Patience

     Patience is a virtue, the old saying goes.  And, while I have never possessed that virtue in great abundance, I have never needed more patience than here in Guatemala.

     In the 22 years I have spent in the 1st world I have grown accustomed to a certain standard, this standard often simply cannot be met in land of eternal spring.  I often find myself wanting commonplace USA things that are anything but commonplace here in Guatemala.  For instance, while digging a hole in the orange orchard I was craving a shovel whose handle doesn't snap in half when used to dig dirt, and when trying to build an above ground garden I wanted a hammer whose handle doesn't snap when used to remove a nail.  These tools, however, were nowhere to be found.  Sometimes I get a strong desire for constant quality electricity or internet or telephone service, and that desire often goes unquenched.  Once in a while I find myself feeling particularly selfish and want buses that leave on time, students who show up regularly to class, friends who arrive within 15 minutes of when we say we'll meet, and most of all, water that isn't full of bacteria that are trying to kill me slowly from the inside out. 

     However, I realize that, most of the time, that is just my United States upbringing clashing with my Guatemalan life.  The problem comes from the fact that in the United States there is a truly incredible and unmatchable level of efficiency.  I never realized it before, but back home everything seems to work.  Things work so well that it is shocking, alarming, and newsworthy if they do not work.  Roads are smooth, and if they are not, they are repaired, and if they are not someone writes a story about it in the newspaper.  Hospitals have medicine, and if they do not, they get it, and if they do not, someone writes a story about it in the newspaper.  When something slows the efficiency of our daily commute (whether it be an accident, snow, or some other event) they talk about it on the news because, even though it is fun to complain about the daily commute, it is shockingly rare that something so bad happens that people can't make it to work.  In the United States, a senator is suing a restaurant for $150,000 over an olive pit he found in a sandwich.  I have literally not eaten one tamal here in Guatemala that was not full of chicken bones.  The soup is even worse.   I remember when the Hog's Breath restaurant was under legal trouble for an E. Coli outbreak.  In Guatemala, I'm on a first name basis with E. Coli, Salmonella, and a handful of other bugs that live in every drop of tap water in this country.  While it sounds whiny and privileged, the fact of the matter is that as a United States citizen I am used to things working right, on time, and without problems.  That is just not the way things work here, and I have to exercise my patience on a regular basis because of it. 

     One particular facet of my volunteer experience here has had my patience doing laps every time I think about it.  It happens to the the Ciudad de Felicidad orphanage.  While I once had very high hopes for this place, I have experienced one disappointment after another there, and am honestly quite frustrated.  The first project to fail was the hospital.  The price tag on this project, coupled with the lagging economy, drove it straight into the ground.  After that disappointment I was looking for something a little easier.  When a friend suggested that I build a "huerto" (basically an above ground vegetable garden) and said he would supply vegetable seeds, I felt up to the task.  I asked the nuns if they would be able to care for the plants and utilize the vegetables, and they all gave an emphatic "SI."  The first phase of building went well.  Despite the heat of November, I got the wood cut to size and some holes dug.   I actually kind of enjoyed it, as this was something I had practiced a lot over the past few summers in the Boundary Waters.

     After the completion of this first phase, I was nearly done, all that was left was to connect the wood and drop it in the holes.  This is where the bad luck/lack of quality tools/the fact that Guatemala is quite a bit different than the United States caught up with me.  My first thought was that I could just get a battery powered screw gun, march on up to the orphanage, pound out the project and start growing vegetables.  Turns out screw guns haven't found their way to Esquipulas.  No problem, I could just get a drill, make holes, and screw the pieces together.  Then I found out that the climate of months of heavy soaking rains followed by long dry periods is bad for wood that is left out.   My boards were far to warped to screw together.  I actually cracked one board trying to screw it to another.  In fact, if you look careful enough at the picture above, you might notice that the right end of the board is laying flat while the right side is at about a 20 degree angle to the ground.  Also, the electricity at the orphanage was not reliable or robust enough to power the electric drill.
     With all of the civilized options used up, I decided to go caveman on the board and just pound it to submission with a hammer and nails. 

 Guess not.

     Right about this time I fell ill with stomach amoebas and couldn't work.  Once those were cleared up my 90 day stay in Guatemala ended and I had to go on a week long vacation.  When I finally returned to the orphanage I discovered that all of the nuns thought I had left for good and all of the wood had been reappointed to different projects.  Oh, I also found out that they had decided to uncover the 10' by 20' huerto they already had but forgot to tell me about and plant all the seeds I gave them in that.  By the end of this disaster project I made a pictorial diagram for Willian (from the library) explaining why the project has failed. 

