Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Deep Thoughts by Carey Cooper

Sometimes learning a new language is like going to therapy. For example, as Jay already pointed out, we frequently rely on about ten verbs when communicating with our Spanish-speaking neighbors and practicing with one another. Well, I realized this past week that I may know ten verbs, but I use the same three over and over again. They are necesitar, deber, and tener que, and here's how I used them today.

Necesito estudiar mas. (I need to study more.)
Debo ir a la iglesia esta semana. (I should go to church this week.)
Tengo que terminar este articulo. (I have to finish this article.)

Now I recognize that these verbs will always be part of my vocabulary, but I would like them to be a bit more balanced with another verb: querer (to want). And perhaps more importantly, I should -- drat! Let me start over. I want to better balance my use of first person ("I") with other personal pronouns (you, she, they). :)

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Press "2" for English? Por Favor!

Carey and I have been attending Spanish classes here in Pana just about everyday now since we arrived in Guatemala. During that time we've experienced quite a range of emotions about our ability. On some days, we feel supremely confident - speaking nothing but Spanish to each other and those we meet in the market and in our neighborhood, and on other days I feel like crying because I couldn't explain to the guy on the phone in Spanish that 1) I wanted my pizza delivered because it was raining, and 2) no, I don't have a street address for you because I live on a street without a name! (Proof that God exists: the pizza somehow arrived, much to our surprise, later that night).
Being immersed in a new language has me thinking about the ways in which we help our "neighbors" today. We finally got a cell phone yesterday, and I can't tell you how difficult it was to figure out if I had voicemail on it or not (let alone how to access it if I did). I called the cell company's "Servicio" line to see if I could get some help, and to be perfectly honest I was (naively) expecting there to be a "Push 2 for English" prompt during the call. But there wasn't! I listened to the Spanish-speaking computer lady about 5-6 times before hanging up. Hmmm. It was obvious I was on my own.
Without getting into a political discussion...it seems that different countries try to reach-out to their neighbors in different ways. Most U.S. companies include a "Empuje 2 para Espanol" prompt during customer service calls, and I've found that most Guatemaltecans are happy to go out of their way to help me learn their language and manage in their country day-to-day, even though I do only have about 10 or so verbs - mostly conjugated incorrectly - at my disposal. Maybe a big part of being neighborly in our world today has to do with finding patience for and doing our best to understand those who are trying to make it in our "neck of the woods."
I probably could have made this blog about one sentence, because what I really wanted to say is...this is a really good experience for us and we're learning lots about our neighbors and, in the process, ourselves.
Thus is the life of two Spanglish-speaking gringos in Latin America : )
Peace,
Jay

ps. Carey and I have a little TV in our apartment and can pick-up a station that plays old American sitcoms and comedies - all dubbed in Spanish! Needless to say, we watch 'Alf' in Espanol most week nights and our language-skills have improved vastly!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Deep Thoughts by Carey Cooper

Why is it so difficult to step outside our comfort zone? I've been to the mercado (where we buy a lot of our food, and all our fruits and vegetables) twice in the past week, and although I find it a beautiful and exciting place, I can't help but feel the need to flee the scene! What exactly am I afraid of? I'm not sure, but probably something like this... I walk up to a woman in the market and intend to ask, "Cuanta cuesta?" to inquire about the cost of a vegetable. But instead, I ask something really offensive. And suddenly, the entire market goes quiet and everyone turns to stare at me. Then, one of two things happens. Either all the Mayan women become enraged and attack me OR they fall on the floor laughing. Ridiculous? Definitely. But I'm pretty sure these are the things I fear -- danger and humiliation. And possibly, these are things that kept me from living outside my comfort zone in the US.

P.S. The absense of photos of me on the previous blog has nothing to do with face soap. (This time anyway.)

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Introducing...the Clinic & School!

On Tuesday Carey and I were able to make our first visit to the village of Camanchaj and what will be our new place of work for the next 1-2 years. The brand-spanking-new preschool looked ready to go for lots of five and six year-old kids come January and the clinic was full of patients!
Salud y Paz by the Numbers:
1 Preschool (in Camanchaj)
Will open in January 2009
First class of children will be around 20
Students provided 3 meals a day, 5 days a week
4 Clinics (one in Camanchaj, the other 3 spread throughout the lower half of Guatemala)
Each with:
2 Operating Rooms
1 fully-stocked pharmacy and lab
Approximately 75 patients (indigenous Mayans) a day receive medical and/or dental care
2 More "hopeful" clinics to be built in the near future

Here's the clinic in Camanchaj (nearest "big" city is Chichicastenango)

Here's the new Susanna Wesley Preschool (that's our boss Phil in front of it).
If everything goes well, we'll be adding a second story to it in 2009!

