H and M took me to the Parque Central after the meeting to see the royal palace and cathedral. They are beautifully lit at night. You have to tip a man to park where we were parked, and the man got bumped three times and nearly run down when he tried to stop a passing car with a cheap, agressive driver. It scared the piss out of me but did not phase H & M at all.
H&M then surprised me by taking me to their favorite heladeria (ice cream shop) which is famous for it´s ecelectic flavors. Marylena´s Heladeria makes Burt Bott´s many flavored beans seem tame. Among the choices were fish, beans, corn, salt and varous fruit combinations. I had corn (elote, or cornmeal) ice cream and it was delicious. Next time I´m going for the fish.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
ASORGUA
Saturday was my first meeting with ASORGUA. H&M were kind enough to pick me up and bring me to the headquarters, which is a small section of a building owned by the Comite (pro-deaf and blind committee). The facility is actually the Comite´s school for the blind, which borders a private hospital. M gave me a quick tour. There is a garden with myriad indigenous plants for the blind children to get acquainted with by smell and touch. This lovely sheltered workshop has differently textured tile pathways to orient the children.
But back to the ASORGUA building. It is very modest but very well taken care of by its dedicated members. There is a communal kitchen and a room with a computer. The common space is sufficiently large and, more importantly, sufficiently well-lit. There was an impressive nativity scene occupying about one fifth of the room--this was their first meeting of the new year.
To say that I had a warm welcome is a gross understatement. As if with long-lost relatives, our connections were immediate and infused with energy and care. Introductions did not need interpretations beause greetings and fingerspelling were already in my diminutive GSL lexicon. The best part was reuniting with JB, who is a good friend and colleague of the MSW program at Gallaudet.
For the formal meeting itself, the agenda was written on the dry-erase board and M voiced in Spanish for me. I was pleasantly surprised, however, at how much GSL is intelligible for those with knowledge of ASL. I was an item on the agenda, noted by the words "estudiante de chicago" and "Barbara" (the primary GU liaison who set up the Guatemala US connection, who is in frequent communication with JB). Pushing my GSL to the limit, I fumbled through an introductionthat was met with truly non-judgemental smiles. The meeting was led by president C, with other officers leading different sections of the agenda. The main topics of discussion were savings, membership dues, and upcoming Deaf Ed conference in Costa Rica and New Years wishes.
Most of the members are over 30. One is like 90, a founding member of ASORGUA, who rides the bus for over an hour to get to meetings. It was great to meet so many members of the Deaf community. After the business meeting, people stay around to chat for like an hour and a half. Again I was surprised at how possible communication was--some people knew the ASL alphabet and could voice a little in Spanish which helped a lot. After a round of Deaf hugs (the best!) I went back to H and M´s care balancing my overflowing cup.
But back to the ASORGUA building. It is very modest but very well taken care of by its dedicated members. There is a communal kitchen and a room with a computer. The common space is sufficiently large and, more importantly, sufficiently well-lit. There was an impressive nativity scene occupying about one fifth of the room--this was their first meeting of the new year.
To say that I had a warm welcome is a gross understatement. As if with long-lost relatives, our connections were immediate and infused with energy and care. Introductions did not need interpretations beause greetings and fingerspelling were already in my diminutive GSL lexicon. The best part was reuniting with JB, who is a good friend and colleague of the MSW program at Gallaudet.
For the formal meeting itself, the agenda was written on the dry-erase board and M voiced in Spanish for me. I was pleasantly surprised, however, at how much GSL is intelligible for those with knowledge of ASL. I was an item on the agenda, noted by the words "estudiante de chicago" and "Barbara" (the primary GU liaison who set up the Guatemala US connection, who is in frequent communication with JB). Pushing my GSL to the limit, I fumbled through an introductionthat was met with truly non-judgemental smiles. The meeting was led by president C, with other officers leading different sections of the agenda. The main topics of discussion were savings, membership dues, and upcoming Deaf Ed conference in Costa Rica and New Years wishes.
Most of the members are over 30. One is like 90, a founding member of ASORGUA, who rides the bus for over an hour to get to meetings. It was great to meet so many members of the Deaf community. After the business meeting, people stay around to chat for like an hour and a half. Again I was surprised at how possible communication was--some people knew the ASL alphabet and could voice a little in Spanish which helped a lot. After a round of Deaf hugs (the best!) I went back to H and M´s care balancing my overflowing cup.
El Temblor
First time for everything--even mini earthquakes. Is it horrible of me to say that it was cool? The seizmic tremor Friday night was very mild; nothing in the house fell or anything. Apparently they happen a few times a year. We´ve also had 2 more blackouts but they each lasted less than an hour. Just need a mild hurricane and then I´ll have a hattrick of extremely benign natural pseudo-disasters.
La Berge Guatemalteca
I met most of the boarders and am grateful to be in good company. They are all professionals in their late twenties, and very friendly, though I am a bit intimidated I have to admit. One is Spanish, one is Salvadoran, and the rest are Guatemalans. Engineers, journalists, students and a lawyer. Host sister J´is a law student as well and she is excellent company. La senora is a character in the best way--very strong and independent, a former teacher and a house remodeler--two days ago I assisted herin trying to install decorative little windows that she cut to size herself. I´m one lucky duck as far as my instant social network goes, but there is a weird dynamic between the boarders and senora&J, which is sticky to navigate because I´m the only boarder who live´s in senora&J´s section of the house. In any case, I hope to establish relationships with everyone.
