sábado, 21 de febrero de 2009

Cultural Challenges

I have already written about the culture shock I suffered (and still am coping with) regarding dogs here in Guatemala, but on a more humorous side, I would like to add two more.

Bathroom culture: European and North American women, you will have to change your bathroom habits. When I first arrived in Guatemala, my American host Jeanie forgot to tell me NOT to throw bathroom tissue into the toilet. When she did remember, I looked at her aghast. Fortunately her pipes did not get clogged. The Guatemalan sanitation system does not respond well to toilet paper. Consequently, you must get into the habit (men included) of wiping yourself and throwing the soiled tissue paper into the communal waste basket. I underwent at least two weeks of toilet retraining.

Also be sure to check the bathtub for these lovely creatures before you step into it:


Chili Caballo (Chili Horse)

Food culture: Beware of the chili caballo! I went to our town market and bought five yellow peppers thinking they were sweet. I removed the seeds, diced them, and threw them into a spaghetti dish. OK, the dish was spoiled, but I could deal with that. The worst consequence was that the chili caballo had scorched my hands! I could hardly feel the palms of my hands without this very painful tingling sensation. My colleagues sympathized with me and said that every gringa who comes to Guatemala goes through the chili caballo experience. Fortunately, the pain subsided two days later.

Tecún Umán Day


Girl in Tecún Umán Parade

On February 20th, I was taking a tuk-tuk home with groceries from one of the two gringo supermarkets, Pana Super (they have the best croissants in town), when we drove into a huge traffic jam. Traffic had basically come to a dead halt due to a parade of young children dressed in traditional indigenous costumes. There were also gaudily decorated pickup trucks carrying lovely exquisitely outfitted young women seated on throne-like chairs.

One of the picop trucks carrying a reina (queen)

La Reina

I didn’t have my camera with me so I paid off the tuk-tuk driver and raced home on foot. When I returned to the center of town, the parade was still winding its way through Calle Principal (the main street). I had a great time weaving through the trails of adorned school children and tailing the reinas (queens) on the picops.

Lines of children with their teacher (left) in Panajachel

Close-up of the girls. Notice their beautifully
embroidered blouses and skirts.

The boys with their hats. They loved being photographed.

I found out later that they were celebrating the anniversary of Tecún Umán’s death. The last ruler and king of the K’iche-Maya people, Tecún Umán died courageously in a hand-to-hand combat with the Spanish Conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado on February 20, 1524 close to Quetzaltenango (known as Xela) in the western highlands. Due to his bravery, devotion and ultimate sacrifice to his people, Tecún Umán was declared a Guatemalan national hero in 1960. In Panajachel, it has become tradition for school children from the neighboring villages to parade in indigenous Kaqchikel garb. Selected for her eloquence in the Kaqchikel dialect, good looks, and academic standing, one young woman rides on a picop as the reina of her school. Sometimes she is accompanied by ladies-in-waiting.

La Reina and her ladies-in-waiting


jueves, 19 de febrero de 2009

Cascarones

Cascarones

Even before Valentine’s Day, I began to see these delightfully colored eggshells being sold at the market or on the street. They are called cascarones and they are an important part of the main Carnival celebration which falls on the Tuesday, the 24th of February before Ash Wednesday this year. Unlike in countries such as Brazil and Germany, Carnival is not that big of a celebration in Guatemala, at least not in the Lake Atitlan area. However, tradition has it that on “sad Tuesday”, one takes a cascaron and smashes it on the head of innocent bystander. Most eggs are filled with confetti, so “no pasa nada;” however, more vicious merry-makers may sneak up on you and smash eggs filled with flour on your head. Not a pleasant experience. Consequently, I have been warned to stay aloof from youngsters on the streets with malicious grins on their faces. These cascarones are beautifully and uniquely decorated with paint or markers. They are also extremely cheap; I only paid $1.50 for my dozen. I hope to transport them back to the States without breaking them or smashing them on some fool’s head.

Boy selling them on the main street in Panajachel

martes, 17 de febrero de 2009

El Dia del Cariño

Katy, one of my students, gave me a hug and this valentine.
I was very touched.

It has become tradition at UVG-Altiplano that Valentine’s Day be an opportunity for students to perform songs, poems, and group dances in a public forum on campus. Four members of the faculty or staff are summoned to judge the contestants on the quality of their performance. At the end of the performances, the judges announce who ranks first and second in the performances. A representative from the group or the individual in the case of monologues then struts up to the stage to receive their diploma of excellence.

