Where exactly is Guatemala?
Guatemala is actually not that far away. A direct flight from Chicago is less that 1,900 miles and takes about 4 hours and 15 minutes. Along with Belize, it is the first Central American country south of Mexico. Guatemala is about the same size as the state of Ohio, both in area and population (11 million).
Is it safe?
No, Guatemala is not as safe as Bremen, Indiana or Herscher, IL. However, it’s really not that much different than other big cities in America. You just have to know where you can and cannot go. We have heard stories about people being robbed, so just to be safe we try to carry as little as possible. I usually don’t carry a wallet and Sarah doesn’t wear her ring other than to school. Most businesses have an armed guard outside, so apparently robbery is a threat. We live in a safe area near the school. Overall, the violence in Guatemala ended with the civil war in 1996.
What are your apartments like?
You can see a video tour linked to our website. You will be surprised at how nice our apartments are. We have a 24-hour security guard, so it is very safe. We also both have a housekeeper that comes once a week. She comes Mondays to the guys’ apartment and Wednesdays to the girls’. She cleans the entire place (which is pretty big) for 100 Quetzales, which breaks down to $13 or a whopping $4.33 each. The school bus picks us up in front of our building at 6:20 a.m. and we usually take the 5:00 bus home from school.
How is the food?
Typical Guatemalan food, in my opinion is just ok. It’s somewhat similar to Mexican, but lacks the flavor, spice, cheese, etc. However, Guatemala is a big city with all types of food. There is a grocery store across the street from our apartment building. Sarah goes every Sunday and loads up on her fruits and vegetables for the week. They have every kind of fruit you can think of. The only problem is you have to soak it in this special cleaner before you eat it. Sarah doesn’t mind, but it’s too much work for me! We have also been to PriceSmart, which is very similar to Sam’s Club or Costco. I was able to find huge jars of Prego spaghetti sauce, which, as many of you know, is an important staple in my diet. They also have “chicken of the sea” tuna, and plenty of cereals, including our favorites. The biggest thing I’ve been missing, believe or not, is Miracle Whip, so we will be smuggling in some after our trip home. The food is generally inexpensive at both the grocery stores and in restaurants. We have a restaurant right next door to us called “La Estancia.” The closest comparison I can think of in the States is Bakers Square, except Estancia is known for their steaks. The city is divided up into zones and Zone 10 is the nicest with lots of hotels, restaurants, malls, and bars. We often take a cab to Zone 10 to go out to eat. The cab costs 5 bucks and the full meal with dessert and drinks is never more than $20-25 total. (almost half of what a comparable meal at home costs) We’ve yet to find anyone recommend a good restaurant with typical Guatemalan food. So far the best restaurants have been Italian and Mexican. Of course, that’s just the way it is anywhere! We also have Chili’s and Applebee’s here. I have lost 10 pounds in our 2 months here, but that’s not bad compared to when I lost 15 in 3 weeks last time I was here 2 years ago. It’s just the change in diet that does it every time (I know you don’t feel sorry for me!); we’ve actually been eating pretty well.
How is the weather?
As mentioned in the Monterrico blog, it’s not as hot here as most people think. Other than on the coasts and in the jungle to the north, Guatemala is covered with mountains. So the combination of being a tropical region and the high elevation makes the weather very pleasant. We are just finishing the “rainy season,” which runs from May to Sep/Oct. During the rainy season it virtually rains for a short time every afternoon. It can be sunny one minute and start raining the next. It’s not like the rain makes for a long, gloomy day. Overall, the “land of eternal spring” has a nice climate, as it stays in the 70s-80s year round.
How’s your Spanish coming along?
No bueno. We both need to make more of an effort to practice Spanish. There are countless opportunities to practice, yet you can get by without speaking much Spanish at all at the same time. Neither one of us believes we have the “language gift” that makes it easy for some people to pick up a language, so it’s been a struggle. There are times when we think we are learning a lot and doing pretty well, but those moments are quickly overshadowed in the next attempt at a conversation when we can’t understand one word. We have a couple books to study and the school provided us with the video series, “Destinos,” which teaches Spanish using a series of soap opera like episodes. We ordered the workbooks to go with this and have pledged to cut out some leisure reading time and replace it with study time.
Do you plan on traveling to other Central American countries?
Claro que si! This weekend we are going to El Salvador. We also have travel plans to Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, and maybe Mexico. We are carefully planning our trips so that we can take full advantage of our breaks from school.
Are you working on your salsa moves?
We started taking lessons at a dance school that’s about a 15 minute walk from our building. It went fine the first lesson, as I refreshed my memory from the lessons I took last time I was down here. However, during the second lesson, the teacher informed me that this was a Cuban dance school and in Cuban salsa the guys’ steps are backwards. So instead of stepping in unison, I’m supposed to step my size 14 shoes toward Sarah’s feet? I don’t think so! It felt like trying to wind up and pitch left-handed. Needless to say, we haven’t been back. We are looking for another non-Cuban option.
