Rough Commute

One of the many things I appreciate about Guatemala is the simplicity of it. Although there have been more than a few instances when I have wished that I could hop in my own car and make haste for the next destination, it is nice being able to take the time to stroll at a leisurely pace as I make my way to work...or anywhere really. This dawned on me as I was taking a route to a small village where I work with the school, about a half hour walk I make once or twice a week. I imagine that this commute will probably be the one by which all others are measured throughout my lifetime and none of them will compare.  Take a look...

The trail begins here, about a five minute walk from my front door. 

Rush hour traffic can really be overwhelming at times. 

 A creek for me to cross, which I have only fallen into once. 

A nice meadow along the trail. 

Young corn growing on a hillside. 

This is what most of the trail looks like, nicely shaded. 

Buena vista. 

The trail to the left is my path.  

As the rainy season technically began in May, but seems to have begun officially in the last couple days, everything is nice and green. 

The road to the village. 

View from the village looking east. 

Guatemala Welcomes Me Back...

As you can see below, I had an unexpected and sudden family emergency that required me to travel to the US on April 26th. It was not ideal circumstances for a trip home, but it was great to be able to be there during this time. I had not planned on traveling home during my service, but really enjoyed the opportunity to see family and friends. 

So, upon my return to Guatemala I am ready to get home and get settled back in with all of the new books, food and other luxuries I brought with me from the US. I arrived in Guatemala on June 2nd, made it home on the 4th due to protests at some main thoroughfares on the highway and was well on my way to making myself at home when on Saturday June 6th, this happened:

Nope, that is not Quasimodo, that is yours truly. On the fateful day, Katie and I were on a walk when we stopped to visit with a friend of mine, Don Paulino, and his sons who were working in their corn field. As we were talking, a bee was buzzing around my head. I swatted at it with my  hat a few times and thought that I had scared it away. As I was talking to Paulino (and thinking about what the hell I was saying in Spanish--it took a bit of adjustment after 5 weeks of English) I saw this monster of a bee zoom in towards my face and land on my forehead for a direct hit. I once again swatted it off of my head, while Paulino's sons burst into laughter at the gringo flailing at a bee. Paulino asked me about 3 times, "Pica, verdad? Pica?", which means basically "It stings, right?". And yes, yes it did. That evening as we were making dinner, I noticed that my face had taken on a strange shape, more swollen and disfigured than normal. I contacted our nurses who recommended Benadryl and if the swelling hadn't gone down in the morning, then to contact them. Well, the photo above was taken the next morning and therefore, I contacted them to see what my next step was. The next step: traveling 4 hours to Xela to go to the hospital! I pack my bag and head out, get to the hospital and talk to the doctor. They tell me they will give me an injection and send me on my way with some stronger antihistamines, which would leave me enough time to travel about halfway home to Katie's place, but cut my trip in half. Well, it turns out that an injection is hooking me up to an IV for an hour, so I am then required to stay the night in Xela. Needless to say, this was an unexpected yet appropriate adventure upon my return to Guatemala. This country definitely keeps you on your toes. 

Daniel Marc Miller

Daniel Marc Miller, 23, passed away on April 25, 2009 in Moscow, Idaho. Daniel was born in Bremerton, Washington on January 20, 1986 and lived there until 1991 when his family moved to Homedale, Idaho. Daniel attended elementary, middle and high school in Homedale, graduating from Homedale High School in 2004 before attending the University of Idaho.

 

Daniel was a son, a brother, a cousin, a grandson, a nephew, and a friend to countless people during his life. Daniel had a positive outlook on life and a faith that no matter how great the problem was, it would be resolved. His attitude and demeanor made those around him realize how special life could be and that time should be taken to enjoy it. Daniel had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit, neither of which he ever hesitated to share with those around him. Since he was a young boy, Daniel loved to make others laugh and to share the joy that he had. He was an eternal optimist and his enthusiasm for life was apparent to all who knew him. Daniel had a passion for music and loved to attend concerts with his brothers, cousins and friends. During his middle school and high school years Daniel had no greater joy than playing football and always enjoyed watching games to cheer on his two favorite teams, the Idaho Vandals and the Dallas Cowboys. Friendship and friends were gifts that Daniel treasured and he always surrounded himself with those he loved.

