Where I am and what I´m doing, volunteerwise.
Well folks, it´s been awhile since I´ve written anything..sorry. I kind of got caught up in life here…as the new place I´m living is full of life and interesting events.
For those of you who have been reading along, thanks very much for reading and for your comments -the comments mean alot to me. (like that people out there are actually reading!) No really, on the days I´m sick or just needing some encouragement, the comments have meant alot.
So..living in La Esperanza..is totally different than Xela. Xela is great for quick internet access, the mercado (public market) and that sort of thing…but La Esperanza is cloer to the real life of Guatemalans. Actually, I live on the side of a mountain, close to La Esperanza-but the city of La Esperanza is about 1/2 hour away. Where I live now, the life revolves around the milpa, or maize field. Everything is related to the maize, and the cycle of the life of the maize.
I am living on the familial compound of my first teacher´s family. Her name is Alma, and I met her at the El Nahual Language school. I immediately liked her-she´s very intelligent and very witty. After I visited her and her family the first time, I could think of nothing else but living with them-or near them. Their hospitality was amazing, and the quality of life was something i really appreciated. I even dreamt of La Esperanza!
So when I decided I needed to move form Xela, moving in with them was the natural choice. They had already invited me, so everyone was warm to the idea. To make a long story short,
they had an empty house on the land that no one had lived in for some time-and that´s the house I rent from them now.
My house is one of many in a familial compound..everyone has there own bit of maize and a small house made of cinderblocks. My house is the average size and is made of cinderblocks as well. It is quite drafty and cold, as its missing a few windows and there is cardboard in their place. It has four rooms total: The first room is sort of like a diningroom; the kitchen (which I´ve turned into a temporary art studio); my bedroom; and a spare bedroom. The kitchen has gas burners which I use at night to cook, and to help keep the place warm a bit. My sink and kitchen is outside, in a sort of lean to shed. I don´t have a bathroom-I´ve got to walk a bit thru the maize fields to another house. I do have a refrigerator, which is real luxury here.
I absolutely love the house-it´s perfect for me. It´s very sweet, and filled with flowers, children, and there are always people visiting me when I´m there. It is a bit cold at night(turns out Guatemala-at least the part I´m in-is freezing this time of the year at night!) and it´s not sealed, so lots of critters get in…but it´s still lovely. I´m grateful to have space of my own, and to have a place to have people stay with me when they want to visit.
I eat almuerzo(lunch) with the family, which is generally Guatemala typica cucina-heavy on the tamlitos(naturally, since we are surrounded by maize fields) and beans, eggs, tortillas, and vegetables with lemon juice. Dinner I eat at my house-since I have the luxury of a hotplate, and it helps heat up my place a little bit at night.
The place is absolutely breathtaking-behind me, a view of the bosque(forrest), in front of me, right outside the front door, fields of maize. I have many neighbors, who are all part of the same family. Some of the neighbors I have talked to quite a bit, and others don´t really understand my spanish. This is because in Guatemala, not everyone can afford years of school-the government says the public school is free, but it´s not really free. Students have to buy their uniforms and all their books. This is basically impossible for most people here, especially since they have alot of children. Anyway, the people who understand me and my Spanish best tend to have a few more years of school.
However, there are many people in the family, adults and kids, who want to either learn or practice English. So two weeks ago, i started practicing , rather informally, with some of the kids here. Word got out, and their mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts started coming around, asking if they could learn some English. So now my Monday nights are taken up with aseries of classes: one for children of all ages, one for adults, and one for adults who can´t read in Spanish or English. For those of you who know me, you know I´ve taught Conversational English in the past to people who don´t read. Here, I´m pretty much doing the same thing. But here, the way English is taught in the schools is very different. The teachers understand how to write in English-but no one gets much practice speaking English. It´s all in the written form.
So even people with alot of educational opportunities here want to practice speaking English. On Monday afternoons, I teach a local university professor who lives in Xela English. So I´ve got a mix of different kinds of students-some who can´t read and have a second grade education, little kids from five years on up, and a few people who are extremely educated. I´m finding helping the extended family in this way very gratifying, and it´s great for them because it´s free and they get to learn English with their own family.
I´m also volunteering in Xela at Manos de Colores Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. i am still teaching the art classes, although I may teach some English classes as well soon. The art classes are really great, because the kids love it so much. They get really engaged and involved if it is a project they like. I have to prepare alot for my classes, because I´ve got alot of kids in each class at all different ages and levels of comprehension. The kids are so appreciative because although they love art, it´s not taught here in the schools(not for poor kids anyway) and art materials are really expensive here.
I am also volunteering to help the local Cathedral create the Nativity scene. My current project today and tomarrow is to create the Archangel Gabriel out of the materials available here. It is important that the angel be a replica of the style the rest of the people in the Nativity, so the church gave me some of their collection, which are on my kitchen table. For my real-life model, I am using Jorge, the brother of Alma, who has very nicely agreed to be draped in sheets for hours at a time. I´m using cement, metal, wire, mesh, styrofoam, and paper mache. The wings of the angel have to be made of feathers, and glued on individually by hand. I think I will be done with the angel in about 3 days. Then I will help with the rest of the Nativity scene.
gigi
