We shall start with my internship day last week the 10th! One of the other students, Brittany decided to come with me. If you recall our mode of transportation is an outdated motorbike. Daniel, the nurse, always told me I weighed a lot now we are going to attempt three people on this pos (only way I feel describes the bike). I mean we only had to go 3 km. That is not bad right. 3 km felt like 3 hours. We had to go so slow and every bump I swore the tire would just plum fall off. I basically had my bum on the fender. Great! Needless to say I am writing this blog so we did make it there and back in one piece. The town we visited is Called Hermano Pedro, which is situated in between two small mountains and part of the town is built on the side of the mountain. Very poor town, needs a lot of simple infrastructure. But anyway Brittany and I checked patients in, doing weights and heights. Mind you when I had to write their names it was about 7 of them and all of which I had no idea how to spell. The only names I could clearly write were Maria, Gonzalez, Pedro, and Garcia. Yea. That took place the first part of the morning and the second half we visited to mothers who had just given birth about 8 to 10 days ago. The first mother was 26 years old and already had 6 kids. Her newborn was about 6 lbs, slightly malnourished if you ask me and she had to have c-section to have him. Her stitches were done horribly. We took them out and it left a gnarly scar on her stomach. Her house had 3 large beds in it that look about the color of the ground and it just smelled of b.o. All of her children were no older than 8 years old and just about the happiest kids I have seen. I played tag with them for a little bit and they were laughing at me hysterically. I looked like a big ol blue blob chasing them. It broke my heart to see what they had to sleep on just awful. It almost made me a little sick to my stomach to even think of sitting on the bed. The second mother had a "better" housing situation. I put better in quotations because better only explains the idea that its better than the worst but no where near great. Her son was about 8 days old and was having a hard time going to the restroom. Again slightly malnourished and under weight. She will probably have to go to the hospital to have all of his intestines checked. Very sad. On our way home I think the motorbike had a heart attack. Pobre moto! All around a good day.
I also realized this weekend that my camera cord that connects to my computer happened to be in my backpack the little you know what stole. So unfortunately for the time being I have no way to upload any pictures :( Now how will you guys see my "lethargic" self...
Ok on to Friday.. Thursday was not exciting it rained all day... SO TIRED OF RAIN.
Friday was our day to take a field trip into the city with our whole study abroad program. I know many of you have probably seen horrible news clips on Guat city but we will not be in those zones so need to worry. But Camino Seguro is a non-profit organization that started a school program for kids about 12 years ago and were the ones to give us our Guat tour. They took us to the Basura which is the only trash dump in all of Guatemala. That means the entire Guatemala city and surrounding towns dump in this one single area. The city does not own the trash dump, it is run by private owners. Sadly part of the informal economy is run through the sifting and sorting of the trash. Over 400 people work in the trash dump sifting through trash to re -sell or eat. Age has no bound. You will see women with babies strapped to their backs sifting through trash to support their families. It is so sad but its their way of life. Camino Seguro basically started a school program for all the Basura kids. Instead of going to the dump they now have Camino Seguro to attend school and get away from the violence of living in the trash dump. I have shortened the story a lot but I think you get the basic idea. Most of these kids will not make it past 8th grade. But living in the informal economy having passed 6th grade can get you a job. Camino is located in the center of all the squatter settlements and colonial housing. For most of the people just having a tin roof is ten times better than anything they have lived in before. So we got to see the real Guatemala and not just the glamorous tour-on cites! After our tour with Camino Seguro (which stands for Safe Passage) we went into the central downtown area and watched a live peaceful protest to a shooting that happened 2 weeks ago in Xela. The protest focused a lot on independence for the indigenous people and resignation of a lot of political leaders. By this time it was late afternoon and to be honest I was beat. No amount of Guat coffee could wake me up. Bus ride home was very silent, all pooped.
Saturday was another fun day of homework all day. Boooooo! Even though it has been over a month I keep thinking that I am not in school since I am in Guatemala. I need to snap out of this dream.
Sunday fun day! The girls and I decided that since Saturday was spent with our noses in the books we were going to Chichicastenango for their Sunday market! Market is an understatement. It is 4th avenue street food on steroids with a lot of chickens, dogs and young men selling stupid wooden flutes. The market literally took over the whole town of Chichi. They start setting up Wednesday night and hold it only on Thursday and Sunday. It is a sight to see for sure. You will never have so many people in your life offer you to buy a wooden flute. I think I started getting forceful in my "NO GRACIAS" and the word spread that hey this gringa does not want a flute. By the end of the day all the flute vendors knew. The market takes about 10 hours to walk through. It is a giant maze full of bright colored wardrobe and all of the above. I have never seen so much color in my life. How can you decide on one thing to buy... I wanted to get it all! Also if you go far west in the market you get into the livestock area, where you can see cats on leashes, turkeys hanging upside down from wires tied to their feet, little baby chicks in crates (sooooooo cute), ducks in cages and I wouldn't be surprised if you could just walk home with a new cow. It was chaotic. People yelling out "Good price for you!" or "Your mothaa needs dis" or "You speakin English" ( by the way if you say no or make any response they already stole your attention and have grouped you into their little area). The key is to keep walking eyes straight forward with no recognition unless you want to be bargained with for a half hour. And also a key thing to know is look around for the first part of the day and by the end of the day the prices drop dramatically because everyone is trying to sell their stuff away. So wait until the end of the day and then buy all your goodies. I got a beautiful quilt that originally started at 850 quetzales and by the end of the day was 400.. See what I mean... Patience young grasshopper! And since I have no backpack I bought a traditional woven Mayan backpack! It totally screams tourist but I love it! Oh I must also comment on the chicken bus one last time. We got on all the seats were packed so for 3 hours I stood in the middle, my butt in one persons face and my stomach in the other. Every bump and turn I would smash someone. By the end of the bus ride I started at the front of the bus and the bus attendant kept pushing my back further in the bus so eventually I was by the last seat standing just waiting for the back exit door to swing open... There goes the gringa. I must also mention that the speakers are in the back of the bust and were blaring Salsa music. When I got off the bus my knees were hyper extended, I could not hear a word and I was slightly fumigated from the bus exhaust. Another lovely experience I might add.