 

Daniel, although you were taken away from us suddenly and too soon, we know that you knew Jesus, are in heaven with our Lord and have a peace that is unknown to us in this life. We treasure the time that we had with you and cherish all the memories of you. Daniel, in your short time here you made such an impact on so many people. Your quick smile and zeal for life spoke volumes to everyone around you.  In your short twenty-three years, you made your mark on this world.  Your kind nature and love for others were qualities that always shone through. Daniel, you will be missed greatly and even though you are gone, your impact on our lives has only just begun. Our memories of you and the time we had with you will continue to live on in our hearts and minds.

 

Daniel was preceded in death by his grandfathers Roy C. Miller and U.D. Asumendi, and by his uncle Mark Miller. He is survived by his father and mother, Bruce and Benita; his brothers Nicolas, Benjamin, and Andrew; his grandmothers Dolores Asumendi and Madelaine Miller; numerous aunts, uncles and cousins who were all very close to him. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers that you make memorial donations in the name of Daniel Marc Miller to University of Idaho, College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences.

 

 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

 

Butchered Cows, German Shepherds and Osama (Me)

The past couple weeks have been pretty busy. Work has started to fill more and more time which has been a welcome change. I have still been able to get out on the weekends and visit some great spots in Guatemala. It has been a fast couple of weeks and the next two will be even faster. I have a trip to the beach planned and then we have Reconnect at the Peace Corps center, a chance for our group to reconvene and discuss challenges, problems and solutions. More updates to come soon. 

Crazy clouds on Friday evening. Photo taken from my front yard. 

This is Don Pedro standing with freshly butchered meat. He and his wife have become good friends of mine and I stop by a couple times a week to work on gardens, composting and trying to find enough people with chickens to vaccinate. One benefit for me is that every time I stop by they feed me a meal and send me on my way with a bag full of tortillas and homemade cheese. I stopped by their place on Friday on my way to Don Teofilo's house and ate lunch with them. I had to leave early, but they asked me to stop back by to pick up tortillas and cheese on my way home. When I returned, the scene above is what I found. It seems that one of their cows had fallen and broken a leg, so Don Pedro busted out the knife, skinned and butchered the cow right there in front of the house. They leave the meat out for a day or so to cure in the sun, wrap it up in the cowhide (on the ground in front of him) and store it in a dark room to eat later. They were nice enough to give me a couple good sized chunks of the meat which I took home and grilled that night. Delicious. 

A giant lemon given to me by Don Teofilo after I injected his cattle and horses with vitamins. Put next to the Nalgene for scale, this thing is pretty enormous. 

Here is my latest enterprise. I have become the local seed salesman of my town. What I do is buy large quantities of seeds and split them up into lots of 1Q (just enough to cover the costs of the seeds, no profits) which makes them affordable for just about everyone. I sell these seeds to people and then help them plant their gardens, so it works out well for everyone. 

Planting a garden with the family of my landlord's sister, Doña Tina. This is her son Dimas and he is ready to plant a garden. 

Here are the kids planting radishes. They were pretty excited about having a garden and seemed to be able to stay on task...

...until the chicken feathers started going into everyone's hair. Then all hopes of work were over. Luckily we had completed most of the work by that time.

Doña Tina's daughter Kimberly. 

First things first, arm every Guatemalan schoolgirl with a butcher knife. Actually, this was from a project I am doing with the school in my town. We are making a garden and have not found any suitable land yet, so for the time being we are planting inside of tires. This requires the knife this girl is ominously hiding behind her back. 

Here I am talking to a few of the kids about how we are going to cut the tires and plant the gardens. 

Showing where and how to cut the tires. 

And chaos ensues...no, here the kids are trying to flip the tires. This can be a hassle, our trainer David likes to say that the tire is laughing at you and that seems to be about the most accurate description. These kids were not having luck with this tire. 

Here, myself, my neighbor/schoolteacher Hugo (on the right) and Paulino (the cowboy hat) were wrestling with a particularly difficult tire. We finally did get it flipped. The tire gardens work like this. You get an old tire, cut two  holes on opposite sides (for handles) and then cut all the way around the tire. Then you flip the tire inside out to give yourself more surface area for your garden. If a tire still has a good amount of tread or loose wire, this can cause problems. This particular tire was small, compact and had a lot of tread on it, but we still whipped it. 

A timeless classic in both Guatemala and the US. This is probably the only pickup in my town that is not a red Toyota. Almost identical to the Nic Miller original. 

