Coban 1/2 Marathon

I know, I know. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a blog. Mia Culpa. It’s not that I haven’t been doing anything. Really it’s that I’ve been doing a lot of things. So how do I get you all caught up? I think I’ll stick with one topic at a time. As my faithful readers know I am somewhere between an “avid runner” and a “retired competitive 1500m runner”. This spring I came out of retirement to run a ½ marathon in Coban. Coban is a city in the center of the country, a bit more tropical than Tejutla and a ½ marathon is a bit over 13 miles. I had been invited to run in the ½ marathon by Fito, the brother of the mom of my host family (my host uncle). He’s a doctor in Guatemala City. His wife is from Coban and they have family and a house up there. Another brother, Rolando, was also going to run. Having 13-miles hanging over my head was good motivation to get out of bed and run in the morning or to get a quick run in after work over the past few months. I ended up going up there with my friend Amy. We got in Saturday and the race was Sunday. After getting my number and t-shirt we went over the family’s house. The brothers were going to go out and get Churasco (BBQ Beef) for dinner. Coach Stanforth would never have allowed us to have Churasco the night before a race so Amy and I headed off looking for Pasta. After about an hour of wandering around town we ended up at nice little Churasco place. O’well. There were huge crowds and lots of festivities associated with the race. Even fireworks. A few gringos, but mostly Guatemalans. The race had about 3000 registered competitors and another 1000 or so who just ran. There were also a dozen runners from Kenya. It was pretty crowded at the beginning, but after the first couple of miles it cleared up a bit. The course was out and back so our cheering section was able to root us on at a couple of points (in Spanish of course). I ran 1:40:10 which is about 7:37 per mile. All things considered I was happy with that time. Not sure if I’ll be running it next year, but it’s always fun to get back in some semblance of “shape”. If I’m doing my math right, this marks the 10th country that I’ve raced in and the first in Latin America.

The Work

I have written about a wide variety or cultural experiences and social activities in my blog. An old friend of the family, who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in India, pointed out to me recently that I had yet to write about what I’m actually doing…the work.

The Peace Corps tries to find, with varying degrees of success, qualified Americans to volunteer in specific, well defined, projects working directly with host country nationals. Peace Corps Guatemala has six program areas: Agriculture (Improved Techniques and Marketing), Health in Schools, Appropriate Technology, Eco-Tourism, Youth Development, and Municipal Development. I’m in the Municipal Development Program.

The Municipal Development Program (Muni for short) places volunteers in Planning Offices at the Municipality level of government (a cross between a city and county government in the United States). With 10+ years of experience as an Air Force Officer the Peace Corps seemed to think that I could impart some management and planning knowledge on the office and municipality.

The program goals are two-fold. 1) To improve the functioning of the Municipality 2) To increase citizen participation. Under Goal #1 I have facilitated the creation of Annual Goals for each of the workers in the office and based on the Goals we created an Annual Plan. I’ve worked on creating databases of information on the different communities in the municipality. I’m also working on a Community Diagnostic which should provide us some valuable information on the needs in the different communities. The list goes on. Goal #2 is more at the grass-roots level and it involves me working with community groups. Guatemalan law allows for the creation of legalized citizen participation groups at the community level known as Consejos de Desarrollo Comunitario (Community Development Councils). In Tejutla we have 62 of these groups. To better manage them I worked with my counterpart and the City Council to create 8 micro-regions. We were able to implement the regions during March of this year. Together with the NGO CARE International, I’m embarking on a training program on different aspects of citizen participation such as: The Law of the System of Development Councils, Project Design and Implementation, etc. I’ve also chosen a number of community groups to work more directly with. I meet with a women’s group every two weeks and I’m advising the Volunteer Forrest Fire Fighters of which I’m also a member (the Forest Fire Fighters, not the women’s group). On the more macro level I’m advising a network of women’s groups and I worked with them and the City Council to get two seats on the Municipal Level Development Council.

If it all sounds a bit nebulous it’s because it is. I sometimes wish I was building something or helping plant something where I could see tangible results from my actions. At the same time I understand the importance of good governance and am excited to be able to play a small role in the bettering of the local government in Tejutla.

So that’s what I’m doing and what I’ll be doing for the next 18-months or so. Am I busy? At times. Am I challenged? In different ways than I have been previously in my life. Am I happy to be here? Absolutely.