A competing class: They are actually my tourism students
who are performing a very modern dance act.

The judges making a very difficult decision

After the competition, representatives from each student grade level and faculty from departments were called up to the main floor. They were asked to participate in a dance competition. Fortunately, I was not coerced into performing this task (they must have read my “deer in the headlights” body language). Instead, my colleague Josanne from Trinidad volunteered to represent the Centro de Idiomas. Josanne was in her element because she loves to dance.

Josanne (left) dancing with one of the students

After the dance competition, the winners were given their certificates. (Josanne and her partner did not win but they were very good). Now came the time for the gift exchange. Prior to the event, people were given a name of student, faculty, or staff to buy a present for. The gift should not have cost more than 10 quetzals (though most people cheated because you cannot get much for 10 Qs , the equivalent of $1.25). The exchange first began as follows. One person at a time broadcast the name of their secret valentine over the microphone. After much confusion and delay (many people could not hear their name), it became obvious to the organizers that this process would take forever (there were over 300 students). It was then announced that everyone in the auditorium go find their secret valentine. Fortunately, Josanne told me who my secret valentine was: the rather heavy-set son of an English-speaking pharmacist in Pana; so I was able to spot him out of the crowds of students. My secret valentine came up to me, bearing a brace-laced grin and a coffee cup filled with chocolates. He is one of the beginning “basico students” whom I first taught when I got here.

My Secret Valentine

Josanne's Secret Valentine

After the exchange of secret valentine gifts, there were boxed lunches. There was supposed to be a disco afterward, but I decided that was not for me. I had had enough fun that day.

domingo, 15 de febrero de 2009

The Dogs of Guatemala

One of the biggest cultural adjustments I have had to undergo since moving to Guatemala has to do with dogs here. My first impression was shocking. The streets are full of what appeared to me “stray dogs.” Some of them looked healthy but many looked emaciated and grossly neglected. If they weren’t foraging for anything edible, they were napping on the side of the street or in some tucked away corner. Some female dogs were ostensibly nursing puppies which were nowhere in sight. Their search for food was particularly dire.

Sleeping dog in Santiago Atitlan

I spoke to some long-time residents, ex-pats, about the plight of the canine here in Panajachel. I learned the following. Many dogs do have homes, but they are released by their owners in the morning to wander about in the streets where they can deposit their bodily waste. At night these more fortunate dogs return home to be fed and stand guard at their owner’s home. Generally, dogs are not permitted inside Guatemalans’ homes. For this reason, one can hear them bark loudly and incessantly throughout the night at the slightest sound or movement. As a light sleeper, I am still coping with this rackety phenomenon. There are- what I now call- “good dog nights” and “bad dog nights.” After a bad dog night, I wake up cranky and dog tired (sorry, but I couldn’t resist).

It is not inherent in Guatemalan culture to take dogs for walks. One only sees gringos walking adopted dogs on leashes. Richard Morgan at Los Encuentros has two black Labradors. He pays two Guatemalan youngsters from the neighborhood to take his dogs for a daily walk. The children are not enthusiastic about carrying out this task, but as Richard pointed out, “They are desperate for money.”

Street dog in Panajachel

A person deeply concerned about animal welfare is Patricia “Patti” Mort, my surrogate landlady. Patti moved to Guatemala in the 1980’s. She used to own a popular boutique Casa Alegre on Calle Santander, but she sold it and now runs a hotel on the same street. Besides her business, Patti is involved with an organization called Mayan Families which she co-founded with Sharon Smart-Poage. The mission of this non-profit organization is to “provide assistance and opportunities to the indigenous people of Guatemala, in particular in the Lake Atitlan area, through education, community programs and construction. “ One of their community programs is the Animal Welfare Program which tackles the acute problem of canine overpopulation and negligence. Patti often patrols the streets on foot for dogs in desperate need of care and if needed, she picks them up with her Mazda pickup and takes them to a veterinarian hospital where they are treated and sterilized. I briefly visited Patti at the animal hospital where she volunteers regularly. We plan to talk more about the organization and explore the possibility of organizing internships for college students. To learn more about Patti’s organization and its achievements, please go to their website: www.mayanfamilies.org

Patti Mort at the Animal Hospital

Animal hospital where Patti volunteers

A mistreated dog they rescued. The dog still lives in the streets.

