Blogs from San Juan Sacatepéquez, Capital Region, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean

January 5th The title says it all, right? I confess that occasionally I feel so overwhelmed by what has happened in the course of a day or two that I don't know where to start writing. Today felt like an initiation day. I met all of the teachers and cooks: Maribel (secretary and my co-teacher for the first couple of months), Cristy (the director of the school), Carina (cook), Silvia (cook), Carolina (1st grade), Blanca (2nd), Wendy (3rd and Kaqchikel teacher, which is a Mayan language), Daniel (4th), Walter (5th). I was feeling slightly timid, but the language barrier obviously was making it difficult for me to be out-spoken. I understand about 75% of conversation, the little connecting words to bigger nouns and adjectives are what I don't always catch. However, I'm still getting context when ... read more

August 2014 During this journey I felt completely changed. In January of 2014 I moved out -of the only house I had ever known- to the outskirts of Washington D.C. (Falls Church, VA, to be precise). I learned so much about myself in the five months I was there, but I ultimately decided to move back to Maine when city life started to drive me up the wall and money just wasn't seeming to stay in my bank account. During the last three months of my stay I was working at an absolutely fabulous private elementary school (Eastern Ridge School) and I quickly found my passion for teaching. So, when I moved back to Maine I already had been mulling over the "idea" of teaching at Fuente de Esperanza (the school His Hands helps to support). ... read more

I had originally set an alarm for 5am… then changed it last minute for 5:30am. It didn’t work because I ended waking up at 5:10am. I, for sure, could have fallen back asleep but had I done that I knew that I wouldn’t wake up in time to leave for the clinic. I got up and immediately had to put on my scarf and sweater; it was so cold, I deeply regret not bringing more sweaters. While Mama was preparing breakfast and the kids were still in their room I took advantage of the open bathroom to get ready for the day. After that there wasn’t much to do until the Isabel and Alejandro were up; Mama wouldn’t let me help with much, although I did get to go with her down the street to pick ... read more

Friday, March 18th In Operating Room 2, the surgeon prepares to remove a gallbladder. He stands there, like a priest before the altar, as the scrub nurse unfolds her tray. She arranges the sterile drapes to expose a perfect rectangle. An antiseptic odor fills the room. The surgeon steadies his scalpel against the patient's Betadine-stained belly, which glistens under the lights. He makes a decisive incision, then dabs and clamps the tiny bleeding vessels. The surgical assistant adjusts the overhead lamp and a set of masked faces lean in to get a better look. The gall bladder, like a plugged drain pipe, swims into view. With a cauterizing tool, the surgeon teases the gall bladder away from the overhang of the liver and fishes it out through a slight opening near the umbilicus. It is a ... read more

Sunday, March 13 San Juan Sacatapequez is interesting, a kind thing to say about any unlovely town. Seen from the window of a moving bus, the morning mist just burned away, the flower market is its obvious centrepiece. All the extravagant beauties - the lilies, chrysanthemums, gladiolas, Brazilian torches, sunflowers, heliconia - spill out of wicker baskets or are crammed into bins, a riot of colour. The only sight more colourful is the women themselves, selling their wares from makeshift stalls or while seated on plastic camping stools. Along the arcade, trestle tables display red and green chilis, hearts of palm, sliced mangoes and maize. An iguana stew bubbles inside a turquoise crockpot. From a painted doorway, an old woman, her wrinkled lips clamped around a lollipop, peeks her head out. Each shack shares a wall ... read more