What exactly is she doing in Guatemala, anyway?

Well, “‘The time has come,’ the walrus said, ‘to talk of many things.’” (Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland, seemingly appropriate since in the books she explores the other worlds down the rabbit hole and on the other side of the looking glass…) It’s been almost four weeks of my Peace Corps training in Guatemala, and I suppose now that I myself have a more thorough grasp of why I’m here and what the heck I’m doing, so should readers of this blog. (: My assignment here in Guatemala is Sustainable Community Tourism – a program whole titles over the last few years have evolved through environmental education and ecotourism themes. Hence, my current job description is something like ‘community development worker doing environmental education and community-based/environmental tourism projects to build sustainable incomes and long-term self-determination.’ What does that mean?

For now, it means I’ve actually been assigned a cultural tourism project for these three months of community-based training. Essentially, the very Mayan pueblo in which I live for these three months has enourmous potential to generate sustainable incomes via cultural tourism, especially thanks to its proximity to one of Guatemala’s main tourist hubs. The indigenous weavings here are quite possibly the finest, most detailed and ornate textiles in Guatemala, and the Kaqchikel Mayan culture is still very much alive and well. Kaqchikel is still spoken, traditional meals are still cooked in the old way, and nearly all women still wear the traditional traje (the woven wrap-skirt corte and the huipíl blouse embroidered with the town’s specific design). The pictures below of my host family members weaving depict the set-up and process of these hand-woven beauties.

But for various reasons, this town has so far failed to capitalize on its cultural (and other) assets, and sales of these expensive and time-consuming textiles is real low, leaving lots of women with low levels of education and busy home-lives without income, nor heretofore thought-of options to pursue other ways of earning one.

Cue doe-eyed, novice Peace Corps Trainees.

There are four of us living in this community, and our task during this experiential “crash-course” training in community development is to collect and organize the community’s ideas and momentum into a honed plan for them to then, through the work of a women’s cooperative and the support of the local Municipal government, achieve those dreams. So far that has meant meetings, and quite a learning curve for the four of us! It’s pretty intimidating, a week after arriving in the country, to be charged with leading a Community Diagnostic Meeting (read Public Scoping Meeting or Focus Group Discussion, with some 35 Mayan women and a few Muni government staff). YIKES! But, really , the feeling of accomplishment afterwards is undeniable – and since then our subsequent meetings have likewise been illuminating, and while not always going perfectly smoothly, are teaching both us and our community LOTS about each other, and establishing the foundations of a relationship of trust between us. Not to say there haven’t been plenty of times when we’ve felt totally lost and frustrated, having no idea how to proceed with the task given to us. But I’ve learned that Peace Corps-brand projects only acquire clarity and momentum when one chooses to work at making them clear and energized. There have definitely been “light bulb” moments, and revel in the little victories we do!

Other than this community development project, my time is also devoted to twice-weekly classes at Peace Corps/Guatemala HQ (on medical, cultural, and technical training topics), and daily in-community Spanish and culture lessons with our professor Jorge. Then there’s learning to make the small, thick corn tortillas here (again, see photos!), learning to hand-weave in the traditional way, helping and learning to make traditional Mayan meals, telling and listening to stories with my host family, laughing and being laughed at (so I make mistakes – don’t worry, I’m laughing too, once somebody explains). I’ve met lots of extended family members, I’ve helped with the coffee harvest, I’ve learned the chicken bus system, I’ve bartered my fare with the tuk-tuk drivers (motorized rickshaws which are pretty much riding lawn mowers with a canopy in back), I’ve hiked up a volcano, I’ve directed groups of little Mayan women in funny ice-breaker activities, and felt like they got something out of it thanks to our discussions afterwards. All in all life is amazing here in the Land of Eternal Spring. Thanks for reading!

Silly grin caused by having finally got the hang of the art of tortear - tortilla-ing. :)

Host Mother Doña Irma at left, host sister-in-law Graciela facing camera, host sister Lilian with back to camera.