Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Things I've Seen Today

1. Giant beets--unfortunately, not on my menu this week
2. A gallo chasing a gallina (rooster chasing a hen)--I think she got away, but it was pretty fast-paced and crazy for a minute or so.
3. A dog chewing on a pipe that had electric wiring wrapped around it--that family probably won't have electricity tonight, and might find their dog fried on the roof.
4. Men fixing power lines the old fashioned way--climbing up using strips of fabric or leather and barely hanging on (no fun machines for them). Doesn't seem very safe, but they survived.
5. Police waving guns around the mall--I spent maybe two seconds thinking that was how I was going to die, in a mall shot by a drug gang, but it was just some guy who forgot to leave his gun at home before doing some shopping. After the police confronted the guy, his wife/sister/random crazy lady friend started yelling at the police officers, which is probably not the best thing to do here in Guatemala. (An aside-my neighbor recently informed me that Israel sold guns to Guatemala for only 0.01 cents a gun, and would have donated them if it weren't for a clause in the constitution that prohibits people from donating arms. This would explain why everyone and their brother have guns--Don't worry about me mom and dad, I'm living in a pretty safe part of the country)
6. Lots of people and cars out and about--it's Semana Santa which means that everyone is buying up good food to celebrate. People are also buying flowers for the processions, which won't happen here in town until Friday. Also, lots of traveling going on, just not for me.

If you can't tell, I'm getting kind of bored. Not working for two and a half weeks is driving me crazy. Fortunately for me and Guatemalan schoolkids, the strike is over (at least in my town) and classes will start as normal on Monday (or rather Tuesday, because people will likely still be on vacation Monday).

Happy Semana Santa and Happy Easter!!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Striking Continues

The strikes continue. After talking with teachers and hearing different people's takes on what is going on, I think teachers are actually striking for the government to invest more in education, which is actually pretty great. Yuna told me after talking to one teacher we know pretty well that teachers want 15%, or at least 10%, of the budget going to education (right now it's at 5%). Many of the teachers I work with have traveled to Guatemala City to protest there while here in town they aren't letting the superintendent into his office. We aren't really sure how long it's all going to take--some people have said possibly until May. I think the president is meeting with teachers or their representatives today, so if the response is good we might have school. But no one really has an idea of what's going on. Other than not getting work done that I needed to get done (the school year is quickly dwindling), things are well here.