feliz dia de cariño/happy valentines day (part deux)

so, in celebration of valentines day, we had a party last night (16th), two days late, but the v-day spirit was still strong. so, as with a lot of things, it started late, about 2 hours late in fact. so, the festivities included; soccer games played before supper, a really tasty supper to include grilled meat, guacamole, and refried dreams (i almost lost my breath when i saw it, told the cook it was probably the best supper since i've been guatemala, a contest of who could explain love the best (i did not have the pleasure of participating), a beauty contest (also did not participate, nor was asked), a bunch of stuff i did not understand exactly, and a dance following, in which i did participate. left the thing around 1230, rumor has it, there were people there until 3 (and on a school night!). the thing about the dancing, is that it's all couple dancing, they don't just go out there solo and shake without breaking it like we do in the states. a little more pressure for the males though, they've got to ask, unless your the prized gringo, he doesn't have to ask nobody. ha, that is the first and final time i will refer to myself as the prized gringo, thanks for playing along.

feliz dia de cariño/happy valentines day

so they do celebrate valentine's day here. which i find amazing the reach that american commercialization has. i wonder if it's the same comercialization that allows me to hear terrible american music here and there. i got my girlfriend chocolate, a pot and some flower seeds. unbelievably clever. she's another volunteer, not guatemalan. so that's all i will say about the relationship side of things, trying to keep this focused on the corp.

hi

i just thought i would say hi to everyone. i hope what you're doing is going well and that you're happy. if not, i hope you have a plan to make things better. if you don't have a plan, i've learned that ice cream makes you happy, or in my case, happier. it can make you other things in excess, which have many other consequences that are not in your best interest, so don't get too happy. i'm doing well, it's almost mango season, and avocadoe season. my peach tree is blossoming, the dishes are clean, and so is the house. my bed is not made (this does not make me any less satisfied with my current condition). so yeah. be well.

a little out of it

so, in regards to the super bowl...i had to be told a couple weeks ago that the super bowl was coming up from a guatemalan i work with. i was also told that camp snoopy is to no longer be camp snoopy (o' how i cried!). i just heard that mlk's wife died. a guatemalan told me that the state of the union speech happened. i am out of it. i wish the new york times delivered here, and that it was in english.

super bowl

watched the super bowl last night at my house. yes, you read correctly. wasn't the same without the american commercials, but still a good game. had some other volunteers over, ate quesadillas and fajitas, tan ricas (so good).

alright, so the image i had of the peace corps that i had before getting here was not completely apt for my living conditions right now. i have running water, my new shower gets pretty warm, i have cable in my house (almost embarassed to say it) - don't get a lot of channels, and the majority of programs are in spanish (sometimes there's a movie in english), i'm soon to be without a tv though, might buy one, however i'm hardly ever home to watch. i eat pretty well. i am using high speed internet at this moment. i can buy american cereal (quaker oat sqares baby, and let me say that y'all are getting ripped off).

so, it kind of depends on where you go, and then where your sight is. i know people that live in houses made of mud, that don't have showers or bathrooms with running water.

a little more substance

alright, so i feel sometimes that i'm just not blogging about what might be a little more important than a picture of my machete (although, don't bet on not seeing another picture), which would be what i'm doing, how things seem, interesting things that happen that might give you a glimpse into the culture of this country. so...

Through one of my host country agencies, ive been able to see some pretty impressive things going on. they work in a bunch of different communities, which are very small and don't resemble what we would consider "communities". they are really just rural areas that have names. anyways. so, there are all these groups. in every one there is a group organized that has a president, a secretary, and other people with titles (don't understand them well). and, what they are doing is planting trees, white pines for the majority (there are tons of white pine and other evergreen trees in guatemala), also cyprus, avocado, peach, and melocoton. some of the trees that they plant are for selling, but they don't sell for much, so a lot just go for reforestation. and i'm not talking about a few pine trees planted, some have a couple thousand trees! kind of blows my mind, but what i find most impressive is that they are organized as they are. there's a lot of social capital going on here (now if there were some more of the garden variety capital, things would be very different). so, they meet weekly and work on their trees. these are people that work extremely hard, life is not easy for them. however, they make time to come and work on trees that they won't be getting much of any direct monetary return on.

