Peanut butter and the President

Hey all! It’s about time hey? Overall things have been on the upward climb. Although things at work move a lot slower and seemingly unplanned in my North American perspective, I am finding things to do that are not only occupying my time but hopefully giving back to the community as well. For example, as I have been hearing a lot about malnutrition and lack of work, I thought…I wonder if it would be possible to grow peanuts in the climate here and then teach the families to make peanut butter from them, for consumption but also to sell. Unfortunately my research revealed that the growing part won’t work here, and hot houses are really expensive. But that doesn’t mean we can’t buy peanuts in the market and make them into peanut butter for fun! So that’s exactly what we did. I went and bought two pounds of peanuts and my host mom and sister helped me make peanut butter. We first used the blender then the tool they use to grind corn into flour. It was fun…but the peanut butter was pretty gross. To get the blender to work we added oil. That was our mistake. But, we aren’t discouraged and we are going to try again sometime. It can’t be that hard right? Ha!
I have also started a story project where I’m interviewing community members and then writing their stories. Who knows what will come of it but in the meantime it’s helping me to get to know individuals as well as the larger picture of what it means to live here in the Ixil Triangle. It’s fun and kinda makes me feel like a journalist. I’m diggin’ it.
Speaking of feeling like a journalist, this past weekend was the inauguration of a government program called Escuelas Abiertas here in Nebaj. Brief summary of the program, it is providing extracurricular activities free of charge for young people to enjoy on Saturdays and Sundays. Examples of the activities are music, English, computation, soccer, hand crafts, dance, etc. The association that I work for (Q’Anil) helped to coordinate finding the teachers for the workshops so we were a part of the inauguration. Being the only one with a camera, since the associations is out of commission, I was asked to take pictures. I agreed…then was also informed that the president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, would be coming to make a speech so I should be sure to get some “money shots.” No big deal. “Cool,” I thought…“I won’t be able to get anywhere near the man to shoot anything worthwhile…but I’ll play photographer.” Then before I knew it I was given free range to go anywhere and take pictures up close and personal; no security checks or anything of the sort; no official press pass; just my camera. At this point I really felt official. I think it would be fun to be a photographer…if only I knew how to actually use my camera beyond the automatic settings. I did get some good shots though. 
I’m not sure why, but recently I have also been thinking about what I want to be when I grow up…or maybe just what I want to do next. Sometimes I wonder if it is a defense mechanism that kicks in when I’m not feeling the best about being here, like an escape plan. Sometimes I feel like I just got here so it is silly to be thinking about my next steps. Sometimes I feel it’s timely considering grad school applications are usually due in January sometime. None the less, it has been something that has kept me up a couple nights these past few weeks. At this point I am not taking any serious steps but I have been throwing around some options. The problem is, none of the options seem any better than the other…and there are a lot of them. Oh boy…grad school or not? If so…grad school for social work? Public health? Teaching English as a foreign language? On the east coast or west coast? Big city or small town? Public university or private…or do I just want get some sweet waitressing job on the beach somewhere? Who knows? Any suggestions??? I’d be totally cool if the Big Man upstairs chimed in. I just got done reading Take This Bread by Sara Miles and it is a really cool story about this woman’s faith journey from non-believer to believer, through taking communion (in the broadest of terms). I was a little skeptical and thought it sounded a bit, shall I say “woo woo,” but what an extraordinary and honest story it was about being open to what’s next and taking steps that aren’t always expected, the easiest, or calculated and, not only keeping the faith all the while, but growing tremendously in it. This has been comforting for me as I have felt discouraged at times, like my time could be used better somewhere else, doing something else. It has also been a gentle reminder about how things just seem to happen in their own time…hmm. Patience is not my strong suit…but maybe it’s my challenge (or one of my challenges) for this year.
Anyway…I hope this oh-so-very-impersonal blog post somehow magically transmits personal hugs and cheek kisses to each and every one of you. Guatemala has been great but life just isn’t the same without human contact with the ones ya love. I’ll take what I can get though…and this will just have to do… Until next time queridos.