Learning Life...

Every culture has a different way of living, and I've begun to see some of the ways that Guatemalans live in comparison to America. 

First of all, there is the value of time.  In los Estados Unidos, we tend to think that time is money (in fact, my high school math teacher taught us the concept of proofs starting with the premise that time is money and ending with girls are evil...).  In Guatemala, time is a bit flexible.  As my professor said, "if a party is at seis en punto, don't plan on going until siete menos cuarto or siete en punto" For work stuff, time seems to be pretty standardized, but beyond that, take time to look at the sunsets, eat dinner, breakfast, and lunch with the family, and don't worry about being late.  I really like it.

It's hard to not attribute some of this flexibility in time to the realities of Guatemalan weather.  The weather here is crazy and the outcomes can be tragic.   On our drive to Guatemala City, the landslides were evident, and compared to the rest of the country, they were incredibly minor.  These last two months of the rainy season are supposedly the wettest.  We'll see what happens...  Growing up in landslide territory, I thought that I understood them, but when you begin to think about the economics behind fixing them in a third-world country, landslides, flooding, and other natural disasters become a lot more complicated.

Another thing about other cultures is how you celebrate.  Yesterday was probably the funnest birthday celebration I have ever encountered.  It was Juli's birthday (a girl from our program) and we brought a pinata and some "Coca Lites" (Diet Coke) to school.  Laura also bought a store out of all their balloons (approximately 7).  We met the professors early in the morning and one of them surprised us by bringing a cake (Tina's host mom also made a cake, but we decided to eat it in the evening.. can't have too much cake!).  Our party was simple, but it was AWESOME!  Watching people hit the Strawberry Shortcake pinata with a PVC pipe and a scarf wrapped around their heads was so hilarious, and it was just joyful, simple fun.  The best type of fun you can have. 

Strawberry Shortcake is the strongest pinata... EVER

Then, there are the basic life necessities that have to be learned.  Such as how to go to the bathroom (you do NOT flush your toilet paper), shower (I still have yet to master turning on warm water without help of my host mom and I'm too proud to ask for help every day...), eat foods that won't make you sick, and, most intimidating thin for me...do laundry.

Laura, Juli, and I had a lesson of laundry today.  I'll share it with you through a series of photo documentations: 

The first step to find any solution is to admit you have a problem.  It was evident.

The next step is to ask a kind Guatemalan woman to teach you.  This is Laura's host mom:

Next, you soak your clothes in a bucket of water and soap (note:  there is not warm water)

You scrub the the clothes together in the bucket...

And then you take them up to the Pilla (the sink thing with a side for laundry, a side for dishes, and the middle to hold clean water) and you scrub them against the stone bottom

Once you're done scrubbing them with soap and water (still not warm...), you rinse it with more water, fetched with little bowls from the middle of the sink.  You dump water on it over and over until, by the grace of God, there is no more soap on your clothes.

Finally, you wring them out and put them on the laundry line (not pictured) at your house where your host family (20 and 24 yr old brothers and their parents) can see your underwear as it drips in the sunlight.

Life's an adventure!