valid that much longer.
My daily morning view of Volcán de Agua captured in HDR
Volcán de Fuego captured in HDR
EVERY DAY
I wake up at different times each day but Monday through Friday I have my alarm set so I usually wake up around the time I have set. Maybe a little bit before then due to roosters crowing. Roosters crow at all hours of the night. All hours. When I return to the US I will hunt down whoever it was that spread that white-washing lie that roosters ONLY crow at dawn. I hope that whoever that is that they are already ruing. Also, there’s a tiendastore nearby that runs a generator around 5:30 in the morning. So there’s that alarm clock too.
I generally stay in bed for a half hour listening to my iPod to get me ready to face the day. Brush teeth, wash hands, wait for them to dry and put in contacts. Then I eat breakfast, sometimes with some of my family, usually by myself.
Typical breakfasts are pancakes, cornflakes with hot powdered milk, plátanos fritos, and eggs and beans. To drink: usually instant coffee or at times “atol” (a series of drinks all made from corn that share the same name).
Lunches typically are some sort of pasta with vegetables, just vegetables, or a vegetable soup. Such vegetables include: carrots, red bell peppers, potatoes, peas, güicoye and güisquil (both are gourds that are delicious). Lunch is usually eaten with mom sitting at the table (they generally eat later than I do). Also, there’s usually some sort of lemonade or other -ade that’s loaded with sugar.
Dinners are usually more varied than lunches and breakfasts but can include chuchitosa certain combination of meat or vegetable, tomato sauce, and corn dough wrapper in a leaf and boiled (meat or veggie matter and tomato sauce wrapped inside corn dough), tamalitosa certain combination of meat or vegetable, tomato sauce, and corn dough wrapper in a leaf and boiled (corn dough that contains edible leaves), tamalesa certain combination of meat or vegetable, tomato sauce, and corn dough wrapper in a leaf and boiled (corn dough with meat that I eat around) or beans. The chuchitosa certain combination of meat or vegetable, tomato sauce, and corn dough wrapper in a leaf and boiled, tamalitosa certain combination of meat or vegetable, tomato sauce, and corn dough wrapper in a leaf and boiled, and tamalesa certain combination of meat or vegetable, tomato sauce, and corn dough wrapper in a leaf and boiled are smothered in tomato sauce then wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks and boiled.
“Bon appétit” exists here as “buen provecho”. Literally translated it means “good digestion”. It’s can be said at the start of a meal or before parting with friends before a mealtime. Usually it’s said after the meal when one wants to be excused. The person who wants to be excused says “Muchas gracias” and everyone else still seated responds with “buen provecho”.
MONDAYS
Mondays I wake up around 6:00. Breakfast starts around 7:15 and I usually sit at the table talking with my mom until 7:50 at which point I prepare my bag for class.
In the beginning there were 4 other members of my Spanish group but then one was unfortunately med-sep’d (medically separated). Then after the second LPILanguage Proficiency Interview. The interview in the local language upon arriving in-country that sorts you into different language proficiencies: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Native. Those first three are further subdivided into Low, Medium, and High. It's hoped that you can achieve Intermediate Medium at the very least. If you start higher than that it is hoped that you can achieve Advanced Low. we gained another member from the neighboring town. The nest week we were split up so that there were 3 in one group and only one other in my group.
This whole time, however, we would hold class on a rotating basis: Graciela’s house one day, then Justo’s, etc.
Around 10am we break for refaccionessnacks. For a while we would go to whichever store was closest and buy prepackaged snacks. Then we found the panadería with the best banana bread in all of Guatemala. So now every day that we are in our CBT site during the morning we visit María and buy our Q1.75 (~$0.22) hefty piece of banana bread and a Q3 (~$0.40) glass bottle of Coke (made with real sugar). We are powerless to resist. Even after we split into two groups we still find each other around that time.
After our break we return to the house and continue with our Spanish class. At noon we break for lunch. We go our separate ways an return an hour later, ready for a nap.
We have Spanish class until 3 or so. At that point Justo and I generally go to the neighboring town to play soccer or hackey sack with 2 volunteers in that town. We return to our houses between 5:30 and 6:00 because it’ll be getting dark soon.