today's work

so today, i had my first big responsibility at work. i had two presentations today, both the same, to two different groups, all women. i was teaching them how to make their own chicken feed. a lot of people here only feed their chickens whole kernels of corn, so, in comes the peace corps, and i teach them how to grind it all up, use some beans, salt, bones, and eggshells so that they have some killer chicken feed. the first one in the morning wasn't stellar, they weren't too animated and didn't participate. however, they did well once it came time to actually make the stuff. the second group however, pretty sure they think i'm some sort of rock star now. not really, but it went pretty well. we tell them to grind the stuff up so the chickens can digest the stuff better, and they laughed when i said " i don't believe that chickens have teeth". it was fun. anyways, internet costs money, so i will talk to y'all later.

i have moved

finally moved to where i will be living for the next two years. it is a fantastic feeling to be able t unpack completely after 4 1/2 months, i'll tell ya that much. should gather some pictures up eventually of my place. i have a rabbit in my backyard and a peach tree. turns out that i win.

in other news, finally got sick on saturday. by sick, i mean the stereotypical sick that mexico/central america suggests and a little vomiting. wasn't too bad.

so there you have it, haven't done too much bloggin for a while, kinda busy and whatnot. who knows what the whatnot is, but i'm sure it's something. so, hopefully, sometime soon, i'll get some sort of update.

respectfully yours,

jake

the two most beautiful pictures you've seen all week, at least

Above, you will see the long awaited picture of my machete. I forgot to put something next to it so that you new the scale. However, it's about 50 ft long and very sharp. Ok, so that was a joke. it's about 3 ft. long. Below is Lake Atitlan which i was staying next to for new year's.

late merry christmas, early happy new year

so then i'm even with the late and early. might be a little ahead actually with the earlyness of the happy new year. so, in conclusion, i win.

but seriously, merry christmas to all. hope everyone had a great time doing whatever it was. i know i had a good time, spent it with my host family from training. very very fun, lots of people, lots of food. it also happened to be my host brother's birthday, so it was extra important. the oldest son is a dj, so they set up all the stuff on top of a roof, and a bunch of us danced until very late in the evening. also, at midnight, there was a grand quantity of fireworks. all over the place. it was pretty gorgeous.

here's where i'm going for new year's.

so, there you go. have fun, catch some fish for me ryan. play lots of cards. don't worry about eating, i'll do plenty of that.

¡Baile!

went dancing last night. we had a going away party for the volunteers that were previously in my site and are nowing going home. so we went clubbin'. i don't know if you can consider it clubbin' if you only go to one club. however, i would think there would be some different standards when you are in Guatemala....so, in conclusion, i went clubbin' last night.

what i NEED to buy

the word need is thrown around a lot. i heard someone say not too long ago that they NEED a manicure. let's just say i had a response. so, what does Jake need to buy? well, i'll tell you...say it with me now...

A MACHETE

that's right, need. i have to cut the grass in the backyard of the house i will be moving to. don't think i've seen a lawnmower for a while. i've seen a fair amount of animals that will eat your grass, but there's only a rabbit in my backyard, and s/he's not doing the job. so, i am going to mow the lawn with a machete. don't try and tell me you're not jealous.

Mail

I know there's a few people out there that sent some stuff a looooong time ago, and good news, i think it's close. I think i might just have to travel 6 hours to get it. Not complaining though. Planning on making the trip anyways.

What would ya say, ya do here?

