It is fair time in Comalapa. And there are currently 6 ferris wheels set up in the plaza...6!!!
Well, as you may or may not know, I am now 3 days into my last week in Guatemala. Tomorrow is my last day in Comalapa and then I’ll go on my last retreat with the girls and my supervisor to Panajachel. At about 3am on Sunday I’ll be on my way to Guatemala City for a 6am flight. And by 5pm eastern time on Sunday, I’ll be back in Pennsylvania. And that’ll be that. Another end. Another chapter closed.
This past week has been super busy! I translated again last Thursday and Friday morning. Then a lady from Cedepca came to Comalapa to put on a workshop at CEFORMA. The lady stayed at my house with me which was nice. But by Sunday evening, I was exhausted.
The workshop was called Project Alternatives to Violence. It was created in the U.S. by the Quakers. And it has been brought to many countries all over the world. It is entirely interactive and deals with how to deal with problems in your everyday life. Talking to some of the women afterward, I think it was really helpful. Not only that, but it gave the women a chance to really take some time for themselves. And that so rarely happens with women in a Guatemalan household. Though, they couldn’t take too much time, because they asked to end at noon on Sunday, instead of 3:30. Oh well, small steps. I hope that they take the initiative to bring in more workshops for women at CEFORMA. As a community-run school, I believe that providing these sorts of educational services to the mothers will help keep the school alive.
On another note, this is a week of goodbyes. I am terrible at goodbyes and usually brush over them, not giving them the full attention they deserve. But not this time. This time I am saying my goodbyes. A few each day. I began packing on Sunday. And it is now Tuesday and I am still not finished. My mom isn’t here to help me this time! I seem to have accumulated a whole suitcase full of Guatemalan fare. That just means that I will have to leave everything that doesn’t fit here. Hopefully my host family is OK with that!
I bought gifts and souvenirs for myself, but it seems that I didn’t need to because everyone keeps giving me things! It is really so unnecessary. But at the same time, I can’t refuse something that some wants to give. What a giving place this is. All year I have received little gifts. A necklace here, a pair of earrings or a little purse there. I’ve even been given 2 güipiles! And on top of the material gifts, the love and affection I’ve received is indescribable. People have invited this strange tall gringa into their homes and fed me and shared with me and made me feel at home. Words cannot express how grateful I am for having met the people of Comalapa. Especially the women. They have given me new insight into what it means to be a woman. What it means to be strong and maintain ones dignity in an oppressing society.
So, I am going through my goodbyes feeling excited to see my family and friends again, to discover what it is I have learned here and how it will change my life as a whole and how it has changed my day to day decisions. What will those changes look like? Will I shop differently? Will I consume less? And more importantly, will I treat people differently? I sure hope so! I sure hope I am strong enough to maintain these new values I have developed while living with a family in a small town in the mountains in Guatemala. So, I am hopeful for the future ahead of me, and ready to start the next chapter. Yet, of course, I’m sad to end this chapter in my life. I have had an uneasy feeling in my stomach all week. But, I can’t tell if that is from sadness or the parasites that I’m sure I have. Probably a little bit of both.
See you soon!!!!!
martes, 23 de junio de 2009
miércoles, 10 de junio de 2009
my 3rd and final newsletter! on translating and telling your story
Querido Amigos,
I don’t know when I reached the point of translator, instead of the one being translated for. In fact, I don’t think the line is so clear because I still often need people to explain things to me in different ways so that I understand. Nonetheless, I am now also doing the translating. I’ve helped translate for two groups from the United States who have come and last week began a job translating for a women’s weaving group called Corazón de las Mujeres or Heart of the Women. These jobs have required two different types of translating. One is a casual paraphrasing or a “how do you say…?” type of translating. This type is much easier and is a lot less pressure. It is a loose translation where translations such as “He said something about that dog,” often do. And the response “I’m not sure” when someone asks “How do you say clothespin in Spanish” leaves no one feeling voiceless. That type of translating is really quite harmless. The worst that can happen is a translation blooper that causes a big laugh and a community forming an inside joke for the rest of their time together. On my first translating trip with a group from the U.S., someone asked me “How do you say parachute in Spanish?” Being unsure, I went to my bilingual Guatemalan counterpart and asked him, “How do you say parachute in Spanish.” Without any hesitation, he responded, “Par de zapatos.” “Pair of shoes?” I thought. Then it hit me that he thought I had asked, “How do you say pair of shoes in Spanish?” Needless to say, we all had a big laugh. And some might say that the blooper was actually a blessing, causing joy. However, the second type of translating I have done is a direct translation using the first person. In other words, all of my “She said´s and He said´s” become “I´s”. There is much more pressure to get it right. And this is the kind of translating I have been asked to do now with Corazón de las Mujeres.