Traditional Easter Carpets

Easter is a big deal here. It’s not just Easter Sunday, it’s the entire week of Semana Santa (Holy Week). Beginning with Palm Sunday there are many processions and celebrations. In the processions you find different groups carrying statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, or other random Saints through the towns. In more touristy locations such as Antigua these are hugely popular with foreigners and quite the show, although there are celebrations throughout the entire country. Even though I had the majority of the week off of work, I decided to stay in Tejutla for Semana Santa. The biggest procession is on Viernes Santa (Holy Friday) and it involves the construction of Alfombras (carpets) along the route of the procession. These are not carpets in the traditional sense of the word, rather they are intricate designs on the street constructed of colored wood chips, straw, flowers, or other assorted , mostly organic, items. The host family I had stayed with invited me to help with the construction of theirs. I think the invitation was in part based on the assumption that I would make a large pot of Starbucks Coffee to start the day (which I did). The work started Thursday when the family used different dies to color the wood chips and also cut out various molds. Friday started around 6am with the infusion of coffee and then we were off to the races. Over the course of the next 3 ½ hours 5 of use were engaged in the laying out of the Alfombra (17.5 manhours if you are one of those guys). The molds were used to make the forms of the crosses, the diamond borders, and other fine details. There were about 40 other families doing the same thing throughout the town. The procession started at the cemetery and made its way to the Catholic Church. The priest, the alter servers, and the groups carrying the statues walked directly over the alformbras stopping periodically to read scripture, pray, and sing hymns. I’m sure the tradition started with the Spanish in some form or another and it’s beautifully carried on today. I went to Easter Vigil which of course was followed by another procession. This time we were not walking across alfombras, but a lot of firecrackers were set-off as we made our way through the town. It was an Easter to remember and great to be part of the celebration.

Volcan de Tajumulco - What a View!

At 13,486 feet above Sea Level, the Volcano Tajumulco is the highest peak in Central America. It’s also visible from the village of Tejutla, not unlike Mount Rainer hovering over the Puget Sound Area. There are of course many differences the most significant being the climatology. Mount Rainer has glaciers and is covered in snow and ice year-round while Tajumulco may get a dusting of snow in January or February. I think I can safely say that I “climbed” Tajumulco but a more accurate description may be to say that I “hiked” Tajumulco. My sitemate Matt and his friend Brenda headed in the afternoon for the trailhead. Matt had “climbed” Tajumulco once before in November. We ended up in the back of a pick-up and then on top of a load of bricks on our way to the trailhead which is less than an hour from Tajumulco. We made the ascent to the campsite and pitched our tents. There was a German couple with a Guatemalan guide who were already up there and gracious enough to share their fire. Early to bed as usual when you’re camping. The alarms were set for 4:30 am to finish up the ascent in time to see the sunrise. It’s is supposed to be a phenomenal view of the Pacific Ocean, Mexico and countless peaks throughout Guatemala. Unfortuantely for us we were in the middle of clouds with 0/0 visibility we had to settle for the good exercise that goes along with “climbing” mountains and the knowledge that the Volconoe isn’t going anywhere for the next 20-months and we’ll have the opportunity to summit again. Next time I think I’ll check the weather report.

Welcome Home

I moved into a house on my own this past week. I spent the first 3 ½ months in my site living with a wonderful family, but it was time to be out on my own again. Based on some life decisions, like quitting my job to travel and then join the Peace Corps, I haven’t really been on my own since the December of 2006 (thanks K.C., Mom & Dad, the host families, and people who put me up on “Paul’s Imposition Tour 2007”). Kind of crazy. It’s a fun little house with plenty of room for just me. My favorite part is an odd room which is more or less built on top of the house. It has windows on three sides and is very airy (and quite dusty too). Kind of reminds me of a tree house or a fort you would have had as a kid. I’ve taken to drinking my coffee up there in the morning. This is my house for the next two years. It brings a question to mind…what’s home or perhaps where’s home? Certainly my youth was spent in Seattle (okay, Federal Way if you want to be exacting). Then the Air Force settled me in 3 States and 3 Countries over the course of the next 14 years (and countless more for shorter durations). There were the 8-months spent vagabonding around the U.S. and now Peace Corps Guatemala. The question of home may pertain to the building, but there is so much more to it than that. People have come into and out of my life with varying degrees of impact. Some have been there throughout. Life in the moment has always been a confluence of people, events, and locations. Sometimes for the very good and sometimes for the very bad. Sometimes for the very fun and sometimes I’ve had to “embrace the suck”. The “houses”. There was the spilt level on 305th Street (aka the “Family Home”), the dorm room, the thatched roof cottage vintage 1600, the apartment with the view of the Pacific Ocean, the dorm room part II, the house with the apple orchard and far too much land to maintain, the bachelor pad, and the “Family Home” once again. All were the canvas for my memories. It will be interesting to see what new ones I will create in this quirky little house. There was a saying we had in the Air Force: Home is where the Air Force takes you. I suppose even since I’ve hung up my flight cap, the sentiment holds true.

