Saturday, May 30, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Vote for us!

The volunteers from the Verapaces are making t-shirts again this year for our upcoming 4th of July Celebration. We are currently voting between the following two options:


Anyway the company, Custom Ink (I highly recommend using them if you ever want to design a t-shirt), through which I bought last year’s t-shirts and I am going to buy the ones for this year has a weekly photo contest in which the winner gets $100 off the next purchase.

Since we are poor Peace Corps volunteers that $100 discount would be very much appreciated, so please go to the Custom Ink website and give a high rating to our team picture from last year. And please leave a comment so it appears that we are really popular.

I know we are competing against cute kindergartners, cancer survivors, advocacy groups, and other do-gooders, but…dammit we are going to lose. Vote for us anyway, porfa.

Monday, May 25, 2009

The Degreed Ms. Griffin

In Guatemala less than 3% of the population has a college degree (that is a conservative estimate…it is probably less). The majority of the people who are college educated live in and around the capital, so out in the “campo” like Tactic that percentage is even lower.

In the US an undergraduate degree has basically become a minimum requirement for most jobs, but here it is a huge achievement that brings with it a lot of respect. It is such a big accomplishment that it is noteworthy to put on a business card and to announce when presenting yourself to new people. Although it is culturally appropriate, I would feel ridiculously pretentious ever saying, “Soy la Licenciada Kathryn Griffin (I am the degreed Kathryn Griffin),” to someone I just met, but I do have it written on my business cards.

The reaction I get (especially among men) when I present my business card is that of awe. How does a woman so young (because of the cost of going to college many people work and only take classes one day a week so it takes a long time to finish a degree) have her degree? Then I am expected to know everything.

Have you ever performed brain surgery before?

No, but I am degreed.

Great. Here’s the scalpel.

Friday, May 22, 2009

The Gang

The final four of the Small Business Development program.
SBD RIP

The ladies of Youth Development.

The Appropriate Technology Baja kids.

Lingering.

Sad that it is over.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

One Last Time

My group had its COS (Close of Service) conference last week in Antigua. Twenty-seven of us boarded a plane together destined for Guatemala on May 2, 2007. After losing two people in training and then another two during the first months of service, twenty-three of us were left to celebrate our time in Guatemala and plan for life after Peace Corps. Although we have two months left until our service officially ends, it was the last time we will all be together.

Some of us are entering grad school programs. Some of us are going to travel. Some of us are embarking on the job search in the states. Some of us are continuing our service in Guatemala. Some of us are transferring to serve in China. One of us is getting married (Congratulations Felipe!).

But regardless of our future plans and where life may take us, all of us will forever share the life changing experience of spending two years as United States Peace Corps Volunteers in Guatemala.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Rock & Rip-off

About a month ago a friend took me to a store in the capital where they sell “name brand” clothing for really cheap. Of course I was skeptical, but because Guatemala receives so much used clothing from the states, I thought perhaps the country was a depository for out of season or flawed items as well.

The place was full of 7 For All Mankind, Joe’s, Citizen’s of Humanity, and True Religion jeans. It felt just like a Needless Markup…except for the clothes piled haphazardly onto large wooden tables and the lack of snooty sales associates (you may be working at Neiman Marcus, but you’re still in retail).

After trying on a handful of styles, I settled on a pair from Rock & Republic. I had been looking over some of the goods in the store and I was still unsure if they were old, overstocked, slightly defective, or just flat out counterfeited, but I decided to take a 50Q gamble and buy the jeans because they fit well.

When I got home, I conducted a more thorough inspection of the R&R jeans by comparing them to a pair I had brought with me to Guatemala. The labels seemed legit, but then I noticed this…


Counterfeiting 101: Don’t sew a Gap button onto a pair of Rock & Republic jeans.

Smart Shopping 101: Don’t buy a pair of Rock & Republic jeans with a Gap button.

But despite their lack of authenticity, the R&R/Gap jeans are comfortable and only set me back six bucks, so I have little cause for complaint.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Monday, May 11, 2009

Being Brown

I thoroughly enjoy engaging taxi drivers in conversation. Since we are restricted from taking public transportation in the capital, I have to take a taxi anytime I am traveling to or through Guate. A surprising number of the drivers have spent some time in the states or have a relative there (mojado), and most of them are intrigued why an American would want to leave the United States to live in Guatemala. Usually the conversation is a simple exchange involving questions about what I am doing here, comments about the weather, and musings about Colom’s job performance.

But every once and I while, I get a driver who wants to fully aprovechar of my 20 minutes in his car to pick my gringa brain. I had one such taxista before leaving on my trip to the US last month. During the ride from the Monja Blanca bus station to my hotel, we covered Guatemalan politics, American politics, the economic crisis, and approaches to development. The trip wasn’t long enough for him to pose all his questions and hear my opinions, so when we pulled into my hotel, he parked the car to continue the conversation. It seemed as if he had one last burning topic to breach, and he hesitantly put forth a final question/observation.

“I imagine that you encounter a lot of discrimination in your country, given that you are black.”

“I’m not black.”

“Well, you’re very brown.”

I went on to explain to my inquisitive taxi driver that although I am “very brown,” I am not discriminated against in the United States. Yes, brown people very often face discrimination, but they are usually Hispanics. Many Americans hear a person with a Spanish accent and stereotypically assume that he/she is an uneducated illegal immigrant from Mexico stealing a hardworking American’s job and living off the government. But since I don’t have a Spanish accent, even though I am brown, that racial stereotype is not applied to me.

Usually.

It was just the following day as I arrived on American soil at the Miami International airport that my theory was destroyed. Being brown coupled with the assumption that I am Latino is enough to warrant discrimination.

