Semana 6 y mas: Al fin del viaje...

Monday- Felt tired and throat hurt a little today, like I might be getting sick. Hope the naturally clean spring water of Semuc did not breed some bacteria in my body. Took care of a lot of Honduras stuff today- feeling a bit overwhelmed about teaching this year. Went to Luna de Miel after class with Majo to drink a jugo de naranja and eat a Nutella y banano crepe. Something made me feel better bc after going to bed early, I felt better Tues.

Tuesday- Bug bites!! Killing me!! They itch more and get bigger every day. Especially uncomfortable on my ankles and feet where my socks and shoes hit. Marcella wanted me to sub for her this afternoon, and she wanted me to teach (of all things) handwriting. Ugh. I don’t even teach it to my own students, and I told her after looking at samples from her students that their cursive was better than my own students in the U.S. I was going to make a handwriting competition (writing their full names – both nombres y both apelidos—on a nameplate for their desks). But I could only explain directions and get them excited about the prize (mechanical pencils from the U.S.) before they were running around the room and yelling that it was time to change for P.E. Not happy about teaching today. ☹ Also spent a lot of time planning out my meeting w the primaria teachers for tomorrow afternoon. How do I condense everything I know about instruction, behavior management, and classroom management into one session? Impossible!

Thursday- Today was a sort of depressing day. Went to Casa Jackson for the first time, with Jamie and Susanna. It is the malnutrition clinic that is another part of Nuestros Ahijados. The babies are precious, precious, precious, but sooo tiny and skinny. I had to bathe the babies first before checking their cards to see how old they were. Otherwise I would have been so afraid of injuring them just by changing their clothes and placing them in the tub. They were so good, though- even the baby who I had to bathe in really tepid water, because the hot water ran out. But as soon as I would put them back in the crib they started crying immediately. They just so crave being held and having attention. After bathing and changing, we got to play with them all morning, which was great. The little ones I had in my care were in Fase 3 of the 3 stages at the clinic, meaning they had been there the longest and were the closest to being ready to leave the clinic. Still, it is so saddening to me how tiny they are. Kids 9-12 months who look and feel like they’re about 2 months. The oldest child at the clinic, Hector, greeted us on the nursery floor and followed me everywhere, “helping” me bathe the babies. He was the only one who can talk, it seems. He is 6 years old but looks like a very thin 4-year old. One baby girl who looks about 2 but is probably 5 or 6, has just recently arrived. She cried for her mama almost the entire morning. I heard her parents had come to visit her earlier in the week, but her dad couldn’t even go in to look at her because he was crying so much. Many of the children’s parents do come to visit them during the 2 days per week when visitation is allowed, but some have never come back to visit their children. I wonder what will happen when they are ready to leave the clinic if no one comes for them. In many ways, these kids are much better off in the clinic getting daily nourishment and under the care of nurses, but it is so sad that they have to be away from their parents and that they will undoubtedly suffer many learning and physical delays because of their malnourishment in infancy. I played with a 9-month old who is just now beginning to be able to push himself into a crawling position, and a 1-year old who only sits up, and even with that needs some support. There was another adorable child named Elvis who is 5 and has many developmental delays. Poor kid cried through his noodle lunch because it was too dry for him to eat. They changed him to the baby food vegetable puree that the younger babies were eating, and even then he could only eat a little. I think he must have some problem that makes him hurt to eat. It was all very sad, but at the same time so wonderful to see these babies so happy to grab at any toy, some of them happily crawling around in walkers. It really gives me a whole different perspective on life. These babies are so very blessed just to be alive. How much more blessed am I to have my whole infancy, childhood, and adult life to be healthy, full of food, happy, and benefiting from all good things? The hardest part was leaving at the lunch hour. At mid-day, the morning volunteers leave to eat lunch and the babies nap until the afternoon volunteers arrive. We had to change diapers and set all the babies back in their cribs, which meant leaving 4 rooms full of crying, tiny, thin infants. Even Henry sat on the floor in his room and started to cry. I tried to persuade him to cheer up a little to take a photo with me, but if he still looks pretty bleak in the photo, it’s because he had just been crying. I’m sure it’s no fun to be the only 6-year old alone on a floor full of crying babies in cribs for over an hour before more adults come to play with you.

