Heading to Nicaragua via Washington DC!!!! Finally

We are waiting in the Salt Lake City airport for our flight to Washington DC. 

We got up at 4 am to be on time for our 6:30 flight out of Reno - when our shuttle was just a minute away I got a call that our plane was delayed, too late to turn back for a little more shut-eye; we'd already checked out.

Our flight was changed to around noon, and our arrival in DC was changed from 4 pm to after 11 pm.  We're continuing to get patience and flexibility training as we continue our Peace Corps journey.

Tomorrow we have training in DC from noon to 7 pm tomorrow, after having breakfast with my second cousin Nicole, who recently served in Peace Corps (PC) in Ghana.

Not much time here and have been having trouble getting internet with any speed to it, so that's all for now.

We will be picked up at 2:30 am on Wednesday from our DC hotel, along with the rest of the folks in our PC Nicaragua group - at least 23 folks, maybe more.

More later....not sure how much later....depends on internet access and time.

Anita

Belize and Back

We needed to renew our visas and decided to make a little trip out of it - so we took the long and winding road to Belize came back to Guatemala (Flores) yesterday evening, and will go to Guatemala City by bus early in the morning, and on to Antigua.  Overnight, then return to Quetzaltenango on a shuttle bus.

Loooong time since the last post.  Sorry.  We've mostly gotten into a routine in Quetzaltenango (Xela) Guatemala.  I've posted more often on Facebook, but I realize some of you aren't on Facebook, so here's a brief update of our activities:

Warren & I were some of the first to be nominated for Peace Corps Nicaragua August 2014 but now we have a Facebook group of 25!  Not all are scheduled to go then - a few are currently there, or are returned volunteers.  The group is split between Environment Education folks (which we are) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), with the majority being TEFL.  Looks like a great bunch of people - we are by far the elders of the group....  We won't know until around mid-July where we will meet for a day in the U.S. for "staging" - and the date isn't fixed until then, either, but it will probably be August 12 and may be in Miami or Washington D.C.  That's when we get our Peace Corps passports and briefings and get to meet our group in person.

Meanwhile, we are continuing to volunteer as tutors in Xela - English, Science, and Math (including the Mayan numbering system, which is based on 20 instead of 10 - they apparently used their fingers AND their toes.)  I love it!  Always good to learn new things.

The kids we tutor asked Angie, the non-profit director and mi hermanita,  if I would be around for Mother's Day - they said that I am like a caring mother to them and they wanted to recognize me on Mother's Day.  How sweet!  We were on our Belize trip at the time, but we will probably do something when we return, plus go out with Angie's mom to celebrate with her.

I will put a few photos on this post - hope,to post more in the fairly near future.  It's easier for me to do on Facebook or Google+, so if you want more frequent updates and are on one of those, let me know.

Here are a few of many photos from Belize.  The snorkeling ones need to be processed because of the difficulty with the reds, so those will mostly come later.

Some from our kayaking adventures on the Sittee River - Hopkins, Belize - Hopkins is on the coast, south of Doringa, which is south of Belize City:

Warren, aka Jose, aka Chepe

View from Curve Bar, Sittee River

Patrick - hangs out near the Curve Bar

Sherese, Curve Bar, who provided us refreshing drinks, like this lemon grass one

Mangos hanging over the river

Blue Land Crab (Cardisoma guanhum)? burrows - this is the "left side" of the "crab condo"

Blue Land Crab (Cardisoma guanhum)? burrows - this is the "right side" of the "crab condo"

Ringed Kingfisher (about 15 inches long beak tip to tail tip) - showing the tail

Ringed Kingfisher - showing the breast

Pygmy kingfisher - about 5 inches long (beak tip to tail tip)

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

 I had to put a spider in - don't know what it is yet.....but it's a beauty  - look at the fuzzy parts on the legs!  ~2.5"

OKAY, THAT'S ALL FOR NOW - don't know how long my internet connection will hold...

Back in Xela - and Medically Cleared by Peace Corps!

Hola!

We returned to Guatemala March 20 after about two weeks in Carson City, NV doing Peace Corps-required medical/dental/vision tests and about a week in Sutter, CA visiting family.

We just heard  that all that poking, prodding, peering, blood-letting, etc. for medical clearance paid off.  WE JUST GOT FINAL MEDICAL CLEARANCE FROM PEACE CORPS!  Which means there's nothing we know of in the way for us leaving for Nicaragua mid-August 2014 for 27 months....unless there are coups or big natural disasters, etc.

Places we plan to visit during our time in the States after we return mid-July (not in this order):  Carson City Nevada; Sutter, California; Seattle and Port Townsend, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, where I will attend my 45th!!! high school reunion and visit family & friends. 

August 11 or 12 are the Peace Corps' projected dates for us being flown out of Reno to an as yet unspecified city in the U.S., where we do "staging" - receiving our Peace Corps passports, meeting our "cohort" of other folks going to Nicaragua at the same time (Nica 64 is our cohort number), photo ops, and whatever else is planned. 

