Adios Amigos

Well, it's our final night in Guatemala. We're currently in Guatemala City as our flight tomorrow leaves at 8a; had we stayed in Santiago, we would've had to leave at like 2a to make it to the airport. I'm very much excited about our upcoming week in Costa Rica and hoping that I can find no feasible reason to even open my laptop while I'm there. After a three+ hour drive to the capital this morning, Alan and I took in the sites of zona 10 around our hotel. We indulged on sushi for lunch (yes, cooked), and followed with some tasty frozen yogurt. We just woke up from a great nap, and are heading out to eat again. With good food and naps in between, this 'babymoon' is off to a great start.

Leaving Santiago was bittersweet. We spent our last night out with our homestay family the Mendozas, eating ice cream and street food (in that order). It was sad to say goodbye, and we felt much more like family than tenants as they prayed over us and gave us parting gifts. Here is our family photo below; we tried to include Hooch in the first one, but he's crazy.

This next one is a little better; from left to right: First is Concepcion; she is Henry's mother and "lives" with the Mendoza's every other month. The other months she lives with Henry's sister, who lives right next door in the same gated area. [Really I think all the month determines is who she eats dinner with and whose laundry she does.] Anyway, she was fantastic and we'll be happy to tell Ellie that this is her Guatemalan abuelita. Next to Concepcion are Elena and Henry; our wonderful hosts. Elena is trained as a teacher, but currently works in Henry's tienda and at a local library. Henry is an electrician, and besides running a store with electric supplies, he also works as the electrician at hospitalito and does various other private electrician jobs. They stay very busy. Let's see, you've met Ammy/Margaret, so that leaves Jimmy, their 12-year-old son. Jimmy graciously shared the upstairs with us during our time there, loves the Simpsons, and is working hard to train Hooch. Okay, one final thing: please, please, take the time to notice who is the tallest person in this photo. Please.

Alright, it's time to shut this computer down. I look forward to sharing our Costa Rica adventure with you in about a week. Just for the record I have a few objectives for this trip:

1. To not open my laptop for any foreseeable reason.

2. To stay healthy. Trying to remind myself that "Pura Vida" does not always mean "pura agua".

2. To float uninhibited on my stomach in a pool for long periods at a time.

3. To end my relationship with Harry Potter and finish the final book.

4. And finally, to see a sloth, preferably a smiling one.

Hope everyone has a great week. Hasta luego.

El Lago

Yesterday, Alan and I went canoeing on Lake Atitlan. He did all the work, and, well I took pictures. Here's a few of my favorites:

Great Expectations

It's been a while since we've blogged. Since I didn't think you'd want to hear more about my digestive system, I figured I'd spare you the details of my food poisoning last week, and with various grad school deadlines (well, the necessity of finishing Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince), I haven't had too much extra time to write.

It's difficult to believe that we only have a week left in Santiago. In some respects, this trip has flown by, in other ways, it has been painfully slow. I guess I haven't spent a lot of time actually reflecting on the experience for Alan and I personally, but have focused more on discussing the culture, our "adventures", etc. So, maybe I'll take some time to do that now.

I think, despite our previous overseas travels and our awareness that expectations are never really a good idea, we still had certain preconceived notions of how this trip might look. We came to Santiago for a few reasons; first off, long-term overseas work is still something that we are both interested in -not committed to yet, but open to. The opportunity to spend seven weeks somewhere provides a better (although not perfect) scenario for understanding the culture beyond that of tourist's perspective, offers opportunities to build relationships, and, frankly, promises a different change of pace that is welcome to our overloaded schedules in the U.S. We also felt Santiago a good fit from the research Alan did on the training he would have at the hospital and because we would have the opportunity to live with a Spanish-speaking family and be forced to use Spanish more often- a skill that we both can utilize in Greenwood.

Alan shared a verse with me the other day, and the more I reflect on our trip, the more fitting I find it. It reads, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand" (Proverbs 19:21). I think I had many purposes for this trip, but I'm also certain they were my own. I expected that I would improve my Spanish- this hasn't necessarily happened, as we've spent less time with our homestay family than I had anticipated. They are often busy, and meal times were the best times to spend with them, until my body decided that it wouldn't normally digest anything that I didn't make myself. My second expectation (and another outlet for practicing Spanish) was that I would be working with the diabetes program at the hospital- a perfect fit for my grad school training. This hasn't exactly happened either, as the hospital hired someone during my time here to take on the project full time. This is great for the hospitalito, and honestly better practice in my opinion, as the project manager is both Guatemalan and local. However, I suddenly found myself without "purpose" there as well. I also met a worker from another NGO in the area that is coordinating school gardens in all the local elementary schools. I was really excited for the opportunity to go out with her to see these gardens and learn about their program. And, well, I haven't heard from her either. So, if nothing else, in my [unanticipated] down time, I have learned, for not the first time in my life, that I very much equate my value as a person with what I'm doing.

