A Guatemalan "Baby Shower"

I'm not kidding - here in Guatemala they call it "un baby shower." Not "un" as in not "un" as in one in Spanish. It was a nice event. It seemed to be family, friends, and me. The expectant mother is the daughter of the principle of the school in my town. I had never met her before, but my host family brought me along anyway. I was the only female over the age of 10 who was wearing pants instead of the traditional mayan skirts and tops. As with many Guatemalan events that I have been to there were a lot of dínamicas (ice breakers). In fact that was most of the baby shower. Below are some pictures of the more entertaining activities.

Feeding a friend with a baby bottle. It was a competition to see who could drink the whole bottle the fastest. Maybe they were just uncomfortable or embarrassed, but they didn't seem to particularly enjoy whatever was in the bottle.

Measuring the mother-to-be's belly with toilet paper. A woman went around the room and we ripped off as much toilet paper as we thought would wrap around her stomach. For each square of toilet paper that you got wrong (either too big or too small) you had to deposit 25 centavos ($0.3) into the baby fund. I was 5 squares off so I put in the 1.25 Quetzales ($0.16). It didn't generate a lot of money, but I thought that it was a nice idea and I hope they put it to good use. 

Party favors. Each person got this party favor which had little hard candies in the cup on the back. I found it interesting how these babies look much more like gringos than their baby is going to. Maybe it was just had to find a darker colored foam paper. 

Guess what's in the diaper. A couple was blindfolded and they had to figure out what they were holding. It was a diaper with chocolate in it, but it looked like something else that you would more commonly find in a diaper so they had shocked looks on their faces when they took off their blindfolds.

Pregnant grandfathers-to-be. There weren't men at the baby shower other than the father-to-be, his father, and the father of the mother-to-be. In this activity they made a ball of cloth and wrapped it up in another cloth and tied it to the Grandfathers-to-be to stimulate pregnant bellies. They then had to tie and untie their shoes. The chubbier of the two had a harder time as he had an extra stomach on top of his own. Of course there were many jokes about him being further along in his pregnancy. 

Practice bathing and clothing a baby. The mother and father to-be had to pretend to bathe and clothe a doll.

There were also a couple other activities. Everyone gave one piece of advice to the couple (I recommended that they read to their baby and everyone just kind of looked at me like I was crazy). Everyone suggested a name for the baby. Then the worst of the activities that got me a couple of times. If you crossed your legs (fully or even only your ankles) they tied one of the fake baby bellies around you and you had to wear it until you saw someone else with their legs crossed. The whole event took about three hours and it was all followed by a light snack.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post I had never met the mother-to-be and had only worked briefly with her father, yet my host family brought me along anyway. They have invited me to a number of weddings (here are my blogs on wedding number one, two, and three) where I similarly did not know the people getting married. I am so glad that they did and that they are so open in this respect, but it makes me think about if my own family had a long term foreign exchange student, or someone similar, if we would invite them to all of our family and other events. Maybe it helps that by going to these events I didn't screw up any pre-made seating plans or plate count for food. I think that this relative informality compared to what I have experienced in the U.S. is partially the reason, but I think that I also lucked out being placed in Guatemala in a family-oriented culture and with this host family.

Slaughtering Pigs with my Host Family for Christmas **Warning graphic pictures**

I had a very different experience this past Christmas. I was invited to watch and help slaughter two pigs with my host family for Christmas. They apparently do this every year and sell the meat. Last year I went back to the U.S. to be with my family for the holidays so this was the first time that I was able to participate. I honestly did more watching than participating. 

I am a huge animal lover so I thought that this was going to be a really terrible experience for me, but I was actually able to get through it without too much difficulty. That being said, I have no desire to ever see that again. Which is partially why I probably will not be watching my own video of this event for a long time. It is posted below, but I will warn you I think that it is hard to watch. 

