First day of Volunteering

I knew I had to be up early today as I had to be at the MaximoNivel project office by 7:30 to have my Spanish test. 

I needn’t have set the alarm because I was awake half the night listening to the rain on the roof and desperate to go to the loo as well. Eventually I gave up, donned my raincoat, ran along the balcony, did what I needed to do and back to bed. I was worried I would wake someone flushing the loo. I was told needn’t have bothered. Lesson learned for tonight. 

Dogs got to me before the rooster did so consequently setting the alarm was a waste of my time. I was up by six, and out the door and walking to the MaximoNivel before 7.  Thank goodness it had stopped raining. 

I have decided to have one hour one on one Spanish lessons for the five days I am here and they needed to know how proficient I was to match me to the appropriate teacher. A 30 minute written/audio test didn’t prove too daunting and a 70% result was more than I expected on grammar and written but not so good on aural which is not surprising since I’m half deaf anyway.   I was then given a time slot in the afternoon for my lesson. 

That done I had time to hang out a bit before being introduced to Flora who was going to the same volunteer location as I was. Our field officer showed us the way to the bus; a chicken bus aka ex US School Bus. No formal stops you just stand at the side of the road and watch for your bus and flag them down. Clean, comfortable, cheap ($0.80) and full of character. Flowers, art work, beads, music all full on. Luckily we were travelling off peak so it was empty and we got a seat.  A rickety bus on uneven stone roads makes for an interesting and bumpy ride but it was fun. 

We arrived at the hospital Virgen de Socorro without any hiccups and waited for the supervisor. Both Flora and I expected a ramshackle third world place but instead found a huge beautiful clean and modern establishment. This hospital caters mainly for Cerebral Palsy patients and it was heart breaking seeing many of them. But they are all well cared for in a lovely environment. 

We were given a tili tour and told about our placement starting tomorrow.  Flora has a medical background and her volunteering time will count towards her degree. She will be in a clinical ward. I am going to help with activities so am looking forward to that. 

I could not get over how beautiful the establishment was and have included a few photos of decor in the art room and the grounds.   Coming back we caught another chicken bus, this one called Helen. 

It had a sign inside basically saying if your boyfriend doesnt want you come get it from me.   It made me laugh. 

Back in town we wandered through the market which we didn’t get a chance to explore but there will be time. We were both starving so to satiate our hunger went to a Boulangerie next to MaximoNivel for lunch. Without really understanding what I ordered I was pleasantly surprised. A bowl of black beans which seem to be standard with everything and which I ignored, two perfectly poached eggs sitting on a piece of beautifully cooked steak with a tomato based sauce. Delicioso. To top it off I had an espresso which left me with a divine aftertaste for ages. 

Thank goodness they have enough taste to have real coffee here in abundance. Of course there is a Starbucks for anyone that wants a substandard drop. 

There is also a McDonalds with a courtyard. Neither displayed their usual signage and were discretely tucked away.  The benefits of being a Unesco Heritage Site (awarded in 1979) and not being allowed to spoil the character/look of a place. 

On that note I learned today that the World Heritage classification is the reason all the buildings are painted one of only six colour choices. A huge earthquake demolished much of the city in 1773 and when rebuilt strict guidelines were enforced. Prior to the earthquake La Antigua, Guatemala was the country’s capital city. 

Dinner done Flora and I went our separate ways but not before agreeing to go to the placement together tomorrow in an uber. The cost difference seems minimal if we share the ride and will save us probably 30 minutes in the morning. 

‘Home’ is only 15 minutes walk from MaximoNivel so I came home, pottered a bit and checked out the shower. I had few expectations and luckily was pleasantly surprised when hot water flowed reasonably well from the tap. Sharing a bathroom isn’t the greatest but we (3 of us) have different timetables so hopefully it works ok. 

I should explain; the bathroom is as basic as my room but it does contain a small shower box which butts onto the loo, which butts onto a handbasin right next to the door. A small shelf above the loo is all we have for our stuff. The usual rubbish bin next to the loo is for loo paper that you cannot flush.  The usual for developing/3rd world countries. 

But a shower of any form is a great way to be revitalised and thats what it did. 

I wandered back into town for my one on one Spanish lesson with Kathy. That sounds straightforward enough and the receptionist showed me how to get to room 6 where Kathy was. A very british sounding Kathy was on her way out for a smoke but on her return she told me we were in room 1 where others were waiting. I explained I was there for a spanish one on one class. She laughed. She was an English teacher. 

