A School, A Hike, A Coffee Museum, & A Wedding

So, real talk... Peace Corps training can be... weird.  I have no complaints and definitely no regrets, but it's still an adjustment.  Two months ago, I was in college - living with my friends, eating what and when I wanted, and deciding how I spent the entire day.  Now, I eat three meals a day with my host family, I have to be home before it starts getting dark (6:30 pm), and I'm not allowed to go much farther than the town soccer field.  On top of that, there is still a significant language barrier between the locals and I.  All and all, things are great, but there is still feels a bit strange sometimes.

HOWEVER, this weekend has been AWESOME!  It all started Friday when we took our first visit to a school in an area largely inhabited by indigenous people.  The school had a Peace Corps Volunteer until last month and it was so nice to get a feel for what we'll actually be doing over the next four years.

Before stopping in the school, we visited the local health center and got a overview of the Healthy Schools program from the perspective of the Ministry of Health.  (Healthy Schools is a joint effort between the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and they tend to have different perspectives.)  The man at the health center really seemed to emphasize the handing out of things to children... For example, giving weekly micronutrients (instead of teaching about nutrition) and giving biannual deworming medicine (instead of teaching about clean water).  On the bright side, he also emphasized the importance of involving teachers and trying to form habits in the children, both things the Peace Corps emphasizes.

Then, we went to the school!!!  We talked to the director (principal) and he gave us a tour around.  The school building was nice and the kids seemed happy, but the problems were also apparent.  There school had an enrollment of 142 kids... and three teachers.  One teacher was managing two classes in two different rooms, another teacher had two classes in the same room.  This meant that the kids spent their day copying things from the blackboard.  As a side note, every day I ask my five-year-old host brother what he did at school and he says "I watched a movie."  With a 1:50 teacher to student ratio, I can see why movies would be popular in schools.

I am very excited to learn more about education in Guatemala and to figure out how to make a health program work in a school with such limited resources.  Here's a pic of our group at the school!

On Saturday, all of the trainees went to the Museo de Cafe with our Language and Culture Facilitators (LCFs).  It was a nice break just to see each other and to be a bit touristy.  Guatemala is ninth in the world for coffee production.  As an American, I think it's a bit strange to be so proud of being ninth for something, but one of the reasons I'm here is to gain a different perspective.  We learned quite a bit about coffee.  For example, each coffee tree produces only about a pound of coffee (or 24 brewed cups) per year, which means that coffee is an extremely labor and land intensive process.  Also, 84 cents of each dollar spent on coffee stays in the country that consumed it - for transportation, advertising, etc.  Only 16 cents gets returned to the country that produced the coffee.  Most importantly, we learned "Nescafe no es cafe."  Here's  a pic of me and quite a few coffee beans.

Later in the afternoon, I met up with some other trainees for a hike.  We got a great bird's eye view of our town and we got to just relax.  A little fresh air is exactly what the doctor ordered.  The hike was a little bit dusty, but totally worth it.  I hope I get the chance to have adventures like that more often.  Here's a pic of my hiking amigos.

After the hike, I cleaned up, had dinner with my family, and went to a wedding with my host mom!  I wish I had pictures of the wedding to show you, but as soon as I take out my camera, I'm a tourist.  As the only gringo in the room, I wasn't exactly trying to create more barriers.  The wedding was different than I expected.  It was only a civil ceremony, because it is very expensive to get married in the church.  Also, the bride and groom looked very young.  We walked in and the bride and groom greeted us at th door and accepted our present.  The bride was wearing a very flashy white and silver dress.  Then, we sat in lawn chairs and chatted with people while food was passed around.  There was a band playing but very few people were dancing.  After about an hour, we said good bye and left.  Probably the best part of the night for me was when we got back, and I got the chance to sit with just my host mom and chat about marriage and family in Guatemala while we enjoyed a "cafecita".  Moments like that are exactly what I hope for as a Peace Corp Volunteer.

Now... off to a birthday party for a fellow trainee.  Life is good.