Elyse O'C: life after MKE: Nueva Providencia, Guate, San Martin, Antigua, Sumpango

When I finally sat myself down to start writing this post (and given that nearly a month has passed since I brought you all up-to-speed), my knee-jerk reaction was to say "yup, more site visits - business as usual..." Then upon further reflection, I realized how silly that was. I even got a little upset with myself, because 1) "business as usual" in Guatemala inherently means crazy sh!t happening left-right-and-center and therefore does not exist in the common sense of the phrase and 2) I've had a few awesome trips/met some awesome people since Panama and they deserve proper recognition

So, to the best of my recollection, here goes:

Xoy-ful Events (major props to Margaret P. for that clever little use of Xoy)

Generally speaking, site visits are semi-close to "business as usual" status and as of this moment, I have visited 115 communities out of ~140! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, though that light means no more hiding from data input... yikes.
Site visits are always full of some goofy/crazy/memorable moments - to elaborate on a few...

The community members have a few common jokes that get thrown around and since so many have used the same jokes, my seemingly on-the-spot witty retorts are well practiced by now - this is quite helpful since laughter is the ultimate way to break the ice and build some rapport and confianza - common jokes include:

when I ask "do you need any bridges" a common response is "yes - a bridge from here to the city!" and/or "no, a helicopter/plane would be nice though!"
when I ask "how many families/homes have caballos" a common response is ":insert-name-here-aka-usually-the-president:'s house has a burro!"

When Abel drives the pickup truck for an extended period of time, the carburetor stops functioning properly (all the fluid drains out of it) and the car stalls. There's a lovely picture of the first time this happened to us in the middle of the campo a little over a month ago, and it also happened in the middle of a super busy one-way street in the city on market day (meaning we stopped all traffic for 15-min while Abel popped the hood, took the carburetor apart, added some gasoline he keeps in a soda bottle in the back seat, put the engine back together, then scooted out of the road - he also took some time to go to the car behind us to yell at him for honking) - at this point, he's got it all worked out and while I'm chatting with communities, he'll randomly wander off to the pickup, take the engine apart, add gasoline, oil, and water to various components, then sit and rev the engine to get everything warmed up
I've now had a consistent run of 4 communities with women (wearing traje tipico aka of indigenous decent) either in high-ranking leadership positions and/or very vocal in a meeting with men present - this is super rare and has been exciting to see consistently

also, not indigenous, but one of the communities (San Isidro La Comunidad aka one of three communities who uses Puente Hielo for those who remember the time we got hailed on during a site assessment...) is run by an AWESOME ladino power couple - husband is the community president and working his way up in La Corporacion Municipal after an honorable mention from Mike P. for his coordination/leadership work on Puente Hielo, and the wife is the Consejo de Padres de la Familia (aka Guatemalan school PTA) president - they collectively have recently coordinated a new roof/other repairs for the school and the construction of a new community building - their son also joined our meeting and helped with answers - super awesome

(prepare yourselves for a run-on sentence to end all run-on sentences b/c it best expresses the pace/ridiculousness of this day...) I had a day where the first community thought I was from a Canadian mining company and didn't want to talk with me (pollution for neighboring Canadian mining operations is a hot-button issue around here - I'm norte americana so assumptions were made...), then the Vis Alcalde, Santos (aka AWESOME MAN), explained that I was with the muni, then we had an awesome conversation/interview during which a young Mayan girl (daughter of a female comite member) contributed to the meeting, then Abel had to take off with the pickup for an emergency which meant Santos and I had to walk to the next community where we met the Save the Children rep who I was able to make friends/contacts with (though I was physically dripping sweat from the hike and that's just icky icky), then the community guys were great and we got off to an awesome start to the meeting, but within 15 min, Santos had to take-off b/c there was a group of gringos checking out a random part of the river elsewhere in his area and the fear of mines was in the air and he needed to check it out, so then he took off and I stuck around to finish the meeting, and once it was done I just wanted to walk the 4km home (we happened to be in communities very close to the pueblo, thus all the abandonment), but the community guys refused and flagged down a pickup for me to ride in, but then within the first km, we ran into Santos on the side of the road who flagged me down and asked if I wanted to have lunch with the Alcalde which of course I accepted b/c it's the Alcalde, so I hopped out, then he clarified it was actually a Caritas (another NGO) water project inauguration in a community we had just visited and Florencio (the Alcalde) couldn't make it but wanted me to join as a Corporacion representative (aka political playing card), and I agreed b/c the muni truck was there, so then we went to the community, I sat on stage, they cut the ribbon, and we ate a TON of food and drank cusha (moonshine) - I also got to network with the Caritas guys, so that was great. And then I went home and went to zumba class...