Sign advertising that they will be selling Pig meat on December 24

Tying down the first pig

Cleaning the dead pig with boiling water

They stuck a corn cob in it to close up the knife hole and shaved off all of
the hair with knives

It was an all-ages event. The sun must have been in this little girl's eyes when I took the picture, because she was very happily carrying the fat and pig parts from the pig to the chopping table. The kids even fought over who got to carry the bigger pieces.

This little girl below was touching everything. She would go over and touch the pig that was hanging up then wander around. At one point I saw her eating cotton candy. I can only hope that she washed her hands first. I pulled large knives out of her hands a couple of times but everyone seemed to be fine with her playing with the pig skin/fat below with a large knife.

Pig heart

Almost as soon as the meat was off of the pig people started showing up
and they sold the meat

Fuentes Georginas: The Natural Hot Springs Outside of Xela

If you are visiting Xela I recommend visiting the Fuentes Georginas. These are natural hot water springs that people swim in. There are three different main pools that, depending on the time of year and amount of rain, range from scalding hot to hot to warm. I usually hang out in the second pool (which is really more like a hot tub) with occasional trips to the hotter pool. It's located in a pretty area and it's generally foggy which gives the area a mystical feel.

These hot springs are located about an hour outside of Xela. You can take a public Chicken bus to Zunil where you barter with a pickup truck driver on how much he will charge to take you the rest of the way in the back of his truck. OR you could take the private shuttle through Adrenalina tour for about the same price and none of the haggling. 

Back Strap Weaving Demonstration at AMA

There are around 60 NGOs that work in and around the Xela area. One such NGO is AMA, The Highland Women's Association or the Asociación de Mujeres del Altiplano. Here is a description of the organization taken from their website:

"The Highland Women Association (AMA) is an organization of Maya women working in rural communities within the Western Highlands of Guatemala. It was founded in 1994 and we are now a 200 member strong Association with a reach of thousands of people. Their goal is to break cycles of dependency by increasing the agency of women to make them the agents of transformation in their communities. We recognize cultural and economic dependency as a major indicator in perpetuating cycles of poverty. We seek to empower women and their communities to take advantage of opportunities and solve problems." http://amaguate.org/

I have a couple of friends who volunteered for AMA and really enjoyed the work that they did and the people they worked for and with. Ama also hosts groups doing travel-service trips that offer a good mix of getting to see the Guatemalan highlights and volunteering in the rural communities.

The traditional textiles make here in Guatemala are done on back strap looms. This practice is still widely in use to this day, especially in the rural areas. When my parents came to visit me here in Guatemala I set up a brief back strap weaving class through AMA where we learned about the process and then got to try our hand at weaving. The woman who taught the mini class made it look quick and simple, but it is far from it! I have a newfound appreciation for the beautifully intricate and colorful textiles that are made here in Guatemala.

InstaGUATE

Every social media site serves a slightly different purpose. One of my personal favorites is Instagram. The saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is cliché, but I really believe it. I love taking photos and this country is just super photogenic. Thinking about coming to visit Guatemala? You should! Just check out the article: 10 Reasons Why You Should Travel To Guatemala. I would make a very similar list.

Anyway, follow me if you would like! My username is: m3ganrose9

Barbies in traje típico

This is why they call the public transportation here Chicken busses

View from our hotel room at Casa Del Mundo on Lake Atitlan

My neighbors

Courtyard in Antigua

One of my host dogs, Mona, and her puppies

Interesting steering technique at Lake Atitlan

Waiting for the bus

A man walking sheep in my town

One of the many cats that lives in my house

My host Dad, right, doing a baptism

Morning view in Xela

Door in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan

Cultural Differences: What Some Guatemalans Don't Understand

I think Peace Corps actually gives perspective host families a training on this.

Guatemalans have a very communal culture. Generally, at least out in the rural communities where we live and work, three generations live under the same roof. In two of the host families that I have lived with, all of the women are in charge of caring for the younger members of the family. They do this so much so that the kids call their mom, their aunts, and grandmother "mami." I think that most American families would cringe and the thought of living with their relatives, but it seems to work here. 