One of the reasons that Alan chose to come to Hospitalito was for the opportunity to experience greater OB volume, as well as learn about the pathology of a community different than our own and learn more about how to practice medicine efficiently in a context of limited resources. Alan, however, was obviously not the only one with this idea, as many volunteers have come and gone during our time here, and therefore, the number of medicos is more than sufficient to handle the patient volume -particularly in OB. His experience has been much different than his expectations. Needless to say, if you envisioned Alan as some heroic doctor reminiscent of a character from Off the Map, well then you're wrong. (And if you ever watched this show, please don't tell me, because I'll judge you.)

My point with all this is that, (and I'll speak only for myself) it's been very easy to be discouraged on this trip with my "role" here and also dealing with frequent sickness. I've whined, I've complained, I've looked for flights home. But what I haven't done enough of is stop and consider what purpose the Lord might have in bringing me (us) here. I have not been still; sure I've had days where I haven't left our bedroom, but my mind has been all over the place.

Despite this, there are some things I'm beginning to realize (and I know this is getting long, but you might as well keep reading. I had diarrhea like 720 times to learn some of these things- this way maybe you won't have to...)

First, as I said, I evaluate my self-worth based on what I'm doing. There are so many reasons this is prideful, unsustainable and unhealthy. I'm thankful that the Lord has stripped me of things that would make me feel "accomplished" here, because it reminds me that my identity is in Him and that I need to evaluate whose purposes I'm really pursuing.

Secondly, I've learned, and will probably have to continue to learn for the rest of my life, that our daughter is not ours. I have been anxious, angry, upset, and humbled as I've consider whether or not it was a good decision to "bring" her here with us. It's one thing if I'm sick, but to put her in jeopardy? It is my duty as a parent to protect her, is it not? And, again, I am reminded that I am called to trust in the Lord, to follow Him first and get over this illusion that, even with good intentions, I will always be able to keep our daughter safe. This may not seem that significant now, but as I consider our future, the places we'll serve and the paths we take, this has huge implications for what I feel we're called to. But, as Jesus reminds John, "What is it to you? You must follow me" (21:22).

Finally, I think Alan and I have both been convicted, although many questions about our future remain, that we need to be more intentional about living in the present. The issue of our future plans may seem more pressing now than ever, as we approach his final year of residency, and finding ourselves overseas, wondering if this is where we're headed (-"this" meaning overseas, not Guatemala). What are we waiting for? We should be making plans, taking control of our future... It always stings a little bit when you hear the words "Christian" and "hypocrite" in the same sentence, because that's certainly not what I read that the Lord calls us to, but as I think about my faith, about my acknowledgement of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so often I live hypocritically. I do not live life in a way that requires my dependence on the power of God, particularly in the power of his Spirit that I claim lives in me. I live life depending on myself, or on my husband. This is contrary to what I profess as my faith- simply because that is what I lack: faith. If the God we serve is that powerful, we should certainly see this power in our lives, beyond what we can do ourselves. I believe God is up to this challenge, but are we? Are we willing to give up our purposes, our plans and expectations, trusting that He will do more than we could ever ask or imagine? This is true faith, a faith I'm learning more about.

La Reserva

Last Wednesday Alan and I decided to travel over to Panajachel once more, and, feeling a bit more healthful and spry than our last visit, opted to take a little side trip out to the nature reserve. Here's a recap of the trip:

We had breakfast at a restaurant called "Deli" before heading out. The delicacy you see before you is called a licuado- this one is basically fresh blended mango, pineapple and milk. Post-Guatemala, I'm confident licuados will be a permanent staple in my diet. I'm going to add a recipe for my favorite licuado combo as a sidebar. It will rock your world.

Got to the reserve, but Alan was still a little hungry after breakfast. Jon Yee, buddy, this is for you.

We enjoyed a series of suspension bridges leading up to a waterfall. Not entirely confident about the integrity of the boards, our motto was to keep moving.

Well, except on this one. We risked our lives for a photo op.

Oh, and we didn't want to leave anyone out. Here's Ellie enjoying the falls as well.

And here's a monkey.

Alright, now for our section on flora and fauna:

So what if it's in South Carolina. It's pretty here too.

Here's some coffee beans.

Hey, master gardeners, is this scale?

And finally, back to Santiago.

For Tim.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. It had to be done.

