La Segunda Semana en Paraiso

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Dia 9, 10. 11
Today kicked off another beautiful week in Xela! In class today Carmen and I worked more on some idiomatic expressions, grammar etc… and I talked with one of the teachers, Eduardo, whose brother makes shoes- he is going to ask if his brother can make me a pair of cowboy boots! They will make them custom fit for your foot for pretty cheap here, so we will see…  For our snack today we had hot chocolate—I’m not sure if I said this before, but hot chocolate here is literally made with a brick of chocolate. It’s very different than in the states, and you can drink it pura (made with water) or con leche (with milk). And they finally had mangos today! I tried a chocolate dipped mango, and it was delicious!! After class I had lunch with the family, and we had a huge spread of chicken, spaghetti, spinach soup, tamalitos (little clumps of just tamale breading, no filling), and, of course, plantains. I loved the spinach soup, and Julia offered to teach me next time she makes it. After lunch I took a nice, leisurely nap for a few hours before taking my homework over to La Luna Café. My homework for today was to write a 2 page essay about any topic, but I had to try to use as many idiomatic expressions as possible. I didn’t know what to write about, so I decided to write out the plot of “The Hangover,” which turned out to be pretty funny. At about 5 I met up with Mike outside La Luna and we went to yoga with Margarita and Rachelle. This time our teacher was an American named Kevin, and it was even harder than last week! A lot of his moves are more muscular in nature, and I definitely worked up a good sweat. I left feeling refreshed and relaxed, took a really quick shower, and had dinner with Julia and Margarita quickly before leaving for La Luna again. We had a required class activity at the café where we watched a documentary about the civil war, narrated by Rigoberta Menchu.
The documentary was called “When the Mountains Tremble,” and it was an eye-opening film in many ways. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Guatemala endured a civil war her that lasted 36 years.. during which an estimated 200,000 people died or disappeared. The film described 36 years of pain, suffering, fear, and death. Rigoberta Menchu, an indigenous Mayan in Guatemala who won a Nobel Peace Prize for speaking out about her experiences during the war, told horrendous accounts of her families life. The Mayan people have suffered in many different forms through the centuries, beginning with the conquest from Spaniards. Under the rule of the Spaniards, Mayans were forced into slavery and stripped of their lands. Even after Guatemala gained its independence from Spain, the Mayans, despite being a large majority of the population, were discriminated against and suffered extreme poverty with virtually no access to education. This almost feudalistic society continued for years until int eh 1950’s, when Guatemala had it’s “10 years of spring,” when democratically elected presidents finally began to make reforms to redistribute the wealth and opportunities of the country. After the US CIA involvement that caused the president to flee and a military officer came to power, quality of life diminished rapidly for almost all citizens. Menchu described that her family had their lands ceized and were forced to go work on a plantation on the coast. They were exploited, forced to work incredibly long days but paid barely enough to survive. One of her brothers was killed by insecticides mistakenly dusted on him while he picked cotton, and another died of starvation. She and her family took 2 days off of work to grieve and bury her brothers—her boss promptly fired the family and withheld two weeks pay. These conditions were common in Guatemala, and people became restless and desperate. They began protesting the horrendous living conditions, questioning the governments complete failure to protect its people. The government swiftly reacted to these protets with violence and intimidation, further fueling unrest which finally burst into civil war in 1960.
For decades, the government held citizens at bay with scare tactics and violence. Guerrillas, largely made of young Guatemalans, Mayans and mestizos alike, were targeted by the government. Menchu described incredibly horrendous experiences, such as how her brother was kidnapped in the middle of the night, tortured for 2 days, and publically executed by being burned alive. The government regularly made examples of suspected guerrillas, even murdering suspected sympathizers of guerrillas. Thousands were massacred by death squads. The Catholic church was a large target of the military as well, and many of priests were murdered as they were suspected guerilla sympathizers. The atrocities that occurred during the war were beyond what I ever imagined… and the most difficult part for me to swallow was that out government played a significant role by training these soldiers and financially supporting this incredibly oppressive regime. Of course this documentary showed one side of the war, and I doubt we had full knowledge of the extent of the oppression we were encouraging… but these people have suffered more than I can comprehend…
On a lighter note, Tuesday was a nice, relaxing day. I had class in the morning, and read a really interesting article in Spanish today about racism. It talked about how, in most countries around the world, people of color (whether “brown”, or “black”, or “yellow”, etc etc) are almost always subject to discrimination or racism. Many are considered to be dangerous, untilligent thieves and criminals… when in reality white men have committed horrendous criminal acts in the past… the articled talked about the exploitation, rape, and abuse of indigenous populations across the world by white colonizers and conquistadores, of the continued discrimination in basically all of the western hemisphere. I had never really thought about this… and how ironic it is. The article also talked about the fundamental problem- are these minorities poor and downtrodden because they are violent, unintelligent, or inherently bad? Or are they desperate, uneducated, and downtrodden because of their extreme poverty? Surely the latter, but the article talked about the way powerful classes manipulated public perception to perpetuate stereotypes and negative views of the indigenous population here.
