Saturday, February 20, 2010

Guatemalan Janice

The day before yesterday, my friend, the contadora, and I went to get manicures. Living the high life, I guess. The teachers at our school decided to do a Secret Santa but for Valentine's Day and I picked my friend's name out of a little plastic bag. I was happy too because what the hell do you get a Guatemalan man or woman. I am not a fan of cheap gifts. The set amount was $6 which is A LOT here but after going to at least 15 stores, I realized that it's really not that much because any gift worth giving was way more expensive. I wasn't about to give a stuffed teddy bear or a box of chocolates, nor did I want to give her something for the kitchen. She's not really a traditional Guatemalan woman anyway. She doesn't make tortillas everyday. She isn't in charge of the cleaning and her husband helps her take care of their 3 boys. Nonetheless, like most or all Guatemalan women, she is overworked. Who wouldn't want a manicure? I've never had one so I didn't know what it would be like but I assumed it had to be enjoyable. I was having doubts though because flashes of Paula Abdul were racing through my mind and how she tried to sue her beauty salon for, what?, making her nails fungus-y. Hahaha. Of all the things to go and start a revolution for...sterilizing beauty utensils. Whatever. It's important I guess. I got tired of going to so many stores so I made my friend a card and wrote, "Go to this place to get your V-Day gift." She was pretty damn surprised so that was good. I couldn't have lived with myself if I gave her a set of spatulas. A week later she convinces me to go with her. Just like teenage girls that can't do things alone for the first time. So I went but not before getting my caffeine fix at the Museo Cafe, a glorious establishment in the heart of Huehue. Mmmmm. We make our way to the Rotonda where Evolution Spa is located, which is apparently run by a lady that lived in Chicago for many years. I'll have to confirm because I've had people tell me that they have relatives in Chicago and it ends up being Iowa. Sorry folks, but it's definitely not the same. A slim beauty leads us upstairs and starts working her magic on my friend. This lady was so friendly but had a very bizarre personality. Her name was Veronica but she made us call her Vero. And she had a laugh that was out of this world. A la Janice from Friends. A Guatemalan Janice if you will. I can't recall everything she was saying but she was ripping on Mexicans' mustaches and for treating Guatemalans poorly. Then she started to say that she was going to file down my friend's nails until you could see the bone. All this was said in a very light-hearted way....but damn, how morbid. All in all, this lovely experience lasted 3 hours! It was fun. The time went by fast and I also got a manicure (my first time ever in all my 24.5 years of existence). Only problem was the girl who I got, sucked at painting nails (she was the sister of the owner). When I went home I took off the nailpolish and painted them clear. That's how I like them. Clean and simple. We almost missed the bus back home and my friend's husband threatened to lock her out of the house. False promises though.

Monday, February 15, 2010

SPA in Chimu

I have a student named Emelia that always lights up my days. This is the student I took to the Encuentro Juvenil. She's one of the top students in the school. She's a bit older than the other students. I'm not sure if she started school late or flunked at some point in primaria. Everytime I see her she gives me this huge hug or pokes my stomach and grabs my hand. Today she came up to me and we started talking about proyects for our school. This is another thing that sets her apart. Ever since we went to the Encuentro Juvenil, she has it transfixed that we have to do something about the garbage problem in Huehue. We've had to postpone any kind of activities because of the big problem with the mayor and the garbage. Oscar the Grouch, why did you have to screw everything up so badly? Lining our streets with trash. Baby diapers. Orange peels. Tamale leaves. We wanted to put up garbage cans in the community and signs with thought-provoking messages. But no one was picking up the garbage for months so it was useless to organize clean-up days, make garbage cans and paint signs if the garbage was just gonna overflow and pile up next to the garbage cans. Recently the EU with the help of some government agency put trash bins all over the casco urbano. A nice little duo of organic and inorganic. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if they were supposed to capacitar people in what the differences are. Because if you run into one of these in Huehue you'll see that people are using them but are putting the trash in whichever bin is closest. Today I went to lunch at my friend's house and her husband, our town's carpenter, started suggesting we do a project to clean up the community. There is a clear need for it. We are divided by the Interamerican Highway. People driving by fling out their garbage, making our town its new home. I've never been super proactive about the environment. I rather try to build a community center to bring this town together. Even though everyone in my town are the descendants of 3 main families, there's a lot of division. They need some conflict-res and team-building charlas. Too much division over creencias religiosas and infidelity. I fantasize about a small building with a computer room, a library and a salon. Tables for students to do their homework. To spend time together in a positive and safe setting. But there's no time. Unless...I extend. If we were to do this garbage project though, we'd need a SPA grant. There needs to be a community organization in charge of the project and the PCV is just there for apoyo. So I wouldn't be able to say...let's do this. But rather, I'd have to see what their needs are and what will actually benefit the community, principally the youth. And, will it work. In the words of Tim Gunn, "make it work." Gotta make it work. Gotta be sustainable. Or else, when its all over... nothing was done.