I eat dinner starting around 7:15. I’m usually the first to be fed and, consequently, the first to be finished. Nevertheless I just sip my atol or my coffee until 8:15. I try to hang on until then to stay and talk with my family but it usually happens more that I just listen. Which is still useful. It’s the other half of conversation-making after all.
Sometimes I shower after dinner. Other than that I just tool around until 9:00, around the time that I start to get myself ready for bed. Brush teeth, wash hands, wait for them to dry and then take out my contacts. Get in bed, lights out. Again I listen to my iPod and play a few games on it (Drop 7 anyone?).
TUESDAY
I usually wake up between 5:00 and 5:30 today because we have to head to the Peace Corps offices in Santa Lucía Milpas Altas and it’s about an hour away by camionetaA renovated school bus that has most likely been painted and outfitted with snazzy lights and a bangin' sound system. It's called a chicken bus because you can sometimes find chickens strapped to the roof. See chicken bus.. Breakfast is usually at 6:00 and by then my lunch is magically prepared for me (thanks bunches Doña!). All that’s left for me to do is pour my sugary ade.
Out the door by 6:25 to catch the 6:30 camionetaA renovated school bus that has most likely been painted and outfitted with snazzy lights and a bangin' sound system. It's called a chicken bus because you can sometimes find chickens strapped to the roof. See chicken bus. which Justo and I catch at The Devil’s Corner. On one of the corners of the main road and the road that separates our town from the neighboring town was painted 666. But it has since been painted over. Anna and Graciela catch the 6:00 bus direct for Guatemala city so they’re long gone. Instead, Justo and I have to connect through Antigua.
We usually arrive at the offices at 7:15 or so. We usually hang out with friends until classes start at 8:00 with the ring of the Pavlovian cow bell.
First class is usually a technical class for 2 hours where the Healthy Schools and SCT people part ways to receive technical capacitation. After that we reunite in the main salon and have a medical, security, or other capacitation until 4:00ish.
Lunch, however, is when the magic happens. The weather is what makes it. By lunchtime it’s warm enough that you can ditch your sweater (7000 ft above sea level) as you eat outside. There usually are few to no clouds and the views are spectacular. Not to mention you’re taking whatever food the other trainees don’t feel like eating. In addition there’s a vendor selling carrot cake for the low, low price of Q5 (~$0.60). Delicious.
More often than not, though, you have to find time to get a vaccine. So you’re either waiting in line to warm your food or you’re waiting in line to get vaccinated.
After classes we either hang around the offices and play sports or head to Antigua for a beer. Since I’ll be getting home late I’ll call my mom to let her know. After that final beer is drunk and final fry finished, it’s home for dinner on a rush-hour crowded camionetaA renovated school bus that has most likely been painted and outfitted with snazzy lights and a bangin' sound system. It's called a chicken bus because you can sometimes find chickens strapped to the roof. See chicken bus..
In bed at 9:00, iPod until I fall asleep.
WEDNESDAY
See Monday.
THURSDAY
See Monday until lunchtime. After lunch we have a half day of technical training usually from 2:00 to 6:00. All of the SCT volunteers meet in the same city and we are taught the subject du jour. Afterwards we hang out for 15 minutes to talk and, again, play hackey sack.
See Monday, resume from dinner.
FRIDAY
See Monday.
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
I group the weekend days together because there’s practically no distinction.
Wake up around 5:30 due to that blasted generator and fall asleep when it shuts down 20 minutes later.
Breakfast is generally a half hour after I emerge from my room.
After breakfast is prime fútbol and hackey sacking time. And the neighboring town is a good location or both. If it’s hackey sack then we’ll play in the central park or if it’s fútbol then we’ll play at the municipal stadium.
Around 1:00 we’ll head back for lunch but before that we’ll cool off with an ice cold Coke.
After lunch we generally hang out with one another until dinner. Then bed around 9:00, as usual.
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So that’s my week in a nutshell. Nothing outstanding but a simple existence from day to day. A nice life to have.
Coming up: this Thursday in the afternoon we SCT PCTs will find out our sites.
This coming Monday we will meet our counterparts and on Tuesday we’ll travel with them to our sites. Until that Friday when we return we’ll be learning more or less what our job will entail.