Also related to site visits, I had a few new experiences in relation to aldeas (the largest community collection/area within the municipality) fracturing into many, smaller communities due to failed/corrupt leadership

The first was a community that apparently was the result of bloody land acquisition during the war and now consists of leaders who sell water from an already over-stretched water system for large fees, but never maintain the system

Unfortunately, this has simply meant that families have jumped-ship and formed their own communities in hopes of having their own infrastructure projects and avoiding the leadership within the former aldea at all costs

The second was even more intriguing, because while the Cocode (leadership committee) for the community is not functioning, a representative from the majority of homes in the community came to our meeting

It's a good thing I'm a strong extrovert (and gain energy from rather than feel drained by human interaction), because even so this was a bit overwhelming - lots and lots of voices
This was a really awesome experience, because while it made the survey a bit harder to complete with so many people vying for attention, it also gave me a chance to hear from a wide range of individuals within the community (because a pleasantly surprisingly wide array of individuals spoke up at the meeting)
I also had a new experience - a woman came to the front of the group and asked me for a home and some land

while I hear a lot about poor, often widowed/abandoned women in communities with no homes, property, or job prospects but usually a few patojos (Quiche for kids) to house and feed, I never see them at our meetings
I had absolutely no power to help that women in the moment, and to be honest, I was wildly uncomfortable with the whole situation; however, I listened to her story (and by default, so did the entire community), and between Abel and I, we tried to explain that I was not able to help, but that she should go to the muni to speak with the Office for Women or try to speak with the Alcalde
As it turns out, after we left, some of the wealthier individuals in the community purchased a small plot of land for her and started erecting a little home out of some spare boards and lamina (sheet metal used for roofing) that were laying around the community

In other Xoy news, the PCV girls had GLOW camp the other week

For me, this meant 4 additional gringas in Xoy for the week, which meant lots of family style meals and great conversations
This made the week very very fun and entertaining, particularly zumba class with lots of extra gringas

Also, it was Lauren's birthday yesterday

here in Guatemala, the birthday tradition is to wake up the birthday person with cake and firecrackers at obscenely early hours of the morning
Naturally, this meant that we celebrated by setting off firecrackers in front of Lauren's window, singing happy birthday, and eating cake at 5:30am - good times
We also tried to make zucchini crust pizza for dinner, but upon firing up the oven, we discovered that Dona Humbe's stories of rats peeing in the oven were probably true (heating it up made the entire kitchen smell like urine...), so instead we used the Peace Corps oven to bake the crust - this meant absolutely no temperature control and a LONG wait for a small crust... having started the cooking process way too late, we scrapped the zucchini crust idea and switched to tortilla pizzas, though the zucchini crust was delicious!

in the vein of Dona Humbe animals-peeing-in-the-house stories, we also discovered that the stories about a feral cat coming into the living room at night and peeing on the couch are true

I was working in the dining room the other night as the cat tried to make its way in, at which point I scared it out, then it ran up the stairs and into Lauren, tried to escape through the front of the house, but ultimately ran back up the stairs while Lauren and I were talking about it in the dining room. I then had to go upstairs to help Lauren check her room to make sure the cat wasn't hiding under the bed (it wasn't - we figure it went up to the roof) while Lauren insisted on yelling at the cat - first in English, then in Spanish, b/c OBVIOUSLY the cat speaks Spanish...

Moral of these stories is this: we assumed Humbe was being dramatic/telling us tall-tales to keep us from using the oven and to make us close the doors to the kitchen/dining room/living room each night, when in fact, we do have a variety of creatures roaming around the house at night peeing in/on various things...

NP/Guate adventures

NP drama drama drama

NP (Nueva Providencia) is the community near Lake Atitlan where the MU chapter has been working on a combined micro-hydro and PV electrical system for over almost 8 years - my entire college career consisted of work on this projects
Sooo when Steve (Hiteca owner and mechanical engineer extraordinaire) went to finish the installation and complete the system POR FIN, he ended up getting less than half of design flows at the power house aka too little to get the generator up and running

this meant I came home from Panama to a very sad phone conversation where I had hoped for a triumphant one...

