Vida

8:52 am and I estimate that it is about 95º outside... Luckily there is a light breeze that picks up every now and then which helps to dry a bit of the sweat off your brow.

-But because it has been so dry in these past few months, the streets are covered in a fine dust. I don't mean fine like, "damn, you fine," but rather a dust as light as sifted flour which when disturbed by the slightest gust of wind, whirls up and covers all surrounding surfaces.
A sweaty face is the perfect place for this dust to settle and many of us walk around the Aldea sporting a grey sweatstache (dusty mustache). The dust settles on houses, chuchos, cars, and dishes sitting in the pila. If left untouched for long enough, the dust could resemble a light, early winter snowfall...

Life is going well and the days are passing quickly. Work has been slow-going but I am feeling optimistic about the months ahead. The women's group has been going especially well and this week the woman have offered to teach me one of their most traditional recipes, Pulike. This dish is a delicious orange soup made with chicken and cilantro and served with tamalitos. This afternoon I will learn every step in the preparation of Pulike, including the killing of a chicken.
yikes.
I think it is only fair that I learn to kill at least one chicken here in Guatemala. Since here, I have been eating chicken and it seems only right to fully understand where that drumstick comes from. In the US we never think about our meat as an actual living animal, and once packaged and put on supermarket shelves consumers see only a steak, a roast, a pork chop, or a chicken breast. I think it is good to take responsibility for ourselves and the food we choose to eat and that is why I have agreed to kill a chicken.

Perhaps after this experience, I will no longer want to eat chickens but I doubt it. I don't mind eating chickens here in the campo as much as I do when I am at home. Factory farms leave a bad taste in my mouth and I don't like to be so disconnected and uncertain about what I am eating.

Here the chickens are running around everywhere. When they first hatch they are so cute... Little bundles of feathers running around, clearly confused by their new world. Then they grow up and they are ugly with a capital U. Their feathers grow in all patchy and weird with speckles and bald spots galore. They get into everything... wander into my room and crap on the floor. -And don't even get me started on the roosters... It is a myth that they only crow at the crack of dawn. They crow at the crack of everything. For the most part, I have learned to tune them out, but sometimes they seem to join together in such a loud chorus that I wish to turn them all into chicken McNuggets.
-I dislike chickens, but this is not why I eat them here in Guatemala.

I will be sure to post the vivid details of the chicken sacrifice of this afternoon.

A New Look

You are probably asking yourself how in the world I was able to hire a web designer to amp up this page with my meager Peace Corps salary...
Well I did not hire an MIT web designer, nor any web designer. This beautiful piece of cyber art is thanks to my own creative and technological genius.
Actually it was pretty simple... The website sets it up so just about anyone can make a very flashy page. It's just that I am not quite up to speed with all of these modern cyber luxuries.
I thought the map of Guatemala might be useful because then the folks at home can get a better idea of where I am. I live in the department of Chimaltenango, just to the west of Guatemala, it's the light purple patch on the map. If you look very closely you will see the Aldea in which I live (Estancia de la Virgen) and if you REALLY squint, you will see my house (the white one, -just there on the hill).

  I have also added a link to some headlines from Democracy Now! to the sidebar. This is the news that I listen to here and I have been so fascinated to hear all that has been going on in Egypt and the Middle East. If any of you lovely readers feels left in the dark about world news, I highly recommend giving this site a read or a listen. You may even find it a delightful side dish to your nightly helping of Glenn BLECK...

-I mean, Beck.

I will not make excuses for neglecting this page for so long. I haven't really been up to much in these past few weeks. I had a sprained ankle and was out of work for awhile and it has been a slow start to the new school year. This year is looking very promising however, and there is a lot in the works. I am planning on helping with some curriculum writing and project planning for our program which may not be so entertaining for you all to read about but it is certainly exciting for us here in Guatemala. Our program is forever changing and evolving and it is really great to be a part of that.

I am hoping to bring more of the arts and critical thinking to the kids here... I plan to do drawing, painting, creative writing, sculpture, music, theatre, and dance. I have some projects in mind; making musical insturments out of recycled materials, for example... The idea would be for each kid to find something they really enjoy in the arts, -something they feel accomplished in. Then maybe later on in the year we can have an Art Ehibition in which each student submits at least one work. The drawings, painting, sculptures we can put up on display and then the kids interested in performing arts can put together a few acts or numbers to perform live.
I think it would be a great way to boost kid's self-esteem and introduce them to the world of creative thinking. It would also be a nice event to bring the community together... I guess we'll see.

Please feel free to share with me any ideas you may have for projects, or activities I can do with the kids.
I really appreciate it!