La Sustancia de Mi Vida Acá Llega

I've now finished my first working at Camino Seguro, and it's been great, meaningful, powerful, tiring, fun, stimulating, and a million other things. However, before I get into that, I took a trip last weekend that deserves some mention.

Someone I'd met at the language school asked if I wanted to come along on a trip to Semuc Champey, which he described as being highly recommended, involving water and caves, and costing not-that-much money. So, I said I was in without really asking for any more info. Because I went on a tour of the Camino Seguro facilities, I wasn't at school to sign-up with the rest of the folk, and went into Friday morning knowing just what I described above and having no idea if I was going for sure. Sure enough I showed up, signed up during our midmorning break, and left at 2 PM that day. My host-mom found it somewhere between funny and unbelievable that I was committing to the trip knowing just about nothing about it, not even a real price or return or departure times, but the trip was a lovely adventure so I'd say my methods served me. Semuc Champey is a nature area with beautiful natural pools that you can swim in, waterfalls and cliffs and rope-swings to jump off of, a river to tube down, and a partially submerged cave to explore by candle-light. We did all of that in just one day. It's about 9 hours away from Antigua, so Friday and Sunday were both travel days, leaving Saturday as the day of nonstop awesomeness. Aside from Semuc Champey being so cool itself, the group I went with made the trip really fun. I only knew 4 out of the 10 people going before I got on the van, but by the end I'd say I got know everyone quite well. Everyone on the trip was interesting, but also really laid back, good traits to have for 2 long busrides and 1 chock-full of activity. I laughed a lot, and learned a lot about Taiwan, life at a small christian college in MI, entrepreneurship, and LA's Persian Jews, among other things. It was a blast.

Some pictures:

Monday morning I woke up at 6:30 to catch a the Camino Seguro volunteer bus into Guate (what the capital is usually called here). Monday was orientation for the 11 new volunteers, which is a huge amount given that the program usually has around 40 at a time all of whom are there for 5 weeks at the very least. Because there were so many of us, orientation took the whole 8 hours, and we didn't find out our jobs and start working until the next day. Tuesday morning on the bus, I found out that I would be working with Segundo Básico (8th grade) and Quinto Primario (5th grade). I was supposed to start out shadowing someone, but the person I was supposed to shadow was sick, so I just jumped right in. The first day went amazingly well and each day after went only better. Basically, Camino Seguro provides the kids with meals, English lessons, and homework support so it's not like we have to have lesson plans that progressively cover huge topics. Basically, I walk around and see which kids want help with homework, and if no one has any questions, do my best to maintain order and calm, and to keep the kids with no homework learning or engaged or at the very least, entertained. Mostly I've helped with English and Math, and I really feel like I've helped some of the kids learn some important concepts, which is really satisfying.

As I somewhat explained in an earlier post, the kids who get to go to Camino Seguro come from families that live on the edges of, and/or work in the huge garbage dump. The main criteria for choosing from all of the kids of the community around the dump is need, as determined by Camino Seguro's social workers. That means that a lot of the kids I work with don't just come from poor backgrounds, they come from families that can be abusive, full of addicts, or non-existant. Because of this, the personal relationship I form with the kids has a significance thats a lot deeper than just getting them comfortable enough with me to ask for help with homework. It's been hard trying to building a relationship with about 50 kids in just 4 days (especially because I'm not very good with names), but I can already talk to and get a grin out of most of the kids (which is so gratifying to see on a face that comes in grim, dirty, glum) and I know that my connection with the kids will only get deeper. I know I haven't done much at all yet, bust already I'm somewhat lost for words when it comes to expressing what a difference I see in the kids even after just a few days trying to convey to the kids that they do have personal value and trying to give them something to smile about.

That said, teaching--especially in my second language to kids from rough backgrounds-- isn't all fun and easy smiles and cooperation. I'm still struggling to earn serious respect from some kids, and the chaos that arises when a lot of kids aren't working can really do a number on you. Friday only a couple of kids in my older class had homework, and that got to be exhausing really quickly. I took a nap after I ate which helped, but as always, a certain few kids were being really uncooperative about taking their vitamins, waiting their turn to get toothpaste, and lining up to head to the classroom, and that put me on edge. We were scheduled for gym class that day, and it was raining, which meant that there would be combined, indoor gym class (which is notoriously chaotic) and my patience was already running short. Fortunately, English class was first, and I was reminded in a very direct and powerful way what I was working for. Because the next day was Teacher's Day, the lesson for the day was to make Happy Teacher's Day cards for their teacher, who they've been with now for a year and a half. To my surprise, several kids asked for a second sheet of construction paper, and made me a card too. All of the cards had really sweet messages, and it was particularly touching because a couple of them came from kids I'd been struggling to get the right kind of respect from. Just like that, my day was turned around, I maintained my enthusiasm through a chaotic gym class, and came home for the weekend feeling satisfied in what I'd accomplished during my first week.

Stepping back from Camino Seguro to talk about something else (which as I had been warned beforehand, can be a challenge), Saturday morning I went with a friend and climbed Volcán Pacaya, a volcano not far from Antigua that just erupted last year. It was cool to see huge swathes of land freshly covered in volcanic ash, the views were lovely when the clouds parted for a moment, and all of the colors were vivid, but we didn't realize that the standard hike doesnt actually go all the way to the top. It only costs $8 more to get a guide to take you up to the crater at the peak where you can see the lava, but since we came with a group and didn't know it beforehand, there was nothing to be done. Maybe I'll do the full thing some time as a night-time hike, which is supposed to be amazing.

Photo-evidence:

3 things that are different here

1. Right now it is the rainy season, so you can count on it to rain hard once during the afternoon. Unfortunately, it also can rain several times a day (e.g. today, when rain spoiled plans to take a walk up to the gringo hippy avocado farm/commune/hostel, and to play ultimate frisbee).

2. Because of the climate, most multi-room buildings have open-air hallways and an open patio. Paths from room to room have overhangs so that you can walk from place to place without getting wet, but since there's no need for AC or heat, everything's pretty open.

3. The dynamic between locals and foreigners here is different from any I've experienced. Maybe not so drastically different, but especially here in Antigua--Guatemala's tourist HQ--it's always present. My perspective isn't fair of course because I haven't gone anywhere off the beaten path for foreigners so everyone I've been around has been very used to foreigners coming and going, but even considering what I've experienced just a substrain of Guatemalan culture, I haven't ever spent time in a place where such a big proportion of people get their livelihoods from tourist-related industries. I think especially because of the language barrier (if you look gringo, you're assumed to speak slim-to-no Spanish), I get the sense that when people look at me and see a gringo, I'm thought of either as being a possible source of money, or as common oddity that isn't particularly interesting. Of course, there are Guatemalans who are very kind to and interested by foreigners, but especially before people realize that I speak Spanish, I feel like there's a preconception that I can only have the same amount of significance to them as all the other gringos they see, and no thought that I might be of any interest past that. It's a subtle difference that might be more pronounced for me because I've always lived in a pretty small and interconnected community, but it is a bit disconcerting for me. All the same, even where this preconception is present, it can be overcome. I know a lot of people do form close relationships with Guatemalans, and hopefully I'll soon be one of those people.

Coming Up:

-My second week at Camino Seguro

-A whirlwind tour of northern Guatemala over the four-day weekend

Se Empieza-- Llego y Empiezo a Acostumbrarme

This post is quite long, but hey-- EVERYTHING is new at this point so there's a lot to say. Hopefully I'll be able to be more concise in the future. All the same, I'm writing more to document things than for whatever audience there may be, so I don't feel too bad. I guess the bottom line is, don't worry if you want to skim.

Sunday night, only an hour or so after my plane was supposed to have landed, I arrived in Guatemala. My plane had been delayed for mechanical difficulties in Dallas but I wasn't too upset about as it let me spend more time with the massage machines in the Brookstone. The whole travelling process went smoothly, though I was a touch frightened about a half hour before we landed because we flew right through the middle of a very electrically active thunderstorm. Anyway, I arrived and found my ride without any problem. Oscar, who was very friendly, laughed with me for a lot of the hour long ride as he told stories of awkward rides with nervous gringas who didn't speak any spanish. Soon, we pulled up to my homestay, a nice little red house in the northeast corner of town. I met the father, Hector who welcomed me, showed me my room, explained the shower, and politely left me to sleep. This house has two rooms for students, but until Sunday I'm the only guest. My room is cozy and comfortable except for the mattress, which is very worn down in the middle and has springs that stick through the top (for the first few nights I covered them with socks so they wouldnt poke me through the sheets, but I just flipped the mattress and put the bad that had been under it on top of it, so hopefully tonight I'll be more comfortable). Regardless, I've had no problem sleeping so far, so I can't complain too much.