After much frantic emailing back and forth and royal freak-outs thinking about reconstructing portions of the pipeline assuming there was some sort of clog in the line or major issue with head loss, Mike P. noted that water should be allowed to run through the line for a more extended period of time

the theory (as well as lessons from experience) here is that every bend in the pipe traps air as the pipe goes from purely filled with air (no water running) to filled with water (once water is sent down the line) - with time, the air will leech into the water, but since the system is operating a temperatures that don't necessarily speed the aeration process, multiple days to a week can be necessary to relieve the system of all its air pockets/blockages

When Mincho and I made our way back to NP to check out the line and come up with a fix, it took us nearly an hour to sort through a lot of Guatemalan passive aggressive anger to finally get our hands on the plug to send water down the line as well as the help of a few men to do an additional, as-built survey to ID all bends and head loss to a high point in the line

needless to say, this was a very angry, tired, and frustrated community - I honestly feel that it was only the confianza built over so many years that made them even remotely open to hearing us out with the air explanation, because given how angry they were (and rightfully so), the fact that it only took us about an hour to get work up and running was really no time at all...

After getting water flowing in the line, opening up a small air release hole at the high point in the pipe line, and noting that flow at the spring boxes was more than adequate, we let water flow for 3-4 hours while we surveyed the line
Ultimately, we found the critical head loss to be consistent with the design, and also that the flow increased tremendously from the rates Steve had seen

while the flows were still lower than design, they brought us within the range of energy generation potential and also strongly supported the concept of air blockages rather than more insidious pipeline issues

We left the community that day with a clear plan to add a few respirator valves (basically regulated holes in the pipe to allow air to escape) at critical points
We also left with the community significantly happier with us and ready to make the final work push

The following day, Mincho and I went searching for respirator valves in Guatemala City

This became very interesting very fast because the one, large ferreteria with which Mincho is familiar did not carry the materials we needed...
We both took to calling contacts and fortunately I had my computer and internet stick with me

between contacts (namely Enrique D.) some google searches, and following a few leads via phone conversations with ferreterias that didn't-have-what-we-needed-but-knew-of-one-that-might, we FINALLY landed on Regeplast
Regeplast, however, was located in a part of the city that no one was familiar with... so after asking directions from many different people and after a few wrong turns, we got the parts!

This was a very frustrating but ultimately very fulfilling experience plus we found a new, excellent supplier for random water line accessories
ALSO this was VERY BIG TIME because I had been a major dunce and left cheese and some fresh, natural peanut butter at Enrique's house in Guate

I had spent the night there after returning from Panama, put the goods in the fridge overnight, then forgot to pack them back into my bags when I left for Xoy in the morning...

Ultimately, I bought Mincho and Enrique lunch for helping me reunite with the cheese and PB, and Mincho and I had a very uneventful ride back to Xoy

PAN FRESCO NP UPDATE ("pan fresco" is apparently the Guatemalan/Spanish coloquialism equivalent for "hot out of the oven" and I'm a big fan...)

LA TURBINA LIVES!
Mincho went back on his own to install the valves and was getting well over design flow rates (always preferable b/c we have a lovely, machine-operated butterfly valve that is programmed to adjust its aperture to keep flow to the turbine relatively constant and at design values since flow can fluctuate so much between rainy and dry seasons)
Steve was just back earlier this week, installed the belt connecting the turbine to the generator, flipped the figurative switch, and now the community of Nueva Providencia, at long long last, has constant, turbine-generated power!
I should be heading back with Mincho and Steve at the end of the month for a check-up on the system, but WOOHOOOOOO!!

San Martin - Heifer Visit

To create a more definitive/realistic link between our bridge projects and economic growth potential (ie if you have consistent access to markets, you can start producing things that you can consistently sell at market), we're in the process of trying to partner with an organization called Heifer International

They work in a few regions here in Guatemala

To start the process, Waleska organized an orientation visit for the leaders of 2 communities where EWB-USA Marquette and MSOE, respectively, will be constructing pedestrian bridges

this orientation comprised of a visit to Granja la Fortuna farms to meet with Don Lazaro, the apparent Guatemalan guru of sustainable, high-yield agriculture, incorporating low-tech, cheap manifestations of concepts such as organic farming, permaculture, aquaponics, and biodigesters within the Guatemalan campo context

This was a super awesome daytime excursion for many reasons

Don Lazaro is a clear genius and hearing from him/getting a tour of one of his farms was incredible
I got to spend some quality time with Wale, Mincho, Florencio, and many cocode members
I had a chance to meet and chat with the Heifer rep, Guillermo, who's a super pilas, awesome guy who has been working for Heifer for over 18 years now and loves his job
It was super awesome to see how excited the guys got by the concepts presented

All-in-all a very cool experience - I know at least one of the communities is chomping at the bit to get started with Heifer, so I'm excited to see where this can go!