During my Peace Corps service I have made three trips to the states. Every time I have filled out my customs paperwork as an American citizen residing in Guatemala and visiting the United States, and every time I have faced slight to overt discrimination.

The first time I went back to the states was in June of 2008 for my cousin’s wedding. It had been over a year since I had been in my native country, and for some reason I kind of assumed I would get a “Welcome home.” On the contrary, the immigration official at DFW harassed me because I didn’t know the address of the hotel where I was staying in Austin.

“Well, if you are supposedly going to your cousin’s wedding, wouldn’t you be staying at her house?”

“I don’t know how many weddings you have attended where the bride and groom lodge all their guests, but this isn’t one of them. We are staying in a hotel of which unfortunately I don’t know the address.”

The official was not amused, but she eventually let me pass without further questioning. I thought this was an isolated and slightly comical incident until similar things happened to me during my next two trips to the states.

I have traveled a good bit and coming back from various countries in Europe and Africa, I have encountered nothing but pleasant and dutiful immigration officers. But I always had a United States address to go home to. It was during my last visit to Boston that I eventually realized it isn’t a coincidence that every official I’ve had since being in Peace Corps has been unpleasant and mistrustful. Now that I am residing in Guatemala and visiting the states, my brownness makes me suspicious.

But the thing is, I make it very clear that I am a Peace Corps Volunteer. I write it on my immigration forms, and I state it when I am asked what I am doing in Guatemala. There is even a big sticker on the front of my passport saying I am in Peace Corps and if that isn’t enough, “The bearer is a Peace Corps Volunteer,” is also typed on the back page. But even with my clearly and repeatedly asserted reason for being in Guatemala, I am still treated with suspicion.

Perhaps the fact that I am “allegedly” a Peace Corps Volunteer is dismissed in the zealous search to find anyone trying to enter the United States illegally. I am sure for an immigration official catching a traveler in a lie would add a little excitement to an otherwise monotonous day spent stamping passports. And a brown person with an American passport coming from Central America is probably more likely to provide that thrill than a white person in the same situation.

The demeanor of the official I encountered in Miami during my last trip was beyond unpleasant. He actually appeared to be angry with me. I answered all of his numerous curt questions, but apparently he was not convinced that the only thing other my personal effects in by bag was four bags of coffee. He sent me to have my suitcase inspected by customs. They found four bags of coffee.

I know immigration officials play a very important role in keeping our country safe, but they are also frontline ambassadors to the United States. They are the first Americans travelers encounter when coming to our “nation of immigrants.” Yes, they need to carefully question travelers to ensure no one is entering illegally, but the process can and should be done in a pleasant and respectful manner. With the antagonistic officials I have faced during my last three times returning to the states, I have wanted to yell, “I am a law-abiding American citizen dammit!” But I knew such an outburst would probably get me escorted to a windowless interrogation room. So I just answered all their seemingly endless, sometimes slightly ridiculous, but always brusque questions. I keep thinking that if this is the reception I get as a citizen how unpleasant going through immigration must be for a foreigner. Welcome to the United States right.

Friday, May 8, 2009

More Awards

Mayor Hugo Caal giving the welcoming statement.

Men's basketball champs.

Ceremony flag bearers.

"Urban" area soccer champs.

José cracking jokes.
(I filmed the awards ceremony for the local television station, and José gave a shout out to all those fans watching us live on ESPN Deportes.)

"Rural" area soccer champions.

(Notice how much bigger the 1st place soccer trophies are than the basketball trophies. Basketball will always take a backseat to fútbol in Guatemala. But no complaints here.)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Take Charge

One of my favorite things in basketball is taking charges. From the outset of a game, I start analyzing players to identify those whose style of play would make them prone to commit an offensive foul. Since we had already played against Rubel Chaim numerous times, I already knew the best way to defend against Mimi (the best player from that team) was to take a charge because she aggressively attacks the basket.

I had been trying to convince the girls on my team to do the same. “Solamente tenés que parar en su camino y aguantar el golpe. No lo duele mucho.” But the girls (and everyone else in the league) have an aversion to purposely taking a beating, so when Mimi is going strong to the hoop, they all just get out of the way.

Not I. I see Mimi barreling down the lane as a perfect opportunity to put my body between her and the basket and take a charge. And such an opportunity presented itself during the championship game…



(Because this was shot in widescreen, it looks better on Youtube. Here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB54fCoF5uE)

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Premiación

The goods.
The former champions, now in 2nd place.

The new Tactic champions.

My team with the mayor.

My coach.

Friday, May 1, 2009

We are the Champions

After having to change the date twice to fit my schedule (I have a little cuello since I work in the sports office), we finally played the finals for the Tactic basketball league this past Monday.

There were two men’s games and two women’s games scheduled for the evening, capped off by the women’s championship game in which my team, Tactic, played against the defending champions Rubel Chaim.

Going into the game, Rubel Chaim had never lost a championship game and had beaten my team twice in regular season play. We were the underdogs, but we ended up with the big victory.

It was a very tight game and going into the 4th quarter we were losing by five points. But we were able to rally and came out on top by a margin of four points.

I had taught my team the basics of a stall offensive, so when we pulled into the lead with under five minutes left to play, we implemented it. It worked marvelously. When the clock is ticking down, the women here are accustomed to running around like chickens with their heads cut off, regardless of whether their team is winning or losing. So when we slowed down the pace of the game and made safe perimeter passes, Rubel Chaim didn’t know how to react to it. They were frustrated which caused their defense to breakdown and allowed us, after running minutes off the clock, to get easy baskets in the paint.

It was a sweet victory, but we are not going to sit back and savor it for very long. We have practice this Saturday morning to get ready for the next league, which should be starting in about a month. We are looking for a repeat.