Many apologies for the delay. Okay, just a few apologies. Sincere, though. As I am now working, at least in an unpaid iteration, my desire to spend more time plugging away at a keyboard has decreased. And as I am no longer traveling, the number of crazy stories I have to share has also decreased. Have yet to be mugged here, yet to take a boat anywhere, yet to wake up on a beautiful beach or suffer from diahrrea. Nothing worth writing about...?
Life seems to go on, whether we like it or not. And so I began my volunteer stint at Camino Seguro last Monday and spent the week rising early and returning late, adjusting my gear settings from "Boisterous Adventurism" to "Routine". I will remind readers at this point that such a change in gear settings was my desire, my choice, to move myself for a purpose beyond survival and taking pictures. To dive into Work; grand projects, and workplace drama, and repetitive tasks, and all that Good stuff.
My time at Camino Seguro is split between assisting in the Volunteer office and working directly with the kids who attend their school. But let's back up a second.
Camino Seguro is a non-profit which operates educational programs in Guatemala City, in a very poor area near the city dump (where thousands of people work every day collecting other people's garbage to sell, and thereby make enough money to hopefully feed their families and not die in the mean time from the methane gas which hovers around the dump). Within Camino Seguro there are programs for every age group -- a nursery school for littl'uns, supplementary school programs for primary and secondary school kids, and literacy programs for adults. Compared to most any other educational programs in the country, Camino Seguro is a genius paradise. Not to say that their programs are perfect, but in country where most schools only function half a day (and never five days a week) in dilapidated buildings with unqualified teachers and bare-bones government support, the resources of Camino Seguro are nothing short of a blessing. The buildings are new and well maintained, the school functions Monday to Friday, all day, and the teachers (for the most part) are qualified and committed. There are usually a few dozen international volunteers at any point working in the programs, assisting teachers or other program staff.
Back to me. I got assigned to work in the afternoon with a particularly difficult class of teenagers, which makes my work a bit harder than those volunteers assigned to toddlers or jumpy elementary school kids, but also gives me the challenge I wanted. Working with teenagers is also helpful for my Spanish skills, including some great Guatemalan street slang. My work in the volunteer office is also fulfilling, given that it is that sort of work that more closely approximates my future jobs. Side note: I usually dislike it when writers use way more words than necessary to explain a thought, but when I do it, it's just fun -- my apologies. In the office I am helping my friend Yaelle organize stuff, improve the volunteer program and recruitment, and generally try and make her job easier. Mostly typing and mouse-clicking with some intermittent T-shirt folding (not my strong suit). Work life is...work life. The bus picks us up at 7:30am and drops us off after work around 5:30pm -- almost all the volunteers live in the safe zone of Antigua, about an hour's drive from the school in Guatemala City. Sarcasm: Commuting is fun!
This weekend I decided to lay low and soak up the first place I have stayed more than 5 nights in since I left California back in May. Did some Market-wandering, some pastry-eating, some laundry. Went out with a bunch of the other volunteers on Friday night, but it was a short night for me -- bars and clubs and expensive drinks with strangers: been there, done that more than enough. Call me a party-pooper. Go ahead. I don't mind.
Breakfast is beginning to call my name now, so this post is just about finished. Seems like my stomach needs often interrupt my blogging. Although to be fair, I didn't have much more to say. Antigua is filled with a lot of old churches which were partially destroyed by earthquakes but still completely beautiful. I am looking forward to a lot more fruit juices in the next few weeks. The closer I get to coming back home, the more I look forward to it. But trying make sure those sentiments don't lead me to miss out on more fun experiences here in Guatemala.
I don't have any more pictures and I won't apologize for it.
That's all, folks.
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2 comments:
No apologies needed -- just glad to have you back. Still struggling to figure out what the 'h' to do with your life, and also where to put the 'h' in a certain medico-gastric term, I see. All very charming, I'm sure. But not as charming as the town you're now ensconced within. I urge my Fellow Readers to fire up their Google Earths and spin on over to "Antigua, Guatemala", with the photos layers turned on. There are hundreds of beautiful shots -- not that we don't want Gabe's as a personalized supplement -- of the ruins, architecture, looming volcano, and dramatic post-colonial charm. I can't help but think that Our Boy lives in one of those picturesque, wisely one-storeyed "row houses".
Difficult teenagers? That's right up your alley.
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