Every volunteer that has ever gotten dog has made it their duty to blog about it. So here is my go -
yes, like you in the USA, we volunteers often make irrational decisions that almost always involve buying a dog. Hey we need comfort too here,so without further ado, I would like to introduce you to..... Tay`in (don`t ask what it means, I just made it up):
Yes... she`s as terrifying as she looks. She goes through my garbage, gets into packs of sugar, rice and cookies, eats other dogs` puke, and the list goes on. But she puts up with me too and my crazy eccentric ways, so I guess we kinda complement each other that way. I may not eat garbage or other people`s puke but I ain`t no picnic either. And hey we`re disciplining each other: Tay`in can already sit, and me, well, I don`t know, I`m learning to lay down and just relax on a stormy afternoon.
Ok, I got the dog thing over with. I`m sorry if this is starting to sound like a chore, but it kinda is. It`s not your fault really, it`s just that wrapping my thoughts around what I have been doing for the last few hundreds hours of my life is pretty challenging. Ok, I`m listening to some Michael Franti now and I`m relaxing... Here comes the word diarrhea:
The biggest events this month were two women`s marches we organized with my health center in my urban center and one of my aldeas. March 8th marked International Women`s day, and we all agreed here that it was super important to not only do a march in my urban center but in one of my mountain villages, where such a thing had never happened before. Keeping with the Guatemalan style of doing things, everything was super last minute, trying to solicit bread and drinks for the estimated 900 women attending. Breaking our backs was worth it in the end- we had the help and collaboration of the muni and different ngos, which all came together in a chaotic but yet beautiful way. We even had a few newspapers at the larger march in my urban center!
The one in my mountain village was what suprised me the most. We gave most of the women a piece of poster and told them to draw or write a message to express themselves a week before the march; most of them just responded that they did not know what to draw, or write, but I simply told them to draw a woman, a family, something pretty, or heck even a flower if they wanted, to show how they felt. What I saw the day of the caminata was amazing...
As usual I was running late, and as I was coming around the corner... I saw them: 200 women, being led by the local mayors, crowded with handmade posters with creative, amazing statements and drawings, declaring and expressing their rights as indigenous women. The view was just spectacular. Here is what I saw:
Well, you get the point. I was a proud mama!!! This was something that had never happened before in these women`s lives nor in such a conservative rural village. Not only were they out in full force, but the men, the leaders of the village, were there too telling them once in a while to be louder, and to make themselves heard! I`m still convinced it all might have been a dream...
Talking of women, I`d like to thank my mum and bro too for helping with donations for a domestic violence shelter that I have been trying to help located in a city near me (it is one of five in the entire country!!) You guys are awesome!!!
I also recently went to go visit two friends of mine who live in one of the most remote sites in peace corps, and it was amazing to see how different their experience is to mine. I think we all go into peace corps with the idea that we will become all ``sensei`d`` with our souls while maybe helping some people along the way. Most of us are shocked to find out when we get here that it`s the exact opposite. We live more comfortably than we`d like to admit; we are more dependent on each other as a community than we may have been to anyone in the States. And I certainly have been way busier than I have ever been in the States. But these two friends.... well, they got that site... 7 hours away from me, quite literally on the mexican border, where there are no electricity and water, and where absolutely no one speaks spanish. It`s a beautiful, strange Guatemala out there, and I definitely look foward to visiting them soon.
Let`s get personal now... How am I feeling at this exact moment? I`m happy. Hey, who knew that happiness came with a job I knew nothing about a year ago and occasional fleas? I guess we all find our happiness in the most awkward of ways.
I think I`ll stop here, I`m lazy, and a bit sick. But hey, I gave you lots of pictures, so don`t complain.
Saludos.
Esther
