My Town

So I know at least my parents have been waiting for this blog post. Here is a little more about my town. The Peace Corps tells me I can't say exactly where I live, but it rhymes with....just kidding it doesn't rhyme with anything. I live in the Department (like a state) of Totonicapan in an aldea (village) of the municipality of Momostenango. Because Guatemalans love to shorten words I live in Toto and Momos.

Both the beige-ish house and yellow belong to my host family (see picture below). It is definitely one of the biggest houses in my town. The two windows on the second floor on the lefthand side of the yellow house are to my room. The brown stalks in front of the house are corn that they cut down after harvest. Also between the corn field and my house is a little river.

What I see from my window (but taken from ground level)

View from my window of the river (the glass is tinted)

Even the kids carry heavy loads

Every once and a while they hold some kind of church service on the bank of the river

 And people walk their sheep through my town and along the pan-American highway that runs right through it

In the middle are 3 trees - my house is to the left of the middle one

A pig tied to a tree near my house

Corn drying on a roof in front of the school

So I don't really know what to make of my town. It is definitely rural as I routinely walk past livestock going to and from my house, but we are right on the Pan-American highway (which is two lanes - see below) and we have buildings with multiple (up to 4) stories right in the "center of town," which is only a couple of blocks. After that there are lots of corn fields and sparse houses.

Buying Eggs at the Market and the Father of the Bride Supermarket Hotdog Bun Scene

Father of the Bride (I and II) are two of my favorite movies of all time. I could watch them over and over again. One of the most memorable scenes is where George Banks (Steve Martin) is freaking out about the cost of the wedding and goes to the supermarket to buy hot dogs and hot dog buns for dinner. However, they sell hot dogs in packages of 8 and hot dog buns in packages of 12. Short story shorter, outraged he tries to remove the extra buns and only pay for the 8 he wants, landing him in jail.  

I highly recommend watching the scene here: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYIHLUxzRr8

So what on Earth does this have to do with me? Well on Monday market days when I buy all of my food I buy my eggs (since I don't have a fridge they are one of my main sources of protein). At 1 Quetzal a piece they are super affordable (about 8 eggs = $1). In the U.S. they come in I think two size cartons, but here I can buy however many I want. Sometimes the vendors look at me strangely, but they will sell me any number. They normally come in a pack of 30, but usually I get 15 (see below). And if I want any fewer than that (for a while I was getting only 6 a week) they would put that number IN A LITTLE PLASTIC BAG. Anyway, I think that George Banks would appreciate this option. 

When I ask for 15 eggs they fold the big sheet in half, put the eggs in, then tie string around it to hold it together and make a convenient handle for carrying.

Artisinal Market in Chichicastenango, Quiché

Quiché is a department in Guatemala and is pronounced Key-che (not like the egg pie). They are famous for their artisanal market in Chichicastenango (Chi chi for short). It is about a 2.5 to 3 hour bus ride from my town. It was a really cool outdoor market with lots and lots to look at and buy. If you are a tourist looking for souvenirs or recuerdos to take home this is the place. I have even heard that it is a little cheaper than the even more tourist-y market in Antigua. I bought a bunch of Christmas gifts here.

A word to the wise - It is very overwhelming! If you don't handle crowds well stay away! Vendors have their stalls that line the pedestrian streets, but there are also people of all ages (mostly women and girls) walking around that will nudge you and try and get you to buy their goods. They can be very persistent. Also DON'T FORGET TO BARGAIN. They will give you the "precio gringo" the gringo/American foreigner price. Guatemalans also bargain for everything they buy, but my guess is that the prices for them starts a little lower. So act like a Guatemalan and be prepared to put in a little extra time if you want to buy anything and bargain! Don't feel bad. It is what you are supposed to do!

The Church through the crowded market

Male traje

The Harlem Shake Peace Corps Guatemala-style

We haven't all lost our minds, but we are slowly getting there...Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOAqLM3HiBE

Also, Happy holidays from Peace Corps Guatemala

The entrance to the main Peace Corps Office outside of Antigua
"Through these doors pass the worlds' finest volunteers"

Accidental Bidet…Yes it was as Unpleasant as it Sounds

This was maybe one of the grossest (if not THE grossest) experiences in my life. On the way back from Rio Dulce we took a boat to Puerto Barrios where the tour bus was meeting us. The water was really choppy and it made the boat ride a lot more interesting, fun in my opinion, and not for the weak of heart or stomach. Anyway, we made it safely to the dock and while we were waiting for our bus to pick us up I decided to go to the bathroom. This is where the accidental bidet comes in. You know the French appliances found in the bathroom next to the toilet for additional…cleaning purposes. First of all I had to pay 3 Quetzales to use the bathroom which just added insult to injury, but at least they gave me toilet paper with that. First of all I had to walk over milk crates to get into the stall because the floor was flooded. So as I was going to the bathroom I felt liquid splashing back up at me. Needless to say I was confused. It turns out that the toilet was connected by a very short pipe directly into the choppy water. So as I was using the bathroom all of that plus sea water was splashing back on me. I had no choice but to pee as fast as I could. It was terrible and needless to say I left there feeling dirty. (Other people used this bathroom too so it wasn't just me being gross). Oh well it makes for a good story.