Guatemala Day 3-6

I find Spanish both intriguing and frustrating at the same time. It's intriguing how much I can understand, but it's frustrating that I can't say what I want to say. I've only had 3 days of Spanish class, but since the first day, my teacher and I have been discussing politics (and how, despite everything, Guatemala and the US are in very similar situations), the effects of global warming, and Greek/Roman mythology (a point of common interest for me and my professor).

Our Spanish school, Sol Latino, has a very unique way of teaching - I'm not sure how much I like it. On the first day, my teacher spent a LOT of time writing in the different usages of ser and estar. We spent at least 1.5 hours on it, but honestly, we could have moved on in less than 20 minutes. As important as these basics are, I felt bored and I want to move faster and learn moreeeeeeeeee.

This is a doblada AKA the single greatest thing I've ever eaten in my life. I know I tend to exaggerate a lot, and this is one of those cases, but it's really really really yummy. I need to find this back in LA.

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On Tuesday, we had our first Somos Hermanos meeting where we got a little introduction to the historical background of Mayans/Guatemala and immigration trends in the USA as it relates to Guatemala. I won't bore you with hours-worth of lecture and discussion, but if you're interested, look up history on the United Fruit Company (did some really messed up things, now Chiquita Brands International).

My favorite part of this was discussing immigration, especially because of the current political atmosphere back at home. It's hard to imagine a time when we were much more open to immigrants, but apparently a LOT has changed. If anything, these changes in US immigration policy has only made the immigration "problem" (for lack of a better word) worse than it was, and much worse than it has to be. The rhetoric doesn't help - the fact that we call Central Americans "illegal aliens" but others "refugees"... They (and their situations) are not inherently different, but we make them seem bad. And then we institutionalize this idea that "immigrants are criminals" by making illegal entry a misdemeanor or a felony.

One thing I had never really thought about was the fact that so many Guatemalans (not sure about other Central American countries) who try to come to the USA are not native Spanish speakers. I always thought that, oh, if we integrate Spanish into our court systems and have Spanish-speaking public defenders, etc., it would at least help their situation; but in fact, that's not the case. A lot of the recent immigrants are indigenous people who speak one of 22 Mayan languages. The more you know, right?

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On Tuesday, we watched TWO movies: Harvest of Empire and ¡Salud! Cuban Doctors.

This movie was about USA intervention in Central America (Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador). It did get a little repetitive, but wow I've learned so much about all the really screwed up things the USA has done. We've torn down progressive, (actually) democratically-elected government leaders that were not good for certain US leaders' personal economic interests by calling them Communist; we've supported brutal dictatorships for our "best economic interests" (AKA to screw over a lot of people that we were supposed to be helping); started civil wars; covertly funded terrorist groups; exploited migrant workers (oh we still do that oops); and many of these things, more than once.

At the end of this movie, I was really really angry because I didn't know how else to feel. I was mad that I never learned about this in school (although it's not abnormal for the government not to teach things that make them look bad). I was mad that it happened. I was mad that I didn't know what I could do to fix it. I was mad that so-called "illegal aliens" are treated so inhumanely. I'm still angry.

To be quite honest, I was nodding off throughout this movie - that's not to say it's a bad film, we've just had a jam-packed schedule for the last couple of days. I'll just have to watch it when I get back! I did read some articles about it though and it's so interesting how much international work Cuban doctors do. It makes sense though. I remember reading about a lung cancer vaccine that was developed in Cuba and being surprised that they were so medically advanced.

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On Thursday, a comadrona, or traditional midwife, named Berta Juarez came and spoke with us about her work. She showed us all the different herbs that she uses to help women through the birthing process, as well as some of the unique cultural characteristics that are very important to the community she serves. One thing she does after the baby is born is put various things in its hand: money (to say, hey, you're in this world now, here's your money. Learn how to handle it), a pencil (to learn how to use this tool), and, for girls, a card of the loom (to learn how to use this tool as well). They also put salt/chili across the baby's lips to prevent him or her from saying bad words. I thought all these little things were so cute + interestingly, it's very similar to some of the traditional Korean things we do at a baby's first birthday party.

Part of the post-birth bath. The mother (Faith) is bathed with special soaps and herby water. The comadrona also uses a steamed herb to massage the mother's muscles and help her recover more quickly (i.e. Faith got slapped all over her body with a bunch of leaves)

Berta really seems to care about her job and the mothers she works with. The amount of care, compassion and competence she had made me wonder why I wouldn't choose to give birth with a comadrona if I were to ever have kids haha.

This class was especially interesting to me because traditional midwives were an integral part of my proposed solutions for improving maternal health in Nigeria (what I studied last year at Oxford). I'm glad that I got to see this demonstration and I hope to see something similar when it comes to Nigerian traditional midwives someday!

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After the comadrona demonstration, Elizabeth and I visited the cemetery nearby our house. It's kind of weird to say this, but it's a really beautiful place.

The graves are really colorful. This was along one end of the cemetery and it looks like it goes on forever!

Not only were there hundreds of Weeping Angels, there were also a few headless ones...

At the entrance of the cemetery it says: La memoria de los vivos hace la vida de los muertos

Every time we get home, three puppies come to greet us. This one is named Peluche (Teddy) :)

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At the end of this week, we were asked two reflection questions:

1. What do you want to take from this experience? How will you be in solidarity when you go back to the USA?
I think one of the most frustrating things about this trip is how helpless I feel. I'm learning about all these issues, but I don't know how to make things better, how to fix things. But I guess what I can do right now, is to be more cognizant of the differences and unique features of different Latino groups instead of clumping them all together. I also want to encourage my Latino students to talk about (and learn/teach) their family history and background. I also want to encourage discussion among my students from all different backgrounds about family history, immigration, tolerance, and all the other things we've been talking about the last few days.

2. What are your goals for this program?
First and foremost, I would like to improve my Spanish language skills, whether that means having a conversation with a complete stranger or just being content with the immense amount of progress I've already made (and am making).
Secondly, I want to leave Guatemala with the ability, confidence, and knowledge to be able to talk about the history, current situation, (but more importantly) culture, and people of Xela and Guatemala.