The Bus System!

Ok, I´m going to try and keep this simple because there are a ton of little details I could include. I´ll try to hold back and not write a novel every time I get on the computer!

First of all, the Guatemala City bus system! As a frequent patron of the Denver city buses I feel like a seasoned rider, but there is no comparison. The city buses are generally old school school bus style, and are in varying degrees of safety and repair. There are established routes, but not exactly established stops. There are always obviously places to load and unload, but if you feel like getting off between designated stops just whistle as loud as you possibly can. We haven´t mastered the whistle just yet. The buses are generally always very crowded, even to the point of people hanging off the back and front. However seats tend to open up quickly with so many people moving en masse.

When we all first arrived in the city we were able to enjoy this crazy, pack ém in like sardines style of transportation, and it was actually a great way to bond with each other. In one instance we made the unfortunate decision of hopping on a bus making scary, death throw kind of sounds. On the way up a small hill, all of a sudden we were rolling backwards gently. The bus driver threw the emergency brake, fiddled with the gears and got her moving forward again. However about 1000 meters down the road the same thing happened. Only this time about half a dozen men jumped off the bus, ran around the back, and actually started pushing the bus uphill! Amazingly it worked. They jumped back on and we were rolling again. A mile later, we´re on an even steeper hill, and we´re not just rolling gently backward, we´re lurching violently backward. At this point all us American kids used to padded seats and safety codes start freaking out, which I´m pretty sure really amused the locals. Our host mom, who was escorting us, made the decision that after the next lurch we all needed to scramble out the door. Naturally the second we made it on the ground, the bus sprang to life and continued rolling along. The native Guatemalans must have gotten a kick out of us. I felt a little foolish, but I was having visions of Guatemalan hospital beds and lost limbs.

That might have been a bit out of the ordinary, but for us thats been a typical bus experience. We were just getting comfortable with the system and where to get on and off, and were actually looking forward to the day our host moms would decide we were capable of riding on our own. However we all woke up two days ago to news that almost all the bus drivers in the city had gone on strike due to the outrageous gas prices and no increase in wages or rates. Currently the state and local government are working with the bus drivers union to try and reach an agreement. This leaves literally tens of thousands of people living on a very fixed income in a very precarious situation. GC is not the kind of metropolitan area where walking great distance is safe or even possible. In addition, taking a taxi to get where you´re going can cost as much as 100 times your bus fare. It makes it nearly impossible for people who live on one side of the city and live on the other to make it on time and not risk losing their job. Theres a lot more I could say about the social justice aspects of this issue, but I´d rather wait for it to play out and see how the gov handles things. Hopefully this matter is dealt with fairly and soon, I really miss the bus!

I made it!

Just wanted to write a quick note saying I made it just fine. The trip was a little stressful due to a delay that left me running for my next flight, but all ended well. I woke up to a lovely Guatemalan morning, it's cloudy, humid and actually very comfortable. The other students seem very nice so far, and I get to meet my host family in less than an hour. I found out they have two young kids, which should be fun. We had a very informal orientation this morning, and I'm feeling pretty relaxed about navigating life around here. However I might feel differently after my first public transportation experience. The food has also been great, and theres an avocado tree in the back garden! We start classes officially tomorrow, and it looks like I'll be studying one on one or with only one other student. The individual attention is pretty impressive, and we get to take lots of field trips! Anyway, thats about all for now. I'll be updating often though. Hope you're all doing well, and thanks for keeping up with me!

10 hours!

Well, almost ready to go!  It's past midnight now and I'm up doing last minute laundry with Dave, who has been nice enough to take me all over Wisconsin showing me the sites.  It seems funny that by tomorrow night I'll be living in Guatemala officially.  Honestly over the past week I've been so preoccupied with what was happening in that exact moment that I haven't had much time to really think about how quickly my departure date was approaching.  It's been a really wonderful week.  I was able to spend some time with family, revisit a few places I love, bbq with college friends, kayak with my little brother, hike with Dave, reconnect with a long lost friend at Brat Fest in Madison, and enjoy lots of very American foods and locally brewed beers.  It definitely feels like a summer vacation.  Part of me is enjoying this week so much I'm almost a little bummed this part of the journey is over, however I know life can't always be like this past few days, and I have a whole new adventure awaiting me.  

I arrive in Guatemala City tomorrow evening around 6:40 after layovers in Chicago and Miami.  Considering my horrible track record with O'Hare, I'm a little nervous about making the connection and am keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.  There have already been a few hiccups in the plans because apparently my Guatemalan contact never received the flight information I sent over a month ago, and up until yesterday didn't know when I'd be flying in.  I found it a little odd that she waited so late to let me know this.  When I sent a reply email I received an out of office response instructing me to contact someone else.  I just really hope theres someone waiting to pick me up tomorrow evening!  

All right, on with the laundry.  I'll post more when I'm able!  Wish me luck! 

Wow, yesterday was my last day of work...and it was weird! I actually thought it would just feel like I was leaving for a long weekend or something, but it definitely did not. Three and a half months isn't really that long, but Empowerment could be a very different place to me when I get back. I know there will at least be a couple new people on staff for one, and I'm praying my office doesn't get moved while I'm gone! Plus I know it will take awhile for me to readjust, and there might be a degree of culture shock. For that reason I made sure to give myself a couple weeks between my return to Denver and my return to work. I think that time will be very helpful to settle myself back in. In addition it will allow me to catch up with the first week of school I'll be missing and participate in the Democratic National Convention (which I plan to both protest and volunteer for, I'm still trying to decide if thats hypocritical). Anyway, I didn't think work was something I'd miss. It's probably not the work as much as the people.

