Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Celebrating the Little Things

In the midst of all of the mess that is happening with Peace Corps Guatemala, I have decided to focus on something positive today. Maybe tomorrow I will write more about the meeting all of PC Guatemala (almost all volunteers and staff) had today.

Since my time here is rapidly waning, I have decided to celebrate the little things, a few of which I enjoyed today.

1) Mangoes!! It is mango season again and while my favorite smoothie-worthy mango aren't ready yet, the smaller and messier ones are and they are quite delicious. And for the price of 25 cents each (which is actually a little pricey here, I think), they are much more affordable here than back in the States. My current plan is to eat one a day, which I have succeeded in doing for two days now.

2) Avocado!! Yet another food item that is so much cheaper here, which I why I am planning on eating a lot of aguacates in the next month. It is delicious with rice, Tortrix, tortillas, bread, etc. And at the price of 3 avocados for a little over 50 cents, another really great deal I won't be able to find in the States.

3) Hugs!! I began saying my good-byes today. This month will be full of last visits to schools, which will likely consist of visiting individual classrooms and saying good-bye to all of the kids and teachers. At the end we invite the kids to come up and give us lots of hugs, which they usually do (and sometimes they just sit at their desks and look at us like they have no idea what we are saying). I just can't wrap my mind around the fact tht these schools will no longer be 'my' schools and that I will no longer need to know that Seño Amarilis loves showing off her rincon de salud or that Profe Santos works with the little kids. All this info I have in my head about my schools which will no longer be useful. But I love the hugs that come with the good-bye. And someday, hopefully, I will be able to come back and see the kids again.

A month from today I plan on boarding a plane and heading back to the States. That doesn't leave me much time, but I plan on doing as much as I can with the five weeks left to me.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

And another change...

...school is back in session!! I loved seeing all of the kids with their nice new backpacks, carrying freshly covered notebooks, walking holding their moms' hands on Monday morning of this week. I didn't have time to go to school-just a quick stop by the superintendent's office to let him know we had a Peace Corps meeting. But I did pass a lot of kids who knew me and stopped to say hi.

This school year has gotten off to a kind of rocky start. Inscription was down because some parents, who in previous years got used to handouts from the government consisting of school supplies, decided that they wouldn't send their kids to school unless the new government also provided school supplies. Teachers also talked of striking until the government agreed to help families with the cost of supplies. But my host mom has been raking in the dough (kind of) as lots of people have been stopping by to purchase the notebooks, pens, art supplies, markers, etc. necessary to start the school year off.

I have nineteen days to visit twenty-one schools. This amount of time may be whittled down as I schedule doctor's appointments, attend Peace Corps meetings, and face cancellations of prepared visits (there are lots of workshops at the beginning of the school year). We have prioritized schools based on who will actually keep going with the program and who is likely to quit (one contender for quitting-the school whose principal gave a fist pump when we mentioned we wouldn't be followed by any volunteers, signifying he was happy the program would stop after our time finished). We are hoping to set up a commission so that some teachers can keep things going in the absence of volunteers, and I truly believe that some schools will keep going with healthy practices and rincones de salud. But it is still unfortunate and sad that our work will be in jeopardy as things come to a standstill. Sustainability is important, but it takes more than two years to really get a project off the ground.

Anyway, that's the other big change in my life. Tomorrow I will be back to visit the superintendent to give him the bad news of the early COS date and to discuss our plans for the next month. Lots to do!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Just imaging the David Bowie song running through my mind. Change is on everyone's mind here in Guatemala. First on the list is the president and lots of local governments that changed over just last week. No word yet on repercussions from this change. I did get to see the loud parade in which the new mayor marched to the municipal building in town. Word on the street (chisme of course) is that the old mayor refused to personally and officially "entregar" (kind of like to give) his position to the new mayor. He really is a douchebag (I know it's a bit of a vulgar choice, but that word is what I think of everytime I see him). I am glad the people of my town decided that his corruption needed to be ended. No word yet on whether or not the muni workers I got to know this past year will be able to stick around. The new president has already started talking about changes, such as decriminalizing drugs. I also think he's started cracking down a little on the narcos. Lots of things to be done so hopefully he can bring about some quick positive change here in Guatemala, just minus the military taking over.

And the thing is, I won't get to see how many of the new changes shape up. Because...I will be leaving in a month. Peace Corps Guatemala is implementing some new policies and are shaping the volunteer population here in Guatemala to match new requirements handed down by those mysterious people heading this agency. All of the volunteers in my training group, the group scheduled to head out March 25th, were emailed about a meeting on Friday evening of last week. We were only given the information that this meeting would concern our COS date and the fact that we were required to take private pullmans (private buses-a much safer and less anxiety-inducing option than chicken buses) to the PC central office. So on Monday night I arrived and on Tuesday they dropped the bomb-we were being sent home one month early. To a lot of people outside of Peace Corps, a month doesn't seem like a lot. For me personally, I was planning on going home a few weeks early, in the second week of March, to visit some schools and start to make up my mind of where I will be next year. But a lot goes on in the last months of service. There are a lot of good-byes to be said, paperwork to fill out, plans to leave behind and parasites to weed out (and for me, probably some cavities to fill). I have a month in site (from yesterday) to finish everything up, with the last week a bevy of stool samples to drop off and forms to fill out and have signed, as well as a COS conference to attend. So I'm out of site on February 20th and I am expecting to fly home February 24th. For a lot of volunteers in my group, that's just too soon. There are still projects going on, chorros and stoves (and who knows what else) that were to be built up until the end of March. However, there is no option to extend as a PC volunteer. Anyone wishing to stay will have to do so on their own dime and with their own health insurance (after the month we are given through the insurance we currently have) and without the support Peace Corps has offered us here. This decision has created a lot of disenchantment and distrust between volunteers and staff, which only became greater after the news that came just two days ago.

Volunteers scheduled to end their service in July will be ending in March, a cut of 4 months. And sites in certain areas will be closed down. Communities will be left high and dry, volunteers will have to make the hard choice of living and working in a new site for a year or so or leaving for the States way ahead of schedule. I'm sure the population of volunteers will shrink drastically, which may lead to cuts of Peace Corps staff. It's just a bad situation all around and a lot of volunteers are upset. My site will still be open to any volunteers requesting a site change, but it seems like most volunteers being moved are choosing to return to the States.

So this is the news and those are the changes. Everyone is still in processing mode. There will be a meeting for all volunteers next week where we can talk to some of those mysterious decision-makers in Washington and hear what they have to say. Communication has been a bit vague here on the ground so it will be nice to get some answers. I'm worried there's going to be a lot of anger and animosity at this meeting. I guess we'll see.

On a happier side, I want to give a shout out to my friend Shaina for the lovely package she sent. Shaina, I know you read this blog so I just want to say thanks! The package came at just the right time, just as things here are getting a little depressing. The UNO will be appreciated by the kids and cousins in the family!

Hope all is well States-side. It's hard to believe that in just a short month I will be leaving what has become my home over two years to what will be home for the next five months or so. And just in time for lots of political ads-woo hoo! (kidding)