Viajar = to travel

The way Peace Corps works is that it assigns each person a country and a “role,” mine being Guatemala Food Security. This means I’m basically an immigrant American farmer. Cool. But there are also programs here within Guatemala such as “Municipal Development” “Healthy Homes” “Education” “Agricultural Marketing” and whatnot. Anyway, after that, different organizations or communities WITHIN Guatemala solicit for a volunteer. They have to go through a lot of paperwork showing that they have work for a volunteer, and that they can provide security and support for a volunteer. Part of this is that each volunteer has a “counterpart” that is a host country national, usually an employee of the organization that solicited the volunteer that will work with the volunteer throughout their two years. It’s a pretty great system.

As I explained in my last blog post, I finally got my “site assignment” which is where I’ll be living and working for the next two years. I’ll be in the department (aka state, kinda) of Zacapa, working for the municipality (government) and sponsored by a guy within the Office of Municipal Planning. There’s actually another girl, Brynna, in my training group going to my same town, and she’ll also be working with the municipality, but as a “Municipal Development” volunteer, and mainly working with the Women’s Office. So the following Monday (a week ago) after I got my site assignment was “Counterpart Day” at the office, where I finally met Sergio, my new boss. I don’t know exactly how to describe the feeling, but it’s almost like “bring a parent to school” day, since we all had our bosses there, and were awkwardly meeting them and trying to make conversation with them in broken Spanish. I think it really hit us all that we’ll actually be splitting up soon, for all different corners of the country, without our constant American support system.

The next day, Tuesday, we all set out for our “site visits” where we’d go see our communities for the next few days, and get accustomed to where we’ll be living for the next few years. So we packed up as much stuff as we could, and crammed into a pickup truck to head on our 5 hour trip to our new home. It was actually a pretty funny situation, and very Guatemalan, because at first we squished 6 people in the truck, with 2 riding in the back with the luggage. Then the two in the back got out and went their separate way. Then we somehow picked up a different volunteer and their counterpart during lunch, while people got in the back with luggage again. Then we finally dropped off one last person, 6 people were in the truck again, until finally we dropped off the two people we had gained halfway through the trip. Make sense? Not really. I actually ended up falling asleep during the ride, and had my head forced on Mary’s (Brynna’s counterpart) shoulder. So nice. By the way, Brynna’s counterpart, Mary, is CRAZY. Boobs everywhere, glittery makeup, tight jeans, and lots and lots of inappropriate jokes, BUT she can’t dance because she’s Evangelical. I love it.

After we got to Zacapa, I met my new family, and I’ve got to say, this will be a COMPLETELY different experience than living where I’m at now. The people I live with now are extremely conservative and reserved. The new family is a loud group of jokers, with constant reggaeton music in the background, and a carefree attitude that’s really infectious. I think I’m going to get along great with them. I now have 5 new siblings, ranging from about 25-5, one of which is married with her own kid, and one of which is grown and lives in Guatemala City. The other three are younger and pretty cool. One of my new brothers is about 17 probably and loves walking around with his shirt off. Reminds me of home. He’s adorable, and teases with his sisters, and I’m pretty sure the one I’ll be closest to. My oldest sister is the married one, and she has the cutest little baby. He’s not even 2 and knows how to count in Spanish AND English, can recite the sounds animals make, and sings “Happy Birthday” in English. Actually, the volunteer that was at my site before me is his godfather. Random, right? The oldest brother came into town to meet the new gringa, and he’s extremely nice too. He, and the rest of the family, included me in their jokes and teasing immediately and made me feel right at home. My two younger sisters are 9 and 5. The 9 year old is a little adult, and tried teach me how to make tortillas, and had the best time making fun of my ugly tortillas. The youngest one is a precocious little thing, and is constantly talking to me, even though I pretty obviously only understand about 80% of what she’s saying. Doesn’t deter her one bit. My new madre is the bomb, is laid-back, and says she can’t wait for me to be like one of her daughters. My padre is a little on the quiet side, and is almost always chilling in the hammock, and he also makes his own AMAZING fruit liquor. Chilling in a hammock, getting a tan? I’m totally meant to live there.

Anyway, we stayed in Zacapa from Tuesday night to early Saturday morning, going on a ride around to see the smaller towns that make up the municipality and the pool (yup, they have a town pool, way too cool) and meeting the people that I’ll be working with. On Friday, I actually met the mayor of the town, who seems like a pretty legit guy, and went to a beauty competition for the “flower of the feria” which is in 2 weeks. Cute little kids doing the competition, then boys dressed up as girls competing for “Ms. Guatemala” and half-dressed high school girls shaking their booties on stage during the breaks. It was part extremely amazing, and part jaw-droppingly inappropriate. Apparently they have “dances” all the time in Zacapa, and this Friday was no exception, so after the competition, the lights went out, and all the families (myself included) hauled ass to the door so the 18-30 year olds could “enjoy the evening.” It was pretty funny, because all the girls in Zacapa wore REALY tight/short/inappropriate clothes and the highest heels ever to the community event before, with their families and whatnot. It was like a Friday night in Miami, except at a children’s beauty pageant. So random. My madre is making me go to the next dance during feria, and I can’t wait for the awkwardness that will surely follow.

If I could name any downsides to my new site, it’s that I’m a little worried about what my role will be, working with the municipality. I don’t want to be in the office ever, really, and I hope it doesn’t turn out that way. Also, I’ve already had the mayor tell me he’s “single in Zacapa” because his wife lives in another town, I’ve had another guy ask me if I didn’t just want to be his “personal secretary” instead of “work in the corn” and I got confused looks by a few women on why I dress so “conservatively” even though I was wearing a spaghetti strap dress with no sweater, something I would never do where I live now. It’ll be interesting adjusting to the new life, and the pros definitely outweigh the cons. The town is EXTREMELY small, and everyone knows everyone, and I’m pretty sure that after a few months the novelty of a gringa will wear off and I’ll have gotten more of an image of a worker than of a new blonde girl.

Anyway, the next morning I woke up to catch the 5am bus back home, and found myself sitting on the curb in the dark waiting for a run down school bus. So Guatemala. After the first 4 hours, we landed in Guatemala City where we somehow managed to get a cab to take us to the next bus stop, but not until after we found a Burger King and got some fast food breakfast. So delicious. A short hour ride home, and I was happily back with the family I’ll be leaving in one short week.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure (you asked for it, readers) I finally faced and will hopefully survive my first case of fever-inducing diarrhea. Almost as soon as I got home on Saturday, I got intense chills and called my mom crying, thinking I was dying. Then the liquid green poo started happening, and to be honest, hasn’t let up. I survived the night, and made it through today well enough, but I’ve been alternating between sweating my ass off and freezing to death. A little dramatic? Maybe. But I’m sick, so cut me some slack. Anyway, there’s nothing more fun than having every member of your family know that you destroyed their toilet for 24 hours straight. My padre actually told me “I know you must be really sick because you refused food and your hair isn’t washed.” Great. Well they say you know you’re getting old when you talk about your bathroom life more than your sex life. …….Or you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Side note: the dogs at my house keep barking for no reason. They must not know I’ve kicked puppies for less.