Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Long Time, No Blog
Dear Diary,
Here I sit at the internet cafe in Fronteras. Its Saturday night, and I´ve managed to make it out with some of the other volunteers for some dinner and relaxation. As it just so happens, I am once again the only male out with about nine other female volunteers, which is not so bad of odds; although no one is gambling and I never win anything. What I do consider winning though, is being able to sit in front of a computer with a bag of chips and a Carta Blanca beer. At two cervezas for 10 Quetzal, this Mexican import is far from outstanding, but nonetheless a refreshing delight after weeks of Atol (some sort of hot drink they make with flour and water) and Rice Water (not bad). The internet cafe overlooks the main drag in Fronteras, and is far from relaxing: huge trucks and busses burn their diesel powering up the street, emitting huge clouds of black exhaust, people impatiently honk their horn waiting for pedestrians carrying tubs of tortillas or chickens to cross the street, and an annoyingly overzealous evangelical lady shouts to passerbyers below about the second coming of the Lord. Its amazing how this small little town in the middle of Guatemala seems like a metropolis after being at the orphanage for three weeks.
The weather. Invierno, and with that the rain, is officially over here in lovely Rio Dulce. I haven´t seen clouds overhead in almost three weeks, and as of two weeks ago, the heat has been overwhelming. It is usually a little over 100F in the sun in the middle of the day and drops down to a cool 80F at night. The moon is getting ever fuller as it makes its way across the night sky, and I have had many relaxing nights falling asleep on the hammock on the deck outside my boys house after I put them to bed, looking up at the moon and the stars, enjoying the lovely breeze, thinking about why little Jairon just had to jump in the river after I´d told him twice not to. Oh he has so much growing up to do. On that note, this is a reminder to apologize to my parents for all the times I disobeyed them or refused to do my chores, although I can only think of one or two select times (ha ha). So with the heat comes a lot of sweat. I walk outside and my shirt is wet, and most of my shirts now simply hang off of my body anyway. So normally I spend most of my day in a bathing suit, shirtless, which makes jumping in the river very easy at any point during the day.
Etcetera. Along with my tasks of whipping these young adults into fine outstanding gentlemen, and doing some writing and math tutoring, I have picked up some extra chores around the casa. This last week, one of our American english teachers, Caileen, returned back to the states, and the other, Claudine, from South Afica, was away on descanso. Needless to say, we needed some people to fill in for english class. I stepped up to the plate like Casey, mighty Casey, although I wouldn´t say that I hit a home run. At first I was a little nervous getting in front of a classroom of kids, but after the first ten minutes, I was on a roll talking about hobbies (nadar = to fish) (hacer joyeria = to make jewelery) etc, and how to use the gerund of these verbs (fishing, making jewelery). Having the class for only a week, and for some reason having only half of my class show up every period, was very discouraging though, and all my heart was just not into. I think I won over the kids hearts though, because I held class down on the dock most of the days. It was a good intro into teaching though, and gave me some confidence should I want to continue that in the future.
On top of the english teaching, I also picked up some shifts with a slightly mentally ill girl, Lisa, who resides at the casa. She is one of the oldest girls, but has some defects which affects her speech and learning, and whether it is part of the mental defect or part of how many of the volunteers have babied her throughout her life (you can probably figure out my point of view), she has some behavioral issues as well. Since she can not attend normal school classes, the volunteers have decided to split her up throughout the day and take shifts doing different things with her, like reading, writing, physical activity, talking, dancing, computer work, etc., all on a one on one basis. As I had already formed some opinions about her situation before I started working with her, it has been good for me to see on a first hand basis just where her mental capacity stands and how far we can get her to behave or learn. I usually swim with her, do some stretching, and talk about life, although the conversation is somewhat limited to her not listening and me not being able to understand what she´s saying.
Aside from the constant growing and expanding of relationships that occurs everyday between my kids and I, there isn´t too much else going on. I continue to meet and become friends with all the other volunteers, each one so unique and loving in their own way. It is always interesting to learn where they come from, what they had been doing, and what brings them to be working at Casa Guatemala. Although every story is different, there is a common thread that runs between all of us here. And I think it is cotton, 100% organic. Either that, or the desire to help humanity in some way, possibly learn a new language while doing it, and have some adventure at the same time. Whatever it is, it is inspiring seeing the courage and generosity of all those who come through here.
Semana Santa begins this week. Most of the kids with families have returned to their villages. Those that remain are the true orphans. We have been doing a lot cleaning in preparation for some presentations that some proffesional speakers will be giving on certain subjects, such as sexuality, morals and ethics, education, and cleanliness. Although there isn´t much talk at the orphanage about Jesus and why most of Guatemala is really celebrating this week holy week, I wish everyone a very happy Easter and hope spring in the States comes with rainbows, lollipops, green, and lots of kittens.
