Get Pumped

A year ago today I officially sworn in as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer (with so many milestones and anniversaries it is hard to keep up, right?), and therefore I have exactly one year left in Guatemala. To mark the anniversary I was considering writing up a list of goals for my last year, but then I realized I don’t have any. I jest. I have lots of goals actually, but I fear they would be of little interest to most people (like my blog in general), so I am going to share with you just one of them.

I was a gym junkie in the states—the kind that recognizes everyone else in the weight room on a Friday afternoon. Lifting weights, mixed in with some running or preferably a sport for cardio, is my favorite form of exercising. But since arriving in Guatemala I have yet to enjoy this pastime. The closet gym to me is in Cobán, and the thought of waiting/traveling for an hour and a half roundtrip in a packed micro after getting home from work after 5:00 pm is sufficiently unpleasant enough to have prevented me from ever going. One of my goals for this year was to work up the ganas to actually go to the gym.

But God has smiled upon me and instead of having to motivate myself to travel to the gym, He has brought the gym to Tactic. Lisa and I were walking through town yesterday on the way to one of the aldeas when we came upon the just opened Tactic Gym, fit with a squatting apparatus, bench press, free weights, and other equipment to my liking. In highly emotional moments I revert back to English, and to Lisa’s confusion I just started spouting out in my mother tongue how excited I was that there is now a gym in Tactic. I went in to ask the owner about times and prices, and he warned me that in the evenings the cycling machines are usually all taken. “Vaya,” I said with a laugh, “No estoy interesada en las bicicletas. Quiero usar esa máquina (pointing to the squat machine…I have no idea how to say “squat” in Spanish).” With a surprised look on his face, he replied that it shouldn’t be a problem.

So I have yet to go to the gym, but it kind of makes me a little giddy just knowing that it is here so close. Lisa has expressed interest in going with me to get rid of her “flabby stomach” (I told her that problem could be remedied with exercises I could teach her that can be done at home, but she said she would be embarrassed to work out in front of her mom and sisters), and I am so excited to finally recover some muscle tone. My goal for year two is to get pumped—not just in the physical way, but also in an overly-excited-teenage-summer-camp type way (I know it is horribly cheesy).

It is odd to think of a whole year as the “home stretch,” but with the rapidity in which my first year passed, I feel as if my time left in Guatemala is short. I want to live every moment here as if it were my last (yes, admittedly much easier said than done). I want to be pumped every time I give charlas to the women in their communities. I want to be pumped to find more new clients in the states and here in Guatemala. I want to be pumped to get Nu’Kem Fair Trade “certified.” I want to be pumped to learn how to weave (I joke with the women that after I learn I am going to steal their designs and start my own business in the states). I want to be pumped to pass on more business knowledge to the board of directors. I want to be pumped to live everyday—every fleeting day that I have left in this gorgeous country working with these amazing women—to its fullest.

4th of July Party!

2008 VAC...the hosts of the party.
Line for the American style food.

Burgers, beans, hot dogs, potato salad, chips, watermelon...

We were very happy the day was underway.

The dance party.

Aspiring Site Rat

After a two-week extended stay in Antigua, it feels wonderful to finally be back in Tactic. This was the longest amount of continuous time that I had been out of my site since arriving here, and by week two in Guatemala’s tourism mecca I was more than ready to go back home.

Due to its central location, the culinary and nightlife options it provides, and its proximity to the Peace Corps office, Antigua is more or less the de facto PCV gathering place. But just because it is the city in which every volunteer will have stayed at least once during his/her service doesn’t mean that everyone shares the same affinity for it. Among volunteers the Antigua love/hate spectrum is vast, with many, including myself, harboring a mixture of the two opposing sentiments. Some avoid Antigua like the plague while others make the trip there any time they get the chance.

Having spent a considerable amount of time in Antigua during my first year of service due to VAC meetings, client visits, and the occasional birthday or despedida, I must say the novelty and enjoyment of being there is increasingly wearing off. The draw of Antigua for many volunteers is in the fact that while you are there you forget you are in Guatemala—a mini sabbatical from the campo. But what I realized more than ever during this last trip, my life in the campo—with women wearing traje, people speaking Poqom, chuchos roaming the streets, my Tactiqueño friends who I see everyday, and the solitary nights in my house—is more normal to me now than the western luxuries of Antigua. And although I know circumstances (and probably eventually my sanity) will not allow it, right now I desire nothing more than to stay put in Alta Verapaz for the rest of my service.

Spanglish

Below is a hypothetical conversation between two Guatemala Peace Corps Volunteers. Sadly (for any future job prospects or simply coherent speech), this is how we really talk…

PCV 1: “I saw the funniest bolo last night, but I didn’t have any saldo so I couldn’t tell you about it.”

PCV 2: “Why didn’t you aprovechar of the triple día yesterday?”

PCV 1: “Saber. Tal vez, because I was in a capacitación with my alcalde all day at the muni.”

PCV 2: “Hey, did you hear that a ladrón stole 300Q from Tom yesterday? He was on a camioneta on the way to Chimalt.”

PCV 1: “De veras? That sucks. Do you have any more chisme?”

PCV 2: “Nada. I’ve got to run. I need to platicar with my APCD about a taller I putting on mañana.”

PCV 1: “Pues, I have to prepare for a charla too. Here’s some dinero for the cuenta. Cabal?”

PCV 2: “Yeah. Cabal. Later.”

PCV 1: “Nos vemos.”

Mayan Niece

Happy Birthday Uncle Sam

After a very successful All Volunteer Conference yesterday (a post to follow soon-ish), its time for the final day of the two-part event we (the Volunteer Advocacy Council) have been planning for months. About 160 volunteers and 30 of their guests and will be gathering today in an undisclosed location (apparently that many gringos in one place poses a major security risk that goes on the Embassy’s radar) to celebrate the birth of our nation. After all the work that has gone into making this celebration a reality, I want nothing more than to enjoy an ice-cold beverage (or two) and a tasty hamburger. Let’s just hope it doesn’t rain!

La Gran Fiesta

The junta with their gallos.
A thank you to the Premio sponsoring organization, AGER.

Marimba group from Tamahú.

Me and the girls.

Yolanda and Kevin.