Just Another Day on the Throne

The 15th of September here in Guatemala, as well as in other countries in Central America, marks the independence that the Guatemalans gained from Spain in 1821. Some of you may remember this from my reporting last year. In my town this year, as well as last year there were parades and dances and presentations and marimba music. I even got to see the running of the torches, which I had only heard about last year. Basically this is where people from a town or school travel to some distant place in Guatemala or even to other countries in Central America the 14th. They then spend the whole day and sometimes the entire night returning to their towns but with torches lit and running part of the way. Now just imagine the fact that every town and school does this on this day – I think just maybe, it might have been a little more hectic on the highways than is normal. I got to see students arrive with their dozen torches lit as they entered town at 9:30pm. The whole town was waiting in the park listening to music and ready to cheer them on and douse them with water. Whenever and wherever people see groups running with their torches on the road, they throw water, and not just when they arrive to their home towns. Supposedly this is to cool them off, but I think it is more like an excuse to have a water fight.

An aspect about being a foreigner here is that some of us are put on thrones, especially in times of celebration and holidays. Some are invited to special dinners or fiestas, others might even be asked to be in a parade or be a judge for a beauty competition. And I am no exception. Christmas, Easter, and now this Independence Day I have had the opportunity, whether I liked it or not really, to sit on a throne – of course, should I tell you that my throne was made of porcelain. Yes, unfortunately my streak continues. The night of the 14th and the 15th amoebas decided to attack me in full force leaving me without sleep or anything in my GI tract and only with sulfurous burps. I always thought those amoebas looked cool under the microscope… I still think so, but they belong under the microscope, not in my small intestine. Thankfully for me, Peace Corps always has a nurse on call and by 3pm after seemingly constant diarrhea, I was told some medicine I could look for. I needed 2000mg of something called Tinidazole but in my town, being so small, there was only something that looked similar, Metronidazole. The pharmacist told me that it was the same as what I need. Seeing that the later killed amoebas as well and figuring it could be just a brand name for the same medicine, I believed her and took the medicine. Well, the nurse called up the next day to see how I was doing, and I found out that it was not exactly the same. It did kill amoebas, but required a different doses and regimen. Instead of the 2000mg I took all at once, I should have taken 8x less (250mg). Thankfully nothing serious happened; I only woke up with a stomach ache and a little burning from the harshness of the medicine. I guess I’ll have to question a little bit more about my medicine the next time.

As you can guess, work my work has been the same for the most part, but unfortunately, for my part, it was recently converted into a scene from a novela (a Spanish soap opera). So if you want to read something that is completely trivial outside of the bubble here, read on… Information care out that money was missing (over $300) and the president of the women’s group stole it. On top of this, there were people, mainly the president, who were upset with me. The women had been (and still are) bringing one plant each to willing houses to plant medicinal gardens and to work on vegetable gardens. Unfortunately some regularly came well after the work was done, including the president. I said that those who did not show up on time to do at least some work, would drop down 2 spots in the list of homes that we would visit. This put some in a fit. Amidst this tension, the NGO here which helps run the governing body of a lot of the groups here, was secretly training another president and were plotting how to secretly overthrow her. I worked out the problems early on with me by talking with the president many times. The disappearance of money, I don’t think, will probably never be dealt with (It is almost like corruption at all levels here is taken as a given). Elections were held legally and without question, though, after it was realized that according to the group’s bylaws that elections needed to be held every 2 years. The president lost her position and thankfully at the last minute decided to give up her position gracefully.

Finally, two doctors from the US came to Jalapa the other week to plan for their medical trip their group will make in February and I had the privilege of helping them out translating. I think that I am the one that got the real bargain though. I got excellent meals which they graciously paid for and I got to pick their brains for hours asking them about their jobs, medical school and the path to become a doctor, and what kinds of lives they lead outside of their job. These encounters definitely excite me and push me more to consider going to medical school after Peace Corps; but only time will tell for this. Through the doctors, I also got to meet some doctors in Jalapa, including the director of all the health posts in Jalapa as well as the director of the state hospital here. One of them invited me to pass by whenever I had time to see some births, which I think would be quite the experience, as long as I don’t faint or anything. I am excited too for February, when the doctors come because they’ll give me an opportunity to scrub in and see surgeries being performed (as well as give me an opportunity to pick their brains some more). So who would have thought that “running away” from medicine, I would be found by it here in Guatemala?