I realize it has been quite some time since my last post, so I will do a little recap...I am getting older so I might forget a few details (which is why I will be better about updating...)
Anyway, so at the beginning of April, I got my new site in Chiché still in the department of Quiché. Yes, I now live and work in Chiché, Quiché, and I am well aware that the two rhyme (I neither confirm nor deny that I chose my new site based on this fact...but the flow is lovely). Anyhow, I now have my own house (which I posted some pics of in my previous post) and a new job and counterpart.
I work in the Municipal Office for Women (La Oficina Muncipal de la Mujer--OMM). This office is dedicated to upholding women's rights and helping to promote the participation of women in local government affairs. Also, the OMM does educate the community about Domestic Violence and helps women file claims against their partners/seek services such as legal and emotional counsel. It all sounds great on paper, but whether or not the OMM does its job is a whole other matter...which is sort of why I am there. One of my roles is to help promote accountability and transparency in the office. Another role is to help create, organize and promote community groups, especially women's groups so that these groups can identify and prioritize their needs in order to start problem-solving and constructing projects that might help ease their troubles....or something like that. I am sort of the bridge between local community members and government officials.
Anyway, I was in my new office for no more than 2 weeks when I got the flu. Then it was Semana Santa (Holy Week/the week before Easter), so my community and the whole country, basically shut down. There was a lot of celebrating and such (I was sick so I sort of missed out on it this year, but next year it will be cool to witness). After Easter I went back to the States for a friend's wedding and stayed for a few weeks to enjoy some time at home with family. So, I even though I technically started at my new site before I left...I really didn't.
Home was great, even though time flew by. My friend's wedding was beautiful and it was so nice to see many of my friends who no longer live back home. I was also surprised that I didn't face too much culture shock. Volunteers are always saying how hard it is to go back home and face such a different, more fast-paced lifestyle and overwhelming grocery stores filled with too many options and fixed-prices (What do you mean a pound of tomatoes is $3.99/lb...how about I just give you $1.50?!?! Back in my village I only pay...etc., etc., etc.,) And maybe it will be more of a shock once I actually move back to the US and am not just there for a quick visit...but for me the hardest part was remembering that I am ACTUALLY allowed to flush toilet paper in the toilet! Our plumbing can handle it! So amazing. Forgot how great that is. When I first got back home, I felt like I was committing a crime flushing my toilet paper away...I had to stop and think every-time...Oh, yes, it is indeed the small things in life...
Now I am back and ready to start learning the ropes of my new job and community. Getting back to site with my stuff (yes, i came back with a suitcase filled to the brim with food...only the staples, chewy chocolate chip cookies, laughing cow cheese, , quinoa, spices, dahl (which almost got confiscated), granola (hand-made by my bro and sister-in-law---thanks guys! but which also almost got confiscated) (totally worth being searched though)....anyway, where was I, oh yes, getting back to site with all my stuff was a lot easier than I thought it would be and not as scary, though I definitely insulted a few taxi-drivers who were totally trying to rip me off ( I am not your average gringa and I will haggle to the end to save a few Q and call you out on it if you are trying to "aprovechar me" (take advantage of me)...but I did eventually make it back to my house.
I still feel confused and am still trying to learn exactly what I should be doing (in terms of work), but I will figure it out. I also had a successful meeting with the director of the local community leader, and I think she might prove a useful community counterpart. She is very welcoming and asked me to give workshops to the youth groups that come into the library. Also, she had mentioned to me that the library needs a second floor because there isn't enough space, to which I replied we could try building the second floor out of plastic bottles filled with inorganic trash (which has been a very successful project in many Peace Corps countries world-wide, but especially Guatemala) and she seems very enthusiastic about it. Now I just have to get organized and get to work. I have a year and five months left of my service (hard to believe it, considering I started with 27 months). Time is flying, and I feel like since I had problems at my original site and wasn't really able to start anything there, I need to get a move on...
So, here I go!
