Busy Bee

Hello again to all! Since I last wrote, I’ve barely had a moment to breath. I’m really starting to live in Guatemala. I have my home and friends here now and it feels really really great.

I last wrote in May and now it’s July…where to begin!?

Well I went home for a week where I said goodbye to Dottie and celebrated my birthday with some close friends and family. It was a hectic week but a great refresher and I brought back enough trail mix for a few months at least.

When I got back to Guate I spent a few days readjusting and realizing that this is now the place I call home. I went to Nebaj a few days later where I spent a rather lonely week working. I say lonely only because this is when hurricane Agatha hit, the volcano erupted, and a huge sink hole was created in the middle of the city. What fun! However, I was safe in the highlands of Nebaj but didn’t leave the house for days because of the rains.

After a week in Nebaj I traveled back to Antigua where I met my roommate from college, Julie, at the airport! I was about an hour late arriving and ran the last bit in the pouring down rain. It was quite a scene…I showed Julie around Antigua and we met up with some of my friends. Then we went to Lake Atitlan for both of our first times (!!). It was a little rainy and cold---not the best first lake experience but what I love about Julie is her laid-backness. So we had a good time just being together, watching movies, buying acorns, and going to bed early.

Then Julie and I traveled to Momostenango for a week and helped build a hand washing station in a school a Peace Corps volunteer and friend. Once again, I had an amazing time with Julie in Momos. She fit right in and loved helping out. She also made some cute little dolls from construction scraps when there was a lull in work. I can’t nor do I have time to try to explain how grateful I was to have Julie’s presence for two weeks. Time flew and work got done!

Next, my mom and my aunt Betsey arrived. Their time with Julie overlapped about 5 days. We stayed around Antigua for most of this time and went to the lake for two days as well. I also got many of my friends together in Antigua to have a dinner party at Danielle and Erick’s home. The rain held off and the food (and wine) was delicious!

I said a teary goodbye to Julie (well not really, but my heart was and still is sad that she’s not here) and begged her to consider moving here…she heard a lot of this all week long from a variety of sources. I spent another day with mom and Betsey doing last minute errands before Betsey flew off the next day. Mom and I stayed in Antigua for the weekend and watch a lot of the Mundial (World Cup). Argentina’s doing greatttt and I’m excited (and a bit nervous) for their game against Germany on Saturday morning! (update, the pulpo is all knowing and Spain won...)

Then mom and I headed on the dreaded 5 hour chicken bus ride to Nebaj. I caught back up with Lynn and turned in some of the things I’ve been working on. It has been nice to have someone in Nebaj to run errands with and cook meals with, I will be sad when she leaves in two days.

The months of July and August are getting more and more packed with fun things for me to do. We have two groups coming in July and I fly home in August for Ali Moyer’s wedding and a beach trip with my roommates from Gettysburg. When I get back in August there is another group of engineers coming to build a water system and I will be trying to keep track of things in Nebaj as Lynn will be gone for the entire month of August.

Whew! Hopefully I can write more cute antidotes in the coming weeks of my time here in Guate…but for now all I can do is give you this summary of why I really enjoy life here—so come visit!

As the Seasons Change…

I´ll admit, it´s been a while. So much has happened for the better and the worse. Let´s see…in April I took a half day off to be a ¨tourist for a day¨ with my friend Fabiola. We ate yummie veggie food and traditional Guatemalan sweets then went to Las Capuchinas, the ruin of an old 18th century convent. Then we went to the paca which is behind the market and filled with great second hand clothing from the states (lots from Target with the tags still on!). To end our crazy long day we did some relaxing (not really) yoga. Then, I went to my first Guatemalan wedding! Sisi from the office tied the knot and invited me to share this lovely experience with her family and friends. It was a great night with lots of fun and dancing! I also had my first visitors Kristin and Stephanie who graduated Gettysburg a year before me. They were planning a long weekend vacation to Guate and decided to get my advice on it since I´ve traveled so much. Then they realized I´m living here! It was perfect and I finally got to be a tour guide in Antigua, go dancing, and just have some fun.
Then the last two weeks of April I went to Nebaj, Quiche to help Agua para la Salud and learn how to build a hand washing station that we will be constructing in a school in Momostenango in which a friend and Peace Corps Volunteer volunteers. Once again, I had a great time with Lynn and the Engineers without Borders group that came and supported the projects. I also had a nice time in Nebaj. It´s a small town but a bit bigger than Momos and it´s generally not a tourist location except for those who really want to get off the beaten path and do some highland hiking. There was also a great restaurant we ate at every night that makes their own soy milk, soy ice cream, tofu, flour tortillas, etc. Yummmm and much better than eggs, beans, and tortillas. There was also two photo journalist with us for the week taking pictures of the project. Here are some of the photos shot. Check them out they are AMAZING! http://www.flickr.com/photos/tristanmoss/sets/72157623886072560/?page=2