Ok ladies and gents that is all for now! More to come this weekend!!
I also realized this weekend that my camera cord that connects to my computer happened to be in my backpack the little you know what stole. So unfortunately for the time being I have no way to upload any pictures :( Now how will you guys see my "lethargic" self...
Ok on to Friday.. Thursday was not exciting it rained all day... SO TIRED OF RAIN.
Friday was our day to take a field trip into the city with our whole study abroad program. I know many of you have probably seen horrible news clips on Guat city but we will not be in those zones so need to worry. But Camino Seguro is a non-profit organization that started a school program for kids about 12 years ago and were the ones to give us our Guat tour. They took us to the Basura which is the only trash dump in all of Guatemala. That means the entire Guatemala city and surrounding towns dump in this one single area. The city does not own the trash dump, it is run by private owners. Sadly part of the informal economy is run through the sifting and sorting of the trash. Over 400 people work in the trash dump sifting through trash to re -sell or eat. Age has no bound. You will see women with babies strapped to their backs sifting through trash to support their families. It is so sad but its their way of life. Camino Seguro basically started a school program for all the Basura kids. Instead of going to the dump they now have Camino Seguro to attend school and get away from the violence of living in the trash dump. I have shortened the story a lot but I think you get the basic idea. Most of these kids will not make it past 8th grade. But living in the informal economy having passed 6th grade can get you a job. Camino is located in the center of all the squatter settlements and colonial housing. For most of the people just having a tin roof is ten times better than anything they have lived in before. So we got to see the real Guatemala and not just the glamorous tour-on cites! After our tour with Camino Seguro (which stands for Safe Passage) we went into the central downtown area and watched a live peaceful protest to a shooting that happened 2 weeks ago in Xela. The protest focused a lot on independence for the indigenous people and resignation of a lot of political leaders. By this time it was late afternoon and to be honest I was beat. No amount of Guat coffee could wake me up. Bus ride home was very silent, all pooped.
Saturday was another fun day of homework all day. Boooooo! Even though it has been over a month I keep thinking that I am not in school since I am in Guatemala. I need to snap out of this dream.
Sunday fun day! The girls and I decided that since Saturday was spent with our noses in the books we were going to Chichicastenango for their Sunday market! Market is an understatement. It is 4th avenue street food on steroids with a lot of chickens, dogs and young men selling stupid wooden flutes. The market literally took over the whole town of Chichi. They start setting up Wednesday night and hold it only on Thursday and Sunday. It is a sight to see for sure. You will never have so many people in your life offer you to buy a wooden flute. I think I started getting forceful in my "NO GRACIAS" and the word spread that hey this gringa does not want a flute. By the end of the day all the flute vendors knew. The market takes about 10 hours to walk through. It is a giant maze full of bright colored wardrobe and all of the above. I have never seen so much color in my life. How can you decide on one thing to buy... I wanted to get it all! Also if you go far west in the market you get into the livestock area, where you can see cats on leashes, turkeys hanging upside down from wires tied to their feet, little baby chicks in crates (sooooooo cute), ducks in cages and I wouldn't be surprised if you could just walk home with a new cow. It was chaotic. People yelling out "Good price for you!" or "Your mothaa needs dis" or "You speakin English" ( by the way if you say no or make any response they already stole your attention and have grouped you into their little area). The key is to keep walking eyes straight forward with no recognition unless you want to be bargained with for a half hour. And also a key thing to know is look around for the first part of the day and by the end of the day the prices drop dramatically because everyone is trying to sell their stuff away. So wait until the end of the day and then buy all your goodies. I got a beautiful quilt that originally started at 850 quetzales and by the end of the day was 400.. See what I mean... Patience young grasshopper! And since I have no backpack I bought a traditional woven Mayan backpack! It totally screams tourist but I love it! Oh I must also comment on the chicken bus one last time. We got on all the seats were packed so for 3 hours I stood in the middle, my butt in one persons face and my stomach in the other. Every bump and turn I would smash someone. By the end of the bus ride I started at the front of the bus and the bus attendant kept pushing my back further in the bus so eventually I was by the last seat standing just waiting for the back exit door to swing open... There goes the gringa. I must also mention that the speakers are in the back of the bust and were blaring Salsa music. When I got off the bus my knees were hyper extended, I could not hear a word and I was slightly fumigated from the bus exhaust. Another lovely experience I might add.
Ok ladies and gents that is all for now! More to come this weekend!!
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