Don't Freak Out, But We Had an Earthquake Today

The title pretty much says it all. There was an earthquake here today. But, it was tiny. No one was harmed and nothing was damaged. When I Googled it, the news did say it registered as a 6.0, which is fairly strong, but it was really deep under the earth, so we only felt slight shaking.

But yeah, it was the craziest feeling ever. We were all in the middle of an assembly this morning to kick off the first day of the school year, and all of a sudden the entire building started shaking. It only lasted maybe 5 seconds, and it wasn't very strong -- the assembly kept right on going.

It definitely happened though. Everyone started looking around at each other and motioning that the room was shaking. I've never experienced an earthquake before, and it was just such a strange feeling -- to have the entire earth move underneath you. Welcome to Guatemala!

Antigua weekend…and feeling like a normal person

This was our first free weekend, and man, was it much needed. It seems like we’ve been physically and mentally stressed every day for the last two weeks, so we new volunteers were ready for a break!

The answer: Saturday in Antigua.

We’re really lucky in that NPH is only about a 20 minute chicken bus ride (Cost of bus ride = 3 quetzales. Exchange = about $0.35) from Antigua, which means we get the best of both worlds in Guatemala.

Here at NPH and in the town of Parramos, we are surrounded by the typical Guatemalan lifestyle. The town consists of a church, a park/central square, a few tiendas (imagine very tiny convenient stores with bars that make them look like jail cells), and about one restaurant-ish establishment. We live pretty modestly, eat tortillas, rice, and beans every day, don’t have great internet access, and see no other foreigners.

Antigua, however, is a completely different world. Twenty minutes on the chicken bus, and I can buy shoes at Aldo, use the wireless at Bagel Barn while enjoying my cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese, visit the fanciest McCafe I will probably ever see in my life, and jam to Rhianna in crowded discotecas.

So it was off to Antigua!

Saturday morning I met my William and Mary friends Sara and Abby at the McCafe in Antigua!

The outdoor area of McCafe, complete with fountains and free computers for internet.

The courtyard of McDonald's and McCafe. Yes, that's Volcano Agua in the background.

I told you: crazy, right?

Sara is in Guatemala for work right now, and we all lived together in the infamous G-Unit our sophomore year. :) It was so fun to catch up and explore the city together. We saw all the sites, splurged on amazing food and margaritas at Frida’s for lunch, and snuck into the 5-star Hotel Casa Santo Domingo to see what all the talk is about. Antigua is gorgeous, with cobblestone streets, a beautiful Parque Central area, and 3 volcanoes bordering the city.

Arco de Santa Catalina. Once part of the giant Convent of Saint Catherine, the arch was built so sisters could cross the street unseen.

La Merced church (Our Lady of Mercy), famous for its decór that incorporates Mayan deities.

Parque Central with Volcán Agua behind 

Church at Parque Central

Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, once the center of Spanish power in the region

City Hall

Artisan market...and ruins everywhere

Lunch with Sara and Abby! G-Unit!

A visit to Hotel Casa Santo Domingo, built in the Santo Domingo Monastery.

Super fancy hotel. Rose petals everywhere!

The hotel takes up an entire city block and includes museums, pools, ruins, a spa, restaurant and bar, and dozens and dozens of gardens and courtyards.

I could definitely get used to this place.

Sunset over Volcán Acatenango

History lesson: Founded in 1543, Antigua served as the administrative center of basically the entire Spanish empire in the area – stretching from Mexico to Costa Rica. Along with Mexico City and Lima, Antigua was once one of the most important cities in the Americas. Then, in 1773, after earthquakes had repeatedly destroyed the city, the government finally decided to relocate to Guatemala City (Guatemala’s current capital). And then the cool thing: because the government left and only the poorest inhabitants remained behind, there was never enough money to tear down buildings or build new ones. As a result, Antigua’s churches, universities, government buildings, etc. were incredibly well-preserved for another 200 years, and in the1960s and 70s laws were passed to ensure Antigua stayed that way. That means that today, Antigua is one heck of an awesome city to visit.

