Teaching Begins!

This week Matt and I began teaching in Yalchucti and Rio Palmeras. We will be there three days a week, teaching primarily English. It is a bit of a challenge considering many of the students don't speak Spanish - Q'eqchi' only. A couple of the teachers speak both languages though, so we use Spanish as the intermediary to teach English. Kind of confusing, but hopefully that makes sense? We teach for about 4 hours a session, with 55-60 students in the class (little different than the student-teacher ratio at SJU...)

This Wednesday, all the teachers ate in one of the surrounding aldeas. It was the home of our "athlete of the week." Her parents had a celebration in honor of the award, which is really humorous though - because as is customary, only the males ate/drank (even though the "winner" was his daughter). She helped prepare the meal, and then waited outside. As this example clearly indicates, gender roles are still very alive in parts, well most, of Guatemala.

The actual meal is another story. I need to tell you guys about it now as it is becoming very normal for me, and I need to highlight how "culturally unique," synonym for ridiculous, things can be!

We had to walk about twenty minutes from the gravel jeep trail to reach the aldea. During this part of the day, the temperature is about 100 F with humidity of roughly 250 to 300 percent. So as we get there, I am sweating heavily. We then precede to enter their home, which is a four sided chicken coup essentially with a dirt floor. The temperature is even hotter inside, as we have to sit next to the cooking fire and are separated from any breeze there may be outside. Additionally, the roof is a product called lamina (essentially sheet metal) and you can feel the sun radiating its heat right above your head. Tree limbs are laid across tree stumps for chairs and the table consists of two desks pushed next to each other, and closely resembling the desks from our school (coincidence...?)

Once comfortably seated inside, we are handed a cup filled about half way up with a clear liquid. It is poured from an unmarked bottle, but smells distinctly of a 50/50 rum and insect repellent mixer. Next you are handed a lemon, which you cut in half and squeeze as much juice out of as possible. Finally, you ask for "agua" which is Spanish for water. Humorously again, this is Q'eqchi territory and the language has no distinct word for soda, so "water" means "cola" now. Apparently they don't like mixers here either. I would have been extremely pleased with a "splash" of cola. Which would have been significantly more than the teaspoon poured in my cup. I asked for "poco mas" or a little more, but to no avail. For the record, I needed to stomach a second one of these drinks (cubre libre) for "dessert."

So back to sweating profusely. I am now not only extremely hot, but eating spicy food. Really spicy food. The sweating continues. We drink a hot drink called atoll during the meal. It is steaming when served, and now I am steaming even more. Literally sweating through my shirt. Along with two hefty drinks in my system, I don't think I've ever been this hot before. I'm glad it is guys only at this point.

The meal was called soupa organica. It is a mixture of carrots, onions, maize and spinach in chicken broth. There is some meat, chicken actually, but not exactly what you are used too back home. There is a chunk. A section. Bone, skin, maybe some feathers as I mentioned in my last post with Padre Pedro. I usually choose not to eat the chicken. Today, I did not eat the chicken.

Lastly, people usually have a family dog that sits under the dinner table waiting for someone to drop some food, or he sniffs out the weak one and puts on the begging face? Either way he usually gets some food. Well not here. If there were any dogs, someone probably ate them by now. Instead, we have ducks and chickens under the table looking for food. Again, no joke. I don't even notice them anymore. As we finish our meal, a woman drops off banana leaves at the table. We all take our unfinished meat, along with some extra tortillas, and wrap them up using the leaves and tie them shut with corn stalks. We then walk back to the road in the rain. What a day.

Despite my sometimes sarcastic remarks, I'm having a blast - for real. The hospitality at the meal today, for example, was exemplary. There wasn't a second where I didn't have food, drink or attempted conversation at my fingertips. The hosts were wonderful. I just keep putting a smile on my face and remind myself to have patience, for I will never experience a world like this again. Miss you guys, and look forward to hearing from all of you soon. We are receiving two semi-truck containers of aid tomorrow, so I have A LOT of work in front of me over the next few days. If you're around, drop off some Gatorade!!! Please.

Oh yeah, I got my first haircut down here. Old school barber shop. Used a straight blade and all. So despite what some people may think, I will not be returning to MN with long hair...