Now I'm just running errands all over the place before my subletter moves in for good this afternoon. Thanks to a good morning call from Jared I was up at 7:21, even though I could have easily slept another hour. Thanks buddy. I feel very accomplished already, which is good because the more I think about what needs to be done yet the more overwhelmed I'm getting. I probably shouldn't be blogging when my fridge still needs to be cleaned out, my floors swept, and my bag repacked, but this is a lot more fun than those things :) Wish me luck!

Maybe this is a good time to be leaving the country...

Reason number 1 why I'm happy to be leaving Denver is that I've suddenly developed an allergic reaction to...everything. Having never had allergies in my life before, I can suddenly empathize a bit with all those poor souls who go through this year after year. The puffy eyes, mouth-breathing, semi-sleepless nights, and ginormous sneezes are getting old quick. Maybe Guatemala will be a little nicer to my system...but then again I am confronting an entirely new ecosystem. I could be screwed.

Second, holy horrible economy! Maybe by the time I get back into the country things will have leveled out a little bit and I can finally afford to eat well again! Seriously, the vegan chicken nuggets I love have almost doubled in price. I just can't justify spending roughly 75 cents per nugget! (By the way, I haven't become a vegan, or even a vegetarian again, but these nuggets are amazing) Plus Ben & Jerry's is $4 a pint now, thats painful! True, I won't be around to do my part to stimulate the economy, but I know many good Americans out there who would be happy to pick up my slack.

Third, I love my apartment, I really do. However, as the weather gets warmer I'm suddenly having flashbacks to a year ago when it was a stifling 90 degrees at midnight and I had to camp out in front of my little window air conditioner to get any sleep. Using all that electricity killed me, and I'm just not a fan of conditioned air in general. They tell me Guatemala hovers around 80 during the day and is nice and cool at night, thats perfect! Plus its winter down there right now, which means the rainy season. I'll get to enjoy all the rain I've missed in Denver!

Fourth, I won't have to see the Auraria Campus for almost 4 months!!!! Taking five classes while working full time was just not a good idea, my brain needs a little break. I spent way too much time on that bloody campus over the past five months, and I'm done! Next semester I'm cutting back, and not going anywhere near math and science for awhile! My heart belongs in the humanities! Plus I lost my student ID yesterday, which is also my bus pass, grrrrr.

Anyway, just to clarify, there are also many reason why I'm excited to return. Denver is a great city and I love my life here, but it needs to be shaken up a bit. I think a summer in a place I've never experienced is just the thing I need right now. I do look forward to returning to Denver very much, and know there are tons of things I'll miss, but it's time for a little adventure.

Hello everyone! So I'm jumping on the blog bandwagon (because apparently thats what you do when you become an expat). I have to admit, this is probably the easiest way to share my experiences with all the people I'll miss, since Sprint tells me my cell phone won't work in Guatemala City, hehe.

For those of you who might not have had the pleasure of listening to me go on and on for hours about this experience, here are the details. On May 25 I'll be leaving the US to live and study in Guatemala City for 8 weeks, and do an additional 4 weeks of service (hopefully in Honduras). Although I'm traveling on my own, I'm studying through a Mennonite program called Central American Study and Serve, or CASAS. It's a well established program that serves mainly American college students, and it came very highly recommended by several friends here in Denver. I'll be studying with 8 other American students, and I'm looking forward to the small class size. Four hours each morning will be spent in small group language instruction, while the afternoons will include visits to peace and justice organizations, women's cooperatives, cultural and historical sites, etc. Although I'm not expecting to be 100% fluent by the time I leave, I hope to be well on my way.

As of today I have 8 work days left, 10 days til my subletter moves in, 12 days until I leave Denver for a whirlwind Midwest visit, and 18 days until I'm officially living in Guatemala! My ticket is bought, my apartment is in shambles as I attempt to pack up all my prized possessions, and my mind is in a constant frenzy of things I have to get done before I leave. I actually love life at this velocity, anticipation is probably just as wonderful as the experience itself. It's still kind of amazing to think that in only a few weeks I'll have an adopted Guatemalan family and will be speaking Spanish on a daily basis. The epicurean in me is also dying to try new foods, and hopefully bring home some new recipes and native Guatemalan spices. Hopefully my host family will indulge me!

I can already feel myself starting to fall in love with this country that I haven't even met yet! I can almost see the life I'll be living soon in my head. I know a book can't compare to an actual, tangible experience, but studying the history and culture of Guatemala has been both painful and wonderful. Honestly I knew very little about the country and people before I committed myself to this adventure. Once I became aware of the opportunity, and realized how little was actually keeping me from diving in, I just dove. Now, as I learn more, I'm certain this is the right direction to be heading. Guatemala, in many ways, is initimidating. From what I have read and learned, the people of Guatemala have been mercilessly exploited for centuries and have only recently regained stability. As a result, Guatemala City is still one of the most violent and dangerous parts of Central America. This made me very uneasy at first, but I still feel this is the place I need to be going. Rest assured I've done my research and taken all the warnings and precautions to heart.

Now I just need to keep myself organized and grounded enough to get through the next few weeks, which I know will be a challenge. Seeing this trip just over the horizon for weeks now has been very distracting. In many ways, I've already checked out of life here in Denver (which has made studying for finals next to impossible). I'm sure I'll be posting much more in the days to come!