Quick Facts

When I got my assignment to Guatemala as a Peace Corps Volunteers part of me was wondering what Peace Corps is doing there. Guatemala seemed to me to be more of a tourist destination than a place that needs Peace Corps Volunteers (granted I have a tendency to vacation in some austere locations). And besides, the Peace Corps has been in Guatemala for over 45-years...is there really stuff left to do? During a conversation early in my training, I asked one of the staff members “when will the Peace Corp’s work be done”. His was response was “when there were no longer children starving in the countryside”. Fair enough. I thought I would take a few minutes to share with you, my three faithful readers, some facts about Guatemala I have come across in my time here which have helped me understand and contextualize my service. I tried to stick to the facts which are more or less not disputed or colored by political debate.
- Over 2 million people lack access to basic needs such as healthcare and education (of 11 million) - 1 of 4 rural children graduate from elementary school
- Half of all children suffer from chronic malnutrition
- As of 2003 57% of the population lived in poverty and 21.5% in extreme poverty
- In my municipality of 30,000 plus people, 90% of the houses are made of Adobe, 2% are made of wood, and 8% are made of block
- My municipality ranks #21/332 in the nation for Poverty and #12/332 for extreme poverty
- The 1996 Peace Accords ended a 36-year civil war, the longest and bloodiest of Latin America’s cold war era civil wars
- The civil war left an estimated 200,000 dead or “disappeared”.
- The Earth’s axis tilts 23 degrees off vertical causing seasonal variation
- For the period of 2000-2004, only 7 percent of congressional representatives in Guatemala were women, and only 11 percent were indigenous.
- The United Nations recently listed Guatemala as the fifth most dangerous country in Latin America, with 44 homicides for every 100,000 people.
- Of every 100 homicides, 93 are left unsolved
- Guatemala received a score of only 2.5 of 10 on Transparency International’s 2005 Corruption Perception Index, ranking alongside Libya, Afghanistan (been there), and Philippines, slightly worse than Zimbabwe, Belarus, and Vietnam, and slightly better than Russia, Republic of the Congo, and Venezuela (they all sound like great places to visit).
- Of the denunciations of public servants presented to the Public Ministry, only three percent are investigated and concluded
- Many existing Municipal Planning Offices lack qualified personnel for technical analysis and advanced planning (I’m working in a Municipal Planning Office)

Sweet 15

For the ladies in Latin America, it’s the 15th birthday that is celebrated in style. It’s a coming of age, not in any sort of scandalous way. I was fortunate to be able to celebrate the 15th birthday (quinceanos) of the daughter of my host family Faviola this past weekend. What was probably the best part about it for me was that I wasn’t just a guest. I helped the family set-up the decorations for the celebration, I was one of the last to leave at 4 in the morning after we cleaned up the majority of the decorations, and I was the only non-family member to dance with Favi during the formal part of the evening (at the urging of the fam). All the aunts, uncles, and cousins came for the event; needless to say it was a full house. The festivities began with mass on Saturday night. Favi had her own chair and kneeler in front of the alter and there were special blessings just for her. She wore something that was a cross between a prom dress and a wedding dress (not actually tacky in any way). The party was in the municipal salon. She made a grand entrance and there were speeches made by her father and godparents. She gave a lovely speech thanking the right people. One rather fun tradition is called “El ultimo baile con un muneca” (“The last dance with a doll”). She danced with a doll and then at the end handed it over to her next youngest female relative, supposedly signifying her transition from childhood to adulthood. Good food. Good dancing. Good cake. Good fun. I think this experience and others like it, more than working in the office during the day, is what I’m going to cherish from my time here in Guatemala.

When you come out to Visit

I had the opportunity to go with some of my Guatemalan counterparts to some potential “eco-tourism” sites around the Tejutla area. There is no succinct definition of “eco-tourism”, but basically it indicates that the main tourist attraction is the environment or perhaps something cultural and that the visitor is conscientious and will attempt to do no harm. Our first stop was a little adlea called Los Arcos. As the name implies it has an arch. Allegedly it was build 1000 or so years ago, but I’m not sure anybody knows. There isn’t much too, but it was kind of interesting, although I see it from the bus every time I head out of town. Next we went up the ways to El Chorro Viente Polos which has a beautiful waterfall. The road to it is less than perfect and I’m sure it’s impassible in the winter. There was somebody shooting guns at the bottom so we decided not to go down there. The third site was a corn field near Cuya. Surrounding the field were three small mounds, perhaps the size of a small one-story home in the US. As it was related to me, these were ancient Mayan sites of worship althought they looked a lot like piles of dirt. Also in the middle of the field was small stone table which was perhaps used for some sort of sacrifice. The next stop was a hilltop outside of Cuya with a nice view of the valley. Our final stop was a place called agua tibia (warm water). The water wasn’t actually warm. There were signs that some people in the past had tried to make this a destination of sorts (pools and the like), but it’s all in disrepair at this point. Maybe I’m jaded because I’ve seen the Great Wall of China (or at least the portion that’s a replica built by the Chinese government in the 1980’s), but I’m not sure I would go out of my way to see any of these sites. The most spectacular of all the places was certainly the waterfall, but it’s a long drive to just look at it. It’s actually encouraging to see the municipality try and think in terms of how to take advantage of its resources, but I’m not convinced that Tejutla is going to be a tourist destination except for those of you who come out to visit, in which case we’ll undoubtedly be looking at an old broken table in the middle of a corn field. I'm sure you can't wait.

