Escuela Vacaciones

Happy holidays everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the cold weather in MN...you probably think I am making fun of you from a nice tropical climate (which believe me, it is very nice!), but Christmas just isn't the same without snow on the ground and frostbite on numerous extremities.

We finished our vacation school yesterday. Here in Guatemala, we are on "summer" break right now so to speak. The vacation school was an optional class that 38 students decided to participate in. We taught both English and Intro to Computation (basics of the computer). The vacation school also included the nutrition program I have been working on.

For a final hooray, we had a fiesta yesterday. We brought ice cream (a first for many), cake, drinks and enough food to feed just about the entire community (parents, siblings, non-participants). We also gave away flashlights to all the students. Fr. Bernie had them donated, and they are great for the aldeas because they don't require electricity (which the community doesn't have and cannot afford to purchase batteries). These lights have a small hand crank on them that you spin to turn a mini generator in the flashlight that powers the light. Very cool. The kids were ecstatic.

After dancing for an our or so to burn off all the extra calories from the sweets, we gave away the grand final. I spent the day before making diplomas for all the students and appreciation certificates for the mothers that decided to help cook with the nutrition program. More smiles. It was really a great day for everyone.

Thank you Kevin for scoring me a College Pass to Steamboat...helped me BIG time!!!

Go Vikes!

I hope you all have a great Christmas, and I look forward to seeing everyone soon. I'll be back in MN on the 28th of December for two weeks.

PD

Tis the Season

Hello all!

I haven't blogged for a while, but to tell you the truth not a lot has happened lately (not a good opening line, I know. But keep reading if you want). Just lots of work and studying...

This past week we started learning Christmas songs in Spanish. It is really funny because they have the same tune, but often times have very different translations - kind of confusing. We are teaching our students these songs in the aldeas, too. They are mostly Catholic with indigenous Mayan influence, but are unfamiliar with Christmas songs. How sad, I know.

I'm fighting a cold night now, which isn't real important to anyone - but it highlights some traditional thinking that is kind of humorous. I'm not trying to sound demeaning, but it is just very different than what we know in healthcare these days in the States. The best example is their fear of hot/cold combos. If you come in from the rain, they don't want you to take a warm shower. Or I'll finish running, but they advise against talking a cold shower. I can't even eat ice cream with hot fudge! This hot/cold combo is the only reason people get sick down here, apparently. I was telling some of the monks that I got sick this time because I'm always around our students - and there are always a couple who will be sick. They disagreed with me and said it was because it is really hot where you work in the jungle and cooler here in Coban. They even went as far as to tell me that I should drink a glass of whiskey for my throat, but without ice. If there is ice in it, you will just get worse! I like the idea of having a glass of whiskey, but without ice - not so sure! Maybe I'll just have one with ice and another without ice. They should balance out, right?

The other traditional thinking mentality I've experienced here is that EVERYTHING is gripe (Spanish for 'flu'). Whether you have a headache, are stuffed up, or have a fever - you have gripe. There is no distinguishing between bacterial infections, viruses, or fungus among others. There exists only one type of sickness in the world, and that is gripe!!!

We did get some good news yesterday. MAGA and the Departmental Government of Alta Verapaz approved a grant for our chicken coop project. The grant will fund the purchase of all our chickens, feeders, feed concentrate, and egg cartons. This is GREAT news as we didn't have enough money to finish the project!

Talking about financial problems...ahhh Dubai - you make me laugh.

This is just a pet-peeve, but I just have to get it off my chest. We have breakfast every morning here at 7:00 am. We usually leave for work well before this and eat on the way, but somedays we stay in Coban and "sleep in" until 7:00 am. Anyways, if you don't show up for breakfast, the community is small enough that everyone notices. All day I get interrogated about what happened the night before - so I just never miss breakfast, it is easier that way. This morning, I decided to sleep in until 8:00 am when work starts because I'm sick. Should have known it, Fr. Bernie told me the entire community thinks I was hung over...awesome.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season. I heard MN just got hit with a big storm. Send some of that snow down here!

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon,

PD

(Chicken coop project in Yalchacti)