Bottle School Construction has begun!

only a week late :)

I dunno; given the circumstances (Guatemala, the construction business and the fact that I recently spent a week in the States), seven days behind schedule seems pretty acceptable. I can’t complain.

I’ve included some recent photos; first of all, check out how many bottles we have now (thanks in part to the two teachers you can see in the foreground)


As for other building materials, here are kids from the community unloading the 360 cement blocks we’ll use in the foundation:


The big recent event came on Tuesday, when Cementos Progreso delivered the 250 bags of cement they donated to our project; that’s Don Miguel, my community counterpart, who's standing next to the truck:


Aaaaand…..that’s me unloading cement, Guatemalan style:


You’d be surprised how ergonomically correct this method is; you support all the weight with your legs – honestly, my back is fine.

Of course, you do end up getting kind of dirty:


I ended up having to wash my shirt by hand so I’d look presentable for the groundbreaking ceremony later that morning (pictures forthcoming – see if there’s a noticeable difference lol)

Here’s our head mason Frainer, preparing the rebar which will help form the structural support for the school’s cement columns. In the background, left to right: Don Miguel, Rosanio (Planning Office Director) and Anibal (Municipal Secretary)


Here are the kids starting to line up for the groundbreaking ceremony:


And here we are, about to place the primera piedra (“first stone”, ha ha but in this case it’s a concrete block) From left to right: Me, Councilman Alfredo, Mayor Miriam and Rosanio


Aaaaaand…..the first stone has been placed. I’m looking at Rosanio being like, “Is this supposed to support a building?” and he’s like, “yeah, it’s just symbolic anyway.” Lol


Yep, all ready to start building :)


Seriously though! I’m excited. Tomorrow we’re going to go buy the wooden boards with which to form the concrete columns and beams; once the sand and gravel gets delivered, we’ll be all ready to start pouring. Yeah bottle school!

Medical Mission

I got a chance to work as a translator for a team of doctors this last Sunday, helping out with a medical mission down in the coastal lowlands near my site. It was hot, tropical and a great learning experience…plus great people and lots of free snacks! The coolest part, however, was getting to watch intricate surgeries from about 2 feet away.


This guy had a cataract removed, and what you see is a doctor SEWING UP HIS EYEBALL (modern medicine is amazing)

Of course, hanging out in the operating room was just a perk; obviously there’s very little translating necessary for people under heavy anesthesia :) The rest of the time I stayed extremely busy during clinical visits, where I’d help Guatemalans make themselves understood to North American doctors with minimal amounts of Spanish. I spent a bunch of my time with Vaji (OB/GYN) and Aditi (otolaryngologist aka ear, nose and throat doctor).



Yes, I did get to wear scrubs. I had to change midday because it was so HOT.

The work was really rewarding; cracking the language barrier to help someone deal with their health issues creates immediate goodwill, especially seeing that lots of patients traveled from far away and were likely pretty poor. Also, you have to take into account that U.S. caliber medical services would probably cost a fortune and although the mission was charging for its procedures, I’m sure their prices were generous.

I learned how exhausting translating can be. The patient’s explanation of their symptoms would enter my ear in Spanish and leave my mouth in English, with the same vice versa for the doctor’s advice or questions. I did one straight 3-hour stint and, in addition to the sweltering humidity and coastal heat, all that switching back and forth just wore me out. The thing is, with the urgency of getting the translation right (this isn’t some simple miscommunication; you really want to help people with their problems) makes you concentrate really hard. I drank a lot of water.


No joke though; people really needed help. This was an ovarian cyst that they pulled out of this one woman, which measured about the size of an …..orange (whoa)

I’m going to let you watch this video though – watching a surgeon open up someone’s body with a cauterizing wand is pretty incredible…..

Returning to Guate

I just got back from a week’s vacation in the States and it’s like I completely forgot Guatemala while I was gone.

Back stateside, I definitely tried to put my Peace Corps life in perspective. I was standing in the kitchen and trying to remember life here in my site, the afternoon rains, my tin roof, cobbled streets, poverty and second hand clothes, tropical plants and trees and hot weather. Unfortunately, I could barely hang onto the thought. I’d recall an image, maybe it was the view from my office doorway looking out into the street, watching the people pass by, and then I would push the image away. There was too much good food to eat, casual socializing and car rides and bonfires, clean streets and beautiful houses, big buildings and paved streets, real coffee and doughnuts and sushi and every easy detail.

