Down by the River

Throughout my two  years living in Guatemala I remained fascinated with the many places that people dried their clothes. I mean they were left to dry EVERYWHERE. From what I knew, there was not a single washing machine and certainly no dryers in my village. In fact the closest laundromat I knew of was located in the city of Xela (about an hours bus ride from my house). This is where I took my clothes to be cleaned for fear that I would have fleas for two whole years. People can get fleas too - I did! Many people in my town however, did not have this luxury and washed their clothes in the river that ran through the center of the town. Every single day there were women sitting down by the river scrubbing clothes on the rocks. 

This picture was not in my town (far too tropical), but I thought it was pretty

Clothes weren't the only things that were washed in the river. After my host family slaughtered a pig for Christmas, some of the women went down to the river (a few feet away from the house) to wash the intestines. I;m not sure what they had planned for them once they were "cleaned," but I didn't stick around to find out. 

Teeth Art... It's a Thing

I'm serious. I saw a number of people who had "teeth art." These were silver or gold stars or crescent moons attached (I'm assuming glued) to their teeth. They were very prevalent among women. A number of women in my host family had silver caps and stars on their teeth. It was hard to get a picture of this because every time I asked someone with teeth art to smile for a picture they always smiled with their mouth closed. That was if they smiled at all. Many Guatemalans are stone faced in photos. I don't know why Guatemalans don't show off their teeth art in pictures - I think that here it is more of a fashion statement than something that they are ashamed of. It's not just gold fillings or caps. I have seen a lot of these gold stars and moon slivers on teeth. Most dentists out in the rural areas seem to be mainly focused on teeth art, putting gold/metal on teeth, and extractions.

Dental Clinic Popular

The picture to the left - gold outlines and stars

From what I have experienced in rural Guatemala proper oral hygiene is a major issue. It is very common to see children and adults alike with rotting teeth. That is why getting kids to brush their teeth in school after snack time is one of the main components of the Healthy Schools Project (my job in Guatemala). It may seem silly to those living in the United States, but #1 you are really supposed to brush your teeth three times a day (or after every meal) hem hem and #2 the idea is that many of these kids don't brush their teeth twice a day at home so this way they brush them at least once a day. 

My host sister, Cristal, has a silver grill

It was so sad to see all of the kids with rotting teeth

Mayan Numbers...Way Better than Roman Numerals

Dot = 1

Horizontal line = 5 

Shell = 0 

I learned the Mayan number system! I like it so much better than Roman numerals which make very little sense to me - you have to memorize which letters mean different numbers and how their positions affect their value. In Mayan numeration however, there are only three different symbols that together can make up all of the numbers in the world – the positions of these symbols similarly affect their value. I don't think that anyone actually uses Mayan numbers anymore (the graphics), but I think they are cool and they are still taught in schools here. 

That simple. There is also what I would describe as an elevator or shelf system where one number can take up many horizontal lines and each level has a multiplying effect on the symbol (dot, shell, or line) that is there. The bottom line is normal and is for numbers 1-19. The second level you multiply by 20 – so if there is a horizontal line in the second level that = 100 (the horizontal line=5, 5X20=100). The third level you multiply by 400 so if there is a dot in the third level that = 400 (400X1=400).

Easy peasey lemon squeezy. Just kidding. I think I will stick to the decimal number system. 

Carrying Heavy Objects on Your Head

Photo credit: Andri Tai-Ward

One of the things that I continue to be amazed by is the way that people carry things on their head. Not only does it usually require great balance, but the objects generally seem to be exceptionally heavy. I generally feel like a pack-horse carrying a large bag of laundry on the bus and around town to take it to a laundromat an hour away in combination with a backpack with my computer (to use wifi) and occasionally groceries from Walmart. This however, is nothing compared to what I have seen people of all ages carrying around. Guatemalans are a strong people. 

Side-view. I would not be pleased with the guy who is only carrying two drawers.

Ok so this isn't that heavy, but it is still impressive

Homemade chicken carrier

Serious balancing skills

A family carrying large bundles of sticks

The same family from behind

A mother and her three children all carrying large bags

My New Motto: Be Weird

To Guatemalans we as Americans are so weird. In my experience I have found that they are in general really fascinated with American culture, but on a personal level they find us weird. They find it weird that we like to be alone in our rooms sometimes. A difference that I discuss more in an older post.

One woman tripped over a rock she was so busy staring at me as I walked by. I find this to be especially amusing because I pretty much looked like everyone in my village with the exception that I was a little taller, had glasses, and wore pants/American clothes.  So the way I see it this gives me license to be a little weird – they won’t see it as any weirder than I already am so why not.

A prime example. Welcome to my every-day life.

Pila: Guatemalan Sinks

Here is a little insight into my everyday life / life of the vast majority of rural Guatemalans. Pilas. They are used in the place of sinks. 

The Pila can be found both outside and inside of the house and consists of three connected basins. The middle part has a spicket and get filled with water each morning. There are no hot and cold handles. One side has bumps on it for washing clothes and the other side is flat and is used for washing dishes.

This water basin serves numerous functions. Primarily water is scooped out of the basin instead of turning on the faucet and having the water run over whatever you are washing. I'm assuming that less water is used with this approach. Secondarily, water outages are fairly common (especially in the dry season) and a filled basin comes in handy.

My host family's house where I lived for over a year had a number of pilas. A small one was in their kitchen (there was no running water on the entire floor that my kitchen was on). Another much larger Pila was in a room that was open to the air on one side. I walk upstairs to do my dishes there.This is where I wash my hands, brush my teeth, etc. This is the only real source of water in my house (there were normal sinks in the bathrooms but still no hot water coming out of the taps). 

JICA and Peace Corps Collaboration: a Nutrition and Oral Hygiene Class

One of my friends, a teacher in my town, asked me if I could come to her house to give a training for a group of women from her church. JICA Volunteer, Minako Seki, and I collaborated on a nutrition class, demonstration, and oral hygiene lesson. This was followed by a cooking demonstration of three different healthy and balanced meals and a lesson on the structure of teeth and the importance of good oral hygiene. For the lesson on oral hygiene I did the egg in Coke demonstration. This is simple, easy, and I have replicated it in a number of classrooms. The quick version is that an egg is like a tooth in that the shell protects the yoke and egg whites the way our enamel protects our teeth. By leaving the egg in Coca Cola, not only will the egg become quickly discolored (like stained teeth), but after enough time in the liquid the egg will become soft because the soda ate away at the shell. I have found this to be an easy way to show why we need to care for and brush our teeth. Try it out yourself!

As I mentioned before in my post about my cooking class for mothers, Guatemala is a great place to do cooking lessons and to introduce new healthy recipes. It is considered rude in their culture to turn down food that is offered, making them great taste-tasters. Unfortunately this took place the last couple weeks of my service as I would have loved to continue working with this group of woman.

Brushing an egg with a toothbrush

Can you find me?

Utensils are rarely used