Mormon? CIA? Nope, Peace Corps

Two days ago I ran in the annual San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta "Race of Friendship". The 11km race started in a town called Rodeo and finished in San Rafael. As I was warming up for the race, a very nondescript fellow runner came up to me and asked if I was a Peace Corps volunteer. Shocked, I asked him how he knew. "Well," he started, "Out here, we don't get too many gringos. So I figured you were either Mormon, but you don't have a backpack and name tag. Or you were with the C.I.A., but you're too young. So that left me with one option...you must be a Peace Corps volunteer." I laughed and introduced myself, stunned at both the fact that he was worldly and at his deductive reasoning abilities; both a rarity in rural Guatemala.

The race itself was grueling and awesome. Grueling in the truest sense: the 11km (6.87 miles) were all straight uphill, literally. My body yelled at me to stop, but I knew I couldn't and wouldn't, especially because this was my race in my town; I couldn't be seen walking at any point because people in town would start talking about how the gringo couldn't handle the San Rafael race and I would lose all street credibility as an athlete. Awesome in the truest sense because the entire race climbed up the bocacosta (refers to altitude range in between the coast and highlands) to San Rafael, which provided for incredible views of the two largest volcanoes in Central America: Tajamulco and Tacana.

When I entered San Rafael for the final 300M stretch, the rafaelenses (as they're known) erupted and started hollering and cheering me on. It was great. Of course this got my adrenaline going, so I kicked it into third gear (having been in second for pretty much the whole race) and passed three people in the final stretch, which also caused more erupting and cheering. It was one of the most rewarding sports events of my life. It also showed me that the community had embraced me to a much larger extent than I had previously thought, another real spirit booster.

This whole week is our town fair. It started with the race and will finish on Saturday, October 24th: the day of the town's patron saint, San Rafael. So far we've had the election of the Reina de la Feria, which is more or less a beauty pageant to crown a local girl as the symbolic "queen" of the fair. These elections are a surprisingly big part of Guatemalan culture and for almost every major holiday (Holy Week, Christmas, Independence Day, etc) the town elects a queen.

Right now there is music thumping outside in the park in anticipation of our big parade. So far, it's running an hour and half behind schedule...

Sign making

Last week I started making signs for the Refugio del Quetzal. As always, we have to be creative because our budget demands it. But it works out for the better because instead of being tempted to buy big colorful metal/plastic signs, we are making natural wooden signs from trees that had already fallen in the park. To do so, we use a machine called a 'router' to carve out the letters. After carving the letters, we'll finish the signs with a layer of varnish to weather-protect them. The final product will blend in better with the park and have a more subtle presence, as opposed to big intrusive metal/plastic signs. Plus, hand-made signs are just way cooler.

Here's a tutorial on how to make park signs a la Peace Corps.

Step 1: Draw outline of sign. Letters should be the height and width of a hand.


Step 2: Carve out letters. Remember the golden rule from kindergarten: stay inside the lines.


Step 3: Revise and add any finishing touches.


Step 4: Varnish and admire


One handicapped parking sign. You can click on the photo to make it bigger and get a better look at it.

Merceditas Coffe Farm Party

Two weeks ago, a local coffee farm called Las Merceditas celebrated its annual party dedicated to their patron saint St Mercedes. I have formed a great relationship with the family who owns the farm, the DeLeons, and teach English to them and their kids about once a week. The party included marimbistas (above), a beef stew of sorts, a mass, a little dancing, and a lot of hanging out chatting about life in Guatemala and the latest jokes people had heard.

The marimba, shown above, is the national instrument of Guatemala and is included in just about every formal celebration. You'll notice in the video that one of the marimbistas (marimba player...if that wasn't obvious) holds two sticks in one hand to play various notes at once. That's very advanced level marimba. Enjoy!