Till next time.
cristobal
Here I sit at the internet cafe in Fronteras. Its Saturday night, and I´ve managed to make it out with some of the other volunteers for some dinner and relaxation. As it just so happens, I am once again the only male out with about nine other female volunteers, which is not so bad of odds; although no one is gambling and I never win anything. What I do consider winning though, is being able to sit in front of a computer with a bag of chips and a Carta Blanca beer. At two cervezas for 10 Quetzal, this Mexican import is far from outstanding, but nonetheless a refreshing delight after weeks of Atol (some sort of hot drink they make with flour and water) and Rice Water (not bad). The internet cafe overlooks the main drag in Fronteras, and is far from relaxing: huge trucks and busses burn their diesel powering up the street, emitting huge clouds of black exhaust, people impatiently honk their horn waiting for pedestrians carrying tubs of tortillas or chickens to cross the street, and an annoyingly overzealous evangelical lady shouts to passerbyers below about the second coming of the Lord. Its amazing how this small little town in the middle of Guatemala seems like a metropolis after being at the orphanage for three weeks.
The weather. Invierno, and with that the rain, is officially over here in lovely Rio Dulce. I haven´t seen clouds overhead in almost three weeks, and as of two weeks ago, the heat has been overwhelming. It is usually a little over 100F in the sun in the middle of the day and drops down to a cool 80F at night. The moon is getting ever fuller as it makes its way across the night sky, and I have had many relaxing nights falling asleep on the hammock on the deck outside my boys house after I put them to bed, looking up at the moon and the stars, enjoying the lovely breeze, thinking about why little Jairon just had to jump in the river after I´d told him twice not to. Oh he has so much growing up to do. On that note, this is a reminder to apologize to my parents for all the times I disobeyed them or refused to do my chores, although I can only think of one or two select times (ha ha). So with the heat comes a lot of sweat. I walk outside and my shirt is wet, and most of my shirts now simply hang off of my body anyway. So normally I spend most of my day in a bathing suit, shirtless, which makes jumping in the river very easy at any point during the day.
Etcetera. Along with my tasks of whipping these young adults into fine outstanding gentlemen, and doing some writing and math tutoring, I have picked up some extra chores around the casa. This last week, one of our American english teachers, Caileen, returned back to the states, and the other, Claudine, from South Afica, was away on descanso. Needless to say, we needed some people to fill in for english class. I stepped up to the plate like Casey, mighty Casey, although I wouldn´t say that I hit a home run. At first I was a little nervous getting in front of a classroom of kids, but after the first ten minutes, I was on a roll talking about hobbies (nadar = to fish) (hacer joyeria = to make jewelery) etc, and how to use the gerund of these verbs (fishing, making jewelery). Having the class for only a week, and for some reason having only half of my class show up every period, was very discouraging though, and all my heart was just not into. I think I won over the kids hearts though, because I held class down on the dock most of the days. It was a good intro into teaching though, and gave me some confidence should I want to continue that in the future.
On top of the english teaching, I also picked up some shifts with a slightly mentally ill girl, Lisa, who resides at the casa. She is one of the oldest girls, but has some defects which affects her speech and learning, and whether it is part of the mental defect or part of how many of the volunteers have babied her throughout her life (you can probably figure out my point of view), she has some behavioral issues as well. Since she can not attend normal school classes, the volunteers have decided to split her up throughout the day and take shifts doing different things with her, like reading, writing, physical activity, talking, dancing, computer work, etc., all on a one on one basis. As I had already formed some opinions about her situation before I started working with her, it has been good for me to see on a first hand basis just where her mental capacity stands and how far we can get her to behave or learn. I usually swim with her, do some stretching, and talk about life, although the conversation is somewhat limited to her not listening and me not being able to understand what she´s saying.
Aside from the constant growing and expanding of relationships that occurs everyday between my kids and I, there isn´t too much else going on. I continue to meet and become friends with all the other volunteers, each one so unique and loving in their own way. It is always interesting to learn where they come from, what they had been doing, and what brings them to be working at Casa Guatemala. Although every story is different, there is a common thread that runs between all of us here. And I think it is cotton, 100% organic. Either that, or the desire to help humanity in some way, possibly learn a new language while doing it, and have some adventure at the same time. Whatever it is, it is inspiring seeing the courage and generosity of all those who come through here.
Semana Santa begins this week. Most of the kids with families have returned to their villages. Those that remain are the true orphans. We have been doing a lot cleaning in preparation for some presentations that some proffesional speakers will be giving on certain subjects, such as sexuality, morals and ethics, education, and cleanliness. Although there isn´t much talk at the orphanage about Jesus and why most of Guatemala is really celebrating this week holy week, I wish everyone a very happy Easter and hope spring in the States comes with rainbows, lollipops, green, and lots of kittens.
Till next time.
cristobal
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