Things are settling back to normal here in Xela. Guatemala is certainly still in disaster relief mode, and while the roads are bad, the selection is down and the prices are up in the markets, and generally things are just messy across the city, Xela is more or less back on its feet. The pictures coming in from other parts of the region and country are shocking - the neighborhood fifteen minutes (by foot) from my apartment experienced flooding up to the second floor of buildings, and a community twenty minutes away by bus had several cinderblock homes collapse completely into ravines. The craziest part of Agatha for me, though, is to hear people talk about this storm with the acceptance and certainty that the rainy season is just beginning, and that more heavy rains and/or tropical storms are sure to come. Hopefully we'll have a respite of at least a few weeks.
The clinic saw very few patients most of this week - there was a rush on Friday, but we suspect most community members were too busy evaluating storm damage and repairing homes/fields to take time off to visit the doctor. The school doors in the valley were also shuttered this week, but we'll be starting a series of in-school lessons in Llanos del Pinal this Monday when classes resume. Llano is the largest school in the valley with almost 1300 students, so my compañera and I should have our hands full for the next several weeks. The Education Team is now five volunteers strong and expecting up to six more this week (exact quantity uncertain because of storm/volcano-related chaos in the airport), and I'm hoping at least two more volunteers can join us in Llano so that it doesn't take the rest of my summer to teach the requisite three lessons each to a total of 38 classes. A great deal depends on the incoming volunteers' education backgrounds and Spanish language abilities. We'll see what happens!
Unrelated to the Education Team's official activities, the clinic did play host to one of my birthday parties last Friday. Since Friday also marked the end of the medical students' eight week rotation, Primeros Pasos closed an hour early so we could celebrate accordingly. Along with three different types of cake, the fiesta also featured a piñata Scott bought me for my birthday. Here I am trying to bust it open:
I must admit I was a bit timid in my whackings - the pole that I was given was at least three feet long and I was afraid of accidentally clubbing a co-worker. After the assistant clinic director, women's program assistant director, clinic doctor, and clinic director also unsuccessfully endeavored to break open the piñata, it fell to Scott to unleash the candy:
He succeeded and the clinic staff and volunteers consumed even more sweets. Our dentist graciously said he would be waiting for us whenever our teeth rotted.
That Friday night, Scott and I and a few friends met up at a wine bar around the corner to continue my birthday celebration with a few glasses of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and plates of fondue. Despite the imminent arrival of tropical storm Agatha, we managed to stay dry and enjoy ourselves enough that my former homestay brother decided to have his birthday celebration there the following Friday. Zero points for creativity, but lots of fun both times. Pictures are on facebook, I believe.
As if two birthdays in a week weren't enough, the little boy from my homestay family turned four this weekend as well. Needless to say, there was a large fiesta Saturday afternoon. To start off the festivities, there was a balloon popping competition. As shown below, the aim of the game is to inflate your balloon and pop it between you and your partner's tummies before the other pair can.
Scott and I were nominated to participate in a gringos-only competition, and I'm proud to say we beat Joe and Carlitos, two of the guests currently living with my former homestay family.
Here's a photo of the birthday boy with all his cousins and neighbors:
The Diego piñata in the background is bigger than most of the niños at the party. The cake was also spectacular and Diego-themed:
Also, in addition to piñatas and cake and paches (potato-based tamales wrapped in banana leaves), all the guests received party favors. Here's Scott proudly displaying his Diego 'sorpresa' - my party favor box was Strawberry Shortcake:
Aside from birthday parties, I stayed busy with Spanish lessons (I'm presently struggling with the conditional), yoga classes, and a European Union-sponsored free movie festival. Since Agatha prevented travel last weekend, the only adventuring Scott and I were able to do in the past two weeks was a Sunday morning day trip to Momostenango, a pueblo a little over an hour outside Xela that's famous for its wool blankets and jackets. Scott has been searching for a chumpa, a heavy wool sweater, for weeks now, so we pleaded with our Spanish teacher to take us to Momos and show us where the best chumpas were. Our maestra's family is originally from Momos, so not only did we have an almost-local guide us through the market and chumpa stores, but we also got to drop in on her 90 year old grandmother who still lives alone in the hills. I can definitely say that our trip to Momos would not have been nearly as enjoyable without Claudia's expertise. The market alone would have been overwhelming - the walkways were far too narrow and the old ladies' elbows far too aggressive for my liking, and Scott and I certainly would have missed the local specialty bread (made with brown sugar and denser than the bread found around Xela).
In addition, just outside of the city center are some pretty cool rock formations. Known as Los Riscos, they remind me of the Utah license plates only on a much smaller scale. This is the view from the street as you walk up:
And here's a view from the top:
And finally, here I am in my conquistadora pose:
All in all, a good week. I will keep updating in regards to the relief/recovery/reconstruction efforts as more progress (hopefully) is made, and this Thursday, I will travel to the capital to meet my mother in the airport as she comes to visit me for a long weekend. Two weeks after the fact, but a much anticipated birthday present nonetheless!
No comments:
Post a Comment