Friday, January 4, 2008
La Ciudad
While my circumstances are stellar, the same cannot be said of the Guatemalan majority. Poverty is very visible in most places in the city. We drove past zone 3 which houses a garbage dumo neigborhood with homes made of tin sheets, concrete blocks, and trash. Theft is not uncommon, so one has to be careful. Even in very nice neighborhoods, exteriors of buildings are not much to look at. I am painfully aware of priviledge and poverty here already, and am fraught over my own American priviledge.
Things and people are more relaxed here, which is generally good, though I need to keep my fingers crossed about the lax scheduling making my internship hours sticky. I will be passing Saturday afternoon with ASORGUA and will go to the Total Communication School Monday.
Things and people are more relaxed here, which is generally good, though I need to keep my fingers crossed about the lax scheduling making my internship hours sticky. I will be passing Saturday afternoon with ASORGUA and will go to the Total Communication School Monday.
La Oscuridad
It seems that I brought bad luck with me from the States--hours after I arrived, Guatemala experienced a comprehensive power-outage. The wind was strong, some generators got knocked about and bam--darkness fell over the whole city. Some people were speculating that it was sabotage. The new president, Colom, was elected by a very narrow margin and there are many people cranky about it. It is likely, however, that the power outage was your garden variety act of God. The challenge came when ´M´ and her husband ´H´ came to fetch me for dinner. La Senora invited them in for coffee but had only one candle by which we could see each other. H is Deaf, so lipreading and signing were severely limited. Thank goodness for mama stokar and her gift of a mini flashlight. It came in handy pronto.
By the time we reached H & M´s house, lights were partially restored. It took me a good 4 minutes to fall in love with the entire family, including their chihuahua ¨Bebe¨. They have 1 hearing daughter´C´, sweet as a pie, and aDeaf son ´J´. who was very communicative (via his interpreter mother; I don´t know much Guatemalan Sign Language, GSL, yet.) H is brilliant and is helpful in teaching me GSL. Many of their relatives live in different sections of their building and I got to meet a few. H, M, and I conversed for about 2 hours about Deaf education, philosophies, resources and policies. The two of them are real champions of Deaf advocacy, and I know I´ll learn a great deal from them.
By the time we reached H & M´s house, lights were partially restored. It took me a good 4 minutes to fall in love with the entire family, including their chihuahua ¨Bebe¨. They have 1 hearing daughter´C´, sweet as a pie, and aDeaf son ´J´. who was very communicative (via his interpreter mother; I don´t know much Guatemalan Sign Language, GSL, yet.) H is brilliant and is helpful in teaching me GSL. Many of their relatives live in different sections of their building and I got to meet a few. H, M, and I conversed for about 2 hours about Deaf education, philosophies, resources and policies. The two of them are real champions of Deaf advocacy, and I know I´ll learn a great deal from them.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Estoy Aqui
Today I am writing from Guatemala City. Yesterday, at a cruel hour before dawn, my fantastic parents drove me to the airport to ship out to my internsip. Boarding my final connection in Houston, it wasn´t 5 minutes before I was chatting with my seat neighbors. (And though most of you assume it was I who initiated since I have a talking problem, it was indeed my Guatemalan co-passengers). It was a good opportunity to warm up my Spanish-speaking abilities (which people have told me are fine, but I feel are insufficiently warm). By the time I got to the baggage claim I had 3 people´s contact info.
Having no trouble uniting with my host family, I put my bags in my host sister ¨J¨s car. They took me out for traditional Guatemalan cuisine--chicken strips at TGI Friday´s. While this is obviously not a Mayan specialty, there are 3 Fridays in Guate along with a slew of other imported fast food joints. There is even a call button in the center of the table to page the waitress. Marveling over the button, I was promtly laughed at by my host´s 4 year old niece.
My living situation is ideal. I have my own quarters in a large house in a nice neighborhood. 8 Boarders live upstairs and the Senora and her daughter J occupy the middle floor of the home. The home is complete with 2 parrots, 3 parakeets, a dog and her litter that live in the garage, and a seemingly endless flow of tortillas, juevos, y frijoles. My hosts have been extremely generous, shuttling me around from the bank to the embassy to the supermercado. It is difficult to get around the city safelt and efficiently without a car, but I will be working within spitting distance of the house. I met with my friend M from ASORGUA (Guatemalan Association of the Deaf) last night and dined with her and her family. The people here have, in one day, already proven themselves to be incredible.
Having no trouble uniting with my host family, I put my bags in my host sister ¨J¨s car. They took me out for traditional Guatemalan cuisine--chicken strips at TGI Friday´s. While this is obviously not a Mayan specialty, there are 3 Fridays in Guate along with a slew of other imported fast food joints. There is even a call button in the center of the table to page the waitress. Marveling over the button, I was promtly laughed at by my host´s 4 year old niece.
My living situation is ideal. I have my own quarters in a large house in a nice neighborhood. 8 Boarders live upstairs and the Senora and her daughter J occupy the middle floor of the home. The home is complete with 2 parrots, 3 parakeets, a dog and her litter that live in the garage, and a seemingly endless flow of tortillas, juevos, y frijoles. My hosts have been extremely generous, shuttling me around from the bank to the embassy to the supermercado. It is difficult to get around the city safelt and efficiently without a car, but I will be working within spitting distance of the house. I met with my friend M from ASORGUA (Guatemalan Association of the Deaf) last night and dined with her and her family. The people here have, in one day, already proven themselves to be incredible.
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