Corazón de las Mujeres is a group of women that formed during the Armed Conflict here in Guatemala in the early 90’s. The Armed Conflict is known for being a horrific 36 years when the military brutally murdered thousands of indigenous Guatemalans, even wiping out entire villages. These women were victims of the war. Their family members were killed and, as survivors, they were displaced from their communities. Since the early 90´s, this group of women has met monthly to discuss their experiences, share their stories, or attend women empowerment workshops put on by Centro Evangélico de Estudios Pastorales en Centro América (CEDEPCA). On top of their meetings, they are weavers. They work together to make woven handicrafts to sell to groups who come to visit them and hear their stories. Being a part of the Corazón de las Mujeres community is a means of emotional support and provides educational and financial opportunities in a country where opportunity of any kind is often limited to the elite and non-indigenous.
I have been asked to help out a lady who meets with women from Corazón de las Mujeres to conduct interviews about the women’s experiences and the tradition of weaving in their lives. Since these are interviews, I have to do direct translations. No paraphrasing. No “I’m not sure.” And I need to translate in first person.
As I listen to the ladies’ perfected, memorized stories and translate in their voices, I feel as though I have stepped into their shoes. It becomes easier to put myself where they have been. I hear their suffering and really hear it. And when tears well up in their eyes, tears enter my eyes too. At that moment, their voices are being heard through my voice. And the responsibility of translating their stories is both frightening and wonderful. From these women, I have understood the importance of telling one’s story. These women have told their stories to countless groups. Yet, the tears still come like it is something weighing down on their shoulders that needs to be spoken aloud to lift the weight. Telling one’s story is a very personal experience. However, it cannot be told without someone to listen – someone to share the weight with to make it lighter.
After each interview is over, it takes me a moment to step out of the heart of the storyteller, to step out of the story and enter my own body, my own life. I worry that I didn’t convey in English what the women had conveyed to me in Spanish, that something was lost in translation. But, the story was told again. And rather than the burden of reliving the same horrific events over and over, I see in the women’s eyes that telling their story has empowered them all over again. Maybe because as the storyteller, you are in control of what comes out of your mouth. And that makes you, in some way, in control of what has happened to you, I think.
As I reflect on the importance of sharing one’s experiences, I think about how I will convey my own story when I return to the United States. What will it mean to me to share my story? What will make the final cut of the perfected, memorized version? What is it that I really want to convey about my experience in Guatemala? With only 2 weeks left in my community, these questions become more pertinent in my mind. And though I’m sure that the story of the beheading of my Guatemalan Thanksgiving turkey would be entertaining, I don’t think that is the story I need to tell. Really, telling my story is telling these women’s stories and the stories of all those who have impacted me so much here. Those are the stories that explain what it is I have experienced and learned as a Young Adult Volunteer in Guatemala. Those are the voices that need to be heard.
Con Amor,
Celeste
I don’t know when I reached the point of translator, instead of the one being translated for. In fact, I don’t think the line is so clear because I still often need people to explain things to me in different ways so that I understand. Nonetheless, I am now also doing the translating. I’ve helped translate for two groups from the United States who have come and last week began a job translating for a women’s weaving group called Corazón de las Mujeres or Heart of the Women. These jobs have required two different types of translating. One is a casual paraphrasing or a “how do you say…?” type of translating. This type is much easier and is a lot less pressure. It is a loose translation where translations such as “He said something about that dog,” often do. And the response “I’m not sure” when someone asks “How do you say clothespin in Spanish” leaves no one feeling voiceless. That type of translating is really quite harmless. The worst that can happen is a translation blooper that causes a big laugh and a community forming an inside joke for the rest of their time together. On my first translating trip with a group from the U.S., someone asked me “How do you say parachute in Spanish?” Being unsure, I went to my bilingual Guatemalan counterpart and asked him, “How do you say parachute in Spanish.” Without any hesitation, he responded, “Par de zapatos.” “Pair of shoes?” I thought. Then it hit me that he thought I had asked, “How do you say pair of shoes in Spanish?” Needless to say, we all had a big laugh. And some might say that the blooper was actually a blessing, causing joy. However, the second type of translating I have done is a direct translation using the first person. In other words, all of my “She said´s and He said´s” become “I´s”. There is much more pressure to get it right. And this is the kind of translating I have been asked to do now with Corazón de las Mujeres.