Guatemalans also tend to spend a lot more of their time in communal areas rather than alone in their respective rooms. I think this might also partially be due to the lack of many material things that I have found in a lot of Guatemalan houses. There is generally one TV and with such large families, sharing rooms is common. I spend a good number of hours alone in my room, listening to music, doing things on my computer such as working on this blog, reading, watching movies, etc. It's not because I'm angry or sad, it's just nice to be by myself sometimes and not worry about what grammatical mistake I just made in Spanish. In addition, my host family doesn't have a living room so either I am in the kitchen with them, or I am in one of their rooms sitting on one of their beds. Another difference that I have noticed is a lack of reading for fun. Whenever I read in common areas in my host family's house they ask me what I am studying. I can count on one hand the number of Guatemalans who I have seen reading for fun. These are just two of the cultural differences that I have noticed in my almost two years living in Guatemala.  

Multi-Department Leadership Summer Camp at Laguna Chicabal

The name of the camp was Lideres de mañana - Leaders of tomorrow with the great and fitting quote: "las grandes personas de la historia también fueron niños" "the great people in history were also once children."

Two of my good friends in the Peace Corps took the initiative to put together a huge multi-department leadership summer camp. The camp took place at the beautiful Laguna Chicabal. All volunteers in the Xela/Toto area were invited and each volunteer that participated in the camp brought a Guatemalan work partner and four campers from our sites (two boys and two girls). The camp was four days and three nights. PCVs even took turns patrolling on night duty throughout the night. It was a crazy time but amazingly it all went pretty smoothly. I was exhausted at the end of it all, but I am so glad I participated in it.

Summer camp for kids here in Guatemala is not a thing. Maybe for the affluent in the capital, but out in the rural areas where we all live and work summer is a time for the kids to be at home and probably working. This camp also helped to fill a gap in the educational system. Many girls leave the sixth grade (if they are lucky enough to get to the sixth grade) without knowing what menstruation is or how that relates to their ability to bear children.

Volunteers lead activities on a wide range of topics such as: leadership, the importance of working in a team, a hike to the laguna, self-esteem, nutrition, recycled crafts, decision-making, gender equality, reproductive health, and HIV.  We also did some fun camp activities such as: an ice cream social, movie night, lots of dínamicas and ice breakers, and on the last night we had some fire dancers come in from Xela and put on a show while we roasted marshmallows.

Things that onle seem to happen in Guatemala

Importance of working in a team session

Importance of working in a team session

"Peace on Earth, Peace Corps, Guatemala 2014"

Summer camp wouldn't be complete without s'mores

Feliz Navidad from Guatemala! Decorating Christmas Cookies With My Host Family

The finished product. I hope we made enough for everyone (seriously)

This will be my first Christmas away from home. I will be in Guatemala. While I am very sad that I won't be celebrating with my family, I am trying to make the most of it and bring some of our traditions here to Guatemala. Therefore I decided to make Christmas cookies with my host family. We made two different types of cookies: sugar cookies, and candy cane cookies. Without refrigeration and a couple other minor things that the recipes call for I figured this way at least one of them might turn out well. The sugar cookies turned out a little different than normal, but both ended up tasting great! We also had a holiday movie night a couple days ago where I showed them Frozen in Spanish projected on a white sheet on the wall of their kitchen.

I like getting the boys to help to show them that cooking (or arts and crafts, etc.) isn't just women's work. The men in my host family hardly ever (basically never) wash the dishes or cook the food and are served their meals by their wives, daughters, and sisters. Dan, however, (the young boy on the left in the pictures above and below) is always the first to participate and help out with my activities. While an article was just published online of the 39 Most Iconic Feminist Moments of 2014, parts of rural Guatemala are still a little behind the times in terms of gender roles and stereotypes. Wow this blog post took a turn. Anyway. Yay cookies! A fun time was had by all. :) Feliz Navidad.

It was an all-ages event

I even got my new sitemate/housemate to help out (right)