     I took a break from the Ciudad de Felicidad after those failures, but the whole while I was thinking about my next project, solar power for the orphanage.  I did my research, figured out what would be needed to start, and even had about $3000 raised for me (thank you Sister Stephanie).  However, most of the things required for solar panels, even the correct batteries, are produced in the United States, and are very VERY expensive to ship to Guatemala.  While I am still looking for ways to work it out, this project has been moved to the back burners. 

After the death of the huerto I went for a walk to cool my head, and found something rather surprising.  It turns out that mine weren't the only projects to fail in the Barrio de Santa Ana. 

     This is an entire sub-development that had been planned in the area.  Streets, light poles, ditches for a sewage system.

 I would NOT want to be stuck here at night.

 And the tubing for the sewage system

     

     There were even old faded advertisements to potential builders in the area.  I first thought that maybe this was built recently and they had just delayed development, but then I found this.

 

     That is a tree growing out of a concrete.... something.  That's right, a tree. That is at least 2 years worth of growth.  So, in light of this, I do not feel so bad about failing with my projects at the orphanage.  While a garden may not be as hard to build as a city, it's not nearly as big a loss as I saw here in the ghost town. 

     I don't want to give the City of Joy a bad rap.  It is really a wonderful place and I have had some good times there as well.  Also, it is not my only source of frustration here in Guatemala.  Not by a long shot.  Allow me to elaborate with a story...

      I had made plans two weeks ago to visit a friend of mine who is volunteering near Lake Atitlán.  While that is slightly more than the distance from Oakdale to Hibbing (a 3 hour drive), I was told to expect a nine hour bus ride due to the mountains, bad roads, and constant stopping of buses.  I prepared myself for the ride, even picking out a few books from the library, and was ready to go.  however, the day I was supposed to leave, I became sick with stomach problems, no doubt due to one of the good friends I have listed above.  I put off the trip for another week and this time even watched what I ate the whole week to avoid potential problems.  Friday came again, and this time everything seemed to work out or me and the wind was at my back.  I caught a ride with the monastery's driver all the way to the capital, and found the parish driver from San Lucas Toliman in the capital and convinced him to give me a ride out that way.  I didn't have to take one bus!  I had a great time at Lake Atitlán which definitely is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and got a chance to visit Erin, a good friend since my days in Chile.

It was also really pretty there

 AND they have an alternative to microbuses!  They are just pickups that you stand up in the back of though...

     However, when I woke up Monday to come home I found that the breeze at my back all the way to the lake had not changed directions, and had become gale force (that means it was against me).  While I had set my alarm clock for a very comfortable 7:30, I found myself awake at 6:00 feeling like something wasn't right.  It turns out that the things that weren't right were my intestines, so I made my way to the bathroom (multiple times) to rid myself of the problem.  As always when you need to travel and have problems with... continence... the best bet is the pharmacist.  I made my way there and took some pills, but by the time they had taken effect, the morning round of buses had already left San Lucas.  So I waited.  And Waited.  And finally a chicken bus came which brought me to the capital without problems, I thought.  However, it dropped me off just outside the city at the center of transportation.  The Rutas Orientales station is in the center of the city.  That turned out to be a problem.  I took the bus into the city and it dropped me off at a plaza.  Even though streets are not at all well marked in Guatemala City I figured I could find my way home from a plaza.  After all, how many plazas can there be?  2 hours of wandering around later I found my way to the Rutas Orientales station.  It turns out there are a lot of plazas in the city, and the particular one I was in wasn't on my map.  The delays in San Lucas and the capital cost me the dream of being home in time for a nap before vespers I was still confident about making it back in time for vespers and dinner.  Then the bus broke down.  Then the bus broke down again.  Then the bus broke down a third time.  By the time I got home, the typical 5 hour ride had taken 7 and I hadn't eaten all day due to the stomach issues  was dealing with.  To make matters worse, every restaurant in town that was still open at 8:30 was packed because it was Valentine's day.  So I cut my losses and went to sleep.

      I have commented earlier on the very common phrase "primero Dios" or "God willing."  While I didn't quite understand it at the time, every day and every incident like the few I've mentioned above, I find myself coming closer and closer to understanding why that phrase is so common.   This Friday my second set of 90 days in Guatemala expire.  Saturday morning I will be headed to Costa Rica to spend a week on the beach with a good friend, Dave.  God willing.

