Welcome to the Land of Trees

The Land of Trees

Before I begin, a word of caution, this is really long...Im sorry, I really did try to limit my use of detail but there was only so much I could cut out without losing effect. However, I hope you enjoy reading about my journey anyway. And so it begins...

The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit” –Wade Davis

As I embarked on my journey of to distant lands, I never would have thought I would have had this much action jam packed into one week. I can only imagine how Im going to feel after eight whole weeks. On the plane ride over wanted to start my trip on a positive note by setting a few goals for myself, a few of which included:

-Use every opportunity to learn Spanish

-Stay positive even when you feel out of your comfort zone, that is the whole point of pushing ones boundaries

-Try to keep expectations at a minimum, they can be treacherous

-This is the first time you’ve been abroad for this long, let alone…on your own. So don't be too hard on yourself if you need an adjustment period

With this in mind, although my day spent flying was of the most anxious nature, upon my arrival seeing the house and where I was going to be living, I couldn't have been happier. I met eleven amazing people that I would have never befriended if it weren’t for this trip. We instantly hit it off and were quickly on our way into discovering the Guatemalan culture that surrounded our humble abode.

We arrived on Saturday, spending the late afternoon wandering around the town center where they started the Guatemalan Independence Day festivities, parades in the streets of every school in the city, and I mean every school. They marched for eight hours straight…obviously something is in the water here but Im not willing to find out what. The houses are made of cement so they aren’t afraid of setting houses on fire, and the people aren’t afraid of fires so they set fireworks off in city limits, and it was right next to where we live. Apparently I was told “You Americans live in matchbox houses so you cant set them off like we do”….I couldn't argue with that. But it was great seeing the city come alive and filled with so much pride. It was a great day to arrive in the country.

Sunday: More parades. Got pickpocketed. End of story. Not pleased. Buttttt we did learn about the history of Guatemala and their current social/economic problems. I also learned that the name Guatemala means “The Land of Trees”…well if you know me well enough, you know how much I love trees. And boy they aren’t lying, this is definitely the most lush place I have ever been too.

Monday: First day at my placement!!!! NOT. The hospital was closed for the holiday weekend, oops. Fear not, I went with the 9 people from Oppenheimer Funds to their location at the St. Vincent Elderly Care Facility. Got to help paint beautiful murals and was complimented for the third time about how well I speak Spanish! They told me I had a great accent and told me I could pull off being Latina once I learned the language a bit better haha! SCORE.

Tuesday: FINALLY got to go to the Pediatric Burn Unit of the Roosevelt Hospital…granted I was a bit nervosa because I had been warned from previous volunteers and my director (Virginia) about the Psychologist at my placement and that she has made the past two ladies cry their first day! ….great. Thank goodness I have thick skin. So I show up and everyone is extremely friendly…and Im wondering where the evil lady is or if Ive met her yet and shes just waiting to unleash the fury (I didn't know her name or what she looked like) but she wasn't there, then this sweet girl walks up to me and starts talking to me in English! SO HAPPY! She tells me she is a psychology student doing her internship at the hospital until the end of October (when their summer break starts) YAY I HAVE A FRIEND! We hit it off instantly, and she showed me around and has even offered to take me to her Universidad (it's a private American school) so that I can see what class here is like!!! The nerd in me was obviously jumping for joy. The kids there were not as badly burned as I had envisioned, and they were all so cute! I swear if I was 10 years older I could have adopted one. Just adorable.  The ones that are badly burned have a bit of self esteem issues (especially if its facial) so its great that I get to show them how goofy I am and make them laugh…just call me Laurena the entertainer. After work we all got to go visit the town Cathedral, Catholic Museum (where I learned a lot more about Mother Teresa that was quite shocking) and an underground market…which is basically a really cheap place to by stuff so the store owners don't have to pay taxes. It was like walking into a rainbow and not being able to find your way out. Colors galore. I was in sweet sweet heaven, I haven’t shopped since March unless it was to prepare for my trip…believe it or not.

