Catching up! First Build and some general info on HFHG

Alright, so by now i've settled in a nice little house with two other Habitat Field Coordinators, Ed & Collin.  Both just finished their stints with Habitat and are largely responsible for the quality of training that i've received.  Not to throw them under the bus, but if i screw up... it's on them.  Kristen is another trainier of mine, but that was a particularly unusual team, so i was instructed not to learn anything from that one, as it would not generalize.
So the house is in Antigua and undergoes a symphony of birds like i've never before heard.  Really, you can't imagine the volume and number of singers in this choir.   Feel free to hassle me about a video of it.   That would be really cool.  Ask me about anything really, i've never been a blogger before, so i might need counsel. 

First Build:
Ed and i picked up a group of peeps from the US (and an accidental Canadian) and showed them to the Builtmore Hotel in Guatemala City.  We had a little time to show them around and departed for San Marcos in the morning.  Upon our arrival, we had a welcome ceremony during which we met the affiliates (local Habitat staff that deals directly with families and builders), and the families themselves.  This was my debut as interpreter of the proceedings and i waited until the last word to embarrass myself with a little slip up.  For the record refleccion is quite obviously reflection, whereas refaccion (sounding very similar i might add) is a Guatemalan term for snack. 
Also worth noting is that when one of the women spoke, she got all emotional and i almost cried with her.  It was prettty tough to interpret with watery eyes and still get the message across.  


Habitat for Humanity Guatemala
This is probably a good point at which to explain the work of Habitat here and my role as Field Coordinator.  Habitat is not in the habit of giving away homes.  Above all, Habitat Guate facilitates home construction by affording credit to families (having dependents old or young), that are otherwise unable to qualify for a traditional loan from a bank.  There is actually interest, but that is kept low by donations and volunteerism.

90% of the 3,000 Habitat homes built annually do not receive volunteers to help with the build.  When there is a team, it typically speeds up the process by about a week.  That's from 22 days to 15.  THANKS VOLUNTEERS!!

So YES! i do get to build with volunteers.  No, that's not my job.  As FC, my role is to keep people safe and handle the logistics from the field.  As enthusiastic as i am about learning how to build block homes in Guatemala, i have to remember that facilitating the experience of the volunteers is why i'm here.  So i get to facilitate their relating to the Masons who are in charge of the build, their assistant(s) if they have any, & the families that will occupy the home.  It's really a privilege to be in such a position.  I wasn't a huge fan of medical interpreting because, although i really believe in it, i don't really enjoy not being present in the conversation.  Now, since relationships are the important part, and technical transmission of information is only a small part, i'm really diggin' it!!

There are other fun facts about HFHG that i'll try to sparse out so that you remain entertained, yet more informed. 


Back to build #1
So, we had a good nights sleep and got to work in the morning.  This is build day one in humid San Marcos, just to bring you back to speed.  Maybe i'll try to stay on one topic in the future, and maybe i'll interject tangentially whereby introducing the greatest new writing style to sweep through the literary circuit.  
So day one, we didn't get much building done due to the rain.  It was moving big stones that form the foundation with the help of a little cement, and that can get dangerous once feet start to slip in the mud while we stride wide to get across the trenches.
So we played futbol with the Habitat affiliate staff.  pretty fun and everyone played.  Even the elders of the group showed their spirit.  Soccer in the rain turned out to be a little safer than muddy building.  Though i gotta recognize that the kids who followed us on the field seemed infinitely more skilled than the rest of us.


Day #2
Tarps are a good way to ensure that people get to do what they've payed a bunch and traveled from quite a distance to do.  Really makes us look funny in the eyes of  the guys that build here year round.  We thought that maybe they used the rain to take a needed break from the back-breaking, muscle-straining work.   So, we went back to the hotel for hot showers followed by hot coffee.  The hotel staff at Hotel Asturias even ignited a fire in the dining room to dry our gloves. 

Day #3
-Here's where i learning how unprepared i was in the area of packing.  Putting on cold wet pants in the morning was not how i wanted to follow up my hot shower.  Guess i should have secured some rain pants for this year.  Well, let's see how early rainy season starts next year.  Maybe that was a fluke.