 

The Winds of Change

     The Festival of "Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas" was a very active and fun time here at the monastery but it also signaled some big changes for the town of Esquipulas, and especially me and my work.  these changes were so profound and sweeping that everything after this week will henceforth (in this blog at least, but I'm trying to get it to catch on) be known as the Common Guatemalan Era. 
     The last few months I have been here, I have picked up work at the library, the City of Joy, the Library, and a few odd projects on the side for anyone who needs an English translator or someone to run to the Capital.  I picked up all of these jobs because I felt I was expected to do something, but mostly just to keep the boredom at bay and make myself feel useful.  I feel I should mention that when I say that I was expected to do something I use that term lightly:  As I've said before, that "something" that I was expected to do was go to prayers twice a day and maybe work.  If I felt like it.  However, the Monday after the festival was the first day of high school and grade school classes after the "summer" break, that means that I suddenly have a lot of work, work which has moved my other projects to the backburner.  My morning work has moved from working in the fields with Leonidas to full time Library duty with the increased number of students.  The change in the library is truly incredible.    Apparently the library I work at is the only complete one in Esquipulas due to the "government's refusal to put money into the East Side of the country," which means that students from all 5 of the high schools in town and both of the primary schools all come to our library, as well as anyone who needs documents photocopied.  That means the library has been almost continuously packed full for the last 2 weeks, forcing me to take on a more or less full time morning job there.  I even have a uniform!  It is nice to know that I am helping provide such a necessary service to the people of Esquipulas.  It is amazing to me that in a country with the second worst literacy rate in the Western Hemisphere libraries are so undervalued that there the nearest public one is an hour away (then again, that's where the nearest hospital is too...).  I also really enjoy the work there, even though it is exhausting, it is a wonderful way to practice my spanish and meet new people.  I've noticed that since the dawn of the CBE and the student rush at the library, every time I leave the basilica 3 or 4 people wave to me or call out my name or start conversations with me.  It's kind of fun being the only gringo in town!
     While the library keeps me busy in the morning, I am assisting with English classes at Colegio San Benito in the afternoons.  That has been a lot of fun and, while I don't get to practice Spanish as much, I'm still meeting a lot of new people and at least once a day I learn something about the English language that I didn't know.  Oh, and I have a uniform for the Colegio San Benito too.  I guess I'm kind of a big deal. 
    If I time it right I can usually swing by the library after classes right after they've finished cleaning, so I have gotten into the habit of spending what little free time I have everyday hanging out with my friends from the library.
     I finish off most days with my two English classes.  Sadly these were not immune to the change that was sweeping through my life here.  The first Wednesday of the CBE saw 15 new students drop into my comfortable class of 7-8, nearly tripling the size.

 Standing room only

     While I'm glad that more people have a desire to learn English and are taking advantage of my classes, I didn't plan on this, and it has really slowed down the class, much to the chagrin of my old students.  If I could do it all over again I would set up two or three classes with a start and end date throughout the year, allowing students to join without slowing the class down, but hindsight is 20/20 and we are moving on.  Plus, this next session is the Gerund, which is really easy so it is a nice time to catch up. 

     Now, I can hear you saying "Adam, all of that sounds like a lot of work, are you keeping up with your rest?"  Well, thank you for asking. As a matter of fact BOOOM I've been a little BAANG behind on sleep due to the POWWW fact that my usual half TING TING TIN hour nap after lunch has been CRASSSSHHHH taken over by another change moving through the monastery.  With the new CBE, the monks have decided that it is time to fix all of the cracks in the stucco walls.  That means workers pounding with hammers and chisels all day long right outside of my room.

I mean right outside my room.  That is my window right next to the man with the chisel.

The construction has more or less rendered my room unlivable from 8:00 am until 4:30 pm everyday.  It has been a little bit of a bummer, and has left me somewhat like a zombie wandering around the monastery in those first wee hours of the afternoon.  I have rescheduled my class schedule to allow for soccer every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, which has been a big help.  It's amazing how exercise, as opposed to making me more tired, gives me so much energy. 
     There is one last change here that I'd like to tell you about.  The Basilica has recently hired a new chef.  He comes from the Belizean Navy, where he picked up some truly incredible skills (almost superpowers as far as I can tell):  Cooking without black beans!  He only uses his strange powers occasionally so as to not frighten the monks with his bold and dangerous style, but his contributions to the monastery have reduced our bean consumption from 2-3 times every day (leaning more towards the 3) to 2-3 times a day (leaning more towards the 2).  That being said, tortillas are still a staple that is not to be challenged, surviving even when this revolutionary new chef decides to serve pizza.  I have really enjoyed the slightly changed diet, and my digestive tract has appreciated a lower quantity of beans however, this changing diet has turned out to be a bit of a double edged sword.  While he has let beans go to the wayside on various occasions, he has a certain affinity for liver.  Like, a twice a week affinity.  I hate liver.  Almost as much as I hate the Packers.
     By the way, I'll probably cry if they win the Superbowl.