Santiago Short Stories

Now that I’m feeling better and a little more lighthearted, I thought I might share with you some of the more amusing experiences that have occurred in our day-to-day in Santiago.

Our first story is entitled “Houston”.
Most days if Alan is walking home from work I go to meet him and join him for the trip back. It’s good exercise for a pregnant-sized me and is also intentional time for Alan and I before we get back to the Mendoza’s and inevitably one of us gets on our computer. A few weeks ago, Alan was coming home from the hospital on a day that I was sick (this doesn’t really narrow it down), so nonetheless I wasn’t with him that day. Trying to get home quickly and listening to his ipod, he passed a young Guatemalan high schooler and continued on his way. A little further down the street, however, it became apparent that the high schooler had not only caught up with Alan, but was now suspiciously trailing closely behind. Despite initally assuming that the Guatemaltecan was interested in theiving his ipod, Alan soon realized he had only come alongside him to chat. He asked Alan about Santiago and where he was from. As they were conversing, the curious Guatemalan eventually asked (in Spanish), “Do you know ‘Houston Bay-bear’?” Alan tried to politely tell him he didn’t understand who he was asking about, or know anything about this “Houston” character, and, trying to explain, the boy said, “He is a singer.” Then it clicked; “Houston Bay-bear” = Justin Bieber. Of course.

Short Story Number Two: “Rappers Delight”
On nights that Alan is on call at the hospital, I normally eat dinner with him and stick around until around 8:30 or 9p at the latest. The later I wait to go home, the more difficult it becomes to find a tuktuk since the hospitalito is on the outskirts of town. Well, last Saturday night, it quickly became apparent to me that I had hit the jackpot, in terms of tuktuks that is. Saying goodbye, Alan and I flagged the tuktuk, and sitting down next to another passenger, I told the driver where I needed to go. As soon as we took off, I realized that the passenger next to me was leaning forward and sharing earbuds with the driver. It was then that the driver began to rap, which I guess I didn’t consider that strange, until I realized it wasn’t in Spanish, but in Tz’utujil- an ancient Mayan language that just doesn’t jive with Mace, Harlem World, or anything else you’d see on BET. The driver and the passenger sort of took turns, “rap battling” if you will, but it was obvious that the driver was much more talented at dropping sweet Tz’utujil rhymes than his overmatched counterpart. When we got to my stop, I was a little confused, so much so that I hit my head getting out of the tuktuk and didn’t bother to ask for change. A few days later, I mentioned it to one of the other volunteers, and he informed me that not only is there Tz’utujil rapper in the area, but he is, in fact, friends with him on Facebook. I think he said his name was Houston Baybear.

And finally, “Grilled Cheese”
Okay, okay. So I have a list of these and I could keep going, but just one more tonight. Yesterday I walked to the hospital to meet Alan for our stroll home, and finding him behind when I got there, I decided to sit outside of the ER and enjoy some Harry Potter on my kindle. About 30 minutes later, one of the Hospitalito “guardians” came outside to get something out of a shed. He’s a real nice guy, and I said my customary, “Hola, como estas?” He smiled and greeted me in return, but then something obviously caught his eye behind me; he started speaking rather fast and I picked up the words “estufa” (stove) and “locos” (crazies) before Fredi took off running. As I turned around, I caught a glimpse of two young Guatemalans sitting on a moto, pulling behind them, rather perilously, a stove. I had no idea where this stove had come from, why they were taking the stove, or why they thought transporting the stove in this manner was ever a good idea, but I do now know that when Fredi wants to move, he can. I didn’t see Fredi for awhile, although as Alan and I were leaving he did return, a little winded and utterly stoveless; he didn’t offer an explanation, and amused enough just with observing what happened earlier, I didn’t ask for one.

So, normally during Alan’s lunch hour, if I’m not at the hospital, we’ll message over Skype about how our days are going. As we’re going back to Panajachel for groceries tomorrow, our lunch selections have been pretty slim and so today Alan was pretty proud of himself for thinking to prepare some bread and cut up some pepper-jack to make a grilled cheese in the hospital kitchen. It was an ingenious idea, I’ll hand it to him. Anyway, I went downstairs to heat up my own lunch at our house, and came back up to find an email from Alan with no text, and with this photo attachment:

This, my friends, was just yesterday where the stove had been.