Panahachel—strikingly beautiful, but…

I’m not a loather. Really. I ended up spending New Years with the majority of the volunteers from my training class in Panahachel (Pana). Pana is located on beautiful Lake Atitlan one of the most spectacular places I’ve seen in the world. It’s a large lake with mysterious winds surrounded by three majestic volcanoes. Certainly the view is wonderful. It was also great to see my friends from training who I haven’t been able to spend much time with since we headed off to our sites. Mi problema was, more than anything, the sheer number of gringos in the town and the blatant catering to the tourists. It’s okay if you cater to me, but I don’t want to know you’re doing it. In terms of self definition (and we all have one), I have always thought of myself more of a traveler or explorer than a tourist. If given the choice of staying at a 4-star resort or a simple accomidation I will almost always choose the simple one unless someone else is paying the bill. I have no desire to go to Cancun except in a sort of anthropologist capacity. I had a relatively nice and comfortable hotel and a hot shower with more than adequate water pressure (a luxury here). I was with friends and good times were had. A little drinking. A little dancing. Staying up past my bedtime. Nevertheless I couldn’t get past “Pana-Rock” (Pana’s version of Hard Rock Cafe) and the vendors covering every square inch of the main road. This place is also commonly referred to as “Gringotenango”. Perhaps I should be more accepting. I have a friend who related to me a story before I went to pana. She had been volunteering at a mission in San Lucas Toliman also on Lake Atitlan. One afternoon she and some other volunteers decided to take a boat over to pana. They were discussing their plans with one of the staff at the mission. He looked at them with a bit of disappointment, and asked them “why”. There response naturally was they had heard it was a nice town and fun. He replied, in all seriousness “well, if you like it, it’s your damn own fault”. Will I be back? I’m not a lemming (again, self definition), but if the group goes I’m probably up for it. I’ll definitely head back to Lake Atitlan to explore some of the other villages surrounding it. There is supposed to be a nice hike from Xela to Lake Atitlan which takes a couple of days. Of course, if someone else is paying the bill, I’ll stay at a 4-star resort.

Christmas in Guatemala

This wasn´t my first Christmas away from family, and in all likelihood it won’t be my last. This was, however, my first Christmas in Guatemala and with that came a number of new traditions. The first of these was the “Posada”. The word Posada roughly means rest. It is a sort of reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and not finding room at the inn. The tradition has evolved into a nightly pilgrimage to a different family´s house the 10-days leading up to Christmas. There is a procession with two children dressed as Mary and Joseph and statues of Mary and Joseph. Lots of candles. When the procession arrives at the house a series of responsorials are sung. Alter a while the crowd is let into the house (or courtyard). Some prayers are said and it ends with tamalitos and tea or coffee. It is a very simple and reflective way to prepare for Christmas. The days leading up to Christmas my host family was busy preparing a Nativity set. This included cutting out a cloth backdrop and Stars, buying different types colored sawdust, getting out the little play animals. Christmas eve the ladies in the house busied themselves making Tamales. At about 10 pm those of us who were not directly evolved in Tamale making went to mass. A simple celebration, and surprisingly no overwhelmed with people like Churches in the U.S. on Christmas (and Easter). At midnight, about the time mass was ending, people started lighting off fireworks in the streets. When we made our way back to the house the family respectfully placed the baby Jesus in the manger and then said a series of prayers ending with a decate of the rosary. After that tamales, bread, fruit punch, candy, and nuts were in order. There were only a few gifts exchanged, none amongst the family proper and we talked until a bit alter two. Christmas day was simple as well. We ate a late breakfast followed by a late, although large, lunch. We capped the day off watching the movie Elf in Spanish (my gift to them). Although one would always prefer to be with their own family during the holidays, this was a joyous Christmas with my Guatemalan family.