Frustration, Thy Name is Guatemala...

Direct vs. Indirect Communication...

In training we learned about how Guatemala has a very indirect culture and how people, in order to avoid being rude, stepping on toes, or hurting your feelings, never really give you a straight answer, or they will skirt around the issue at hand.

And while I am sure this is not true for ALL guatemaltecos and I by no means wish to stereotype a whole culture, I can speak to my own experience thus far…

What I find a little odd and quite frustrating is that when it comes to work, it is almost impossible to get a straight answer…yet Guatemaltecos usually don’t have any qualms about saying how fat you look, how big you are, how tall you are, how you speak with a strange accent that they just can’t quite figure out, etc., but when it comes to work, at least in my case, people in the MUNI say how they like an idea and how they want to proceed with a particular project…but then when push comes to shove, nothing gets done.

In my case, it was a bottle school. We started planning in June and there seemed to be both need and interest…yet when I tried to move the project along, it was always somehow thwarted…meetings canceled, people didn’t show up, etc., I was trying to move things along on a strict timeline as I knew that come elections in September, the MUNI would really stop functioning so anything that needed to get done needed to get done before September 11 (local elections are held this date).

I realized we were making very little progress and mentioned my fears to my counterpart, who didn’t seem at all worried. She was just blasé about the whole affair…

I was getting more and more frustrated with the whole ordeal and today, just as I was about to say I think we might want to postpone this project until after elections when everyone is on the same page, my counterpart just came out and said it. I am super frustrated because I could have been working on other things and with other people this whole time, yet I kept trying to make progress because my MUNI claimed it wanted to move this project along. Had they just told me they probably wouldn’t be able to commit to it until January, I could have focused my efforts elsewhere…I just felt like they were stringing me along…This is one dysfunctional relationship…I feel like today the MUNI just told me “It’s not you, it’s me…”

I guess it could be worse, Guatemala could have given me the middle finger...(though sometimes it certainly feels that is has...over and over and OVER and OVER again...sigh)

And while I am sure not all is lost, and I think there really is general interest in this project so that hopefully we can get things moving come January, I just feel like SCREAMING, “BE STRAIGHT WITH ME GUATEMALA AND STOP WASTING MY TIME!”

And while I know the Peace Corps is an emotional roller coaster, one day awful, the next great, frustration just seems to be the only constant…

But I have my health, family and friends that love me and are rooting for me back home as well as recently purchased cheese from Wal-Mart…so really, life could be worse and I know I am lucky to be here. So, I just have to hold on, be strong, and keep trying to get things done.

Sometimes, though, I just want to run away to the coast and become a hippy…

Anniversary Special—Peace Corps Guatemala—Lessons Learned, a Year In Country…

Alright everyone, I have officially been in country ONE YEAR!!! Which means…one year down, one more (más o menos) to go…not that I am counting or anything…!

Anyway, what else does this mean, you ask? Well, it means that after a year in country, I have learned many valuable lessons here, not just about Guatemala—its people, culture, etc.,—but also about life in general…and as I am about a month away from my second birthday (the big 2-7…GASP) that I will be celebrating in this beautiful, although sometimes trying country, I like to think that I am a little bit older and wiser…

So, I would like to share some lessons I have learned with you all, in no particular order.

Here goes:

1. A huge bucket of water will not kill a Tarantula, or any other tarantula-sized spider or bug. You have to squish those MoFos to death.
2. Don’t let any bugs around your house go free…because they will come back to bite you on the butt…literally.
3. When a Guatemalteco says they are only “five minutes away” this actually means they are 15-30 minutes away.
4. When a meeting is set for anytime, add an hour to said time, because that is when the meeting will actually start…unless it is rainy season…then people might just not show up.
5. Always keep a book or some other form of entertainment on you…you never know how long you will be waiting for something to start…
6. When anyone says the phrase “fijese que”…expect bad news…don’t let the smile on their face fool you.
7. When a guatemalteco says “yes”…don’t get excited…this probably means “no”…and said guatemalteco just doesn’t want to hurt your feelings by being too direct or honest…
8. 5-second rule…psssshhaaa….as long as it is not covered in dirt, mud, feces or some other type of human/animal waste, it’s still good…!
9. During rainy season always keep your rain jacket or an umbrella on you…even if it is super sunny out…
10. If a random (and by random, I mean SKETCHY) Guatemalteco starts chatting you up (most usually on a bus), just say you are married and that your spouse is in the States…you just felt the need to serve your country…haha.

Ok, I have probably learned waaaaaaaay more than this, but at the moment, these are the most salient lessons that have come to mind.

Who knows what else I will learn in this upcoming year…? Vamos a ver…

What I do know is that I have survived the first half of peace corps, and met some wonderful people along the way, including Guatemalans and other PCVs, and despite the challenges (and believe me, there have been many and I know there will be even more to come) I still feel incredibly lucky to be here in Guatemala serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and I feel lucky to have amazing family and friends supporting me every step of the way, even when I call home crying hysterically because I have dysentery or freaking out because I just killed a scorpion.

I hope that in this next year I can accomplish a few of my goals, both personal and professional…Keeping my fingers crossed…