Carnival

In the US I vaguely remember Catholic friends of mine celebrating Fat Tuesday, the day before lent begins, as a day to eat sweets before committing themselves to giving them up for the 40 days of lent. Guatemala participates in the tradition, but in Latin American style- Carnival.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten that lent was approaching so quickly, and when I saw the first handfuls of pica-pica (confetti), I thought it was a birthday. The tradition for carnival here is for all of the kids to go crazy covering each other in confetti, face-paint, eggs (real or confetti filled), flour, and anything else they can find to throw at each other.

I was walking home from work on Monday (mind you, a day before carnival), minding my own business, when I started to hear a bit of a ruckus behind me. When I tuned my ears in I realized that they were yelling “Agarra la Carlota” which translated means “get Charlotte!” I turned to see a pack of my neighbors charging up the street towards me. Fight or flight kicked in and I took off running, which in hind sight was probably a bad idea. I think they just got more excited that someone was actually playing their game! I’m about twice their height and probably would’ve outrun them if half of them hadn’t peeled off (you’ve got to give ´em credit…that’s pretty clever) and gone down an alley to trap me on the other side. At this point the whole town had come out of their houses to see what the ruckus was and were laughing their pants off at the site of me being chased by their naughty children. And then they caught me. I arrived home about 20 minutes later, my hair filled with pica-pica and laughing my pants off. I’m still picking the confetti out of my hair, but I’ll count it as a successful cultural integration moment.

The Mayan Calendar

As a part of my Mayan language classes I`ve been learning snippets of Mayan culture (mostly so my brain won`t explode from too many Mam words) and this week I got to learn all about the Mayan calendar.

The Mayan calendar has 2o symbols and is completely different from the Western calendar that most countries follow. Each symbol signifies one day and once the 20 days are cycled through, it begins again with the first day. Though the population of Guatemala generally follows the Western calendar now, may people still conslut the Mayan calendar to guide them.

For example, day 6 is Asmaq or forgiveness. Children who are born on this day are said to have extra capacity for forgiving others. Also, if you have wronged someone and would like to ask their forgiveness, you would wait until this day to have the most favor when approaching them.

Here`s a photo of some of the symbols (I`ve been painting them to keep my fingers in something artistic)...

The Daily Grind

I knew this would happen eventually. In fact, I’m pretty impressed that I’ve made it 6 months already with never a gap of more than 10 days between blogs, but alas, I’ve finally dropped the ball. The truth is life feels pretty normal at this point. The days blur together and the weeks pass quickly as my life here in Guatemala becomes more settled. But that’s not an excuse! I still want to keep you updated on my life and the goings-on here. So let me begin what may be a string of very mundane blogs about my daily existence with a description of what a typical day looks like for me…

I usually wake up to the sound of the neighbor’s chickens and turkeys before my alarm rings. It’s actually become a comforting ritual and allows me time to wipe the sleep out of my eyes and enjoy the stillness before my day begins. Most mornings I throw on a jacket and go for a walk in the hills surrounding my town which helps to remind me that even though I’m in an office most of the day, my town is beautiful and can actually be quite tranquil when all of the street dogs and insane 6 year olds (who are STILL ringing my doorbell at all hours) are still sleeping.

Work starts at 8 after I’ve eaten my breakfast and (maybe) bathed. Typically the morning in my office passes in a mixture of sitting, chatting, more sitting, or me trying to convince my counterparts to help on some sort of project. I leave the office for lunch at 12 (because they insisted that Americans eat lunch at 12 and I might get sick if I don’t stick to my “normal” schedule). The afternoon passes just like the morning, only if I’m lucky someone in the Forestry or Planning offices will be going to a community and I can tag along to see the sights and practice speaking Mam, the local Mayan language, which I am attempting to learn.

Work ends at 4 and I usually use the remaining daylight to play with kids in the park or visit a friend in town. These are my favorite parts of the day…sitting with Doña Mary and joking about whatever cultural mistakes I’ve made during the day, or playing with Alejandra and Maria Victoria (see Christmas cookie pictures).

I make dinner in the evening and write some letters, read a book, or watch a movie and retire at the ridiculously early hour of 9:00. I’m not sure if it’s the effort of thinking and speaking in a different language all day that wears me out, but I have no trouble sleeping 9 or sometimes even 10 hours a night!

I hope that helps you picture what my Guatemalan Peace Corps experience is like at present. The newness has worn off, but I like that living life in a small Guatemalan town feels normal.