Random tidbit- historically, in Spain and other catholic countries, using water for virtually anything besides drinking was considered indulgent and sinful..including bathing. If a person bathed themselves too often, it was considered extremely sinful and grotesque (ever wonder why they make so many perfumes in France and Spain?? Haha). When the conquistadores arrived to central America, they actually learned form and copied the indigenous population with respect to hygiene… yet, the stereotype of a native here is that they are dirty! Despite the fact that they have always been cleaner!! I guess it just further exemplifies the fact that most of the racist stereotypes are simply completely false. They are simply qualities interpreted as bad which are projected onto minorities to reinforce their inferiority.. a vicious circle. (According to this article, frequent bathing became popular in Spain around the time the television became popular.. kidn of a scary thought!)
Another funny tidbit I picked up in class today- when the conquistadors arrived in the Americas, they didn’t know where they were. They asked the Mayan natives, in Spanish, where they were. The natives responded something to the tune of “We can’t understand what you are saying,” because they, of course, didn’t speak Spanish. But, in their native language, this sounded something like “Yuh-kah-tann.” From them on, the Spaniards referred to this area as Yucatan! Ironic, isn’t it? There were a few other examples of funny misunderstandings like this, but Yucatan was my favorite 
in the afternoon we had a chocolate making class!! We made chocolate from SCRATCH. Literally, we started with a basket of cocoa beans! We toasted them till they blackened and peeled each shell off by hand when they cooled. We then passed the beans through a hand-crank grinder 5 times before we mixed it with sugar. Turns out chocolate has way more sugar than I could have ever imagined—our recipe called for 1 part cocoa to 1 part sugar! And that recipe is considered “low sugar.” The normal chocolate here is 1 part cocoa to THREE parts sugar! We used 2 lbs of cocoa beans and 2 lbs of sugar. It was a lot more work and time than I expected, but the end results was delicious! Our chocolate only had those 2 ingredients- so simple! We took our chocolate goo and molded it into shapes and figures (Matt and I made letters that spelled I <3 USC) and left it at the school to harden. Once it hardens, we can either nibble on the chocolate (which tastes like REALLY strong dark chocolate) or mix it with hot water to make hot chocolate!!
After our class, I went with Matt to try out the local gym. I finally got some good exercise- I ran 2 miles, got in some sit-ups, and some good stretching- it felt great! I signed up for a month membership and want to try to get in a few trips a week. After I got home, I did some hw, had dinner with the family, and continued reading the last book in the Hunger Games series, the Mockingjay.
Today, Wednesday, we had class in the morning, where Carmen made me take an exam to check my progress. It all went well, I passed  After a nice big lunch with my family, I read a little bit, finishing up the hunger games triology! Then I went over to Xela Café to meet up with the group for a Comadroma conference, where we had a traditional Mayan midwife come talk to us. It was SO COOL.
** Disclaimer!! If you don’t want to read about medical stuff/women’s health, skip the next few paragraphs!!  **
I don’t really know much about the exact duties of a midwife in the US, but I’m sure it’s pretty different than what we saw today. She spoke Spanish, though most of her patients speak their native languages. There are actually 22 different Mayan cultures here, each with their own unique customs and languages.. and many don’t speak a work of Spanish. As a midwife, her duties begin by helping women who have problems with menstruation. They have an array of teas and treatments for women with menstrual issues, and often have to help women figure out if they are pregnant. This process is done without any pregnancy tests- they simply rely on small details, such as subtle changes of color on women’s breasts, morning sickness, etc… After they have determined they are pregnant, they receive occasional visits to keep an eye on things. They have many herbs and teas they use to ease the difficulties of pregnancy.. some familiar to me, some not. For example, they use Te de Manzanilla, or chamomile tea, if the woman has gas issues of an upset stomach… others I couldn’t even remember the name of the plant, but they almost always used it to make teas.
