I’ve been at site for about 2 weeks now, and life has kind of slowed down a bit. I haven’t really started working in the schools yet because, unfortunately, most of the teachers in Guatemala are on strike right now so there are no classes. Also, a director of one of my schools died in a motorcycle accident the weekend after I arrived at site. Needless to say the community is going through a rough time right now. Last Monday I met with my counterpart or CTA (Coordinación Tecnica Administrativo) at his office which is in the municipal building right near my house, and I accompanied him and some other teachers to the funeral. I was a little overwhelmed because I was brand new in town, attending a funeral of someone I had never even met, while meeting half of my teachers and directors of my schools who were obviously devastated by the loss of their friend. It was a little stressful, and I felt like I was just kind of thrown into it but it was a blessing at the same time because I felt like I was there to support my new community in such a hard time. Ever since then I see a lot of the people I met around town, so it was a good opportunity to get to know some of the people I’m going to be working with. I was amazed that even though something awful had just happened, they were still thinking about me and trying to help me integrate into the community. People here are so selfless and are truly willing to take me under their wing. Even though it was a weird way to start off my job, it made me really excited to be here and to start building relationships with people.
I’ve visited both of my municipal buildings… there’s one in my town and one in Cajolá. They are both in the same school district but there are 2 different municipal buildings with different mayors. So I went to each muni and met the mayors with my counterpart and explained a little bit about Peace Corps and Healthy Schools and that I’m here for the next 2 years as a volunteer. They were really nice and welcoming, and I’m looking forward to working with them during my service. I won’t be working in the muni that much but I would go to the mayor for example to ask for funding for a project in a school such as a water project or building bathrooms or something like that. Peace Corps does not fund projects… my job is to go in and get the schools and community motivated to start projects on their own and get funding from the community and the muni so that when I’m no longer here, the community can do projects on their own. I’ve also introduced myself to the health centers, the volunteer firefighters, and the police. It’s nice to build those relationships because then they kind of watch out for you in town and if I ever need anything I can go to them for help. Also, I can collaborate with the health centers because they do a lot of work in the schools as well.
I’m definitely ready to start working, but at the same time it has been nice having time to get settled and have time to adjust to my new environment. I have a lot of time to just be on my own… with Suki of course… and cook and read and take long walks around the town. Suki and I discovered our new favorite walking path. It’s up on a mountain above the cemetery in my town and at the top it’s just a bunch of beautiful farmland. It’s so tranquil and beautiful and I feel like the air is actually clean up there. It’s nice to go up there and let Suki off his leash to run around and to just take it all in. The hill getting up there almost kills me but I call it my training hill. I need to get used to the altitude and the hills so that I can conquer some volcanoes!
I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time alone, but I’ve been learning a lot about myself and how to manage all my free time. I’ve just been enjoying the benefits of not having much to do. Usually I take a walk around town and go to random tiendas to get to know the owners and chat a little bit. I have to say I’ve become very good at cooking on my gas stove, taking bucket baths, and doing my own laundry in the pila J Megan and I have also been hanging out a lot… we have yoga-dinner dates. I made the other half of my room a yoga studio pretty much so she comes over and I teach her yoga and then we cook together afterwards. We have a lot of fun! I also can escape into Xela when I get sick of hanging out by myself. I can go get a nice lunch there or go to an actual grocery store and buy peanut butter and other normal food J This past weekend a bunch of us met up in Xela to hang out. It was nice to see some of the other volunteers from my training class and to talk about our sites and our frustrations with the strike. At least everyone is in the same boat. I guess that’s why our service is 2 years long because things like this happen. Also, next week is Semana Santa or Easter week so even if the strike ends there are still no classes next week because of the holiday. Hopefully I’ll finally start working in May! I guess I can use this time to go over lesson plans and what not so that when I actually start working I’ll be super prepared!
For now I’m just going to take advantage of the free time that I have and embrace every moment! I’m so blessed to be here and even though things aren’t working out the way I thought they would, every day here is a learning experience and a blessing. It’s easy to get frustrated or impatient but I know that I am here for a reason and even though I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything, I’m doing more than I think just by being here. I feel like this is God’s way of testing me and testing my patience. Between trying to train Suki not to tear up my entire house while I’m gone, dealing with him waking me up every morning at 5:15am by jumping on my head and biting my face, spending countless hours on camionetas, and waiting out a teacher’s strike, I’ll say that I have definitely learned some patience. But it’s all worth it! The other day I was out walking with Suki and we went up to the basketball courts where a women’s team was playing, and I just started talking to some of the kids hanging around, and they kept asking me all kinds of questions and playing with Suki and laughing at me when I spoke in English. It’s these kinds of moments that remind me why I’m here and keep me motivated. Now when I walk down the street the kids shout out my name… well first they shout out Suki’s name and then mine but I’ll take what I can get. It feels good to walk out my door and have people know me by name…. if makes me feel like I’m a part of their community which is what a lot of this experience is about… becoming part of a community that is not my own.
I’m not sure what God has in store for me in the next few months, but I know He has a plan and that no matter what my time here is going to be amazing and fulfilling in more ways than I can even imagine right now. I’m just going to take each day as it comes and not worry about what’s going to happen tomorrow or I might miss the beauty of today J
No comments:
Post a Comment