One month in!

This has been the longest month of my life. Having anticipated this for so long, I came to Guatemala ready to act, I realized quickly that things move a little slower here! and I've had to adjust to say the least! I live with a Mayan family, the father Luciano and the mother Marta. They are both 48 years old and have three grown children, two of whom live in the house with their spouses and children. There are three grandchildren Celeste 5 years old, Danny 8 months, and Stephanie 5 months. I just found out this week that the older daughter is pregnant with her second child. My family has been extremely welcoming, and their strong sense of family is a great comfort for me.
The Guatemalan culture is very traditional yet very much divided between the indigenous Maya and the Ladinos (of Mayan and Spanish descent). There is a long history of discrimination and violence against the Mayans which calmed down recently in 1996 with the signing of the Peace Accords. The Mayans are the indigenous equivalent of the Native Americans of North America, the big difference being that the Mayans make up between 50-60% of the population while the Native Americans were mostly annihilated by the Europeans. Despite its majority, the Maya lack sufficient political and economic power, and make up most of the poorer Guatemalan population. Many of the children in my Mayan village don't attend school past 6th grade, and many have been know to get married as young as 15 or 16. There are many women in my aldea who have had 10 children.. it blows me away every time!! The highest quality education is best found in the private schools, which only the Ladinos can afford. One would expect public schools to take up the slack, but there's no public school standard. The Ministry of Education has no national curriculum, so for example there are second graders all over the country learning completely different things. The Guatemalan government only spends 1.7% of its budget on eduction, so the majority of schools lack books and materials for the children. You only need the equivalent of a high school degree to become a certified teacher, so just about anyone can be a teacher. Guatemala in general doesn't have college as a intermediate between high school and graduate school. From high school, for those who make it that far, graduate school is the next step in establishing careers. Therefore future doctors begin medical school at 18.
My first observation of the elementary school in my town was absolutely chaotic! The Guatemalan school day lasts from 7:30 to 12:30. The first grade class I observed didn't actually begin until 8:00. The teacher taught a lesson which I could barely hear over the noise in the classroom. She made no effort to discipline the kids, and they just went crazy. Her attempted lesson lasted about an hour, followed by refraccion (snack) and then a 2hr recess!!!!!! Since then I have observed more organized classrooms and shorter recesses, but the point is that the system lacks consistency. If recess is only supposed to be an half hour, why does it extend to 1 or two hours ever? Still trying to understand somethings. Despite the chaotic educational system, the kids are great, very friendly, and innocently curious. Thank God the kids are nice, otherwise I'd have serious worries about teaching them health lessons!
I'm getting along quite well with my fellow volunteers, and find great comfort in my site mates especially. This past Sunday we celebrated our one month anniversary at Casa de Waffle (Waffle House)!

1 down 26 months to go!! I didn't realize how long two years was until I got to Guatemala...haha! I'm here now! Thinking of friends and family back home...hope all is well! Stay healthy and safe.
Peace

My site mates and I in Antigua!!!