One of the patient rooms inside the clinic.

The clinic is stocked with medical supplies and a kitchen to feed the staff.

One of two operating rooms for visiting surgical teams.

A very impressive pharmacy!

The dental room (LOTS of tooth extractions take place here).

Of course the most exciting part of the visit was the fact that I was able to drive us home! If you thought I was a "gifted" (i.e. bad) driver in the States, you should have seen me in Guatemala! I've never dodged such a wide variety of animals before on one trip : )
We'll be posting photos soon of Carey's students and give you information about how you can sponsor them each month.
Thanks for checking in!
Peace,
Jay (and Carey)

Monday, October 13, 2008

Deep Thoughts by Carey Cooper

A special memory I hold is watching SNL with my Dad in high school. (Yes, this means that I was often at home and not out with friends or on a date.) Oh, and I should mention that my stepmom, Donna, was there too, but she was always asleep. :) One of our favorite skits was "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey." In case some of you aren't familiar with the skit (e.g., my young friends like Lindsay who make me feel really old at times), here are a few examples.

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

During the Middle Ages, probably one of the biggest mistakes was not putting on your armor because you were "just going down to the corner."

If I ever get real rich, I hope I'm not real mean to poor people, like I am now.

I don't have a lot of discipline when it comes to journaling (and wouldn't want to bore you with the boring stuff I'd put in a journal anyway), so I've decided to post short "deep (or not so deep) thoughts" as my contribution to the Cooper blog.

For example, the past few days I have been thinking a lot about the difference between want and need. When I was a kid, I would often say to my mom "I need..." (often a new shirt or pair of jeans because I was really into clothes). And my mom would usually reply, "You don't need it. You want it." Well, I'm not sure that I learned the lesson. As one example, today I realized that I was out of my travel face soap. I thought to myself, "Yikes, I need more face soap. Am I going to be able to find it here? And if so, is it going to cost a fortune?" Now, do I NEED face soap? I'm not sure. But I'm an American woman, and Neutrogena has been telling me for years that I do. Well, we'll see. Because starting tomorrow, it's plain old Guatemalan soap for this girl. If you notice a drop in photos of me on this blog, I guess you'll know why...

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Jay's Birthday

After a great week of studying Spanish everyday and making several afternoon trips to the market (to learn how to haggle) and to neighboring towns (to learn the culture, etc), Carey and I celebrated my 34th Birthday on Saturday. Note: the Spanish word for old is viejo.
We fixed some kick-butt omelettes (notice a trend with eggs?), and then headed out for our big adventure at one of the lake towns called San Pedro La Laguna.
Carey with the avocado-filled omelettes (avocados here are dirt cheap ~ hallelujah!)
Sodas are 1/2 price if you have them put the soda in a baggie instead of taking the bottle : )

The dock in Pana where we departed for San Pedro (we got done like suckers trying to negotiate the price of the boat ride).
A photo taken while we were waiting for a "rescue" boat to get us because ours ran out of gas. Carey says I look too "shiny" and touristy. I happen to think I blend in with the locals like a highly-skilled ninja.

Enjoying some down-time at a very cool local place in San Pedro called 'Zoola' (means "a place to relax" in Hebrew). San Pedro seems to attract the hippie refugee crowd.
While exploring some trails near the beach, we ran into a large group of children flying kites (look closely and you can see them in the pic above). It was so amazing and reminded me of a scene from 'The Kite Runner.' Kites are inexpensive and are popular past time for kids here.
We spent most of the day exploring the town. San Pedro's economy is highly dependent upon exporting coffee beans and entire families (even very young children) take part in collecting and drying the beans during the months of November and December once school ends (school just ended this week for children across the country - "summer" vacation lasts until Jan. 1st, but the majority of the children and teens here must spend that time working for their parents.
Carey and I went out to a local restaurant in Pana to end our night. It was our first time to venture out at night and we felt perfectly safe (wow, that sounded very American, didn't it?)