The afternoon at Scheel Center was no less depressing, since Nele, Hope, and Ralph were all leaving. Nele has been volunteering for 4 months and Hope has been here for 3, so there were many tears and heartfelt thoughts expressed in the despedida circle. Nele and Katie had each made a cake, plus there was another bakery cake, which all tasted divine. The only cheerful part of my day was my afternoon lesson with Majo, who was all laughs and jokes as usual. Rodrigo said something funny today. He had been playing his favorite video game, Toy Story, during my entire lesson with Majo. About halfway through, he came up to Majo (as he often does, usually asking for money for the camione de helado that passes down the street), and pouted with a puppy dog face, “No tengo dinero.” ☹ After some prodding, he further explained why he needed money- the controllers in his game stopped working because the batteries were dead. He needed to go buy more batteries so that he could put them in the controller to save his game, so he wouldn’t lose his current status. I think that was pretty good thinking for a 5-year old, to go so far as to consider that his real problem was not “my game isn’t working anymore” but “I don’t have the funds necessary to purchase the item needed to fix the problem with my game.” Fortunately Majo has a battery recharger, so there was an even quicker solution.

The other fun event was that Majo took me home. She had to go to into town anyway, so she asked, “Tu quieres ir con migo en mi moto?” “Por supuesto,” I answered. She was surprised because the first time I met her, I had given a horrified look expressing my fear at getting onto a motorcycle in Guatemala and riding with no helmet on cobblestone streets. However, I replied, that was before I knew you. Now I know that you are not a crazy driver. Plus, I am more afraid of being a pedestrian on the sidewalk and getting run over by a motorcyclist driving too close to the ede of the street, as is so common here. The motorcyclists try to squeeze beside the cars, so they drive right along the edge of the street. It’s really annoying. As I walk down an Avenida in Antigua, I’m constantly steeling myself for the time when I am dragged into the street by the handlebars of a maniacally driven motorcycle.

Majo dropped me off right in front of La Merced, and since it was exactly 5 pm and I didn’t have anything better to do--plus I’d had a rather downer day and thought a visit with the Lord might help to reassure me and lift my spirits--I decided to go to Mass. Apparently I was not paying much attention to the homily or the prayers of petition, although I did notice that many people seemed to be dressed uncharacteristically nicely for a daily evening Mass. At the end of the service, I wondered why a large crowd had gathered at the entrance and it seemed like no one was leaving the sanctuary. As I squeezed through a throng of parishoners in darkly colored clothing, I realized they were all stopping to shake hands with a very somber-faced family who was standing in the doorway. Good grief, how did I manage to attend a memorial service on top of all the other depressing events of the day?

After such a string of Debbie downers, and with a good 2 hours left until dinner time, there was but one thing I could do. I went to Kafka to eat French Toast con Nutella with bananos y siropa on the side. I also downloaded other people’s Semuc-Champey photos from Facebook, and remembering our fun trip helped cheer me up a bit. Things got brighter after dinner. I met a bunch at Café Rainbow for drinks, then to La Sala where no attempt could be made at salsa (think public bus in Rome- it was that packed). Crazy that in Guatemala, ladies’ night means no cover and you get a plastic cup at the door for free Cuba Libres with refills. Definitely does not exist in the U.S.! But it was so disgustingly crowded that we left for Sinventura, where there was a live salsa band and more room to dance.

Mañana… descansa. No school (still not sure why- Ron just told us yesterday). I plan to sleep in (who cares if I miss breakfast of fruit and bread?), visit some ruins and museums, and meet Jamie and Susanna for mercado shopping mid morning. Also need to figure out transport. to airport on Tues AM. Then my last “real-life” lesson with Majo at Fernando’s, and Nele’s despedida tomorrow night at Ocelot. Saturday I’ll probably do more shopping or just roaming around town, then we’re going to Hope’s boyfriend’s sister’s quinciñera Saturday night. Sunday, Mass, Sabé Rico for lunch (hopefully!), and Earth Lodge for dinner (some place out of town). Monday is last day at Scheel Center. Still need to decide on a place for my despedida party Monday night… maybe drinks in one place, dinner with host family and then after-party somewhere else.

