Gripe Porcina

Guatemala has not been immune to the worldwide Influenza A panic. To the contrary, it seems to have embraced it.

At last count there were some 120 confirmed cases of the flu in the country. Due to this “high number,” the Ministry of Education has suspended school for 15 days, public events and gatherings have been cancelled or postponed (including the Cobán half marathon), and government officials have asked people to stay in their homes. Soccer matches are excluded from the restrictions, because they occur in “open air”…and their cancellation could lead to civil unrest.

But it’s just the flu.

When gripe porcina (or “gripe de coche” as it is sometimes called here) was first discovered and thought to be dangerous, Peace Corps put us on alert and sent us instructions to prepare to “shelter-in-place.” We were to begin to stockpile food, water, medicine, and other necessary supplies sufficient enough to be able to quarantine ourselves in our homes for a week or two should the flu reach our communities. I bought a lot of Coke Light.

As the Guatemalan government has scrambled to obtain units of Tamiflu, the drug used to treat Influenza A, I have my own supply of the medicine safely tucked away in my medical kit. Due to the avian flu scare back in 2005, Peace Corps began issuing a package to Tamiflu to each volunteer. During training the medical officer (PCMO) explained the use of all the contents of our med kits (including a plastic emergency whistle). Since Tamiflu runs at over $100 per package, we were told to never use it unless we had explicit authorization from the PCMO. We actually have to present our unused Tamiflu to be able to leave the country at the end of our service. I am not quite sure what the consequence is of losing or using the Tamiflu without permission, but I imagine it probably involves indentured servitude to Peace Corps or having the cost of the medicine deducted from our readjustment allowance.

I am interested to see what is going to happen when they open the schools back up again at the beginning of July. It is certain that the number of cases in the country will only have risen between now and then. Is the Ministry of Education just going to cancel classes again? I know prevention is important, but so is education. The kids here already missed a week of school due to the teacher games and now two more are going to be lost because of the swine flu.

And once again, it’s just the flu.

Perritos

My friend asked me to take care of two of his pitbull puppies for a couple of days last week. I think as adults pitbulls are somewhat of an ugly breed, but as puppies they are absolutely adorable. And fortunately they didn't try to bite my face off.

Wanting to play soccer...puros chapines.

La chica deep in sleep.

El pirata (the pirate).

Taking a nap.

Teacher Games

The Juegos Magisteriales (Teacher Games) for Alta Verapaz took place last week. The site for the games rotates between the municipalities, and this year Tactic was the host. Hundreds of teachers from every corner of Alta descended upon Tactic for a week of competitions in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track and field.

The only team from Tactic that placed was the women’s “Libre” (33 & under) basketball team that came in 3rd. Cobán basically dominated the games, which is to be expected since it is the department head and much larger than the other municipalities. It was nice to see, though, that their women’s basketball team went down to Carcha in the championship game.

What Tactic lacked in performance on the court, it made up for in style. I have never seen my community so clean and polished. The municipal building and market got a new paint job, as did the gym. The latter is what excited me the most.

Our gym was previously sponsored by Tigo (a cell phone service company) and painted in its colors of royal blue and white. About three months ago, it was decided to change the gym’s colors, which started the process of removing the blue paint. This process did not involve chemical paint strippers or hand scrapers. Instead, every day a group of men using the ubiquitous Guatemalan tool, the machete, would chip away at the paint. (Add paint remover to the ever-growing list of uses for a machete.)

Unfortunately, the process was painstakingly slow and not terribly effective. (Strike paint remover from the list of uses for a machete.) After three months of labor, less than a quarter of the gym was paint free, and there were piles of paint and concrete chips everywhere. I am sure the chipping would have gone on for at least a year before the gym was ready to paint again if it were not for the games. To avoid having a half painted embarrassing gym on display for all the fans in town, the idea to remove the paint was scrapped, and instead they just painted over what was left. Now we are sponsored by Pepsi.

To keep all the participants and fans entertained in the evenings there were dances in the municipal salon and a mechanical bull. Although I had a couple of invites, I passed on the dances, but I did try my luck on the mechanical bull. Unfortunately the operator didn’t crank the bull up enough to throw me off, but fortunately because of that I didn’t have to call the Peace Corps medical officer to report any injuries.

And to keep all the participants and fans safe (from themselves I guess) the army was brought in for the week. I find it slightly disheartening that it is necessary to have the army present to keep the peace at an event for teachers. Soldiers armed with assault rifles would stand in the corner of the gym during the games ready to quell any disturbances. Fortunately there were none.

Now the teachers have gone. The army left town. The bands have packed up and moved on, and Gallo has taken its mechanical bull. But Tactic still has its fresh coat of paint.

The Action

Los Juegos

The "libre" team.

The "master" team for women 33 and old (what an arbitrary number for a cut off)

Rain, go away

Winter has begun again in the Land of Eternal Spring.

For all those fans of geography, you are not mistaken. Guatemala does sit in the Northern Hemisphere, but it is winter here now. Instead of four distinct seasons like in the states, Guatemala has two: winter and summer. Ironic for a country nicknamed the Land of Eternal Spring.

Winter is the raining season that lasts from May to October, while summer is the dry season from November to April. But since I live in Alta Verapaz were it rains “13 months out of the year,” it pretty much always feels like winter to me. Our summer consists of the months of March and April when it rains less, meaning not every day.

While the rest of the country hadn’t seen a drop of rain for the past six months, there was no reprieve here in Tactic. Towards the middle of the dry season, volunteers in the Western Highlands begin to complain of the dust, but what I wouldn’t give to see some freely moving dirt instead of mud.

Just as I had gotten used to Alta’s version of the dry season, winter has started again and the rain has intensified. And now it’s not possible to go to other parts of the country to escape the rain. It is not a question of if it is going to rain during the day. That is a given. The relevant questions are: How many times? How long? How hard?

I think I am going to live in the desert after I leave Guatemala.

Mira flores

One of the many reasons I love living in Alta Verapaz is the availability of gorgeous and cheap flowers. Most people here only buy flowers for funerals, so I am sure the women in the market find it odd that I show up on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to purchase a new bundle…or they think I am the grim reaper.

But with such a large supply of a time sensitive product and a fairly low demand, I am able to make beautiful flower arrangements for under $1.50. FTD can’t even come close.