This ferocious looking creature is someone that Katie and I mistakenly encountered a couple of weeks back. We went to Lago Atitlan for the weekend to meet up with some friends and we arrived earlier than they did, so we figured we would walk a trail down to another hotel we had heard about and check out the swimming area. We asked around for directions, were told it was about a ten or fifteen minute walk and started on our way. We stumbled along and finally found what appeared to be a hotel. Nice stone walkways, cabanas tucked in along said walkways, it seemed clear to us that although there was not a sign this was what we were looking for. We let ourselves in through the gate, walk down a bit and come to a blocked part of the path, which had a wooden plank running up to another level. Katie looked up, informed me there were two really big dogs, I turned and told her let's get out of here. As we turned and started walking, I heard the wooden plank rocking back and forth and here come two massive German Shepherds our way. We turn and run, it is about 50 feet to the gate. One of the dogs was going nuts and was out for blood. The other more docile dog was nuzzling the crazy dog and just watching the scene unfold. So, we are trying to get out without being bitten and running away from this dog, while trying to fend him off with a towel and a water bottle. Finally, we got to the gate, locked it and I was able to get this picture of our foe from the safety of a locked gate. Eventually we found the hotel, another 10 minutes down the path. 

This is the hotel we were looking for, as you can see they have a great area set up down by the lake for swimming and jumping in. Although we were not guests, if you buy a drink they are happy to let you use this area, so we were obliged to enjoy a couple of cold Mozas by the lake. 

This is a shot of a mudslide that took place a couple months back near Chicaman. Basically the side of the mountain collapsed, wiping out a village and killing around 130 people, I believe. It was pretty amazing to see. 

Enjoying a drink and learning to play canasta at the hostel. 

Semuc Champey is a natural reserve in Guatemala, the most popular attraction being the limestone pools. It is a beautiful spot and made for a great trip. Getting there was a bit of a hassle, as it was 8 hours and 3 buses from where I live to get there. We made the most of it though and spent the weekend in Lanquin, about an hour from Semuc. We rode out to Semuc in a pickup that was driving around town with a 10 year old kid in the back yelling out "Semuc Champey!!!". This kid, Julio, was quite a character and seemed to be part of the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, as he knew all the tourist hot spots. As we made our trip he and his buddy were staring at my beard and eventually began calling me Osama. They also picked us up to return to Lanquin and when they saw me, again greeted me with shouts of Osama, although one of them mistakenly said Obama. I guess Fox News aren't the only ones who makes that mistake. 

A shot of the pools from the view point above. It was about a 45 minute hike to this spot and was worth it, as you can see. 

Here we found a nice perch to jump off of into the cool limestone pools of Semuc Champey. 

Work?

So, lately I have become acquainted with a concept that was a bit foreign to me for awhile there...work. When I arrived things were a bit slow and I have been doing a whole lot of getting to know the community, just talking to folks and seeing whether they have interest in my project. Recently, some of those talks have begun to pay off. 

Currently, I am working with 3 schools in the area, teaching the kids about the environment, composting, making a school garden and various phrases in English. All of the schools are great, although one of them is a 2 hour walk from my home and on the way back I gain over 1000 feet in elevation in about 3/4 of a mile. It is hard to complain though, as on of my co-workers lives in this town and makes this walk just about every day. 

This week, I began administering vitamins to cattle also. As I have said, many of the residents here believe that I am a veterinarian, so I figure even though I am not one I can take this on and confuse them even further. This was definitely a learning process. Here there are no real corrals, basically the cattle are set loose in the cornfields after harvest and graze there until it is time to plant, then they move them to the lowlands, near a river, an hour or so from here. Anyways, as they are roaming free, it presents a small challenge to get them and give them injections of vitamins. The guy that I was doing this for just grabbed a regular piece of rope, went out and lassoed a cow, running along with it so as not to be drug along and finally found a pole to use as a bit of leverage against the beast. We then proceeded to tie the cow's head to the pole, to keep it somewhat stationary while I injected it in the rump. I think we injected 5 cows with this process and I only had one close call--the first one, I didn't slam the needle hard enough, he got spooked and I almost caught a hoof to the shin. Lesson learned, make sure the needle goes in on the first try, apparently cattle don't enjoy being jabbed with sharp objects. 

Recently, the office of the association I am working with had their computer taken to the main office in Quiche and we are now using an older computer. After hooking up this computer, I discovered that after about 15 minutes, it fails. Every time. Which is nice. Also, when I looked at the manufacturer of this computer....none other than Micron, from the great state of Idaho. Thanks Micron. Small world, huh? 

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.