We leave the next day for our 3-month training in-country somewhere near Managua, Nicaragua.  Warren and I will be living with separate host families during the training.  We don't know yet exactly where we'll be assigned, except that it is rural.  They will assess us during training to decide what's the best match.

Warren & I will be assigned to the same host family in our new location.  We are assigned as Environmental Education Promoters, and will work with local elementary schools, assisting teachers with Env. Ed. programs, and looking at also developing programs with the community.

So, many unknowns, but that's what makes an adventure, isn't it?

If you can't use the comments feature on the blog, please feel free to email us with any comments so we know that you are out there looking at this.  Also, since my posts are sporadic, there is a place to sign up to get email notifications.  Thanks!

Will look for pictures to post later.

Halloween, etc.

We've been very busy.  I've taken lots of pictures (no surprises there) but will need to take time to sort through and post some.  Maybe I'll post some Halloween ones below.  Here's a little blurb that Warren wrote in an email that I thought would give you a bit of an idea of our activities:

Warren writes:

My Spanish is coming along and we are enjoying our time teaching math and English to 16 plus or minus students ranging in age from 6 to 18.  We never seem to have much free time, since it takes longer to do simple things like shopping and getting across town.  We'll travel to Panajachel next week (a town about 2 hours away, on Lake Atitlan) to check out some schools where there could be teaching opportunities.  We'll also spend a couple of days on a nature preserve (Los Tarrales)  for some time off. http://www.tarrales.com/

Since we arrived in September, we have been in the peak of the rainy season.  The rains are coming to an end now.  Flowers are blooming and butterflies are coming out, kind of like spring and winter combined.  Nights are getting colder with the absence of cloud cover and the sun moving further south.  Day time temperatures are still warm and will get warmer, but it cools off quickly and will drop close to freezing in December and January.  Not a big deal, but nobody here has heat (including our apartment), so mornings are a challenge to dislodge Anita from bed.

We will be returning to the U.S. sometime in the spring, depending how plans develop.  We have a Peace Corps assignment for Nicaragua that begins Aug.  12, but we will need to get physicals several months before.  I also need to do taxes and don't really feel up to the challenge of doing them here.  So, we're looking at a possible trip "home" in March.   We may also change our minds on Peace Corps if a teaching job looks likely here in Guatemala.  Lots of ifs and buts at this time, but we are getting used to being flexible.

Here are some images:

Panajachel, Lake Atitlan (images from the internet):

 


Here are some images from Halloween in Xela:

Couple of Baristas at &Cafe (good Chai Tea there)

Warren being bewitched by a barrista

Another friendly barista offering a bite with the Chai.....

&Cafe - kids hanging around

McDonalds crew

Halloween is not big in Guatemala, but there are "Gringo hangouts" where you're more likely to see something, and it seems to be catching on with some youth.

Xela in the Morning

Warren writes:

Some have asked “Do you miss Nevada”.  Mostly I miss the spaciousness.  Xela is a big city and only in the early mornings do I find some of the spaciousness that I enjoyed in Nevada.  Before most people leave home, without the noise and danger of cars and trucks, I can walk far enough to escape the narrow streets and building against building.

You have to work to find space.  Get up early, walk rough streets paved with stones that seem quaint when you first arrive.

 People here have strong ankles.  Garbage is stacked at corners.  Some days men toss it into trucks, some days stray dogs tear the bags and pick through it.  Dogs here are different, more like coyotes, but their prey is garbage.  Most dogs avoid looking at you, constantly afraid.  Others seem to look at you and search for weakness.  If you stumble, they might just take a bite.  They have strayed far from domesticity. 

Finally, I can see the mountains that surround the city, reminding me of Nevada, but a green Nevada with cloaks of forest. 

But, the clean air of morning, like the quiet, doesn’t last.  Traffic noise slowly builds, engines belch out smoke, and people crowd the streets.  By 8 a.m., any semblance of spaciousness is gone. Vibrant colors of fruit and women’s dresses replace the grays and browns of early morning.  You have to be more vigilant, avoid cars and buses and bump lightly into fellow pedestrians.  Your focus becomes close, distance is less important, and the space of early morning is filled.

Just STARTING to get busy.....

WE'RE GOING TO NICARAGUA!!!!

We got our Peace Corps invitation today - mid-August 2014, Nicaragua!  Environmental Education.  Pretty excited.  We like that it's not until August - we've got plenty on our plates here in Guatemala.  Warren spent one month, and I spent 3 months in Nicaragua in 2011 - as math, science, and English tutors.

Just doing a quick note - time for bed.  Spanish class (one-on-one, 4 hours) in the morning, and then a field trip in the afternoon.  Then I'll need to read through the PC paperwork.

We got a private lesson in Guatemalan sign language today (LSG)!  Pretty cool!

YES, WE ARE ALIVE AND WELL!

Many of you have probably been wondering if we've dropped off the face of the earth, or, if not....what the heck are we doing?  There is so much to say, but we've been pretty busy, plus we both have had colds, first Anita, then Warren.  So.....this is to give you a brief rundown and a few photos until we have more time (will that happen....?).