I’m starting to think that maybe I blotted Guatemala out, which is weird because I like it here. Up until this point all I’ve been telling people is how much I like the people, the climate, the food, the flora, the culture and my work – I have very few complaints. At the same time, I spent a week in the States and forgot everything.

I imagine it’ll take a few days to settle back into my site. Here, there are stares and stray dogs and bizarre questions about the United States, pollution and crowded buses and beggars, gun-battle massacres and fear, contaminated food and minimal hygiene, a lackadaisical attitude and complacency that shrugs in the face of, well, craziness. There are new stories, superstitions - these kinds of things have got me reeling a little bit.


I remember the sarcastic remark I made to someone about how odd it was to “vacation in the States”, but now that I’m back, I realize that it’s really no joke, whether for me and the 18 months of service I have left, or for the Guatemalans who live here everyday and can’t simply get on a plane and fly off to a foreign country.

One notable thing about my trip was the Greyhound station where I had to wait for a connecting bus at 2:20 AM last Wednesday night. Sitting there watching people lurch about, I saw poverty, stress and sense of wariness…it struck me that the setting was almost like Guatemala (although much weirder, more diverse and not nearly as poor).

Not quite a tarantula, but………

All I’m saying is that there are some seriously big bugs here.


This guy, this arachnophobia-inducing monster of a specimen, was in my house, most specifically in my living room where I watch movies or take naps (!!!!).

It was ridiculous – I was just sitting there, finishing up an episode of Boardwalk Empire (which is an awesome show, by the way) and I’m ready for bed. It’s already like 11:45. Then I look up and see this:


And yes, that’s a 2x4 right there. Comparatively, that’s how big a spider we’re talking. This guy is so big THAT HIS EYES ARE REFLECTING THE FLASH. Look closely – this spider actually needs redeye treatment. Here’s another picture:


Do you see the other spider? The little normal guy, hanging out in his web? Spiders that size, I don’t mind. I’m from Alaska – we love spiders because they eat mosquitoes. 9 times out of 10, I would never hurt a spider. Except of course, when this spider might suck my brains out in the middle of the night (I ended up thwacking him with a magazine).

SERIOUSLY. Is anyone out there an arachnologist or whatever? I’d love to know what this guy is called….maybe so I could pray that he never shows up anywhere me ever again (fat chance – this is number two that I’ve seen thus far)

I love the Peace Corps lol

Signing a contract

Awesome news – my Bottle School project is set to break ground on May 16th!

On Thursday night, Hug It Forward director Chris Barry came to my project site and we signed a contract, along with community representatives and the mayor. I’m really excited!


Specifically, this meeting dealt with the accountability of all involved parties – from left to right in this photo:

The Community - Don Miguel is a prominent leader in the village
Hug It Forward - that’s NGO Director Chris Barry
Peace Corps - I’m the project coordinator
The Municipality - that’s Doña Miriam, our mayor
(Our newly named)Project Foreman– Frainer

Everyone’s contributions thus far were spelled out and all upcoming responsibilities noted with regards to the construction phase of the next 2-3 months.


What went especially well is that the community got a strong voice in deciding how to manage the project, even though they aren’t providing any of the funding. My hope is that community project direction will result in prouder work and a better final result.


Specifically, I was very happy that the Municipality allowed the community to use local men as their labor source. Originally, our mayor had agreed to pay the wages of two assistant masons for the project, but instead of assigning some of her existing employees to the job, she let the community pick its own workers. Her decision surprised me a bit, seeing that there are plenty of peopleat the Muni who receive a salary but do very little actual work(and you wonder why we have budget “problems” :) ). The bottom line is that I applaud her choice and I think we’ll avoid a whole host of problems as a result.

Here are some labor details you might find interesting:

Project foreman (mason, experienced in concrete building and construction)

- funded by Hug It Forward on a 6,400 quetzal contract of approx. 2 months of work, paid out in 4 biweekly checks, averaging out at around Q125.00 or $17 US daily

Assistant masons

- funded by the Municipality at 5,000 quetzales apiece for the same timeframe, averaging around Q100.00 or $13 US daily)

note: Unskilled labor is provided by the community.