After Sara and Abby left to head back to the capital that night, I met up with the volunteers, who had made their way to Antigua for dinner. We were craving something a little less rice-and-beans, and we found the jackpot with a restaurant considered Antigua’s best pizza joint. The rest of the night included barhopping, some salsa dancing at La Sala, and then some more dancing at a crazy crowded discoteca that can best be described as having the same ambience as a frat party at William and Mary (read: disgustingly sweaty, but fun once you just give in to the grossness).

Me and Sam! Out in Antigua!

So to wrap up: it was such a fun day! This morning another volunteer and I were saying how something as simple as pizza dinner and out for dancing made us feel like normal people again. A day spent in a really cool city with really cool people = everyone seems to be refreshed and re-energized for this next week. :)

I Just Updated the Blog with Photos!

Today I went through and finally added a few photos to old blog posts. Go back and look at them!

(Facebook albums of more photos are on the way...)

NPH Haiti

I know I don't have to tell you about Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti. I know it's all over the news, wherever you are. We've been keeping up here in Guatemala too, especially since 1 of the 9 NPH homes is located in Haiti -- the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

We've learned that the 350 children at the NPH home live 15 miles east of the epicenter and are safe. NPH Haiti's pediatric hospital has suffered structural damage but has seen no casualties. NPH Haiti's administrative and volunteer center, however, was located in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. The entire building has collapsed and communication has been nearly impossible.

The collapsed building in Petionville housed the entire administrative office, including the office of the NPH Home Correspondent, Erin (a fellow volunteer from the U.S.). Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the earthquake hit, Erin and I had been exchanging several emails as I introduced myself to the other Home Correspondents throughout Central and South America. It's terrifying thinking about that.

We have also just learned that several of CNN's coverage photos are of the NPH building. You can see 2 here (click to view photos 4 and 11), and looking at NPH's blue logo amid the destruction is just unreal.

If Someone Tells You It’s Hot in Guatemala, They’re Lying

Like most people who venture to this part of the world, the other volunteers and I assumed we wouldn’t need many warm clothes this year. I am way south of Florida, and not too far from South America. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be hot here most of the time, right?

WRONG.

It’s freezing here.

Every day between approximately sunset and noon, it is absolutely freezing. (It’s because we’re in the highlands, so it’s the elevation making it so cold at night. Daytime is just fine.) We’re not talking just a little bit chilly either. I mean thick socks, multiple sweatshirts, scarves all the time, and sleeping in winter hats. Today, I even wore dance pants underneath my jeans all day. Not kidding. It is seriously painful to be up moving around at night or in the morning. Brrrrrrr.

To combat this, we have a new trend in our volunteer house: hot water bottles. The 2 volunteers from Austria each brought one with them, and the rest of us have been eyeing them jealously all week. Then today, I had the best surprise EVER! Cheryl, another volunteer, went to Antigua in the afternoon and texted me that she had a present for me. When I came home from my seccione, a hot water bottle was waiting for me on my bed!!!! Its reddish color sort of makes it look like a whoopee cushion, which is hilarious, but I am so so so pumped to sleep tonight with it wrapped up in my covers.

It’s the little things, haha.

The group with our "bolsas de agua caliente"...

...and then I stole everyone else's for myself.

You Might Be Wondering: What the Heck Is My Job?

Woooo...my Guatemalan office!

Ok, here you go.

I am the Home Correspondent for NPH Guatemala. NPH is an international organization with sites in 9 countries, and each site is required to have a Home Correspondent. To copy straight from my job description, “The main task of the Home Correspondent is to provide the public, NPH International and fundraiser with any required information. The responsibilities of the Home Correspondent include writing articles, annual reports, website updates, calendar updates, directory updates, and photos.”

So, it’s only day 2 right now, but I think I can expect a normal week to involve writing stories (news stories, profiles of employees, volunteers, kids), updating calendars and directories, taking photos of tons of different events around the home, and managing all of these updates on the NPH Guatemala website.