Corazón de las Mujeres is a group of women that formed during the Armed Conflict here in Guatemala in the early 90’s. The Armed Conflict is known for being a horrific 36 years when the military brutally murdered thousands of indigenous Guatemalans, even wiping out entire villages. These women were victims of the war. Their family members were killed and, as survivors, they were displaced from their communities. Since the early 90´s, this group of women has met monthly to discuss their experiences, share their stories, or attend women empowerment workshops put on by Centro Evangélico de Estudios Pastorales en Centro América (CEDEPCA). On top of their meetings, they are weavers. They work together to make woven handicrafts to sell to groups who come to visit them and hear their stories. Being a part of the Corazón de las Mujeres community is a means of emotional support and provides educational and financial opportunities in a country where opportunity of any kind is often limited to the elite and non-indigenous.
I have been asked to help out a lady who meets with women from Corazón de las Mujeres to conduct interviews about the women’s experiences and the tradition of weaving in their lives. Since these are interviews, I have to do direct translations. No paraphrasing. No “I’m not sure.” And I need to translate in first person.
As I listen to the ladies’ perfected, memorized stories and translate in their voices, I feel as though I have stepped into their shoes. It becomes easier to put myself where they have been. I hear their suffering and really hear it. And when tears well up in their eyes, tears enter my eyes too. At that moment, their voices are being heard through my voice. And the responsibility of translating their stories is both frightening and wonderful. From these women, I have understood the importance of telling one’s story. These women have told their stories to countless groups. Yet, the tears still come like it is something weighing down on their shoulders that needs to be spoken aloud to lift the weight. Telling one’s story is a very personal experience. However, it cannot be told without someone to listen – someone to share the weight with to make it lighter.
After each interview is over, it takes me a moment to step out of the heart of the storyteller, to step out of the story and enter my own body, my own life. I worry that I didn’t convey in English what the women had conveyed to me in Spanish, that something was lost in translation. But, the story was told again. And rather than the burden of reliving the same horrific events over and over, I see in the women’s eyes that telling their story has empowered them all over again. Maybe because as the storyteller, you are in control of what comes out of your mouth. And that makes you, in some way, in control of what has happened to you, I think.
As I reflect on the importance of sharing one’s experiences, I think about how I will convey my own story when I return to the United States. What will it mean to me to share my story? What will make the final cut of the perfected, memorized version? What is it that I really want to convey about my experience in Guatemala? With only 2 weeks left in my community, these questions become more pertinent in my mind. And though I’m sure that the story of the beheading of my Guatemalan Thanksgiving turkey would be entertaining, I don’t think that is the story I need to tell. Really, telling my story is telling these women’s stories and the stories of all those who have impacted me so much here. Those are the stories that explain what it is I have experienced and learned as a Young Adult Volunteer in Guatemala. Those are the voices that need to be heard.
Con Amor,
Celeste
lunes, 1 de junio de 2009
thoughts on just "being"
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.”
-Ecclesiastes 3:1
The Bible verse above has been one of my favorites since high school. It’s a simple statement that speaks volumes about life. And though I have reflected on this verse time and again, I still am now just understanding it in a new way. As I approach the end of my time in Guatemala, I feel myself getting anxious. As with many things in life, I just want to get them over with. I felt that way about high school, about every semester in college, and now about my volunteer year in Guatemala. I am always ready for next thing in life. Going to college in New York City probably did not help my rushed way of living. There is no time for dillydallying. I’m already almost 23 for goodness sake!
Yet, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” I knew that when I signed up for this program that a major focus was that the volunteers experience what it means to just “be.” My work assignment is not particularly strenuous. I am very rarely rushed for time here. Heck, I get a full 9 hours of sleep almost every night! And though I think I have done a pretty well at resisting boredom, I still haven’t quite learned how to just be content where I am.
There is so much to learn in my community. I’ve learned to weave, to paint, to cook, to teach English, Spanish, a little Kakchiquel and the list goes on. But, what I still need to learn from my community is how to be thankful for each moment. Because, really each moment is a gift from God and it can be taken away by God as well. And there is always something to be thankful for.
Just the other night, I was awoken by a pretty strong tremor. The next day I learned that it was a full 7.1 earthquake in Honduras. It could just have easily bee a 7.1 earthquake in Comalapa and then what? Each moment is a gift, an undeserved gift.