She described the 7th month as being incredibly crucial- at this time the midwife uses her hands to determine the babies position in the womb. To deliver the baby naturally at home its head hace to be facing down with its feet facing upwards. If the baby is sideways, or it has its feet pointing down, the midwife does a series of manual massages to manipulate the baby into the correct position. To do this, the mother has to avoid eating or drinking anything for days, to lower the pressure in her abdomen so there is a greater chance of successfully adjusting the baby to the right position. If this isn’t achieved in the 7th month, it is almost impossible to move the baby during the 8th or 9th month, and if the baby isn’t positioned correctly when the birthing process starts, the mother is forced to go to the hospital for a C section. The thing that shocked me the most was the attitudes of these women towards this option of going to the hospital- in general, the majority of these women would rather their baby die or die themselves than have to go to the hospital for the delivery. At first, I thought this might have to do with cost- but as I mentioned in a previous blog, going to a public hospital is completely free here. The larger issue, however, is the quality of care (or lack thereof) that these women receive in a hospital. As I said before, most of these women don’t speak a word of Spanish, and most hospitals don’t have translators to help communicate between them and the doctors. One can imagine this would be a traumatizing experience in itself, trying to give birth in an environment where you can’t understand ANYTHING going on around you. Then there is the issue of discrimination—despite the fact that the indigenous people here make up a majority of the population, racism against the Mayan peoples is very strong here. Women from villages have had horrendous experiences in the hospital, have been maltreated, and even died of negligence. These horror stories discourage all others in a village from going to the hospital, and most women would rather risk their lives than make the trek into a city for a public hospital. And, perhaps most significant to the women themselves, hospitals do not attempt to work with comadromas at all- they don’t allow the midwives to enter the hospital or participate in the birth in any way, ensuring that the women will not have a chance to perform the many rituals that are so important in their culture.
So what are the rituals? These traditions were incredibly fascinating to learn about . Our comadroma described the entire birthing process from the start. In the pregnancies she works with, there is not a known date of conception, so it is always a rough-estimate to guess when the birth will take place. If a woman starts to have contractions/pain, they have a special tea they use to determine if the baby is coming. The women drinks a glass of this tea, and if the pain is relieved, she is not yet ready to give birth. She takes some tea home with her and as long as the pain disappears with the tea, she waits to callt he comadroma. If the pain persisits despite drinking tea, it is a signal her labor has begun. The birth takes place either in the home of the woman, or sometimes, if it takes place in the middle of the night, the woman comes to the home of the comadroma. Until about 20 years ago, the midwives dind’t have access to gloves, and couldn’t look to see how dilated the cervix of the woman was. Instead, to determine when to push, they relied on a much more basic, intuitive system. They counted time between contractions, judged how dilated she was by how sweaty her brow was and how hot the top of her head felt. Finally, when the woman is ready to deliver, she assumes whatever position she chooses and clutches on to her husband or the midwife. Interesting, most women here choose NOT to give birth laying down- they says it doesn’t allow them to grip their spouse and use his strength. Instead, they squat or kneel down to their knees, embracing their spouse and getting a little help from gravity. The baby is caught either by a pillow or by the midwife herself and is promptly cleaned. Did you notice that nowhere in this last paragraph did I talk about a painkiller? They don’t use ANY! I can’t even imagine…
Immediatley after the birth there is a large collection of traditions and customs that begin.. within a few minutes of birth and delivery of the placenta, the mother undergoes a special type of calming bath, which the midwife performs. There is a group of about 5 herbs they mix together in a large pot and boil with hot water. This is done in a small room and a portion of the water is poured on hots stones over a fire to create an herbal steam. The comadroma then gives the women a massage from head to toe, paying special attention to her breasts to stimulate the production of milke. She massages her arms, her legs, her back, and her belly, using careful motions to expel any extra material in her uterus. Then she takes a bundle of leaves from the boling pot and begins to first shake them over the woman’s body, then smacks her with them to stimulate blood flow. Finally, they have a special piece of fabric somewhat like a belt that is tied around the woman’s hips very tightly, which she must wear for up to 4 months after pregnancy. It is said this belt helps hold the uterus up, to prevent it from descending or prolapsing… some women also believe it helps prevent varicose veins. This special bath is performed once a day for three days after the birth. During our conference, the midwife felt it would be best to demonstrate this massage, and, being the only girl, I was the only one suitable to volunteer. As you can imagine it was a pretty funny experience….  After performing the massage on the woman, the midwife htem performs a similar, less aggressive massage on the newborn.