Basically, we’re ready to go. After the massive bottle collection from a couple weeks back, we now have more than 4000 filled bottles (eco-ladrillos), with probably another 4000 partially filled– that’s more than enough to begin construction. All that remains is for the community to level the project site, which, given that they’ll probably do it by hand and the school will measure roughly 42’ by 21’, they’ll need at least a couple weeks. On the far end of the soccer field in this picture is where the school will be built.


In the meantime we’ll be making the funding arrangements…..


To everyone reading this - thanks for your support! Please let me know if you have any questions, or feel free to check out some of my earlier posts here, here, here and here.

Easter celebration

Yesterday was Pascua (Easter) and here are a bunch of pictures!



The colorful things you see on the ground are called alfombras (rugs), which constitute a pretty central Easter celebration for most communities here in Guatemala. After staking out a bit of road, families or community groups will place colored sawdust in various designs using cutout stencils. The following pictures are of a design I particularly liked (probably ‘cuz I want a Persian rug that looks just like this someday):


Looks pretty crisp, right? It’s almost like a real rug if you ask me – here’s a guy using the requisite stencil with its slight wooden frame.


Closeup, you can see how he’s smoothing out the sawdust into the cutout holes, which will leave the design on the foundation below – excess sawdust on the stencil gets simply picked up and removed at the end.


Once you've finished the design within a stencil, you gingerly pick up the frame, clean off the excess sawdust and then replace it on down the line. But when you think about how big these alfombras are – close to 10 feet wide and at least 30 feet long - you realize that you have to rig up a plank-and-cinder-block system with which to reach the middle sections.


Need I remind you that the sun was blazing when I took this picture, with temps of at least 75 degrees? The guy gets extra props for working under adverse conditions.

Anyway, I should note that these pictures were taken during the festivities leading up to Easter in a small town near Antigua on April 3rd – sorry it took me so long to post...I’ve been real busy!

Here’s a picture of me that same day, helping out with a different alfombra (this one was garnished with pine needles and vegetables!)

Forgetting things

Living in a small town in the coastal foothills of the Pacific slope, there are plenty of things about life in the United States that I forget (but remember vaguely):

o shopping malls (pretty few/far between)
o traffic lights
o large boulevards
o brand name (not fake) clothing
o nice cars
o commuting to work
o supermarkets (once again, these exist in Guatemala but not where I live)
o clean streets
o absence of pedestrians (most everybody walks)

However, there are tons of things I can’t remember. I’m sure that if you suggested that I was forgetting the little things, like you were asking me if I realized that I couldn’t remember all the little details, I’m sure I’d nod and agree.

At the same time, I was a little mystified to realize they don’t have wind chimes here.

And it’s definitely not that I’ve missed their presence for the past 8 months (which I have) but it’s more that….that they just wouldn’t exist.Like, I sort of want to know why not? Of course, Guatemalans are stunned that we don’t eat tortillas with every meal, so it goes both ways.

Anyway so last night I realized the wind chime absence, during a conversation with this guy at the comedor where I eat my meals. He had spent some time in the U.S. and there we were, standing around after dinner talking about the Day of the Dead, All Saint’s Day, Halloween, Scarecrows and finally, windchimes (Scare-crows are called pretty much the same thing in Spanish – “espanta-pajaros”, and aren’t that common here, apparently). So then the guy turns to me and says in Spanish, “do you know what’s really not common around here? Espantaspantos”

The straight translation sounds ridiculous, but it’s basically “scare scares”. No clue - might be a regional name.

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about, but then I marveled. First, I remembered my mom’s chimes back home. Then, I thought about the occasional wind here, and imagined hearing those same sounds, maybe different sounds, and maybe a new set of chimes from the States….

The moment really took me back, like a perfect metaphor, or like how most of the tiny, insignificant details can mean a lot but can fade away.

Now I want to hear a windchime again.


Here’s a picture of the ladies that run my comedor (windchime guy is actually the husband and father of the Baby and Momma on the right)