For my first few days, the morning routine was the same-- wake up at 6:30, at 7 go downstairs and eat breakfast with Sandra, the mother. The family doesn't have the same meal schedule as the one that seems to be standard for homestays here, (7, 1, and 7), but someone (almost always Sandra) keeps the student company during every meal. Sandra is a very good cook, extremely nice, and tremendously talkitive-- a good combination of traits for someone who cooks your meals then sustains a conversation with you despite the fact that your mouth is full most of the time. Sandra is also very positive and optimistic-- the two sentences I've heard the most from her definitely have to be "Tu español es perfecto!" and "Te va a gustar!" ("Your Spanish is perfect!" and "You're going to like it!". Her positivity has definitely been nice these past few days as I'm still settling in and trying to make friends and figure out what to be doing and all that jazz. Anyway, after breakfast I head down to Escuela de Español la Unión where I've been taking classes. I have one-on-one lessons with Walter, who's in his late 20s, really nice, and a very good teacher. Mostly I we just ask each other questions about whatever, and he corrects me and teaches me vocabulary as we go. I'm glad I took the class because in addition to tidying up my grammar, I now have my own dictionary of Guatemalan slang. Probably even more importantly, I have mostly mastered conjugating verbs for vos, which is the even less formal version of you that is used here but is neither used in Chile nor taught in the US, but especially important to know as a guy here because if one guy addresses another as tú rather thanvosorusted, it is generally interpreted as meaning that you are romantically interested in them, which is not a message I want to be sending (of course people give foreigners some slack, but especially if I'm going to be working with kids, I'd rather avoid the issue). Classes go from 8 AM to 12 or 1 PM, with nice 30 minute break in the middle to mingle with other students. After class I walk 5 blocks to get home for lunch, then from there see how I can spend the day.

Each day La Unión (the Spanish school) has some activity that they offer their students. Monday they offered a free salsa and merengue class, so I went and actually had fun. Monday I also went for a walk with the intention of getting a little lost to explore the town, but I got a little more lost than I intended to and got home more than two hours later. Tuesday I didn't do whatever La Unión's activity was because I went on a walking tour of Antigua with the volunteer coordinator for Camino Seguro (my volunteer program) and a few of the other volunteers who are starting this week. The volunteers all seem cool people, and we decided to all go out that night to a one bar people had recommended to us, which is probably the most gringo bar in town (while there's nothing wrong with the place being full of foreigners, I found it ridiculous that they served Bacardi rum instead of one of the many Guatemalan rums that are supposed to be really good). Later in the evening, I joined some people from the Spanish school at the dancehall next door to the bar. For an hour or so they just played music for salsa, and there were some really good (intimidating) salsa dancers (I still attempted to pretend salsa competence once). After a while though, they started playing reggaeton and other music that you can dance more freely to and I had a good time. Wednesday after lunch, I went with some folk from the la Unión up to the top of Cerro de la Cruz, which has a great view of the whole of Antigua, with the behemoth that is Volcán de Agua as a backdrop.

Today instead of going to class I went into the capital, commonly referred to as Guate for a tour of Camino Seguro's facilities. I'm not going to say too much about it, because I'm sure I'll have a good bit to say once I'm more familiar with it, but it's really impressive how much they've built up given that they were founded just twelve years ago by one twenty-something year old. They have all kinds of educational and self-betterment programs for people who work collecting garbage in Central America's largest dump, which is pretty much right in the middle of the city.