V Congreso para Maestros at Proesur

On the main stage: The banner introduces all of the programs at Proesur

The Centro de Idiomas at UVG's Proesur campus hosts a national conference for teachers which is focused on all areas of methodology and training (aprendizaje). The theme for this year's conference was "Eliminando Barreras Educativas" (Eliminating Educational Barriers). Over 700 participants had registered for this event. Presenters came from all over, some as far as the U.S. Bani Sandoval, director of the Centro de Idiomas, had asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would present on an aspect of teaching English as a foreign language. I agreed to give two 1 1/2 hour workshops on communicative speaking activities for beginners. The workshops were well attended. I had in both sessions roughly 25-30 English teachers who were mostly K-12 public school teachers. One teacher, however, taught English at San Carlos University in Guatemala City. She was very excited about implementing my activities due to the huge number of students in her classroom.

In my workshop, I led the participants through activities I have used teaching English and German to beginners that engaged all four skills. I purposely chose activities that did not involve technology and expensive materials since many Guatemalan teachers do not have access to these. The teachers loved the activities and thanked me profusely for sharing them.

Workshop on communicative activities at Proesur

The teachers from UVG-Altiplano and I were treated as royal guests by our colleagues at Proesur. Our conference fee was waived and we were also invited to join the group of guests whose lunch was catered. The conference ended around 3:00 and we returned to Panajachel around 6:00. It was a very rewarding experience for me to give these workshops to teachers who effusively demonstrated their eagerness to learn and their appreciation of my help.

My colleagues from Altiplano at lunch:
Helga, I, Josanne, Carrie, and Brenda

sábado, 14 de febrero de 2009

The Piñata Party

Hanging up the piñata

Helga Knapp, my English teaching colleague at UVG, invited me to come to her daughter's birthday party on Sunday, February 8th. Helga's daughter, Maria Sara, was turning 10 and over 40 children from her class had been invited. There was going to be two piñatas at the party, one for the girls and the other for the boys. The party was supposed to begin at 3:00 but most people trickled in within the next hour. Most Guatemalan birthday parties are outside in the garden with chairs set up in a circle. There were balloons everywhere. Helga had prepared a special treat for Maria Sara and her guests. She had hired a professional clown who arrived shortly afterward with his two assistants (one was his son). The clown had us all in stitches with his antics. It was particularly amusing to watch how he very cleverly enticed the children to join him in the merry-making.

The second boy from the right is Helga's son, Juan Miguel

The second girl from left is Helga's youngest daughter, Olga Teresa

One of many memorable acts

Then came the time for the piñata. Maria Sara was the first of course to be blindfolded and handed the stick. As she swung the stick around, the clown's assistants purposely moved the piñata with strings, making the task of breaking it even harder. Finally, after all of the girls took a turn, one returning combatant successfully whacked the piñata, so that all of the goodies (hard candy) inside it spewed onto the ground. Shrieking gleefully, all the girls fell to the ground to grab as many candies as they could. The boys were next with their piñata.

Getting her ready for combat

Helga is standing in the background. The girl on the far right is Maria Sara.

During the final stage of the party, Maria Sara blew out the candles on the exquisitely decorated cake that her mother baked just for the occasion. Immediately afterward, the children behind her pushed her face into it! Apparently this is custom in Guatemala. Everyone was served multi-colored jello, birthday cake, and soda. The party ended around 6:00. I thanked Helga for giving me the opportunity to witness such an intimate cultural event.

Cake on her face

Helga's hired household help

"Gelatina" served by Helga's youngest, Olga Teresa

Q'omaneel in San Juan La Laguna

The son of our guide at Q'omaneel

Before my Canadian friends, Zoe and Kurt and their two sons, left for Roatan, Honduras, they decided to buy a painting by Felipe Ujpan whose studio is in San Juan La Laguna. They invited me to join them. We decided that we would also visit a cooperative called Q'omaneel (Association of Traditional Midwives and Health Promoters of San Juan La Laguna). There a group of Tz'utujil Maya women grow over 20 species of medicinal plants and hand-make various products from them, such as shampoo, soap, cream, tea, aromatic candles, etc. We would never have found this cooperative, had Felipe not led us there. The guide at Q'omaneel took us on a very thorough tour of the garden, explaining all of the health benefits of each herb.

In the garden of over 20 medicinal plants

Tz'utujil Maya woman roasting seeds in the garden

He then took us into the laboratory where the women process the herbs into natural products. He pointed out that because the women were illiterate, they follow instructions in the form of drawings on the wall.

