Daily Life in Guatemala

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  Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Happy Wednesday!  Today I had my first 2 classes this afternoon.  They went well and we were a few short of the students who had signed up, but it was pouring down rain so that is to be expected.  Tomorrow I have 2 more classes also in the afternoon.  The kids here go to school all summer long and have their break in November and December, so I wonīt be teaching in the mornings.  Because I have a little time I am going to be taking a Spanish class in the mornings starting Monday for 4 weeks using my own funds.  Hopefully I will get much better at my Spanish and then I can better tell the kids to stop whatever they are doing when they misbehave :)!

Again the food has been good and I almost started laughing when we had hot dogs for dinner the other night.  We have also had spaghetti and some other pasta today for lunch.  Who would have thought?  I had some papaya yesterday and learned that that type of fruit didnīt have a hard enough skin because it didnīt digest well.  Lucky for me I didnīt eat much of it, but mangoes are fine and taste great, almost like a peach.

Everyday I help with some of the daily chores.  I help with a little cooking, but I really donīt know how to cook most of what they cook.  They have a gas stove, but it has 6 burners on top instead of 4.  The inside of the oven is only used for storage of leftover food to keep it away from the flies.  Cooked meat was stored this way and I ate it and I am still alive!

I set the table and clean off the table and I help dry or wash the dishes after every meal.  Wow do I miss my parents dishwasher! 

Last Saturday we cleaned house in the morning.  First the floors were all swept.  Then it was time to mop.  They take a wet towel with a hole in the middle of it and drape it over the broom and then drag the towel across the floors.  When the towel is dirty you take it to the washboard side of the sink and scrub with soap and rinse with water until it comes clean.  I felt like a pioneer from long ago.  Then they sprinkly a floor cleaner all over the floor by hand out of a bowl and then mop it around.  The floors did sparkle.

Monday was laundry day for me.  They have a washing machine, which I expected knowing they would be a middle class family.  But I was shocked that they had a dryer too.  However I was going to be a regular Guatemalean and hang my clothes on the line on the roof, but just then the rain started pouring down so I used the dryer.

My first couple days here I thought "What rainy season?".  It was dry, dusty and very warm.  Soon enough I found out.  It poured all day Saturday and Sunday.  Then all afternoon and evening Monday and today.  I wake up and look out the windows to the beautiful, forested mountains in the close distance and see a clear, blue sky with big, white puffy clouds.  But around lunch time the clouds turn gray and cover the mountains and you know itīs only a matter of time until you hear the pitter patter of the rain.  Good thing I brought some warmer clothes with me because when it gets down into the 50īs in the evenings it is freezing here.  They donīt have any heat and the cement cinder block houses donīt keep the warmth in.  On the coldest days we sit at the table in the late afternoons and have a cafe or tea.

I look forward to my schedule becoming more busy everyday.  The kids have been so excited to learn English that I already feel like I have helped them just by showing up.  I havenīt seen poverty like I thought I would, but I know it is out here.  Maria Luisa told me about the many people that do without and I can see that she gives as much as she can to the poorer people in her community.  She also said the rural areas are even more poor and many of those people barely know Spanish and still speak the languages of their native ancestors. But many people here care about making life better for their people and I think over the years improvements will be made here.

Thank you for supporting my mission here!  I already feel really blessed and I feel a guiding presence every day.  I know I am right where I am supposed to be right now and that means everything in the world.

Take care,
dianaj25

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