Friday- Slept in (8 am), visited las ruines de la Conventa de Santa Clara y Los Franciscanos (Hermano Pedro). Had a great tour until the end, when the guide wanted me to pay him 200 Q for the tour. I thought he worked at the Santa Clara ruines, and while I was planning to give him a tip, I definitely did not plan to give him 200 Q. When I told him I didn’t have that much, he contested that he had seen that I had money when I paid the entrance at Fransciscanos. I ended up giving him 100 Q because I was sort of concerned he’d try to rob me. This was frustrating, because it was more than twice as much as I gave each of our tour guides from Semuc Champey, after they’d spent the entire weekend with us, and more than I pay my Spanish teacher for a 2 hour lesson. He then turned pathetic and started begging for more, because “I have children, I have to feed them…” I was so disgusted I stormed off across the street, and he went off the other direction almost in a run. I hope he realized what a fool he was making of himself, as other people were passing by making odd stares. Most frustrating of all was that I had wanted to go back into the church and ruins to take some photos, but at that point I was afraid he might be lurking in there, waiting for me. I hiked it back to Parque Central and was slumped on a bench, feeling frustrated and disgusted, when Nele popped up, which cheered me greatly. We sat in the sun and talked for an hour about life—-what it’s like to reach the end of your 20s and single, when all your friends and family are settling down. We resolved that the only thing to do was to continue living life and seeking happiness through our travels, friends, family, and pursuing our own interests. Like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love. We are strong, independent women. We can handle a life of wandering the world and making fascinating friends in beautiful and strange places. Nele is a great girl. I really hope to visit her in Belgium someday, and she says she plans to visit the U.S. next fall with her sister. It would be awesome to see her again, and I told her she has to promise to Skype with me and we can only talk in French, or I’ll forget everything I know in the next year of Spanish.

Went home for lunch- beef ball & veggie soup and cucumber salad. Then to my last “real” class with Majo at Fernando’s Café. Me gusta los refrescos! Majo is making a grammar book for me so we can continue our lessons while I’m in Texas. Dinner at Ocelot for Nele’s despedida. We almost took up the entire room with Scheel Center volunteers, because the second A&M group showed up too, and then Nele’s other European friends. Both Ron & Adam were playing, and we even got to see some fireworks from Parque Central, part of the festivities for Santiago festival. I think it’s quite possibly the closest I’ve gotten to a fireworks display, and I’m quite sure the people standing in Parque Central were being showered with hot sparks. But what’s a little fuego from las bombas when there are active volcanoes all around? Moved on to the Ron Bar to despedida Pat the Australian and feliz cumpleaños my roommate Sara, who left for Honduras this weekend. I wasn't feeling that great, some sort of stomach bug, so I left early.

Saturday - This morning Janet gave me some thé manzanilla, and all I’ve eaten are some soda crackers and a Coke. I’m starting to feel hungry now so maybe I’ll try a banana. Not nearly as bad as last year in Costa Rica, when I laid in bed all day and then spent 4 days regaining food-tolerance. Maybe this is my body’s way of advising me against eating street food, which Katie decided to do today (because Adam did it yesterday and "he was fine." Wonder how he’s feeling hiking a volcano today…) I think it’s better not to take my chances, as it would suck to be sick on the plan Tuesday.

Katie and a new Spanish woman staying at her house went with me to do errands and shop for gifts at el mercado today. I got almost everything I need…

The quincinera was an authentic Guatemalan experience. We arrived with the party in full swing. Eight jumbo speakers blared reggaeton that shook the rafters of a large warehouse, and blue balloons covered the sides of a stage. A D.J. mixed music while parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins bopped around on the dance floor with balloons and glow sticks. Hope's boyfriend Rudy had paid for the entire entertainment system set up and made the horchata (what an awesome big brother!) We had a great time dancing until the end, when the teen girls found "dance partners" for us... we were all very oddly matched with various male youths of questionable status (...Is he 12?!?) It was definitely a step inside the true culture of middle class Guatemala.

Tuesday, July 27-
I can't believe I've been in Guatemala 6 weeks and that it's time for this window of life to close. Although I hope it will never be fully closed, since the door is always open for me to return to Scheel Center and visit my new friend Majo in Antigua. I do plan to make it back at least once during my year living in Honduras. Until then, I will be satisfied with the Spanish progress I have made- gave 2 people in the TX airports directions today in Spanish!- and keep in touch with Majo and Ron. I do wish that there was more I could do for the Scheel Center, and I plan to return when I've gained more Spanish ability. For now, off to enjoy 3 weeks of family vacation and the life of luxury that we live in the U.S.!