reality check

Hola todos!
5 days and counting until I leave my safe haven of Xela, Guatemala and enter the unknown, once again, in Honduras! The past 7 weeks have flown by! It is mind boggling to think that it was just a month and a half ago when I arrived in this beautiful country and met the 7 oddballs I get to spend the next couple of years with (it is going to rock)!!!
It is such a strange feeling leaving. While it is sad to say goodbye to the friends I have made and the EXCELLENT hot chocolate, I am bursting with excitement to FINALLY get to meet the farm.

Thus far, I have only shared positive stories about this city and culture. But as I reflect on my time here and what I will take from this experience, I feel that I need to share a story that wasn´t as positive, but is true to the city and culture.

Being a tourist in another country has been an amazing experience. As tourists, we have gotten a taste of the best of everything. We eat at tasty "gringo safe" restaurants and cafes, travel in private vans to experience the most breathtaking vistas with agua pura (bottled water) in hand, are able to purchase must-have typical Guatemalan goods from bilingual vendors and everything comes at the price of just a few dollars. Life as a tourist is incredible and never without a dull moment.

While as tourists we get to enjoy the best that the county has to offer, we have found that the life of the locals, is sometimes quite different.

One afternoon after classes, a fellow volunteer and I were walking back to our house as we discussed the uses of ¨por y para¨ looking forward to the delicious meal we knew would be awaiting us. When we walked in the door, we found our host father sprawled on the cement floor covered in dirt, pale as a ghost, with several injuries on his hands.

The other volunteer ran to find our host mother, while I tried to figure out what had happened and if there was anything I could do for him. I asked him what had happened, but I believe his responses would have been incomprehensible even to native spanish speakers. I have heard stories people being kidnapped for political reasons, only returned to die on their doorstep, so not knowing what had happened, I assumed the worst.

After a few minutes, our host mother appeared yelling to us to leave him alone. As I tried to comprehend how we were supposed to leave a man to die alone in the doorway, she explained that he was an alcoholic and had been binging for the past week. While I sympathized with her, my mind was in nursing mode and imaging all the horrible things that could happen to him if we left him lying on his back on the floor. We asked if we could at least help him to bed, but she insisted that it would be better that he woke up on the floor to realize what he had done and she lead us into the dinning room to eat lunch.

During lunch, she shared with us stories of alcoholism and failed rehab.

As tourists in xela, we have gotten to experience the best of the best that this place has to offer. As we eat rich food and drink hot chocolate, 10 year old children beg and shine shoes in the streets for bread. As we study spanish in language school, children sit at home because their teachers are on strike yet again. While I type this email in the middle of the afternoon, men stumble down the street drunk because they have lost all hope that their situation could ever improve... and I don´t blame them. Because the realities of life are hushed and hidden, the cycles of poverty and alcoholism continue.

There are many things that I will probably forget after I leave Xela. I probably won't remember the names of the incredible restaurants where I ate, the beautiful views, or even the rules about when to use "por" vs "para". One thing that I will take from my time here is the two minutes when I looked into the eyes of my drunken host father. His eyes did not speak of the great time he had the previous week. They did not show the slightest glimmer contentment. All I could see when I looked into his eyes was fear and hopelessness.

Please keep this kind man, and the beautiful people of Guatemala in your prayers.

paz,
Jenny

Felix

Hello everyone!!!

Thanks for all the concerned emails about the hurricane. We have been watching its progress on the news every morning. No worries about our safely here in Quetzaltenango. We are at such a high altitude and totally surrounded by mountains, thus totally safe. The farm may be another story. I heard that they all evacuated, so I think the people are fine, but I am not sure about the structures. Please keep them in your prayers.

Today our group went to a natural sauna. The extreme temperatures in the sauna was a wonderful break from the cold weather for about five minutes. After that, I thought my lungs we going to burst from the heat. It was miserably wonderful. I look forward to going back.

My spanish is slowing improving. I am now enjoying the feeling of not be totally confused during conversations in spanish, and a couple of times I have even able to pull off some of jokes. Of course they may have just been laughing at me, but either way, the laughter was good.

The last two volunteers finally arrived this week, so our little group of 8 is now complete! I can not rave enough about everyone. We have a great mix of awesome people. The next couple of years are going to rock!

That is all I have for now. I really just wanted to let everyone know that I am well and safe from any storms. I love you all and look forward to hearing from you soon!!
Jenny