When the baby is clean and bathed, they begin to wrap the baby in clothes. They use a special handerchief to wrap around the babies head, taking the tails down and crossing them over the babies neck and across the body. This handerchief helps to keep the babies head propped up, since it doesn’t have the strength to support its own neck yet. It also serves to hold the bones of the babies skull close together, promoting their fusion. Holding the babies head up is especially important as many of these women have to return to their work in the fields very quickly, and carry their babies strapped on their backs with large blankets- the baby needs to have its head supported. Then, a blanket, towel, or falda (special skirt hat is traditional mayan wear for women) is wrapped around the babies lower body, taking special care to fold any extra material up towards the babies upper body. This folding of the material is very important- with baby girls, it is said to help bring a normal menstrual cycle when she is a teenager. In baby boys, this tradition supposedly helps remind the child that when he is grown he should stay at home with his family, and never take to a life on the streets. They secure this blanket with a band of fabric, and, for the first 5-10 minutes of the babies life, they also tie the babies hands down close to its body. This tradition is said to teach the baby to learn to touch only what is his, to keep his hands to himself. When a child enters someone’s home nad is rude enough to touch the possessions of others, it is a common saying here to say that the child didn’t have his hands tied long enough when he was born… Then, when the babies hands are free, a series of significant obects are placed in the babies hand. If it is a baby girl, a small piece of wood used for weaving and sewing is placed in her hand, so that one day she can be a good weaver. All babies have a pen placed in their hand briefly, so that one day they can learn to read and write. Also, a coin or bill is placed in the babies hand to teach it that one day it will be able to make its own money. At first all of these traditions seemed a little silly to me, but it was clear that these all have a very strong significance in the lives of these people. When I talked to Carmen, my teacher about it the next day, who is a mestizo (only part Maya, doesn’t follow the traditions), she laughed as she did many of the movements without fully understanding their significance. It is a huge part of their culture, and I respect their convictions.
All in all, it was an incredibly eye-opening experience. With my recent ly growing interest in women’s health and possible career goals of being an OB/GYN, the topic was absolutely fascinating to me. The woman who spoke to us was virtually uneducated-she didn’t know how to read and write, never received a formal education. But she had worked as a midwife for over 26 year, and obviously was great at her job. She has helped thousands of women through one of the most important events of their lives. I thought a lot about how in the United States, a person is looked at pretty critically for choosing a natural, in-home birth. These women are seen as hippies, or ignorant, or some other negative stereotype. But when you think about it, babies have been delivered like this for THOUSANDS of years. Of course, modern technology allows us to do things that are impossible with midwives.. but midwives here recognize their limitations, and always send women or babies to the hospital when problems are beyong the realm of ther abilities. But the whole process seemed so much more… personal. There is so much attention, love, and care put towards the woman and the baby. It may not be as sterile, or as controlled, or as predictable as delivering a baby in the hospital… but I can see how, in some ways, it is more comfortable, more enjoyable, and more meaningful. It makes me sad to learn how disconnected this part of the culture is from formal medicine here, how there is virtually no communication or relationship between traditional Mayan midwives and modern physicians. It makes me want to learn more about traditional birthing practices in other countries (like Mexico) so I can better understand the significance when I work with immigrant populations in the US. I think, most importantly, it has given me a sense of respect and understanding for this ancient tradition. These women aren’t ignorant, or selfish, or “hippies”- they simply have made the choice that is best for them.
After the talk, I spoke with the comadroma and Rachelle about possible shadowing a birth or a home visit if possible… the woman said she would call Rachelle if an opportunity arises, and I am so excited/anxious to see if it happens! Even though I’m interested in OB GYN, I still haven’t seen a live birth, and think it would INCREDIBLE to see my first live birth in this setting! We will see!!
After the conference, we all headed over to Mike’s host family house to watch the Copa de Oro soccer game between the US and Panama. I’m not a big soccer fan, but it was a good opportunity for us all to hang out. We ordered 2 HUGE rectangular party pizzas from Pizzahut (YES, they have Pizzahut here… and Dominos, and McDOnalds, and Burger King, and Wendy’s, and… well, you get the picture). The pizza was a delicious reminder of home, and we won the game. After getting home and doing my homework, started a new book- The Lipstick Jungle, a total chic-book light read to relax a little bit. I had SUCH an amazing time at the conference today, I can’t wait to learn what my volunteer assignment will be for the remainder of the trip! Buenas noches, besos!! Miss you all!!

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