Below the belt

Sometimes here in Guatemala, you encounter challenges in places where you would never expect them. Recently I was in Katie's site, walking to her house along a path that is just a dirt trail in a maze of corn fields or what was a maze of cornfields now that it has been harvested. As I am walking along, I pass a house with a young man and a few kids standing outside, I greet them and continue walking. As I am passing the door to their home, a little guy no older than 4 comes storming out with an angry look on his face. I think nothing of it, move a bit on the trail for him to pass and just as he is passing me he reaches out with his tiny little fist and punches me. In the balls. Luckily there was not a whole lot of force behind this fist, but still the audacity that this little tyke had shocked me. I was honestly speechless, I looked back in amazement as he continued his march of terror down the path and just continued walking towards Katie's house. Needless to say, I am going to keep my guard up and approach all Guatemalan children with caution from here on out.

Good Times in Guatemala

Beautiful background, right? You ask, where can I find one of these for my next family photo? Well, this is definitely a Guatemalan original, and can be found at my town's feria. Once Katie and I saw this, it went without saying that there would be a photo, complete with the Guatemalan expression found in all photos--stern face, no smiles. This is what people enjoy, a true slice of vida chapina. 

Over the past week and a half, there has been quite a bit going on. In my town we had our feria, which is the annual festival honoring the patron saint, ours being San Juan Bosco. The feria is basically a chance for the town to have a party lasting a few days complete with band, ferris wheel and carnival food. It was pretty impressive, my town is usually very sleepy and it was strange to see it come alive for a few days. Also this week, I helped in Santa Cruz Del Quiche with a vision clinic put on by Luxottica, who owns Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision, Sunglass Hut; among others. They travel to numerous countries and put on full vision clinics where they check sight, consult for cataracts and other problems, and give out free glasses to those who need it. The glasses are refurbished, the glasses that people donate when they no longer need them. Here are a few more pictures from both of these events. 

A picture of my town from the ferris wheel. The building below is the school and where all the people are gathered is the school basketball/soccer court where the band was performing. 

The band for the feria, complete with dancing people in costumes. Los Conejos was the name of the band, and for some unknown reason it is not satisfactory to have them up onstage performing in their lime green suits, we also needed to have about 30 people in a variety of costumes down below performing some type of choreographed dance. To be completely honest, it was a bit freaky. 

A view of my town from a hill above my house.

Another view of my town. 

The south entrance to my town, this is the main street into town. The poles with the bromeliads hanging from them are only for the feria. Gives it quite the festive feel, no? 

This is the organization that we volunteered for. 

Here I am with a Luxottica employee, who is from Twin Falls and lived in Boise for 8 years before moving to Utah, and an older lady who received glasses for the first time and her son. When she put them on, she told me that she felt as if she just took a couple shots of whiskey, that as long as her vision was like that, she might as well take a couple. It was pretty funny to hear this coming out of this lady's mouth. 

Here is Katie explaining to a kid that the pink glasses he got were the only ones left of his prescription. He was a trooper and took the pink glasses without complaint. 

Over the course of a couple hours, I became a highly skilled optician. Here, I am helping this young man fit into his new glasses.

Here is a young kid that I helped fit into a new  pair of glasses. Another pleased customer. 

Many of the kids didn't need glasses, but being kids, wanted to walk away with some type of glasses. Luckily, they had an endless supply of Ray Ban shades and the kids loved them.

Here is a young girl who got glasses and also a sticker right on her forehead. 

Here is a kid getting his eyes examined by one of the doctors. I would help translate for the doctors at this station, telling them to look forward, don't look at the light, etc. This kid was obviously a huge Kevin Bacon fan. Tough to argue with that. 

Here I am with a few of the many kids who we worked with over the course of the week. Good times.