i wake up at 6 am. then i push the snooze button on my nokia cellular phone/alarm clock. then i wake up at 6:05, then push the snooze button. this repeats until around 6:20 or so. then i listen to a little music. then i get out of bed, and take a shower. it's luke warm, almost hot if i make it run slowly (there aren't generally water heaters, just these shower heads that heat the water, and if the water runs slower, it can get hotter. it's a vicious battle between heat and pressure where neither really wins). then i shave, get dressed, make my bed, tidy up the room a little bit (not too much), and leave for breakfast around 7. i eat the breakfast, usually some combination of eggs in some form, beans in some form, juice, tortillas, some very sugared coffee (not my choice, this is how it's made), and an oatmeal type thing. i indulge myself in all of this. then i walk back to my room, brush my teeth, put on some sunscreen, gather my things (water, a hat, something to write with, blah blah blah) and head to the office of where i work. get to the office, change my card in the thing from red to green (this means that the doctor is in). shake a bunch of hands and say buenos dias, como esta about a million times (the greetings are incredibly important). then, i figure out with whom i will be going with today. we work in a bunch of communities outside of the one the office is centered in. so, then i talk to that person, and say something like, "i'm going with you today, let me know when you want to leave". then i go and sit down for a little bit, maybe talk to some people, maybe write some stuff down, maybe study some spanish. then, when told it's time to go, i do that. then, i change my card to yellow (the doctor is not here, but he is still working, just not here). so, either i'm in the cab of a pick-up, or in the box of a pick-up, driving out to a community. then i help whoever it is do whatever he's doing, or stand there and pretend rather convincingly that i understand most of what's being said, when in fact, it's about at 50%. today, i got to shovel, this is something i am rather good at, some of you might be jealous right meow. we were hauling some sand and dirt for a construction project. one day, i helped graft avocado trees for about 7 hours. one day, i helped deliver a bunch of chickens. lunch is usually around 1 or 2, it's quite delicious. today we had liver (not too bad with some sauce on top), some pureed (sp?) potatoes, some salad, juice, and tortillas. then, go back to work. today there was none, which has afforded me the time to write this long entry. then, i get back, usually around 6 pm, switch my card to red as i leave the office (the doctor is now went home to his room, i would think the doctor would have a more posh place for his residence). then, i go sit at home for a little bit, not sure what i really do, but there seems to be something. sometimes i talk to the kids where i live, they're pretty funny. one of them who is about 4 or so, really only likes to repeatedly say gringo, to which i respond by saying the equivalent of guatemalan. it's quite a fun interchange. then, i go meet the other volunteer here and we go to dinner/supper, whatever you call it. it's good, consists of beans, tortillas, coffee, bread, and something else. then i go back, read, study, maybe make a phone call. then i go to sleep around 9. i enjoy it. i just need to work in some ice cream somewhere in there.

home

couple days ago, i decided that it's not "your place", or "home" until there's some reading material sitting on top or beside the toilet.

i forgot thanksgiving

so, for thanksgiving, i got to go to the home of a former volunteer here who is working for an NGO and married a guatemalan. food was great, all the fixings. funniest/coolest/most unique part of the meal is when the guy was like "hey, the white men are eating with the Indigenous people". he had married an indigenous person from guatemala, her brother was there, and so was the mother. it was neat.

new flashier title

so, there's a new flashier title. i would say that it is the flashiest title that i have had, beating out "what's jake doing?" I mean, what were they thinking? anyways, the significance of "Don Hacobo" is as follows; Don, is what you would politely call a man here. I called my host father Don Juan, as Juan is his first name. Yes, I know this is a little funny, but i digress. The significance of Hacobo, is that that is how they say my name. they don't really pronounce the letter J here the way we do, so, it's easier for them to say Hacob. however, i think there gets to be an "o" sound at the end because, i don't really know for sure. but, i reckon it's because there aren't really words that end in a "b", so they put an "o" sound right there. The significance of "new flashier title" could quite possibly be more than self explanatory. there you go. have a good day.

*adendum*

i was told yesterday morning that there are a lot of Jacobo's in Guatemala by one of the administrative assistants in the office (she actually preferred my middle name). also, a man told me yesterday that the equivalent of George Washington in Guatemala was named Jacobo. So, I didn't re-read my entry, but it's possible that some of it is wrong now.

got a haircut

got a haircut today. second one since i've been here. first one, i got from my host mother, she did a pretty good job. but this time, i splurged and spent a dollar for one at a barber shop. it was killer. i was really glad that i was able to explain how exactly i wanted the hair. and they do this cool thing here, once they're done with the top, they take a straight razor to your neck, and get it good and clean. it's pretty sweet, not gonna lie to ya.

so far

so here's what i've been doing so far in my job. i have been going out with people that work in the agencies, visiting different communities and families. with some of them, we've been talking about getting them prepared for their next group of chickens. I spent one day delivering about 600 chickens to different families. Two days spent visiting communities and talking to associations of people that have community gardens from which they sell (in local markets) and eat their harvest. It has been pretty interesting. A lot of people think I'm some sort of expert about everything, which is not so much the way it is. but, luckily, i have a million resources, and find the answers to questions. so it's pretty super. good times, no complaints so far. but now i'm hungry. (had a break right now because the power is out, sometimes the water quits working too).

i can see this

Highest in central america, and a volcanoe.