We took a red-eye flight to Guatemala Thursday, September 5, leaving Reno at a little after 5 pm, and arriving about 11:30 a.m. in Guatemala City, where we were picked up at the airport by our very good friend Angie, who is Guatemalan.  We went to Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela or Xelaju, it's Quiche name), via Antigua.  We didn't have much time in Antigua, but it was nice to see a familiar place.

We stayed with Angie at her parents' house until Monday morning (Sept 9), when we headed to La Union, the very small village where we went in 2013 to provide water filters for every family, and where our team and locals worked to roof a few school buildings and finish a school room.  These were the priorities that La Union had picked.  Now we were returning to supply filters again, this time more permanent ones now that the technology had improved.  At the end of this post, I will post something that Warren wrote about the experience.

Oh, and there was a 6.5 or so earthquake as we were driving to Xela, but we didn't really feel it since we were on the road.  Those of you who have been here know what the roads are like, and why we wouldn't have felt the earthquake!  lol  Actually, there was not extensive damage around the earthquake, but as usual, there were some mudslides and blocked roads.

On the way to La Union, we stopped in Coatepeque, the closest city to the the village.  We stopped to see a family that we have been sponsoring.  Their daughter, Evelyn, is the main reason we have become so attached to Guatemala.  We met her in 2008 during a medical clinic, and her father asked for help for her feet - she had clubfeet - both of them, and walked on the tops of her feet (maybe photos later...I'll have to see if I have them with me).  Long story short....through the internet I was able to find a nonsurgical treatment, the Ponsetti Method, and she was successfully treated in early 2008, and now can wear shoes.  Her family has become like our family.  Maybe more about the family later, but they are doing much better, better nutrition, and the kids prefer living in Coatepeque to living in La Union.

Our friend Angie has started a program with some city kids from Xela who have had some very hard lives.  We so admire what she has done and continues to do.  Sooooooo, we are helping with tutoring math and English here in Xela, and have rented an apartment for a month.  Looks like we might make it our home base during the at least 3 months that we'll be in Guatemala.  No word yet from Peace Corps, so we might be staying even longer.  This is my 7th trip to Guatemala, and Warren's 5th, and it is dear to our hearts - such wonderful people.

We are both taking Spanish lessons in the morning - about a block from our apartment.  It is four hours per day, one-on-one with a teacher.  We've got one week in so far, but we can see a difference.  Guatemala is a great place to learn Spanish.

We may go with Angie to Belize in a few weeks....maybe for a week....and do some snorkeling.  The kids in the program will have finished their final exams by then, so that will be a good time.

Weather?  Rain, lots of it.  September and October are some of the rainiest months.  Warren looked it up - average of about eighty inches - about 10 times in one month what Nevada gets in a year.  I no longer have lizard-skin and cracked feet, but I don't know how long before they get moldy instead!  lol

I found some people who have been involved with Guatemalan Sign Language (LSG) and I found a website with videos of some of the signs, so I'm learning some......

Some people have said they have tried to comment but haven't been able to....I have the options set up so that people can comment, but maybe you need to be a Google user.  We would LOVE to hear from you guys, so if you can't comment, please let me know and instead send us an email at aeshaul@gmail.com  ALSO, if you subscribe (see the right-hand column)you will get an email when I finally update the blog.

Anita

Here's Warren's comments on our visit to La Union:

"We visited La Union and delivered the last batch of water filters. If we do any more at the village, it will have to be a more permanent solution. 

The village is a special problem because all of the land is owned by one person (except land that is pretty much a cliff that he sold to some poor folks.)  The owner pretty much decides the fate of the several hundred residents since they all work on the coffee plantation and they don't own enough land to grow food for themselves.  The owner controls wages and what can be built (water systems, health centers, etc.)  Wages are barely enough for the families to survive and many men leave during the off season to find work elsewhere.  The road and transportation are so bad that traveling in and out daily is an impossibility.  (The owner, however, visits once a week by helicopter.)  The schools also suffer because the teachers don't live in the village, so when the weather gets bad (and the road becomes even less passable), school is cancelled.  Anyway, the situation makes it difficult to improve living conditions that the villagers will be able to sustain - a result of the feudal land system that is relatively common throughout much of Guatemala.

We are looking forward to our stay here and hope to be volunteering on some project or other.  The people are wonderful and we have been welcomed into the family of our friend Angie.  They include us for meals, family celebrations, church, etc."

Evelyn's family in 2009 - her baby brother is on her older sister's back.  Evelyn is in casts for the club foot treatment, almost complete at this point

2013 - You can see how much the kids have grown!  That's Evelyn next to me, in front.   The older 3 kids are all in school now, doing very well.

Taking filters from Coatepeque to La Union:

THANKS FROM ALL THE RECIPIENTS TO THE DONORS....MOST HAD TO WORK PICKING COFFEE AT THE TIME WE WERE THERE, BUT WE NEEDED TO LEAVE BEFORE THE ROADS GOT TOO SLICK TO GET DOWN.