The back 1/4 of the garbage dump-- a crowd gathers to sort through the latest delivery of trash

A stark contrast: a playground in the camino seguro compound, and just across the wall, shantytown built on landfill, and just past that the landfill (you can see a yellow truck)

So far I've had a pretty easy time settling in, but I'm eager to get started because while Antigua is really nice, really pretty, and full of old churches (both restored and in ruins), the fact that it's so full of tourists makes me uncomfortable for some reason--I feel like the presence of so many hapless Gringos makes locals assume at a glance that I can't hold a conversation in Spanish and that I'm just swinging through to see the sights. Maybe I was a bit spoiled by my time in Curicó, where I could blend in with a lot more ease, and there were hardly any foreigners to begin with. More than that, I want to feel like I'm doing more with my time, especially since I really believe in Camino Seguro (although they still haven't told me how exactly I'll be helping). 10 hour days will be exhausting but I think they'll be really rewarding. Plus, I keep hearing how great the community of volunteers is, and I'd like to have some friends I can call to hang out with in the evenings. So, I'm very much looking forward to what's ahead-- a tentative trip with a few people from La Unión to the underwater caves at Semuc Champey this weekend, then starting at Camino Seguro on Monday.

I know that this post is already a little bit absurdly long, but since it seemed like the most popular feature of my Chile blog, I'm going to do it any how. Without further ado:

three things that are different here

1. There are tons and tons of cars with heavily tinted windows. I suspect this might have to do with the presence of drug money, which people say is the reason for all of the nice cars around here.

2. Tortillas here are about six inches in diameter, and are doughier than those you find in the US, and are served with basically everything.

3. There's a lot to say about all of the ways in which money is different here-- its done in Quetzales (about 7.8 to a dollar), the same amount of it buys a lot more of just about everything except technology, but what I find most extreme is the difference in salaries. Examples: My Spanish teacher, who has certification and is one of the better teachers in one of the better schools, makes less than $3 an hour. My host-mother who is a certified physical therapist, only gets $12 for each 1.5 hour therapy session (if you consider all of the paperwork she has to do because she works independently, she probably gets just about what would be minimum wage in the US). The minimum wage here is just under a dollar an hour, and there are a lot of people who don't even make that, both because the law isn't well-enforced, and because so many people work in the informal economy-- including those Camino Seguro serves who collect recyclables in the dump, and many of the people I see in the street, trying to sell their wares to tourists. Even with cheaper prices here, that's often not enough to afford even just the things that Americas consider the barest of necessities.

I'm already rethinking my priorities, already re-evaluating the value of basic opportunity, already feeling like my perspective has started to change significantly.

A New Adventure, This Time with More Purpose

This Sunday-- June 12th, I leave for Guatemala. I will be volunteering at an educational center in Guatemala City called Safe Passage/Camino Seguro. It's a strange feeling, venturing off into the world again, and yet my pre-departure excitement/angst is a whole lot different than what I experienced right before I left for Chile, now almost two years ago. Blogging like this is something I haven't done since right after I returned from Chile, and going through the same simple little motions in such a different mind state is really making me realize that this trip to Guatemala is really different from anything I've done (if you're interested, you can browse my blog from Chile here).

The difference that I like the most about it is that these next two months will be the first extended period in my life where my primary goal is to enrich the world more than to enrich myself (although that is a goal too). I'll be working 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at the educational center, probably as a teaching assistant but I've committed to doing what they need me to do, and I will do it regardless of how much I want to at that given moment (my motivation is prone to waning at 8 AM). The only thing I might have dedicated a bigger chunk of my time to is school, but even that is a bit more amorphous and flexible. While I'm a little nervous about how exhausting 8 hours a day teaching in Spanish could be (if that's the job I end up with), I'm glad that it's a cause I believe in--ending poverty cycles through education.

This trip will be a lot less structured than just about every other experience in my life. Aside from free time during vacations, there's always been someone or something providing external structure for my time. While my choice to volunteer means that I'll be doing the same thing during working hours, all of my time will be spent doing things that I choose to do, and the choices don't fall within the established narrow path that we are encouraged to follow (elementary school to middle school to high school to college to internships/more school). I guess volunteering abroad really isn't that far outside the mold, but still there's something to it that's more independent, more outside of the career-development conveyor belt than anything else I've done. I don't really know how to feel about this. On the one hand, I think it will be closer to a taste of what I'm tempted to call "real life", by which I think I just mean real independence. On the other hand, even within the moderately structured exchange program I did in Chile, I felt pretty isolated and detached, particularly for the first two months.

I don't feel like there's too much I can say to make this tie together (especially without falling into the trap of sharing oddly personal things on a public blog, which my friends and I were just laughing about last night). I guess the bottom line is, regardless of how stressful or soothing lonely or enjoyable, this trip ends up being, I'm pretty confident that I'll be doing good things, and that the experience will be one that I won't regret.