We'll be in Spanish school again all this week, with the exception of Tuesday, when we're going to visit the preschool and one of the clinics in Camanchaj where we'll be working come November 1st.
Thanks for checking in on us. I recognize that blogs can be nothing more than a celebration of our narcissism, so I'll try to give you as much info. on the culture, people, country, etc. as possible to make it worth your while.
Peace,
Jay (and Carey)


Thursday, October 9, 2008

Mail

Hi everyone,

Phil was kind enough to let us use his P.O. box, so here's our address.

Apartado Postal #20
Panajachel, Solala 07210
Guatemala

We had hoped to be able to receive packages (you know, like camp!) but unfortunately, Phil says that packages have to go through customs and often either never arrive or end up in Guatemala City, which is several hours away. So unless we hear otherwise, it's probably best that you don't send them. We love cards and postcards though. :)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Where the Streets Have No Name

I may not know the difference between Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, but I know my U2!
Carey and I live at the corner of ? and ? (see pictures below - we're on the second floor). It's said that our street has a name, it's just that no one knows what it is anymore : )

The best way to break down the past 3 days is like this...
The Good:
- Praying in the Cathedral in Antigua.
- Getting to know our new boss Phil (great guy, big heart, kind soul).
- We haven't gotten sick (yet!)
- Resting in the natural sunlight that pours into our new place.
- Thinking about the awesome work we have the opportunity to do come November.
- The scenery and view of Lake Atitlan (picture the most breath-taking view of volcanoes and a lake ever)
- The city - quaint (only 15,000 people), great places to see, eat, and hang-out.
- Black beans, eggs, and homemade tortillas at most meals.
- Being students again while brushing up on our Spanish.
- The indigenous people and children - they're everywhere and I love their smiles and way of being.

The Bad:
- The crazy-high cost of all gringo foods (peanut butter, cereal, granola bars).
- Feeling a little queezy during our first ride on one of the local "Chicken" buses.
- Black beans, eggs, and tortillas at most meals : )
- Feeling a little overwhelmed while shopping and trying to do basic, everyday things in a new culture.
- A little disappointment after our first visit to church (you thought I couldn't sing!)
- The sound of bone-rattling "fireworks" (more like bombs) going off all weekend for La Feria (the annual fair for the Patron Saint of Pana).
- Feeling SO guilty at not being able to give the poor, begging Mayan children money : (

The ugly:
- Witnessing our first decapitated pig head in a basket balancing on a Mayan woman's head!
Overall, our first several days here have been a mix of successes and struggles, but so far things are going as well as can be expected. Thanks for your prayers and NOTE: it will take us 4-6 weeks to receive your donations, but please know that we WILL send you all thank-you notes as soon as we can!

Peace to you,
Jay (and Carey)
p.s. - here are a few pics from the last several days...













Overlooking Panajachel and Lake Atitlan.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Pink Floyd in Guatemala?

Estamos aqui!
We arrived this afternoon and were greeted at the airport in Guatemala City by the Director/Founder of Salud y Paz, Dr. Phil Plunk. Since then our heads have been spinning as we try to take in everything from our new world, but so far it seems like we're off to a great start (good flight, luggage made it, weren't run off the road by any of the crazy bus drivers, etc.) We're staying the night in nearby Antigua because the drive is too long to Panajachel where we'll be living for the next several months. Apparently Antigua is the "Disneyland" of Guatemala (very touristy), but it will make for a good first night transition into the country. After checking into our hotel Phil took us out to dinner - we ended up at a local place that was blaring Barry White music : ) We spent the next couple hours asking Phil about every question you could imagine about the country, culture, etc., etc. Near the end of dinner they killed the '80's soundtrack they had going on the speakers and a man with a guitar came out to entertain. I was expecting some "local" music, but about 30 seconds into it I realized that he was playing Pink Floyd's "Stairway to Heaven." Carey and I couldn't help but smile. Antigua will likely not be our typical Guatemalan experience!

Thanks for your thoughts, prayers and support to get us here. We are absolutely thrilled and feel so thankful to be here. This adventure has been a long time in the making, and we both feel like we're exactly where we need to be in life, and that's a good feeling.

Memorable quote for the day (for Jay at least): In the midst of our conversation with Phil we were talking about how most individuals and teams come to Salud y Paz expecting to give so much to the Mayans and Guatemalan people, and how they always end up receiving more than they gave. To this fact, Phil said, "You can never out-give God." I think he's right.

Peace friends and we'll post some pictures this weekend if possible when we arrive in Pana.
Jay