For some bigger news and to make a long story short I have decided to refocus my time here and work for Lynn. It was not an easy decision but one that CasaSito supports and understands. One of my main projects with Lynn is helping a group of Peace Corps Volunteers apply for grants to obtain hand washing stations at their respective schools. More of my job description is to be worked out when I get back from the States.
What´s that?! Yes, I´m coming home this Sunday, May 16th. Visitors welcome! Unfortunately, it´s not a happy reason for my surprise visit as Dottie has gotten very ill and my family and I think it´s best for me to see her now when she´s still more or less coherent. It will be a sad and hard visit I´m sure. My computer has also broken and need some TLC from the states so I´m hoping for it to be a very productive visit.
Enjoy some pictures from the last month!
J


Five flush bathrooms and a hand washing station going up in a village outside of Nebaj.
Sisi´s wedding! Danielle, me, and Amanda!

Kristin and me at Santo Domingo---Antigua´s 5 star hotel located in beautiful ruins.

Faby and me at Las Capuchinas.

Semana Santa in Antigua

After I got back from Momos and had a good 24 hours of rest to get all sickness out of my system, it was time to celebrate Semana Santa! Semana Santa translates to Holy Week and in my opionion it’s one of the biggest pre-Easter celebrations in Latin America. I remember learning about Semana Santa in my high school Spanish classes and I was excited to be a part of it albeit nothing’s as cool as it seemed in high school. Mainly Guatemala is known for their carpets. Anyone can make a carpet out of any material for the processions. The carpets or alfolmbras are traditionally made out of colorful sawdust but you can use anything: flowers, food, etc. I had the honor and luck to help make TWO alfolmbras with the family I’m living with. Like most things in life, once you do it you have more appreciation for it. So alfolmbra making was a similar experience. Our alfolmbras were simple and nice yet time consuming and a bit challenging to make. After you make the alfolmbra you basically wait for the procession to come and destroy it. During this process I got to hang out and meet the extended family of the family I live with. It has been an interesting and at time lazy week and I’m excited to get back to my normal work routine but I’m happy I can say I have finally experienced Semana Santa in Guate!

Another Tank!

Hello all! About a week ago I went back up north to Momostenango with Greg and some volunteers to build the third rain water catchment tank of the year. This time we decided to try an above ground, can-shaped tank. We ran into some problems like volunteer-shortage, over working, working on a really tall tank, illness, etc. but all around it was a very successful process. Since it was the first of its kind, we know the process can only get easier. In addition the scaffolding was nuts and I swear I can put "stunt double" on my CV now! Here are some pictures!

Water Water Everywhere!

First-

Happy World Water Day!

Of course I forgot about this until my dear friend Nancy in Argentina reminded me gently on facebook---thanks Nancy!

Well this is what my life has been and will continue to be about for the next 10 months: water.

I spent the last two weeks in the Los Encuentros area of Guatemala with another water organization helping build a 10,000 liter ferrocement storage tank as well as distribute water to 55 families in a sector of the aldea El Adelanto. In order to do this we were capturing water from a spring on the side of a mountain and then digging trenches and laying pipe for 16,000 feet over very rough terrain. However, I spent most of my time working on the water tank at the spring. I went along to learn how to make an above ground “can-shaped” tank and left with a dozen or more new friends. We are planning to leave tomorrow for Momos to build a smaller 4,000ish liter above ground tank. We are thinking it may be easier and less expensive and therefore we can forget the egg-shaped tank and concentrate on the above ground one.

The best part about the two weeks working in El Adelanto was the people. Not only did I work with some talented Guatemalan masons but I also got to hang out with some awesome people from Wisconsin. The group of nine “sconnies” came from several parts of Wisconsin and the majority of them work in different water sectors such as water utility plants and most of them were engineers. They are all part of a social water club that has been coming to Guatemala for the last three years to do various water projects. Need less to say, we fell in love with each other. I especially fell in love with their sense of humor, love for water, and love of helping others. The only way I can describe them is as super balanced, down-to-earth people who really do care. Despite hearing how they were inspired by me, I felt the opposite. I found daily inspiration from them and truly thrived intellectually from them.

I think I’m going to let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Two Tanks and a Learning Curve

I have officially completed the first two tanks of 2010! These two tanks were my “training” tanks and Greg came along to show me the ropes. For the first tank, (funded by everyone’s generous contributions at home!) we hired a highly qualified and experienced mason, Nicolas, to help out and give us lots of good tips. The first tank we made with a group of volunteers and friends from CasaSito. The dynamics were good and I think we all had a fun and stimulating experience. On the first tank we changed up the design a bit and made a dome top made completely out of rebar. It was intense and pushed our work back half a day---but well worth it! It’s a beautiful, strong, and sturdy dome that we are all very proud of---though we aren’t sure we’ll be making any more of them because of time and costs. The family was also very appreciative of our time and efforts as well as put in quite a bit of work themselves! Check out the pictures!