Gringo Observations in Santiago Atitlan

Hope you all are having a good weekend. Alan is on call today (Saturday) so we're doing work at the hospital together while he sees intermittent patients in the ER. I haven't told you too much about the doctors at the hospital, as I haven't spent as much time with them as Alan, obviously, but we have had a chance to sit down to dinner with two of the couples working here. One couple, Andy and Sarah (and their young daughter Rosie) have been here now for several months and have committed to living here for a year and a half while Andy works in the hospital. We've enjoyed getting to know them, talking to them about their decision to serve here long term, and sharing our Santiago experiences together. Alan told me that they had a blog as well, so I was snooping around on it the other day, interested to learn more about their perspectives and experiences thus far, and I came across one of their posts, entitled "Life in Guatemala: interesting and peculiar aspects of life in Santiago Atitlan." I was highly amused while reading it, as so many of their observations are spot-on what we've experienced the last few weeks. I can't figure out a way to just give you the link to this post, so I've copied and pasted the entry below for your enjoyment. I couldn't have said these things better.

Life in Guatemala: interesting and peculiar aspects of life in Santiago Atitlan

Now that we have been here for over a month and had a couple visitors, we are becoming aware of some of the unique aspects of our daily life in Santiago. We are also aware that our living situation is really quite posh compared to the majority of the people living in and around the city here. So we are extremely grateful…nevertheless, for friends back in the states we thought you might find some of the following observations and aspects of our daily life entertaining.

HOUSE BASICS:
•There is no hot water from the faucet. The only hot water in the house is in the shower. Ironically, however, every faucet has two knobs (both of which deliver the same type of water – cold)
•With regards to the shower, basically, cold water comes out of the wall to the showerhead and goes through an electric coil within the shower head which warms the water directly. The degree to which the water gets warmed is flow related… if you want it to be really hot, you turn the water pressure down to a trickle…if you turn the faucet on all the way, the water is very cold. On one hand, its great because you have unlimited hot water; on the other hand, it’s a little disheartening to see electrical wires passing directly out of the wall and into your shower head. (For those interested in trivia, look up how Thomas Merton died)
•Toilet paper doesn’t get flushed down the toilets anywhere (including our house)…so all your poopy toilet paper sits in a waste basket beside the toilet
•Electricity is pretty reliable…but we still seem to lose power a few times a week
•Water is pretty reliable…but we still seem to lose water a few times a week.
•Plumbing is pretty reliable….but we still seem to overwhelm the system a few times a week.
•Gas is pretty reliable, but there’s no easy way to know when the tank is going to run out. When we run out of gas, we call a guy named Abraham and he drives over within 24 hours with a gas cylinder strapped onto the back of his motorcycle.
•Our bathroom just has a shower, so Rosie takes her bath in a little inflatable kiddie pool that sits in the shower.
•We have no television
•We have no car
•We do have internet
•Our oven has no temperature settings. It has a knob with two options: Minimo and Maximo.
•Washing clothes seems like its more about making things smell better than actually getting things clean.

BEING “GREEN” IN GUATE:
We are sensitive to the fact that most trash ends up strewn on the roadside or thrown in the woods. As such, we have taken a number of measures to minimize our impact on the environment, each of which is equal part entertaining and gross. Some of the highlights include:

•Composting: we are doing 100% composting of all our organic waste., although its not quite as elegant as composting in the US with plastic cylinders and the like. Basically, we have a giant hole in our side yard and dump our waste in the hole.
•Plastics and eco-bottles: we collect all plastic and non-biodegradable waste in big ziplock bags. On slow nights when there is nothing else to do, we sit on the couch and jam the plastic bags, wrappers and garbage that we have collected into 20 oz. plastic soda or water bottles. We pack the wrappers in really densely, jamming it down with wooden spoon handles to get as much stuff as possible in each bottle. Sometimes we can get 1 to 2 gallon ziplock bags of random plastic into one soda bottle. As plastic and plastic bottles are not recycled in rural Guatemala, the stuffed plastic bottles (called “eco-bottles) can be donated to certain groups who use them in construction as a type of filler that is basically buried in cement that is poured into walls and foundations for houses.
•Doing the wash: we wear clothes until they are dirty or stinky. Back home, we would generally just throw our clothes at the end of the day into the hamper. Here in Guate, however, doing the wash takes both energy (which is expensive) and water. So on a daily basis t-shirts, pajamas and the like get the sniff test.
•Drying the wash: no clothes dryers here. Line drying happens on our porch. About 50% of the time, the laundry won’t dry by the end of the day, so after dinner we hang all our shirts and undies about the living room.
•Cloth diapers: Since Rosie (at 22 months) is not yet potty trained, we decided our most effective way to drastically reduce our amount of waste would be to continue using cloth diapers. While this has been very effective at keeping waste down, it involves a number of stinky steps to clean the poopie diapers. Let’s just say that prior to this trip, I couldn’t understand how diseases spread by the fecal-oral route were so prominent in developing countries….I thought – don’t people wash their hands? – but at this point, I have developed a new appreciation for just how frequently one can be in direct contact with poop.
•“Guatemalan camp fires”: This is my favorite. I decided on day one that we would burn all our burnables….including that bucket full of toilet paper that collects besides the toilet. At first, I thought: that’s cool, who doesn’t like fire and burning things…..but after the first couple of times burning the burnables, it became clear that I was just sitting in the yard by myself burning a pile of poopy toilet paper.

