At 4:19am (local time), there was an earthquake. Yep – I’m so sensitive to those (and a light sleeper) I woke up and realized what it was (and looked at the time). Not a big one - it shook for about 5-6 seconds. During breakfast (fresh fruit, omelet, bread), Sara said she was freaked out. Chelsea also felt it, but Sue and Dennis had slept through it.
After breakfast, we realized that Sara was leaving for the beach – by herself. Olga had warned her to watch her drinks while she travels because people might try to drug her drinks (yes, and I understood all of that in Spanish! Yay me!). Nice thought. 
Before my Spanish class, I learned that this tall, skinny, typically-oriental-looking guy who walked around the Maximo area speaking fluent Spanish to everyone was Japanese. My teacher Sandra introduced me to her, and I spoke a little Japanese to him – he told me he was “from” Japan (which can also mean he was just born there).
During my Spanish class, we were talking about how hot it was – and Sandra corrected me by saying that someone who is “caliente” (as opposed to “calor”) can mean “sexy/horny”… Is that true? Whoops.
After my Spanish class, I swung by to talk to Jean about where to get the Japanese ingredients. They told her they get their ingredients from Guatemala City once a week, but she was able to draw out a map of the 2 stores in the market that also sells some Japanese and Chinese ingredients – so I’ll have to go check them out before Friday.
(Left: Jean, Right: Corinne)
(Left: Noga, Right: Dorothy)
As usual, between my Spanish class but before lunch and the childcare project, I sat at the Maximo office utilizing the Internet and trying to catch up on geeky stuff like email. Dorothy walked in to do the same thing (as she usually does at that time), and we chatted because it was her last day volunteering, and also her last day in Antigua (she was going to stay in Guatemala City for her early flight home in the morning). I got to know her a little bit more, and when I asked why she came alone without her boyfriend, she said he had broken up with her a week before she came to volunteer (he had moved to Arizona for a job from Atlanta about a year earlier) – made me think that the trip was a good break to get away and start over for her, although she seemed excited to go back home.
On the bus on the way to the childcare project, I saw an area that had a fence with barbed wire on top, while the top half was a chain link fence, and the bottom half was a concrete wall. What was odd is that I saw broken shards of glass embedded in the concrete wall pointing up, right under where the chain link fence ended. I’m not sure something like that would be acceptable in the United States.
At the childcare project, while Noga and Lesvi and some of the girls (why just the girls?!) were preparing the “Israeli” food, I was in charge of giving the English exam to the children. I had to speak the English words, which came from any of the posters up on the wall, which included colors, numbers, animals, and vegetables. Most of the kids did OK – out of 20 questions, most of them had about 5 wrong (of course I’m sure they were copying off of each other or looking at the posters), but there were 2 kids who had about 15 of the answers as blank spaces.
I felt it was important to try to take some extra steps to try to win the hearts of some of the kids I had not been interacting with as much today, as it was Dorothy’s last day, and even though a new volunteer was coming in next week, I felt like I needed to step things up to make all the children more comfortable around me. At this point, I was still a little disappointed because it had already been a week, and I felt like my Spanish limitations had hindered my ability to interact with many of the kids – at least not as much as I wanted to. So at one point, I randomly grabbed a few of the girls (probably 8-9 years old) and swung them around in the (barely) open space. They were laughing and enjoying it. Next thing you know, other girls were coming up to me saying “Taka! A mi! A mi!”. For the rest of the day, they’d often jump out and chase me asking me to do the same thing to them.
Near the end of the day, it was time for each of the kids (and Noga and I) to present the drawings each of us did at the beginning of the day to Dorothy and to say a few words. As Noga and I watched how the children handled it, we both thought – even though its kinda sad - maybe they were just used to the volunteers coming and going. It’s probably better that the volunteers don’t stay long – if they did, I’d think it’d be more difficult for the kids and the volunteers.
There were 2 (much) younger kids that Dorothy interacted with well – a boy and a girl - they were both about 4 years old. I remembered the girl was being carried back to the childcare after playing soccer on Thursday, and today, she was often in Dorothy’s arms. These 2 kids had not warmed up to me yet, and knowing that Dorothy was leaving (and after she had actually left the childcare before me and Noga), I had decided to grab them and hold them upside down and tickle them – which they enjoyed laughing like crazy. I suppose this is the advantage of having your own kids and knowing what makes younger kids laugh (I’m also a big believer in the importance and necessity of “safe rough-housing” for fun as a way to show love and affection to kids). I definitely feel like next week, I’ll be able to enjoy the kids more now.
Noga and I stayed late for about an extra hour. Most of the kids didn’t leave until after 5pm – not sure why. So we took a late bus. It was a lot less crowded, and it also drove at a “normal/safe” speed. Funny how Noga said she liked that much more, because usually the buses here drive at insane speeds – they also start driving away as soon as someone steps onto the bus before they get to sit down.
On our drive home, Noga and I talked about how I would love to move here or to a similar place and do what Lesvi does, or at least help out someone who does. I think what Lesvi’s doing, even with her own family being in poverty, is amazing. I know I wanted to “retire early” by going into teaching Math in the US School system, but if so, it’ll just be a “bridge” career until my youngest is in college. Not sure when that’ll happen though – maybe my next career change. It’s funny how we all define our “success” in life very differently.
I did this trip primarily as a volunteering opportunity, so I didn’t think of studying Spanish (much) or even bringing a dictionary or phrasebook. The volunteer organization also mentions that knowing the language is not necessary, although it is highly recommended for some (especially medical) volunteer opportunities. I’d say it should have been highly recommended for all – of course, Maximo makes money off of people taking Spanish lessons. Luckily, they are insanely cheap. Even having a phrasebook, similar to my cheat sheet, probably would have helped in the beginning for me, especially dealing with the kids – or even adults – without a lot of education. My time would not have been the same so far without Dorothy or Noga’s help.
During dinner time, somehow the discussion turned into the topic of tattoos. Dennis had an interesting story about how his wife had shown him a tattoo, asking him what he thought about it, and he responded, in front of his kids, that it made her look like a “tramp.” Nice!
I also learned today that Chelsea’s great grandfather was a famous politician from the Philippines – on the cover of Esquire a few months ago – and a Pulitzer Prize winner? Didn’t get much details beyond that
After dinner, I borrowed Dennis’s Internet from his room to send instructions to Noga on where/how to meet us for our trip to the volcano, Fuego, for Saturday night. I think I’m going to start using Dennis’s Internet from now on instead of walking to Maximo with my laptop – just a lot more convenient.
By the way – I’ve been spelling Sarah’s name wrong all this time. It’s supposed to be Sarah, not Sara. One day I’ll change fix all of it. Oh, and this is my best “vacation” so far… ever…
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