Busy Week...

This week has been made up of several beautiful moments. This was the first weekend where I felt like I didn't have a lot going on. I already blogged about how Saturday was a beautiful day, and Sunday was just as great. Heather and I decided to take a boat across the lake to the village San Marcos to eat lunch at a little cafe overlooking the lake. This week we have a new potential volunteer in town checking out what Salud y Paz was about, so we decided to invite her to come along.

This was my first time taking a local boat and not a private tour boat around the lake. I realized that Guatemalans are only charged 8 Q while we were charged 25 Q. When we asked the driver why there was such a difference (like we didn't already know why) a little boy standing next to me on the dock pointed to my arm and said in Spanish "you're white and I'm not". We all knew that was why, but it was a little shocking to hear it said so bluntly. I have found that I am charged more than locals a lot of places which is really annoying sometimes, but at the end of the day I guess it doesn't matter.

Anyways, the lake was beautiful that day, so it was great finding a little cafe to eat lunch at and just sit and look out over the lake for a few hours.

This picture is of my roommate Heather (in the hat), Emily (who is only here for the week unless she decides to come back to work at Salud y Paz), and me. I have started wearing headbands almost everyday because since we are so much closer to the sun my scalp gets burned really easily.

Just thought it was funny that we found some surfing goats on the walk back to the dock from the cafe.

When it was time to catch a boat back to Pana we hopped on a private boat (we didn't know it was a private boat until we got on) filled with college students from the University of Guatemala City. It was by far the bumpiest boat I've ever been on and besides hitting our heads on the roof of the boat several times we also all got extremely wet from going so fast. Again on the way back they charged us 25 Q... annoying. After the boat Emily and I went to Solomon's Porch which is the church I go to Sunday afternoons when I'm in town. I have been gone a lot lately, so it was nice to be back with that community.

Monday I spent working in the school in Camanchaj. Then on Tuesday I stayed home from work to attend a town meeting called by the Embassy. They had a lot of random information you could pick up about living in Guatemala and was pretty much just a meeting to answer any questions anyone had. A couple of weeks ago I heard that The Peace Corps had evacuated all of their volunteers in Guatemala (I already knew that about a month ago they decided not to send any new volunteers here), so I asked the dude what he thought that meant for other volunteer and missionaries living here. Many others had the same question I did, and it was good to hear the actual facts straight from the embassy. He said that there were 288 (if I am remembering right) volunteers here and they sent home all but 150. In the areas that they deemed too dangerous they gave those volunteers 48 hours to pack up and head back to the States. The remaining volunteers that were sent home were given the option to end their time early. I know they have to be overly cautious, but it was still unsettling to find that information out. I also found out that in case of an emergency here the people you are suppose to look to for answers and evacuation plans are called wardens. In case something scary happens and the internet goes down these guys will be called by the embassy and told what the Americans in our area are suppose to do to get to safety. I wasn't registered with the warden in Pana, so it was good to be at the meeting because he asked for my email and cell phone number. It's nice to know that he will call me and tell me what to do/where to go in case hell breaks loose down here. On a side note how beautiful is this hotel? You can't tell, but the view we had was of the lake... So beautiful!

After the town meeting Emily and I took a chicken bus up to Solola to walk around the market. It reminded me a lot of our market in Pana with the exception that I saw a lot more dried fish (gross) and craft supplies (beads, yarn, thread) for sale. After walking around for awhile we decided to head back down the mountain back towards Pana.

This is the main square in Solola. We drive by here everyday on the way to Camanchaj.

We decided to stop at the reserva and eat lunch at the cafe there then do the hike. When Emily suggested it I jumped at the chance even though I have been several times already and am planning on taking my family there next week (HAVE I MENTIONED MY FAMILY IS COMING TO VISIT NEXT WEEK?!?!?!?!?!). I mean if you give me the chance to hang out with monkeys and butterflies for about $7 I'm going to take it.

Check out this little monkey... Just hanging out. (I'm hilarious I know!)

Emily and I walking around the butterfly park.

I found a butterfly!!! And by found I mean I opened a case, took out a butterfly, took a picture with it, tried to put the stupid thing back into his house, and then freaked out when it flew out of my hands and ran around chasing it for awhile before I just gave up and ran away. I'm pretty sure they let the butterflies free once they hatch (or whatever you call it), so I wasn't too concerned about him/her.

After the reserva we met up with all the volunteers for Salud y Paz and went to the Sunset Cafe to celebrate Stephanie's last night with us. Stephanie was a med student from the States that was with us for about a month. I really love dinners where all the volunteers get together and we spend time just talking and laughing. I have a good group of friends here.

Today I spent the day working with a rural medical team in Chichi. I rode to the clinic like normal then Archy came an picked up Emily and me and brought us to Chichi. I have experienced all the other types of teams we host, but hadn't worked with a rural medical team so I was eager to have the chance. This was a team of about 20 that consisted of 3 doctors (pediatrician, general doctor, and a cardiologist) and many other nurses and helpers. This picture is of the pharmacy they set up in this church. After the patients saw the doctor they would come here and get whatever meds they needed.

This was the registration table. Here patients told a nurse what was wrong then waited to see a doctor. This station needed 2 translators. One to translate from K'iche' (one of the Mayan languages spoken in our region) to Spanish then another to translate Spanish into English. I am always afraid it is going to be like a game of telephone and the information will change by the time it gets to the doctor.

The team put up these sheets to create different doctor offices.

Just some patients waiting to see a doctor.

This was the pediatrician "office". The doctor would constantly blow bubbles trying to cheer up the little kids who were usually crying. It must be such a scary experience to go to a doctor who was a gringo and didn't speak the same language as you. They put so much trust into us.

This is the view from the church of Chichi (the church was up on a hill, so there was an amazing view). The landscapes of Chichi and Camanchaj remind me everyday of Colorado which has a homey feel to it since it is where some of my grandparents live. It is a type of beauty I wasn't expecting when I came, but that I am blessed to look at everyday.

The team was running so smoothly that I had some time that I was sitting around bored. That turned into sitting and talking with Archy and taking pictures. Today was a really beautiful day and I'm excited to see where the rest of the week will take me. Tomorrow I am in Camanchaj at the school then on Friday I am working from Pana. THEN MY FAMILY GETS HERE ON SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!