When we arrived to Guatemala we were greeted at the airport by some wonderful Peace Corps staff. After making it through customs, and situating our luggage we hopped on a very colorful, psychedelic- looking school bus. We drove for about 30 minutes and arrived at "The Peace Corps Compound" which is a beautiful little 2 acre plot of land with the main building holding offices and classrooms surrounding a large courtyard full of blooming flowers and fruit trees. We sat in the courtyard and had lunch and admired the beautiful panorama view of mountains in nearly every direction.
After a few hours of official business we were escorted to home stays where we would be living with at least one other volunteer for the next 3 days. My roommate and were immediately welcomed by our family Don Carlos, and Doña Miriam. They escorted us upstairs (which we had to duck while going up because Americans tend to be quite a bit taller than Guatemalans) and showed us to our bedroom. It was a good sized room with 2 queen size beds and a dresser in between. The room opened up to a large terrace which overlooked the other homes nearby and also the beautiful mountain that loomed just overhead. The entire house was set up so that you had to go outside to get to any other room. Doña Miriam showed us the bathroom which had a mirror and a sink outside so we could brush our teeth and gaze at the mountains and had a small closet-like space which held a toilet (with no seat) and no light, which proved challenging at night...
Downstairs was a very tiny kitchen which we managed sit 4 of us to eat and a small salon with a TV and a small bedroom for Carlos and Miriam. The house was quite small but the family was absolutely delightful. To get to the shower you had to walk outside and down a walkway a bit, past the neighbors (who were all related to one another) and walk through what appeared to be a shed. There were buckets of chicken feed and various tools and the space was only lit by a single christmas tree type bulb. There was a small bathroom at the back of the shed with a toilet (with a seat) and a mid sized, concrete shower space. All the water is cold but they have an interesting contraption to get a hot (warm) shower. It's a small electric light switch just outside the shower which runs wires up to the shower head. You turn the faucet on and flip the switch and the electric pump make the water warm (it really wasn't hot). This sounds very dangerous but we were assured by everyone that its not...
Where we lived were about 5 other families who were all related. Its very typical for families to live all together this way. At first I could not tell where one house ended and another began. The houses were all situated within a cement wall perimeter which was kept well locked to the street outside but otherwise the homes were quite open once inside the family compound.
We find it quite noisy to sleep the first night with the dogs barking and the chicken right outside our window. Our family also had a rooster which sat just below our window and crowed in the middle of the night all the way until morning. I think he must have just been greeting us because the next day it was not so bad.
As we became more comfortable with our surroundings we also got to know our host family a bit better. We ate most meals with them and quickly learned what great people they were. They were always quick to laugh and quite the jokesters... One morning I came down and asked, "would it be okay if I take a shower?" and Miriam said, "NO! You absolutely may not take a shower!" Then she laughed and Carlos laughed and I laughed all the way down to the shower. When I came back I poked my head in the kitchen where they were sitting and said, "Oh no, I'm sorry but there is some problem with the shower! There's water all over the floor! It looks like a lake!" They stared at me blankly, with deep concern... and a moment later I said "Just kidding!" and they nearly fell on the floor laughing.
It was such a joy to spend time with them even though it was such a short time. We spent most of our days at Peace Corps but returned in the evenings to eat and chat with our families.
The food is so delicious here! I have abandoned my desire to avoid meat mainly because I feel I cannot demand certain foods and turn down others from people who are offering to care for me. Also, the meat here is so fresh and they practice traditional animal husbandry rather than eating factory farmed meat... Anyway, so far I have had plantains, both fried and boiled, refried black beans, chili rillenos (amazing!), rice, a prickly potato-like thing, mango, fresh eggs, salads, and many vegetables. I just hope I don't get too fat while I'm here.
Today we said goodbye to our temporary host families and it was more difficult than I thought it would be. Carlos and Miriam were a bit emotional and made us promise to come back and visit them, which of course we will...
No comments:
Post a Comment