The laboratory

This cooperative takes special pride in displaying the ancient way the Maya people have used these medicinal plants to promote healing and good health. Not only does the cooperative help the women workers earn a very modest living (they make a couple of dollars a day), but it also preserves and promotes awareness and appreciation of ancient Maya customs.


domingo, 1 de febrero de 2009

My visit to Proesur, UVG's other campus

La Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), a private university, was founded in 1966 (http://www.uvg.edu.gt). UVG has three external campuses. The older campus, founded in 1995, is in Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa and it is called Proesur. Antiplano, founded in 1999, is located in the Western highlands of Guatemala. I teach at the Antiplano campus which, ironically, was a former Guatemalan military base of sordid repute. For many years, the military personnel terrorized the surrounding civilian population with arrests, torture, rape, and even death. It must be very strange for victims and survivors of those past horrendous acts to have children and grandchildren studying there now in classrooms which were formerly barracks.

After expressing a desire to visit the Proesur campus to have an idea of how their English program was structured and run, María Marta Ramos, the director of the Antiplano campus, arranged for me to accompany Tereso Joj, professor and Director of Development and Programs, who was traveling over there on Monday, January 27th.

It was a very interesting, informative visit. Tereso Joj was a very gracious host who not only asked the driver to take the most picturesque route so I could gasp at vistas of Lake Atitlan from its western side, but held my notebook, pen, and camera very gentleman-like as I toured the campus with a delightful group of students. Tereso also shared with me some of his own personal history. His father was murdered thirty years ago due to his political activism. For this reason, four of Tereso’s siblings immigrated to the U.S. and now live in California. Tereso visits them whenever he is in the U.S. on business; otherwise, he would never see them since they refuse to ever return to Guatemala. I asked Tereso why he didn’t leave after his father was killed. He replied that he loved his country and he felt committed to stay to improve the lives of his compatriots. Tereso is an educator and social activist who has worked with government, countless social organizations, and educational initiatives. Even though his English is better than my Spanish, he spoke to me exclusively in his mother tongue much to my delight since I am eager to practice as much as possible. He very patiently listened to my flawed Spanish and offered to provide the word I couldn’t find in my very limited mental lexicon.

Spectacular view of Lake Atitlan enroute to Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa

Having breakfast with Tereso Joj

The Proesur campus houses many programs. There is CAS, The American School of the South, which is a bilingual Pre-K to 12 grade school. Proesur‘s first program, CAS enjoys an enrollment of over 300 students. Another major program is its Technological Institute, ITEC, in which high school age students can enroll to obtain an Associate Bachelor degree in Mechatronics, Export Agricultural Products Industry as well as Electronic Industry. A group of ITEC students were assigned as my tour guides. Their English was quite good as they guided me to various buildings and explained the types of classes and facilities that were located there. They also took me out to the fields where agriculture majors can have practical experience growing profit-yielding crops, such as tomatoes, papaya, bananas, and even the flower, bird of paradise.

My student guides during a campus tour arranged by the staff member behind me

Bird of Paradise, grown in the fields on campus

There was a flurry of activity that day due to the visit of George E. Like from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). From what I understood, George Like works with one of USAID’s departments, American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA). ASHA had given both UVG campuses millions of dollars to buy and set up modern virtual laboratories with teaching aids as teleconferencing and smart boards. Mr. Like had come to see how the technology was being utilized. The staff, faculty and students gave their American visitor a grand reception which included tours, presentations, student and faculty testimonials, and a lovely outdoor luncheon. During the luncheon, a group of students sang and played traditional and western music.

George E. Like from American Schools and Hospitals Abroad, USAID

Proesur students playing music at the luncheon

Because of Mr. Like’s visit, it was very little time to speak with Bani Sandoval, the administrative director of the Center of Foreign Languages. But we did get in some “shop talk” during the luncheon and afterward in his office. He asked me if I would give a 1 ½ hour workshop to Guatemalan English teachers at their annual “Congreso” on February 11th. They were desperate for more presenters since they expected at least the same number attendees they had last year, around 600. Though the time to plan a workshop was short (just two weeks), I was happy to be a part of their program. Bani and I decided that I could focus the workshop on communicative activities for beginners, a topic of great interest and practical use for English teachers from all educational domains.

Ing. Bani Sadoval, Director of the Centro de Idiomas at Proesur

It was a very productive, enlightening, and truly memorable visit. I am looking forward to returning there on February 11th with my colleagues from the Antiplano campus who will also be attending the Congreso to get ideas for the one the Antiplano English department is expected to launch sometime in March or April.