Wednesday:  Poypol Vuh Museum of Mayan History and our night out on the town as we ate at an authentic Mayan restaurant called Kacao…simply amazing. I had a dish called Tapado, basically many kinds of seafood with plantains and coconut milk….delish! …and we all split some red wine.

Thursday: I found out that I am going to get to observe skin grafting surgery for the kids at the hospital, the supposedly evil psychologist is just severely misunderstood (Im trying to give her the benefit of the doubt), she introduced herself and I said oh Hi! (Her name is Brena) and she said “did they warn you about me?”….I laughed it off. However, she proved to be much nicer, seemed a bit forced but from what I could tell she was just very protective of her patients and felt I was intruding on her territory, luckily the kids and I had quite the connection that she recognized and after she got to know me a little more and about my cause, she was much more welcoming and offered me a lot more observation time. SCORE.

After work we all went to the old capital of Guatemala, Antigua, my oh my was it gorgeous. We went to the St. Clara Convent and the architecture was breathtaking, a beautiful courtyard with Arabic influence, and of course lots of Spanish influence in the building structures. It is more touristy but there is a section right outside the city called San Antonio Agua Calientes where many of the Mayan people live and still practice their cultural rituals. We walked into this shabby little hut and then BOOM it was a huge room filled with smoke and a little store in the back filled with their bright colors and famous textiles. As I was coming down the stairs, I look where the smoke is coming from…there is a tiny little old lady roasting coffee beans on a fire by hand….I FREAKED OUT this was incredible. I could have just sat there all night. It smelled delicious. We get settled in and we are told a little bit about the weaving process for the Mayan blankets and clothing, etc. Most pieces take about 4-6 months depending on whether or not they are double sided (which is a Mayan technique). Then we were told how the wedding ceremonies are conducted. Boy was that fun. They made a few of the people in our group be the bride (she was pregnant haha…talk about a shotgun wedding) and groom, and also the mother and father-in-law. It was pretty funny. It was an incredulous experience, for one thing the after party lasts 12 hours straight and you aren’t allowed to sleep….then the husband must go off to work the next morning with only tortillas and coffee. Oh and if the wife cant prove that she can cook to the mother-in-law…they cannot get married. Wow.

After the demonstration, they let us make our own tortillas and homemade coffee…hands down the best Ive ever had (of both). I was in heaven. Minus all the smoke. Overall I must say this was my favorite day thus far.

Friday: Went to the Mayan Ruins in Tecpan Iximche where we saw an actual Mayan Ritual where they pray to the Gods for various things (the one we withnessed was for fertility). After the tour we met with a woman who taught us about the Nawalis of the Mayan people, it is very similar to the Zodiac Signs. She told all of us what we were (its an animal) except its supposed to express how to best gather our energy. For example, my sign is called I’x which is Mother Earth, strength, or the Jaguar. It was very interesting to hear about what “characteristics” I have based on this character. Soon there after we returned home and all had our last pow wow before the Oppenheimer group that I came close with had to hit the hay as they were departing in the morning.

Saturday: We hiked the Pacaya Volcano! Rika, Cynthia and I geared up to go, however there were horses made available for us so Rika and I decided to go ahead by horseback, I cant pass up riding a horse, I think its in my Texan nature. There really aren’t any words to describe the feeling of journeying through a jungle to arrive at the top to see three monstrous volcanoes, one of which was actually active (one of four in the world I might add). It was literally unbelievable. Watching a volcano erupt with my own two eyes gave me chills. Im not going to get all nerdy on you….but I was stunned. We had lunch at the summit and even though the ash was toxic there were some local people with a fire and they were willing to let us roast our marsh mellows on their fire (and of course we shared) so it was a great time.

It has been the first full week! (sorry it took me so long to post) It has been a total delight (minus the phone mishap) Meet some lovely people and exceeded my hopes of what this experience would bring me. I cant wait to see what the next week will bring! Until next time J (Ill try not to be so lengthy)