Antigua/Sumpango

Because no one parties harder than the people of Xoy, Dia de los Santos (Nov. 1) equated to a long weekend (because the ACTUAL holiday fell on a Saturday, which means Friday and Monday CANNOT be work days but must also be holidays too...)

I'm not complaining - this meant a lovely 12.5-mile long run on Friday 10/31 with Lauren and Allie (one of the PCVs in town for the GLOW camp) followed by a GINORMOUS breakfast

direct quote from Lauren: "Lance Armstrong (in the runners app) says we burned 1,300 calories - WE GET TO EAT SO MUCH!" followed by and awesome high five

This also meant that, after a very long day of travel with lots of traffic and delays of people getting to the Peace Corps shuttle, we made it to Antigua in time to celebrate Halloween with other gringos

The PCVs have travel restrictions around the Guatemala City/Antigua/Chimultinango area, so they have a shuttle they have to use to get in and out of those areas - I was able to squeeze in as a friend of Lauren's which was quite nice
I went as a woopie cushion, because wonderful wonderful Dona Humbe happened to purchase said costume in a paca last year to use as a "calidad" little rug - Lauren ID'd it as the woopie cushion costume is was born to be, and the rest is history

For Dia de los Santos, a town near Antigua has a giant kite festival, so we all headed that way Saturday morning to enjoy the kites

I ended up riding with Enrique, who, despite being born and raised less than 1.5hrs from Sumpongo, had never seen the festival
The festival was AWESOME and the kites (made entirely our of tissue paper) were unbelievably impressive, both in size and intricacy of design
Kike ended up giving a full car of PCVs a ride back to Antigua after we were all ready to head home and take a nap, which equated to a fantastic sing-a-long for songs such as "Benny and the Jets" and "American Pie" - it also meant Lauren, Kike, and Julie (a PCV friend of Lauren's) giving their best street vendor impersonations which was hilarious

This trip was a blast for many reasons, particularly because it gave me the opportunity to meet a whole host of great folks, see some incredible sites, and generally just get out of the pueblo and have some quality gringo time

In other news, the family (aka the entire O'C clan) has confirmed that they will be visiting at the end of January/beginning of February, so I have very-excitedly started planning that trip!

Oh, and yeah, if you hadn't already gathered from parts of the post, I'm gonna run a half marathon this weekend in Xela... yikes!

With that, here are some photos:

A former EWB-USA project connecting the communities of Chosavic and Tres Cruces

An ancient ped bridge with MASSIVE abutments/pier connecting Rio Grand Los Llanos to Las Guacamayas, though at this point they would prefer a vehicle bridge

A very cool bridge

The SUPER PILAS leaders of the community El Amate standing in front of their school - happily, KSU will be down here in January to assess the site and plan for a new school building

A lovely hike between the Quiajchaj communities with Flat Stanley and Santos

At the Guapinol water system inauguration

on the stage...

Chatting with the guys at Coyoya

Mmmm the folks at San Luis La Comunidad were both awesome to chat with AND fed us a wonderful lunch of caldo de pollo and fresh-squeezed lemonade

Ahhh and the foks of Pachilip I...

... notice how the meeting started as a reasonable size...

... but rapidly exploded into a very large group - like I said, this was a very unique, uncomfortable, and wonderful experience

The leaders at Pachilip II - also a pilas bunch with a nice, covered cancha

Stanley with the girls at GLOW camp

my dinner/attempts to save my Dona Luisa banana bread from some ants who decided to attack it's bag... Lauren decided it looked like cookie monster

Getting ready to light the firecrackers and Magda (one of our running partners) with the cake!

A failed panorama of the gang having some cake - Margaret was also moving to take a photo and is chop chopped as a result

NP! The springbox with it's fancy new trashrack

Surveying the pipeline with the tremendous help for the poncho given as swag at the ASCE conference in Panama - really a big score for rainy season work

Trying to teach Stanley how to survey... and struggling...

...theeerrree we go...

...also taught Stanley how to operate a turbine

Jenaro, the president of NP, with the turbine

So pretty

Aaand a quick check-up of the good old NP ped bridge - they had replaced floor boards properly (whereas there were problems when I visited a few months ago)!