The real/other Kathy was waiting for me in room 6. Who would have thought there would be two Kathy’s working for the same crowd. 

Anyway my 1 hour lesson was great. When I explained that I was learning on line and needed someone to help me explain the differences between different figures of speech she laughed and told me that the questions I was asking were for experienced learners. We both knew I wasn’t one of them but have obviously, by fluke, moved on ahead of where I should be. 

The hour passed quickly and I felt I was making a bit if progress, now being able to ask basic questions and respond in a way I can make myself understood. 

Class over it was a quick walk home for dinner. That short time we get together at night is fun, everyone full of what they had achieved, or otherwise. So far I have met some lovely people, all obviously much younger, but all here with a common purpose to improve our spanish. 

I had bought a pastry from the boulangerie just in case I was hungry after dinner again but tonights bowl of scrummy homemade vege soup and a chicken salad were just what the doctor ordered and I left the table ready to explode. 

The pastry sits and waits. 

Hopefully tonight I get some sleep as tomorrow will be a busy day in the hospital and then another lesson, followed by salsa dancing at night. I’m not getting a chance to explore but that will come soon enough. 

Hasta m

Buenos Dias Guatemala

At last a good sleep for more than a couple of hours. 

I’m not a breakfast person but this morning I have a few hours to kill before I’m collected to start my assignment and breakfast was included in my tariff so here I am. 

A half decent coffee, papas, frijoles con tomate y platano freis (spuds, beans in tomato and fried plantain); tasty, light and just what I needed. Breakfast isn’t breakfast without toast and that needs a spread. NZ butter would be my spread of choice but oh well I may as well give the local stuff a try. And jolly good it was too. 

Then I read the paquete:

No wonder. 

And so my adventure began. As arranged I was collected from the hotel by a driver from Maximo Nivel, the company that manages to volunteer network on Guatemala for IVHQ. Maximo Nivel are also a language school and have not only live in students but younger volunteers staying there as well. As an old fart I get to stay in a local home, something I have been dreading but here goes. 

I am writing as we drive to Antigua City taking it all in as we go.  I’m excited to be once again in unfamiliar surroundings and able to appreciate the differences  to home. 

I’m wearing my seatbelt. Neither driver or the other guy are. No one is speaking but I’m happy to just sit and take it in. 

Vendors are on the road side hawking to the traffic, kiosks on the road side sell anything you can think of, hundreds of power/phone lines hanging off poles that look to be falling over, unfamiliar signs (that surprisingly I can mainly understand), shantys and ramshackle shops, then up pops a shiny new McDonalds, a slick apartment building and a modern school. Contrasts we dont see at home. 

The road dips deep into one of the many valleys carved between the hill tops. The undulations make transmission gully seem flat. There are trees and green everywhere. The word Guatemala means Green Trees. Chicken buses (old discarded US busses) crawl past, crowded with people and painted up like a piece of art. I expected them to be ramshackle; they aren’t but are definitely pre-historic. I read they are real cheap the travel in. 

The journey continues along the concrete slab road (actually really nice except for the vibration that you get as you pass over the joins), the scenery and the green are spectacular. We take a turn off and we soon drive onto boneshaking stone roads. Just like they used to be. (In fact they have to be regularly torn up and re-laid as the stones and the infill deteriorate). 

I don’t know how to describe how beautiful the place is. Low level buildings painted hues of ochre, rust or white, tiled roofs, decorated doors, character just oozing out. I was gobsmacked the moment we arrived. 

It is now 8:30pm and I write as I lie on my bed in my homestay. My host is a lovely lady called Jessica and she lives with her two sons and rents out rooms, some above her some and some down the way. More on that later. 

The driver takes me to the Maximo Nivel to sign in. Their premises are also home to a number of foreign students, meeting rooms, hangouts, kiosk and I guess their offices. The setting is glorious and with a stunning view of some of the volcanoes in the distance. A quite recce and then I am taken to Jessica’s place. 

My room is basic, very basic but clean. I get to share a bathroom with three others that stay here and Jessica provides breakfast (which I dont eat) and dinner at 7:00pm. 

That done and I walked back to Maximo Nivel (10 minutes walk) for our briefing. I’m hungry and I want to go exploring so am happy when its over and we do an orientation walk. 