I’m excited for the job. I virtually have no boss (the National Director is the person I consider “boss”), and although I technically work an 8:00-5:30 office schedule, I’m expected to be out and about taking photos and covering events as needed. I have no daily or weekly quotas – just story and photo numbers I need to meet every month – so as long as I get my work done, I basically make my own schedule. And yeah, did I mention INTERNET?? All the other volunteers are very jealous haha. Ooh, and other perks: I get a fancy camera and video camera. Not too bad!

Now, I am still pretty nervous about the fact that all activities/events/interviews/methods of getting information for stories will be in Spanish. Hmm. This should be fun.

So that’s the job in a nutshell! More questions? My new little office area is nice enough, but it’s certainly no SPC! (No prop sales here haha) :)

One other lovely item: the school year here still doesn’t start for a few weeks, so there are constantly kids running in and out of our offices touching things and asking questions. I’m going to need some serious adjustment time before I get used to 10 year-olds constantly hovering over my shoulder while I check email or repeatedly breaking the hinges on my scanner because they won’t listen to me when I say to stop playing with it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know: patience. (I’m working on it.)

Finally, an Update from NPH!

HI!!!! I’ve missed you, blog! (And all you readers, por supuesto.) I’m currently sitting on my couch listening to some Taylor and cuddled up with my new hot water bottle (more to come on that in another post), and I figured now was the perfect time to catch up on some blogging. I think I’ll make this a series of posts – instead of one giant one, so enjoy. :)

Well, I’m here! I left San Pedro the Sunday after New Year’s, and I survived the 3-hour chicken bus ride back to Parramos. Travel via chicken bus in Guatemala definitely deserves its own important blog, so remind me to talk about them sometime in the next few weeks. Our Orientation kicked off Sunday night with a dinner, and it has been nonstop (a more serious use of that word than you can ever imagine) since then.

The Volunteers: my “generation” of volunteers is 11 awesome people big. Two guys, 9 girls. Four Americans, 2 Austrians, 4 Germans, and 1 from Spain. Three caretakers, an occupational therapist, a psychologist, a counselor, 2 English teachers, a project coordinator, sponsorship coordinator, and home correspondent. Me, Sam FH (yesssssssss together at last), Cheryl, Tressa, Daniela, Maria, Jonas, Abdul, Janna, Mona Lisa, and Letizia. Our conversations sound a little something like this: “¿Sabes donde está my instant oatmeal? Danke.” We are joining a group of about 8 volunteers who started their year in July or earlier and are staying on, and everyone is incredible.

My "generation" -- the new volunteers.

The whole group.

A happy family already.

Our Orientation week was the longest week of my life, and we were all drained and cranky by the end. We learned a TON about the people/places/philosophy at NPH though, and what Orientation would be complete without icebreakers? (Yes, all you OA’s, we actually played Train Wreck in Spanish. Sam and I almost died when they announced the game.)

Now we are in the transition week for our actual jobs, and I have more or less completely taken over as Home Correspondent. There is still some shuffling going on in the office, but I finally have my desk and computer and – get this – nonstop internet access. Life is good.

I have also been assigned to my “seccione,” which is the group of kids I am assigned to eat dinner with and hang out with at least a few times a week. My seccione is girls between the ages of about 11-14. Tonight was my first official night hanging out in the section, and in those 2 hours:

1. They were in awe of the footies (Hannah, those really good HUE ones we have!) I was wearing with my shoes. They told me I must be really fashionable (hah), and then proceeded to show me a “moda” catalog they had that featured footies. They wanted to know how many I had, what colors, and how much they cost.

2. They discovered I could do the splits and other random but sometimes semi-impressive stretches and dance moves. About 20 of them gathered in a half circle around me while I paraded around stretching and dancing and looking like an idiot.

3. And, we finished the night with a conversation about the cast members of High School Musical and whether I knew them personally.

I was exhausted when I came home. They already think I am absolutely nuts, so it’s definitely going to be an entertaining year.

Alright, enough for this post. Last thing: the 11 “nuevos” (new volunteers) are currently all crammed into one of the visitor’s houses, and it will be a few weeks before the old volunteers move out and we can move into their rooms. When that time comes, all volunteers live here on the NPH site in pretty adorable little cottages, with 8 people to a house. I’ll give a better update once we’re moved in.

Glad I’m back and able to update!