Chiming in..

Today marks the first time in which I successfully inserted myself into a Kaqchikel conversation – without being invited of course, but that is clearly beside the point. While my contribution was minute and probably inaudible to the untrained ear, my point was received! I purchased a five gallon bottle of water to bring to my house (for drinking, because the water out of the faucet is non-drinkable for various reasons) and the senora at the store suggested to her husband, who was carrying it out to me, that he carry it all the way to my house, two doors down. I said coolly, “Naq, matyox,” or “No, thank you.” It elicited a little giggle from both the woman and her husband, but they understood and even had the courtesy to suggest that I actually spoke Kaqchikel. A momentous occasion indeed. You’ll notice that my sentence lacks verbs – if I’m lucky, my teacher will allow me to move on to the art of conjugation in Kaqchikel, and it is worthy of being called an art, next week. For now, I have to use make shift sentences like the one above. Thirty five hours of class and no sentence structure in sight. Sigh.

Again I’ve been rather sporadic with my posts lately, but it’s not for lack of attention. I’ve realized that things have become so familiar and so - dare I say “normal?”- around here that I don’t immediately think of the value that some strange observance would add to my blog. Not many things are strange to me anymore, which I think can be taken as a sign of acclimation, or at least I hope that’s what it means. At lunch the other day, I commented to a friend that I fear the day that I find myself in some dress setting in the United States and suddenly look up to see mouths gaping at the sight of me happily eating with my hands and diligently dipping my spit-moist finger in the table salt. While lack of silverware is a somewhat regular occurrence in the villages, it’s never an inconvenience. There are always tortillas (seriously, always) and therefore silverware is an unnecessary obstacle to consuming a delicious meal – even soup. I no longer cringe when someone dares to sit dangerously close to in my lap on the bus while their child stares at me or falls asleep on my arm, it could be much worse. And I haven’t noticed a rooster’s crow in weeks.

As for work right now, I feel like I’ve got various responsibilities that keep me consistently busy, but never bored. With my Host Country Agency I’ve been dispatched to two villages to assess the situation in two different community organizations, one of which having just been established and the other of which that has fifteen years of experience of serving the community. With ODIKA, the first of the two, I’m in the process of incorporating a Food Security branch to their organization. This theme, which I consider extremely relevant considering the current food crisis in which we as a planet find ourselves at the moment, would establish a several year program implemented by ODIKA that would begin with home-nutrition and garden tending trainings and ultimately culminate in larger scale production, or commercial training. With ADECCA, the second of the two organizations, I’m in the process of assisting them to implement a community health project that would bring trained midwife and health promoters to twenty of the surrounding communities that lack access to health services right now. Unfortunately, implement is a very loose term - they have yet to acquire funding, and I suspect they’re secretly thinking that I’m their ticket into the carnival of generous NGO’s. To be honest, I think I know less then they do, keeping in mind their previous experience with development organizations and already established contacts. But I’m looking, and trying to make contacts, which is the best I can do at the moment. Of course, any suggestions would be welcome. And of course, there’s the ever-snowballing English classes. I have about 15 students now between Monday night, Tuesday/Thursday, and Saturday morning classes. But, at least it’s something tangible, in which I can measure progress. And for that, I am thankful.

Now, I’d like to offer you a quick Peace Corps Joke I’ve stolen from a friend. It rings dangerously true…

Three guys sit at a table staring at a glass of water.
The first one says to the other two, “Hey guys. I think that glass looks half empty.”
The second, more of an optimist, responds, “No way. It’s definitely half full.”
The third, a cheery Peace Corps Volunteer says. “Hey, I could bathe with that!”

Hope all is well! Until next time…