The place is crawling with tourists but they are mainly Latin Americans so for me its just like hanging with the locals. I pass a market and have a nosey, street food to die for. Further along restaurants to please every palate. I am sad that I am committed to dinner each night as there are so many food places to try. Beautiful old buildings, churches, art shops, museums all bursting with character and all telling me ‘not today’. I cant wait to explore. 

Sadly I only have a few pics as I was so gobsmacked I didn’t think of photos but over the next few days there will be lots. 

Orientation over I walk back to my ‘home’ for the next five days weary but buzzing with excitement. 

Jessica had dinner waiting and I dined with other guests. Women from UK, Denmark, USA and a guy from Canada. Some volunteering and some here to learn Spanish. Guatemala offers the cheapest Spanish schools anywhere so people come for a week or two to get a head start on the language. 

Dinner was quite good unremarkable, black beans with fried plantain and rice. All traditional foods but not enough to fill my big toe. That suits me because now I can have an early dinner out and come back for a top up. 

Tomorrow at 7:30am I am being assessed for Spanish proficiency so I can get some Spanish lessons while I am here. I will then be taken to my assignment, working with the elderly in a nursing home. It sounds a bit different to the stint I did in Argentina where the elderly were mobile and attending community centres. 

Already I have booked a salsa class and a cooking lesson for Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons which will still leave me time to explore this gorgeous place. 

Hola Guatemala

And just like that I am in Centro América, Guatemala City to be precise. My flight was uneventful as I slept most of the way. I ignored the guy next to me. His shirt was unbuttoned to the waist displaying a not attractive and not what you could remotely describe as a six pack torso. He did have a nice hat though. Quite a few male passengers were wearing big hats. Interesting that in a country where women dress conservatively here was a guy with his gut on show to everyone. Yuk. I woke from my nap but kept my eyes closed so I didn’t have to see sideways and for some reason couldn’t help but think of the amount of plastic I had consumed in my short stay in the US. Everything in the hotel came in a wee plastic bag, even at breakfast the cutlery was all plastic (and each piece in a plastic bag) and the paper plates were plastic coated. None were marked as recyclable. They obviously didn’t get the memo.   I don’t think I mentioned breakfast either. Choices were limited. Coffee from a pump vacuum pot, imitation fruit juice, cereal with milk in individual plastic pots, a choice of a couple of foul looking hot things and waffles. The make your own sort where from a pump pot you fill a plastic coated paper cup with your choice of flavours, tip the contents onto the waffle iron, rotate the iron, discard the cup and in a few minutes you have a waffle which you can smother with any of a number of toppings, all which come in their own plastic disposable pots. A plastic spoon is there for you to remove the waffle into your plastic coated paper plate.Paper cups coated with plastic were available for anyone that wanted coffee or juice. No thanks to both. I’ve had breakfasts in some really odd places but this one took the cake for not only the worst but the least environmentally friendly.  I didn’t finish the waffle as they told me there was a free seat in the shuttle if I wanted to leave earlier than planned. I was on my way. I digress. My window seat let me have a birds eye view as we flew into Guatemala City. From above I could see how hilly the terrain was and it looks like the city has been built on top of those hills which have  had the tops flattened off. Huge suburbs perched on flat land bordered by verdant valleys which in some cases were traversed by winding motorways. Quite unusual and from a distance beautiful. As we got closer I could see that some of the developments were nothing more than shanty towns with hundreds of flat roofed huts. Something like 75% of the residents of Guatemala live below the poverty line. 😢Our plane touches down and suddenly people pop up out of their seats and start grabbing luggage out of the lickers. Hey guys wait till it stops. The crew ignored it so maybe its the norm. To enter Guatemala you need a completed customs form bearing a QR code. I did my form before I left but it seems most people didn’t so as we made our way to immigration there were bunches of people doing them on and holding up the queues. Total chaos, but thats why I love developing countries. I sneaked through found the immigration queue which was actually quite short so zoomed through. My suitcase was waiting next to the conveyor belt. Quite different to my priority labelled bag coming off last in Houston. Bag and QR code in hand I joined yet another queue along with many more fellow travellers and waited. By this time I had been on the ground 35 minutes and my ride only waits 45 minutes. In my broken Spanish and Mr Googles help I managed to communicate with him and made sure he waited. Amidst the chaos in the queue I spied a sign saying Foreign Passports. Like a rat up a drain pipe I changed queues and was at the front of the line in no time. Leaving the terminal I could see at the back of a carpet of people a sign with my name but it took a while to manoeuvre my way through the throngs of people to my ride a very pleasant Jose who had the brains to park his car right next to the terminal. The crowd waiting for people to alight was huge but everyone was in good spirits and balloon sellers mingled with the people selling their wares. It was noisy, packed and full of colour. Already I love it. 