The second tank was made and funded by the first volunteer tour group of El Camino VolunTours. I had the pleasure to get to know two single moms from Canada who were escaping the chaos of the Olympics and cold Canadian winter. These ladies were extremely hard workers who had some great ideas about the construction of the tank that we will use on future tanks as well. For this tank we did the old design which included making the dome out of a huge sawdust filled bag. In one month we will have to come back and take all that sawdust out! We are still trying to figure out new designs that will be economical, time-efficient, and sturdy. All suggestions welcome! Check out these pictures from tank two!







I was invited by another group who makes water tanks to come help out and learn a thing or two about above ground tanks. I’ll be helping out with that the week of March 8th. Then we have selected our next in-ground tank recipients in Chocantariy. I will be going back to Momos around March 18th to do the third tank of 2010! We are also trying to implement a system where one family member has to help out with another tank before receiving one for themselves---similar to Habitat for Humanity. Hopefully we can get something running, though this is more difficult than it sounds.

Thank you all for your abundant support and if anyone has suggestions on how to make a dome, feel free to share!

J

'cause there's a million ways to go...

Where do I begin? With the weekend of course!

Friday we had a lovely presentation and dinner at a donor’s home to report what happened in 2009 and a vision for 2010. Their home was lovely as was the presentation, meal, and company. It was nice to meet other supporters of CasaSito along with the board members. It was also nice to curl up on their big comfy couches at the end of the night, sip wine and laugh. (For those of you who know PGL meetings; this had a very similar feel.)

Saturday I met up with Giovanni in the park. I met Giovanni when I was apartment searching. I decided not to live with him and his roommates mainly for distance reasons. Giovanni is learning English so he inquired if I would be interested exchanging conversation to improve my Spanish and his English. I jumped on board. Saturday we sipped drinks from Café Condesa and talked for two hours. He’s an artist who recently painted a huge mural at his old elementary school with a friend. They even wrote an article about it in a local magazine, which he showed me. We planned to meet again Monday.

That evening I volunteered at a Venetian Ball fund-raiser. It was held in the ruins of an old monastery. It was completely lit by candle light and the dirt paths were covered in pine needles and rose petals. It was all open air and one of the most GEORGIOUS events I have ever been a part of. There was an orchestra and for painters painting in the main grassy field. The paintings were auctioned off at the end of the night. Everyone who attended wore lavish costumes (even wigs and hoop skirts!) and masks. We left tired but quite impressed by the beauty of the evening.

Sunday I woke up from a text message of a girl I met last weekend. Her name is Diana and she’s a missionary here. She invited me to lunch and since host families don’t cook on Sundays I quickly took her up on the offer. We ate at Mono Loco, a popular sports bar here. I had a burrito with sweet potatoes in it. It was delicious. The conversation, however, was just as great and I really feel like I have made yet another great friend! We went back to her beautiful home and went swimming in the community’s pool. It was nice to swim laps again and it reminded me of swimming with Shea in college. Then to offset our workout we made brownies and cookies to take to a Super Bowl party. A group of missionaries at her church were celebrating the Super Bowl together. About 40 of us crowded together to support our respective teams and eat and eat and eat. Oh my goodness it was so delicious it gave me a stomach ache! There were wings, veggie chili, Asian coleslaw, mac&cheese, buckeyes, guacamole, pineapple, sooo much delicious food. I asked where the Saints and Colts are from and some one (I’m pretty sure a Guatemalan) told me the Saints were from New Jersey (New Jersey, New Orleans…whatever?). Anyways, I think if I would have known I would have really gotten into the game. Oh well it was a good game and met lots of neat people- including another woman named Jackie Sue and born in May….

When I got home after the Bowl I was exhausted but Stijn, the guy who also lives here, wanted to go salsa dancing so I gave in. When we got there I realized this was no place for me to dance, just watch. It was very impressive and I wanted to try but when I did I realized I was way too tired to get into it. Very sad

Monday I was given the day off because we volunteered Saturday night. I rested for a majority of it then went to the library to get a tour from a guy I met at the Super Bowl party who works there and get my library card! Then Giovanni and I met and had a really great Spanish/English exchange.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I’m going to a sculpture exhibit and then to a free movie at the library with Fabiola a wonderful fun girl from Guatemala who is doing her college internship in graphic design with CasaSito. I’m excited to get to know her better and watch a free Argentine love film---since it’s the month of love here!

Then Thursday I pack up and say goodbye to Antigua for a few weeks. I’m headed north to the land of Momos two help coordinate the construction of the first two water tanks of 2010! I’m excited to get my hands dirty and (hopefully) find my inner engineer? We’ll see!

Later, I’ll hopefully post pictures from friends of the Venetian Ball!