As of this week, I have a new favorite game in Xela. Scott and I call it "Temblor, Truck, or Thunder?', and like the name suggests, the game consists of guessing whether the loud, throbbing noise we just heard and felt was a brief temblor (an earthquake registering less than a 7.0), a truck with a wicked sound system and no muffler driving by over the speed limit and shaking the walls, or a thunderclap emanating from somewhere further up in the hills. There have been plenty of all three possibilities this week - the rainy season is a few weeks away and I think the thunder is getting warmed up for opening day; my host mother told me that little earthquakes signify the shift in weather patterns, which seems plausible to me at least; and noisy trucks are ever-present.
When I wasn't busy playing my new game, the clinic kept me occupied. The education team finished up with Llano del Pinal, the largest school in the valley, this week and I'm happy to be moving on to a new community. Though Llano is the largest and most prosperous community in the Palajunoj Valley, attendance rates for the class field trips to the clinic for check-ups and education lessons were atrocious. Less than half of all students, kindergarten through 6th grade, visited the clinic during their classes' assigned days. One theory is that Llano's relative wealth acts as a disincentive for clinic visits, in that families are less enticed by free health care. It's possible that families feel that since they live in concrete houses with running water, parasites and other diseases are not an issue. Judging by the number of students we did distribute medicines to, however, I don't think that's entirely the case. Also, when we visited the school to hand out medications to the niños who had come on their field trip, the students who hadn't made it to the clinic seemed enthusiastic about Primeros Pasos in general, and very excited about the possibility of returning for a consult at a later date. A mysterious and frustrating situation!
Whatever the reasons for the absent students, it was disappointing to see all the preparation and effort put in by the Primeros Pasos staff only reach half of the intended audience. We're hoping that with a different school starting their series of field trips this Tuesday, attendance rates will improve significantly. The students who did make it to the clinic this week, however, were tremendously fun to work with. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday brought classes of kindergartners and preschoolers, who were impressively attentive and very cute. The main thrust of our lessons for the littlest kids is healthy choices - the difference between good foods and bad foods, washing your hands often, brushing your teeth regularly (we give them soap and a toothbrush after their visit), and throwing your trash in a trashcan. One little boy raised his hand while the class was enjoying their bananas (the healthy snack they get after they wash their hands) and explained that sometimes, during Christmas, his family makes cakes and was it okay, during Christmas, since it was a holiday, to eat cakes to celebrate the season with his relatives? It was hard not to laugh, but I didn't want to offend him since he was so concerned. We explained that yes, eating sweets and desserts from time to time is fine, and that the important thing to remember is to eat far more good foods than bad foods every day.
Thursday's class was exciting as well, though not nearly as cute. The larger communities in the valley have Accelerated Primary School programs that offer a way for non-traditional students to cover grades K-6 in two years. I was impressed by these students' courage and dedication - it takes a great deal of each to start with kindergarten lessons as a 10-year old, for example. Over 25 students from the Accelerated program came to the clinic Thursday, and Scott and I had our hands full. We taught two different lessons, which was exhausting but really fun. The students were alert and eager to participate, and I was glad to finish Llano's lessons on such a high note.
Outside of the clinic, Scott and I took an adventure to Totonicapan on Saturday afternoon. This picture below might be my favorite taken in Guatemala thus far:
Totonicapan is about an hour outside of Xela by bus, and the views of the valley on the ride over are almost worth the trip itself. The village is also far more indigenous than the big city of Xela - Scott and I were the only two white people we saw in the town all day. We chose Totonicapan because it has a Saturday market, and we heard that the town itself was also quite pretty. The little girl above dashed into the picture as it was being taken, and I didn't notice she was in the photo until I uploaded all the shots onto my laptop. Not only is she precious in a pink and purple traje, but the fountains are painted like jaguars! The cathedral is on the left in the background and the municipal theater is to the right. I liked the landscaping in this town square as well - there were lots of flowers in bloom around fountains.
Totonicapan also has the distinction of having TWO town squares. I have no idea why, but it doubled the amount of photo opportunities. Here is a statue commemorating the 19th century indigenous peasant rebel leader Anastasio Tzul in the second central plaza:
As with most things in Guatemala, it helps to have a sense of irony. Though it's a nice populist gesture to have Tzul commemorated in a statue, it would be much more befitting of his legacy to enact policies to benefit those he fought for almost 200 years ago. Namely, the still-marginalized Maya, the socio-economically disadvantaged, and rural residents in general.
Anyway, here I am in the second central plaza, slightly in front of and to the left of Mr. Tzul's statue:
This fountains have jaguars, too!Visiting Totonicapan on a market day - though I couldn't pull the trigger on bunnies, bags of chicken feet, or yards of fabric - was an opportunity to participate in an authentic highland Guatemalan experience. Similarly, I spent Wednesday night in a cooking class focused on chapin (local parlance for 'Guatemalan') specialties. This week's lesson? CHILE RELLENOS! Here they are, just after stuffing:
And here they are, ready to eat! MMMMMMMMM.....
Though time and labor intensive, the recipe is not technically challenging and I am excited to give it a try in the Entremundos kitchen the next time I pick up some peppers in the market.
Finally, I wrapped up the week with an ecclesiastical celebration. The church I've been going to is Saint Mark's/San Marcos Episcopal, and today was the feast of Saint Mark AND confirmation Sunday AND the bishop was there. It was a big deal. The requisite marimba band was present, of course, for the post-service celebration, and everyone was definitely in a mood to celebrate since the bilingual service contained baptisms, confirmation, communion, and all the scripture readings twice (once each in English and Spanish). In addition to the marimba, the beef stew, loads of cupcakes, and watermelon smoothies, however, was a teenage alternative rock band. I had to take a picture:
The bishop seemed impressed.I, in turn, was impressed with the bishop although I didn't get a photo. His home church is in Chichicastenango, and his outfit (mitre and all) were custom-made in the traditional textiles and colors from that region of Guatemala. It was beautiful, and I liked the respect and significance behind the action, too. Hooray for church authorities with social consciousnesses!
This concludes another week's post, and another month's worth of entries as well. Hasta mayo,
Katy
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