As I finish out my last 27 days in Guatemala, I want to focus on just being. If I allow myself to open up to being where I am, then who knows what sort of love and fellowship could come out that. Who knows, I might even find myself not ready to go home in these 4 short weeks.
In other news, I went on a field trip with CEFORMA to Guatemala City this weekend. We boarded 2 old school buses or camionetas at 6am, and after a good half hour of trying to get one to start, we were off. That bus only broken down once along the way, thank goodness! We visited a natural history museum, botanical garden, and amusement park/zoo. It felt so good getting out of town with everyone I know here. I rode all of the rides I could, though it seems many rides were not made for my size. When I climbed on a nice looking horse on the carousal, I was quickly told I was too big for the horse and needed to climb onto something else. Well, the only other thing to ride on the carousal was an even smaller horse. But, I obediently jumped on and my knees were up to my ears as I precariously tried to sit on the thing. Everyone was laughing at me, and then the attendant told me that I couldn’t ride that either! So, I just wondered why the hell he let me on the ride to begin with?! Anyway, we had a tiring, but joy-filled day and got home at around 7:30 pm and crashed from exhaustion.
I began teaching my 4 hour intensive English course yesterday. And thankfully, the 4 hours wasn’t as exhausting as I thought it would be. Time flew by and the women seemed quite interested in learning. I really quite enjoyed myself and found it rewarding. I really like teaching English and am thinking about getting my Master’s in ESL/Spanish Education. I’m not entirely sure what I want to do, but I don’t think it would hurt to have that degree. I just need to perfect my Spanish first!
Oh well, until next time…
-Ecclesiastes 3:1
The Bible verse above has been one of my favorites since high school. It’s a simple statement that speaks volumes about life. And though I have reflected on this verse time and again, I still am now just understanding it in a new way. As I approach the end of my time in Guatemala, I feel myself getting anxious. As with many things in life, I just want to get them over with. I felt that way about high school, about every semester in college, and now about my volunteer year in Guatemala. I am always ready for next thing in life. Going to college in New York City probably did not help my rushed way of living. There is no time for dillydallying. I’m already almost 23 for goodness sake!
Yet, “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” I knew that when I signed up for this program that a major focus was that the volunteers experience what it means to just “be.” My work assignment is not particularly strenuous. I am very rarely rushed for time here. Heck, I get a full 9 hours of sleep almost every night! And though I think I have done a pretty well at resisting boredom, I still haven’t quite learned how to just be content where I am.
There is so much to learn in my community. I’ve learned to weave, to paint, to cook, to teach English, Spanish, a little Kakchiquel and the list goes on. But, what I still need to learn from my community is how to be thankful for each moment. Because, really each moment is a gift from God and it can be taken away by God as well. And there is always something to be thankful for.
Just the other night, I was awoken by a pretty strong tremor. The next day I learned that it was a full 7.1 earthquake in Honduras. It could just have easily bee a 7.1 earthquake in Comalapa and then what? Each moment is a gift, an undeserved gift.
As I finish out my last 27 days in Guatemala, I want to focus on just being. If I allow myself to open up to being where I am, then who knows what sort of love and fellowship could come out that. Who knows, I might even find myself not ready to go home in these 4 short weeks.
In other news, I went on a field trip with CEFORMA to Guatemala City this weekend. We boarded 2 old school buses or camionetas at 6am, and after a good half hour of trying to get one to start, we were off. That bus only broken down once along the way, thank goodness! We visited a natural history museum, botanical garden, and amusement park/zoo. It felt so good getting out of town with everyone I know here. I rode all of the rides I could, though it seems many rides were not made for my size. When I climbed on a nice looking horse on the carousal, I was quickly told I was too big for the horse and needed to climb onto something else. Well, the only other thing to ride on the carousal was an even smaller horse. But, I obediently jumped on and my knees were up to my ears as I precariously tried to sit on the thing. Everyone was laughing at me, and then the attendant told me that I couldn’t ride that either! So, I just wondered why the hell he let me on the ride to begin with?! Anyway, we had a tiring, but joy-filled day and got home at around 7:30 pm and crashed from exhaustion.
I began teaching my 4 hour intensive English course yesterday. And thankfully, the 4 hours wasn’t as exhausting as I thought it would be. Time flew by and the women seemed quite interested in learning. I really quite enjoyed myself and found it rewarding. I really like teaching English and am thinking about getting my Master’s in ESL/Spanish Education. I’m not entirely sure what I want to do, but I don’t think it would hurt to have that degree. I just need to perfect my Spanish first!
Oh well, until next time…
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