WILDLIFE
•There are scorpions here. Fortunately they have not visited our house yet. Nevertheless on our first night in Santiago, we saw one in our neighbors Brent and Jennifer’s house. They’re actually pretty tiny but apparently their sting can pack a punch. I try to reassure Sara by telling her to that scorpions are basically like bees that are easier to catch because they can’t fly (That doesn’t reassure her)
•The spiders are pretty big here. There is one who lives above our living room window. He only comes out at night. We’ve named him Spidey.
•There is a fair amount of dog roadkill. There are also a fair amount of vultures who fly overhead searching for fresh food.
•One morning on my way to the hospital I passed a fresh dead dog on the street. When I returned home that evening, only bones and balls of fur were left.

FOOD
•It probably goes without saying but you can’t drink the water from the tap.
•If you want to eat a fruit or veggie that isn’t peeled or cooked, you have to soak it in a solution of water and either bleach or iodine for 30 minutes and then rinse with purified water.
•90% of all food is purchased at a large open air indoor and outdoor bazaar-like market. It is a real scene there. You are literally shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of mostly 5 foot tall Tzutuhil women carrying large bundles. You can buy almost anything there. All food is really fresh and almost all of it is grown in Guatemala.
•Navigating your way through the market with your 22 month old daughter in one arm and 3 to 4 cloth bags full of produce while she is asking for snacks and simultaneously almost knocking over an overflowing basket of dried, stinky fish is a slightly different scene than hitting Shaws on a Sunday afternoon.
•Buying meat at the market is pretty entertaining. Basically the entire cow hangs from a hook in the back of the stall. You can request a certain cut and they cut it right off the carcass.
•The entrails, liver and other attractive odds and ends, are prominently displayed in a bowl right on the counter in front of the stall. (Sara almost threw up her first time going through the meat section. We have grown to appreciate that the saying “you don’t want to see how they make the sausage” is spot on.)
•If you do buy meat at the market, the biggest issue is that the meat is too fresh. (Since most stalls don’t have refrigeration, the animal has typically been slaughtered early that morning). You can’t eat it right away because of the rigor mortis. Instead you have to “age” the beef in your fridge for a week or so.
•The change you get back from the meat venders is handled by the same guy who just cut your slab of beef off the cow. So the money you get back is a little “meaty”.
•The eggs are so fresh that about 20% of them have feathers on them.
•There is an ice cream store in town however it doesn’t always have ice cream.
•Sara bakes bread from scratch which is delicious.
•There’s a shop in town that sells “Zucharitas” which is Frosted Flakes. We have a steady supply.
•You cannot find fresh milk in town. Most of the locals don’t drink milk. If you want milk, you get it in a box or as a powder.

AROUND TOWN
•To get around we either walk or take tuk-tuks, which are a type of hybrid between a motorcycle and a golf cart.
•The minority of people here speak Spanish fluently or even at all. Most speak Tzutuhil.
•Everyone is fascinated by Rosie. Random people literally run up to her and touch her. Some people pick her up. If Rosie walks by people in a crowded place, like church or the market, people often touch her hair. Its really very sweet and heartwarming. We often hear people saying “Que muneca!” as Rosie passes by (which means “what a doll” or “she looks like a little doll”)
•Our feet get incredibly dirty.
•There’s a post office in town run by a guy named Juan, who has long shaggy hair and moonlights as a musician at a hotel in town. The hours of the post office are not posted anywhere, but it seems that its open 1 out of every 4 times we stop by. If you do stop by on a day that its open, and you do have mail there, there’s still only about a 50-50 chance that Juan will give it to you.
•One of our favorites stores in town is the “Tienda de Plastico” which sells only things made of plastic.
•Another of our favorite stores is the 3 quetzal store. Everything in the 3 quetzal store costs 3 quetzals….except for a number of select items for the big spenders which cost 4 quetzals.
•We buy tortillas from the kitchen of a woman named Maria who lives down a dirt path across the street from our house. You can get them at 9am or 1pm and it costs 12 cents for 4.
All in all, life is wonderful here. Despite a number of new and interesting challenges, the pace of life and the general kindness of the people is very refreshing.

With peace,
Andy