It was a short ride on a great wide road to Hotel San Carlos. We arrived and the security guard opened the gates to a huge courtyard in front of a beautiful beautiful old grand restored house. Inside it was even lovelier, just like home. The lounge/bar area opens out to a pool and an ornate staircase up to the rooms. 

This is one of the ‘luxury hotels’ of Guatemala City. Luxury it may be but at around $100 a night not at all out of reach for us. 

My standard room is delightful with everything I need including a super comfy bed that sits about 2ft off the ground. Arthritic joints made it difficult to climb up but it was worth it. I know that because I’ve already had my first nap. 

Guatemala city has a reputation for not being the safest place in the world. It also has a reputation for not having much worth seeing so with those things in mind I am using the time to chill in my room until tomorrow when I go to Antigua and commence my volunteering. 

My home for the next week will be in a home stay and anyone that knows me also knows how much I hate staying with other people.  I hope that is the only challenge I encounter, but on the plus side I hope that experience will give me a chance to practice my Spanish and get a glimpse into the traditions and culture of the people I am staying with.  I will get to meet them tomorrow.Dinner time. The restaurant in the hotel is bijou, 4 tables, but an extensive menu of local and other dishes. Tap water here is not drinkable so that rules out salads that may have been washed in tap water so back to unhealthy eating and my choice of Pollo Freir con salsa de meil y mostarda. Fried chicken with honey mustard dressing accompanied by my complimentary bebida (drink). Jamaica Flower Horchata, a Hibiscus fruit drink which is delicious and refreshing, hints of cinamon and a sweet/sour aftertaste. Yumm. Horchata is enjoyed throughout Central America with each region having their own variation of the basic; sugar, water and spices. I look forward to trying the other options. My chicken was unremarkable but filled a gap but the crepes that followed, (despite being french in nature) were delicious. My horchata devoured I ordered a ultra smooth vino tinto, tempranillo this time, which I am enjoying in my room as I write. So far I have managed to understand and converse in short sentences in Spanish, already I am feeling a little more confident. By tomorrow I will be well rested and ready to take on the world. Bring it on. Here is a bit of information about Guatemala that I pinched from the volunteer notes. 

Location

Bordering Mexico and Belize to the north and Honduras and El Salvador to the east and south, makes Guatemala the true gateway to Central and South America. A multiethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual nation, Guatemala is ruled by a democratic elected government and congress. Famous for its majestic volcanoes and pristine mountain lakes, the country also offers the visitor an opportunity to explore verdant tropical rain forests, black volcanic beaches, and lush, towering mountains. Guatemalan history dates back to the time of the ancient Mayan civilization and volunteers can explore numerous archaeological sites throughout the nation. Tikal, the Mayan capital during the classical period, is often described as one of the most spectacular, yet mysterious wonders of the world. Guatemala was founded in 1524 as the capital of the Spanish colonial government in Central America. Many cities and towns (such as Antigua where our program is based) still maintain a colonial Spanish ambiance, offering many sites from the era of The Conquistadores. Guatemala itself offers a unique volunteer abroad experience. While Guatemala struggles with some of the economic and social issues as other developing countries in Latin America, the strong presence of indigenous culture and popular movements provide for a unique experience.

Demographics

Mestizos (mixed Amerindian-Spanish - in local Spanish called Ladino) and Europeans comprise 59.4% of the population and Amerindians comprise 40.5% of the population (K’iche 9.1%, Kaqchikel 8.4%, Mam 7.9%, Q’eqchi 6.3%, other Mayan 8.6 %, indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%, other 0.1%). Most of Guatemala’s population is rural, though urbanization is accelerating. The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism , into which many indigenous Guatemalans have incorporated traditional forms of worship. Protestantism and traditional Maya religions are practiced by an estimated 40% and 1% of the population, respectively. Although the official language is Spanish , it is not universally understood among the indigenous population.

Señor Google can tell you more : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala#:~:text=The%20name%20%22Guatemala%22%20comes%20from,the%20Cuate%2FCuatli%20tree%20Eysenhardtia. I’m excited to be meeting more people and learning more about how they live. More to come as my immersion continues.