Not really gonna do each day.  But it was probably 5 or 6 when i found out the Mason and his assistants had no hot showers to greet them at home.  Also, the stone homes here don't hold in any heat.  So yeah, it was a pretty tough week for me to put on cold wet pants in the morning.  Imagine what it was like to do that without a hot shower.  And yeah, no dry work pants, cause there's just one pair.  Oh yeah, and the wet tennis shoes that i used each day, were just like the ones that the 16 & 18 year old assistants wore as they out performed the best of us daily.  Wow! They sure did pick up some massive stones!  I would say for little guys, but these little guys picked up stones the size of 3 bowling balls and half again as heavy.  That would be impressive for a big guy.

Don Jacinto was the Mason on this job.  Slow to warm up, but a warm and funny man.  His son's name escapes me right now, and Benjamin was the 18 year old.  Benjamin was a subtle wordsmith that would slip in jokes so slightly that it took me a while to realize that it was intentional.

Loqui was the Hotel Manager, Eddie was also on staff, and i'm including these names kinda just to remind myself when i return.  Hope you enjoyed reading.

From the Beginning

This water is so good!  My housemates astutely invested in a big bucket that has clay lining in it.  It's called Ecofiltro.  Guatemalans invented it to filter tap water for tasty potable H2O.  Much more economical and manageable than buying large water-cooler refills.  We save the environment in transport and save the Qs or $ depending on whether you're pulling from savings or the Habitat Stipend. 

Courtney and i landed Sept. 12th and traveled to Antigua for the night.  Nothing crazy in our travels other than functioning 2 hours off local time for a while.  It's not that we're intellectually challenged, just that we didn't really give it much thought due to the vast array of novelties that kept us from considering why it was so dark at 6am or whatever. 

So we managed to hit Quetzaltenango (known as Xela, pronounced Shalya, by the locals), Panajachel, San Marcos, Antigua, Solola, Encuentros, and Guatemala City.  Xela is well revered by the locals and travelers for being a beautiful place with a nice standard of living.  There are lots of Spanish language schools and they have the biggest Independence Day celebration in the country.  Oh, did i mention that we were there for that by chance?  Yeah, but if you're unknowingly working on Miami time, you might go to bed at like 8pm and miss the midnight fireworks.  Trevor will remember that for next year. 
So, we still got to see plenty of the 5 hour parade that spans an incredible distance of several towns.  What planning must go into that!  At the end was a carnival-like fairground that Courtney and i only saw from a distance.  We did, however, enjoy the markets that span the entire parade line.  You name it, it's for sale.  Oh, and if you're not sure about your weight, it'll only cost you Q1 to find out.  Just some old school industrial scales in the middle of the road to satisfy that curiosity.  Quetzal is the currencey here.  We get 8 for  $1 US.  That makes a Q about $0.12.  Cool at first, but then i'm reminded that i rake in the Guatemalan minimum wage each month.  Good thing i have some savings.   Too bad most locals aren't so lucky.  Many don't even get that.  Out of work of selling crafts on the streets doesn't qualify you.  So, i haggle in the market with a certain sense of my privilege.  It won't fix things to overpay for avocados, but i sure do feel like i'm getting over on someone.

Relax

So, i've just experienced the 3rd waking in "my bed" since Courtney and i landed in Guate Sept. 12th.  Honestly, the beds on the road are physically more comfortable, but after nearly a month straight of traveling and organizing the needs of others while figuring so much out for myself, left me wanting a little taste of home. 
Still, what a job!!  How many people get to meet so many others-centered folks while serving people so grateful, and all the while seeing new parts of the world?  We truly are the fortunate ones! 
So i picked a studious background for this blog of mine, but don't think the tone will be just that.  Photos will be in stark contrast and well, you must have known before stumbling upon this link that i am anything but mundane. 
Tomorrow will be a relaxing day of cleaning and blogging if my plans hold up.  I hope to fill you in on the details and epiphanies that i have the good fortune to stumble upon in my time here.  There is so much to learn, and the more i learn, the more this proves true.  Another great thing about traveling with such obviously good-hearted volunteers, is that their learning so often becomes mine.  People love to bounce new awakenings off each other, so we share our individual experiences and strokes of enlightenment with one another. 
Thanks for all the times you've shared such with me.  I hope to return the favor.
L,
~c