Back to School

Images/Themes of the past few week:

1. Parents buying school supplies. All around the city and back in my site, parents were buying the usual types of school supplies for their kids. Teachers make out a list of what they want the kids to bring in to school and parents go into a bookstore and usually buy all of the things at once. My host mom owns a bookstore so she’s been super busy this past week putting packages together, rolling up posters that the kids will eventually use, counting out pencils and pens. I don’t understand why the teachers ask for everything all at once, but it makes the process of buying school supplies longer. In some cases, parents waited until the last minute to buy supplies and lines at the stores were really long (and those working at the stores were very harried). However, seeing all of the business that these bookstores are getting is a good thing. Last year, the government provided a lot of the supplies, which is nice for a poor family that can’t afford everything, but is not sustainable at all-teaching parents to expect handouts all the time-and really put a strain on bookstore owners throughout the year (my host mom included). One of my favorite experiences with school supplies was riding the bus home with a couple who had just bought stuff for their daughter. The dad had a brand new, bright pink “High School Musical 3” backpack slung on his shoulder. I knew that one little girl was going to be very happy that evening.

2. Kids going back to school: Kids carrying backpacks stuffed with all their new school supplies. I remembered back to my primary/middle school days and how I used to stuff my backpack so full of stuff that my parents and other adults would worry about the health of my back. I think the same thing now seeing these tiny kids dragging huge backpacks full of books and notebooks back and forth to school, which is sometimes a fairly long walk (there aren’t really school busses here-kids can take public transport, but most don’t or can’t due to the fact that the school isn’t along a road the buses travel on). The kids all stop and say hi and ask me when I’ll be visiting their school again (which is not until February). Classes don’t start until 9:00 because the mornings are cold, so kids are getting even less learning time now. This will go on until March, and then when the rain comes again in June, kids will often be let out early to get home before the rain. It makes sense, but it really takes time out of the classroom.

3. Inauguration of the school year: One of the schools had the ceremonial start of the school year and we were invited. Most of the parents and all of the students came and got to stand there while lots of people talked and clowns performed and the national anthem played. Guatemalans really do celebrate everything, which I am enjoying. I love the Guatemalan Nation Anthem and I get to hear it every time new bathrooms are opened, a school is certified, there is a feria, a school has an acto cívico (civic demonstration), etc. The principal, some teachers, some women from the Ministry of Education, the president of the parents’ organization, and we were among the speakers. Almost everyone talked about health and how they hope to improve the health practices of the students in the next year. The president of the parents seems like a really great guy, willing to work with us and pressure the parents to buy toothbrushes and toothpaste for this year. There is also a group of high school students who are trained in health outreach who will be working in the community next year-they’re from the community so they are already accepted by parents and community members, so they’re a really great contact to have, in addition to being friendly and interested in playing soccer or basketball on the weekends with us. The mayor of course didn’t send anyone, which was a disappointment to the school, but we’ve given up on ever seeing him again.

4. Imagine a woman in a field enjoying a nice rest with her young daughters while their pig, which is tied up, scrounges around for some food. Now imagine that the pig breaks loose and starts running. The woman starts running after him yelling “Coche, coche!” (Pig, pig!). Then the young girls start running after their mom, the youngest barely making it because she’s still unsteady on her feet. This is a scene I came upon during my walk home the other day. Fortunately, the woman was able to rein in the pig, using a building to corner it and having someone help rein it in. In general, pigs just strike me as pretty annoying animals. They’re always trying to run away when you want them to stay, and refusing to move when you’re trying to get them somewhere. Every Tuesday I wake up to the sounds of pigs screaming as their owners try to herd them to the market. Even the small hill that hides my house from the centro can’t stem the sounds of the pigs. My site mate had a pig that caused problems when he started eating chickens. I also don’t understand why I see so many pigs when people don’t often eat pork. I suppose people raise them to sell them, but I don’t really know what the people do with full grown pigs other than make chicharrones (pork rinds). In general, they seem much more trouble than they’re worth.

5. Kicking up lots of dust: It hasn’t rained here since the end of the rainy season (last time probably in October-I can’t remember the last time it rained). This means that dust has had time to collect and start piling up on the dirt roads. I walked to meet my site mate and to get some exercise the other day and just found myself sinking in dust. It literally just wafts up in big clouds whenever you step into a “puddle”. When a car drives by, it stirs up dust as if it were water after a big rain. I can feel the dust coating my throat every time I go out, and it has started building up in my house despite the fact that I sweep every day. I am actually looking forward to the rainy season again-now I know that I prefer mud to dust. At least mud can’t get into your nose and throat (unless you take a nosedive into it, which I managed to avoid last year).

Things are going well. Just getting settled into the new school year, waiting for things to pick up again in the schools. Still lots of planning to do, especially for the new trainees’ Field Based Training, during which they will spend four days in my site. We have visits to schools, a training for teachers, a meeting with parents, and some lunch meeting planned. It should be fun and hopefully educational for the trainees.

Hope things are well with whoever is reading!