San Lucas: 2 Weeks In!

Two Weeks and Counting!

            This weekend marked the end of my first two weeks living in San Lucas Tolíman, Guatemala.  It is hard to believe how much has happened in my first two weeks here.  Between arriving during the second most important holiday of the year for the people of San Lucas, and coming when the entire volunteer community was in flux, I have yet to experience more than 3 days in a row of “normal” San Lucas life. 

            When I arrived in San Lucas on Friday, the volunteer house was full, so I lived away from the other volunteers in a hotel.  After Gus, one of the other volunteers, left on Tuesday, I was able to move into the volunteer house.  The volunteer house is a big five-bedroom house referred to lovingly as the “youth hostel” by the volunteers because it constantly houses about five long-term volunteers for the mission.  The house has a shared bathroom, a big living room, and a “kitchen” with a sink (but no stove or refrigerator).  My room is the smallest by far, with only one bed and no closet.  I cut a deal with the other volunteers that if I live in this room for six weeks, I get to move into the only room with a private bathroom after one of the girls moves out.  Right now my roommates are three other girls, Kelly, Lily, and Katie, and one guy named Chris.  Below is a picture of our garden:

            The first week that I spent here was unique because it was feria, a big carnival in celebration of the feast of St. Luke, the patron saint of San Lucas.  The feria consisted of two huge ferris wheels that spun on steel cords about three times as fast as a normal ferris wheel, a ton of street food, carnival games, vendors, and children’s rides.  Because of the feria, there was no work the first week that I was here, and we just enjoyed the feria.  I dove right into the world of street food and luckily did not get sick.  Some of my new favorite street foods include gringas (tacos with meat, salsa and cheese), rellenitos (little balls of fried banana filled with black beans), and fried chicken and fries with hot sauce!  I also braved the ferris wheel a fair number of times.  

This is a picture from the opening day parade.  Each of the secondary schools sent out their marching bands and cheer squads:

There were also clowns on stilts:

Lots of food!

Pageantry seems to be a big part of the celebration:

Sort of terrifying dancers:

            With the start of my second week came another abnormal and busy week with the mission, surgical week.  This week, a huge group of surgeons comes in from the U.S. to complete about 70 surgeries in a week at the clinic.  With most of the other, more experienced volunteers working at the clinic doing translations, I was essentially on my own to find my niche at the parish, essentially via word of mouth and recommendations from the other volunteers.  On Monday, being the only long-term volunteer available, I was in charge of taking the new short-term group to the farm and show them what to do for the morning.  Since I had never worked at the farm before, it was a little intimidating to be leading a group.  I managed to find the farm boss, Moises, and communicate between him and the group and set them up with work.  I really liked being in charge of the group and putting myself out their with my Spanish.  In the afternoon I went along with the group on a tour of all of the parish’s work sites and translated for the tour guide.  It was nice to see the progress (or lack of) that has happened since the last time I was at the mission.  By the end of the tour, I was exhausted from translating and speaking Spanish all day, but I at least felt good that I was able to keep up with the Spanish.  

My exhausted roommates:

            On Tuesday, I went to the farm again, this time with another volunteer who was not needed in the clinic that day.  We picked weeds all day, but it was nice to get out in the sun all day.  On Wednesday, I worked with a group of women who arrange the flowers that go up in the church.  I really enjoyed working with Rosi and Elba, because we got to chat the whole time as we worked, and they taught me a lot about the different kinds of flowers that they use.  The only downside is that we work inside all day.  On Thursday I helped chop vegetables in the kitchen.  The women who work in the kitchen are very nice, but they mostly speak Kechiqkal, the local language (and the first language of most), so they are hard to get to know.   On Friday, I asked around at the garden about a botanist that I have heard about who works for the Parish who is apparently a genius with flowers.  I finally sought out and met Efraim, who is very nice and welcoming.  I filled little bags with dirt for his seedlings all day while he sat and talked to me about his project.  His garden is huge and beautiful, and reminds me of the Secret Garden.  I really liked working with Efraim, especially since it is outside in the sun.  I think that I am going to try to split my time between Efraim and the flower women so that I can get a good mix of work and a lot of Spanish speaking time in.  

Boat tour of Lake Atitlan: