Feeling like a Local

Honeymoon stage is over…but really, I’ve been told that the first few months of living somewhere is somewhat like a honeymoon. It’s all new, exciting, and reality is far from your experience. Well folks, it’s set in- I live here. It’s real. Not only is school starting to feel like home, but Emily and I have been fortunate enough to really jump into a fun group of locals. We go swimming every Sunday, kayaking on the weekends, and I’ve even “borrowed” one of their dogs for a nice lake walk! Ya...mom, you hear that? I’m a dog walker! Ever think that day would come? But it’s a Chow Chow…so basically a big fluffy cat (not sure if he even counts as a dog). I actually felt like a celebrity walking Cafu- that dog has more friends in this town than any local I’ve met! I was basically his personal escort, as he strutted down the main street, stopping to let every vendor get their fluff fix!

Last weekend, some of us ventured to one of the biggest markets in the country -  or “one of the largest trading centers in the Mayan community,” as they’ve called it. Chichicastenango is the name of the town. Each pueblo has it's own tradition huipil (garment, textile design to be worn by all the women in that town.) Chichi's huipil had caught my eye months ago, so I was excited to be in the land of my favored huipil! The market was enormous! Colors and textiles block after block, expanding out from a central plaza and 400 year old Catholic church, Santo Tomas.

Chichi huipil

Iglesia de Santo Tomos 

Last week was also an epic evening at Atitlan Multicultural Academy….drum roll please…..THE TALENT SHOW! I bet when you read “talent show” you envision dancing, musical instruments, maybe even the occasional magician….talent is an understatement. One of my students got on stage and announced “I’m going to show you a finger” and proceeded to pop her double jointed thumb for 2 minutes with the accompaniment of her sister on the guitar. Let’s just say, she received a standing ovation and “most creative routine” award. The staff routine was a hit! We all decked out in our AMA shirts, caps, tall socks, and gangster faces, and did a lot of hip hop struttin, fist pumping and the routine ended with Emily and I worming off the stage!

5 year old Rodrigo on the electric guitar! 

Some impressive finger poppin'! 

Our school janitor/guardian/most amazing and inspiring man - showing us how it's done! 

AMA staff (minus a few)

Meghan and I hosted trivia again at the local Gringa bar, La Palapa. We came decked out in our jerseys and snap back caps and really get the people riled up! The bar owner said it was the best turn out they’d seen in years – 50 something people! They’ve asked us to be the regular hosts….can you say FAMOUS!? Ya, so now we are not only feeling like locals, but we are employees at one of the biggest bars in town. This weeks theme was Dynamic Duos. See some of our questions below:

SAMPLE TRIVIA QUESTIONS:

(don't peek at the answers below)

1.     This commercial pair was originally going to be bagel company and switched to making ice cream because it was cheaper.

2.     What complementary weaponry is used primarily for target shooting?

3.     This American multinational consumer goods company headquartered in Cincinatti, produces products such as pet foods, cleaning agents, and personal care products.

4.     These two went up the hill to fetch a pail of water….

5.     The average American Child eats 1,500 of this delicious combination by the time they graduate from high school.

Answers:

1.     Ben and Jerrys

2.    Bow and Arrow

3.    Proctor and Gamble

4.    Jack and Jill

5.    PB and J

Alright- enough about my fun, social life here in Pana! Things in the classroom are going really well too. We’re multiplying in math, identifying Fiction vs. Nonfiction in Language Arts, defining families in Social Studies and …..BIRDS in Science! My kids knew I loved birds, but they’ve really humored me during our Bird unit! I nerd out every day – teaching them a Guatemalan bird of the day, and giving them Bird Eye points everyday they come in and tell me about a bird they saw outside of school! If I do nothing else for this community in my time here, at least I have planted the seed for young Ornithologists!! Right now the average age of Birders is 56, I’m doing my part to readjust that average, at least in Guate! Shout out to ROSS FURBUSH, making my fellow young birder proud!

Well, I think that’s all for now. Getting mentally prepped to cook cornbread for a group of 25 for our Teacher Thanksgiving feast! I’ll sure miss the Schoening family Thanksgiving hockey tournament and famous crescent rolls! Sending you all so much love!

Final Shout Out: A big adios to our friend Carlos - who is headed to the states for a few months to study English! Drink a Starbucks Red Cup for me! Can't wait to see that smile in March!