We haven't heard much about school. Are you actually working down there?
Yes, we do actually have jobs in Guatemala, despite what our blog might reflect. We are definitely trying to sort out our feelings about the school. The school is very different than what we are used to. It is big, well-resourced, and not Catholic. With the big size it’s hard to feel much school spirit. It’s around 1,500 students K-12, and is divided into Early Childhood (K-1), Elementary (2-5), Middle School (6-8), and High School. Our Principal is very good, but it still feels like a huge company with too much bureaucracy to actually get much done. As you know, it serves the elite of Guatemala, so the resources are limitless. The campus is absolutely beautiful, it has one of the top libraries in the entire country, and the technology is state-of-the-art. However, I have a hard time understanding many of their financial choices. For example, by comparison to American schools, we are OVER-staffed. For 5 sections of 24 5th graders we have 5 English teachers, 4 Spanish teachers, 3 roving support teachers, a counselor, and a roving aid. However, we don’t have an English grammar textbook or structured language program for these SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS. I can’t get over that.
We are also learning a lot about the different needs of, for lack of a better term, “rich kids.” For a variety of factors, it’s much harder to bond with the kids, but we both really like our students. They’re 8-10 years-old, and in a way, kids are the same anywhere. How can you not like them; kids are amazing. Now, for the other students outside our class, it’s not always so easy. They all have live-in “staff” (maids, drivers, bodyguards, etc.), and it’s hard to watch a family of 3 kids toss their bags on top of their maid when she comes to pick them up. Also, when you tell them to pick up their trash on the playground they give you a very confused look like they’ve never had to do such a thing before. Those are just a couple examples, but you get the idea.
Finally, the biggest adjustment has been teaching in a non-Catholic school. We are big believers in teaching the whole child – mind, body, and spirit. This school does a pretty good job of addressing non-academic subjects: the students have P.E., Art, Music, Computers, and Swimming every week. However, it’s hard for us to leave out the “spirit” part. I know there are plenty of ways to teach values in a non-denominational way, but it’s not the same. We’ve realized how much a Catholic environment impacts they way we manage the classroom and teach every subject, not just Religion class. Teaching in a non-Catholic school, I feel like my hands are tied behind my back.
Despite the struggles, we have confidence that God led us to this school for a reason. We would much rather connect with the majority of disadvantaged Guatemala, but we have to keep reminding ourselves that these kids simply have a different kind of need. Also, there is no doubt that we are learning many valuable professional and personal lessons that will be applied to our future jobs at home. (I tried to keep that answer short, but it quickly turned into an ACE reflection. Any feedback/words of wisdom would be great, Rachel, but you can’t mark me down for being late anymore, verdad?)
Are you coaching any sports?
Yes, Sarah is coaching volleyball (3rd-5th grade girls) and I’m coaching 3rd-5th grade boys’ basketball. The school has a list of extra-curricular choices a mile long, but the program’s management is quite chaotic. Sarah only has 5 girls and they practice one day per week. I had 27 boys sign up, but each practice (mon, wed, fri) I have only around 15 show up. There is no real “season” for sports, so it goes all year. I guess a few tournaments are worked in, but we are still trying to figure it out. It will be fun once we get rolling; this is my favorite age to coach.
What the heck happened to the Irish against Michigan?
Yes, the Michigan game was a devastating blow to our high hopes for a championship season. It’s actually not that surprising that the Irish didn’t survive the indisputably toughest September schedule in the country. (That Georgia Tech win looks more impressive every week, as they keep climbing the rankings.) The Michigan game was a classic example of how much emotion/mentality impacts college football. To play the so-called “huge” games, these kids have to work themselves into an extremely high emotional, focused state. That’s why most teams only play 3-4 such games each season; it’s impossible to play at that heightened level every week. Because of this, the week after one of these games puts teams in a vulnerable position for a letdown. There are countless examples of this (see Michigan State losing to lowly Illinois the week after playing an emotional game against ND). In the past, it was never a problem to be ready for Michigan since it was the first game of the year and the focus of the off-season. This year, the first home game against Penn State overshadowed Michigan in every way. It was the first time we played Penn State since ’92, it set an all-time record for the number of alumni ticket requests, and the buzz around campus was unprecedented. The following week you could feel the lack of electricity in the air all the way from Guatemala. We were primed for a letdown against Rice, let alone against powerful Michigan – who had played 2 “warm-up” games, had lost their road openers the 3 previous seasons, had lost to ND 2 years in a row, etc., etc. Every moment of their off-season was geared toward this game. They came in with huge motivation and it showed. This game had disaster written all over it for the Irish. A more favorable schedule would have switched the Michigan and Penn St. games. I’m not saying we would have won if that was the case, but I guarantee it would have been another classic, close battle more characteristic of this annual match-up. We also would have struggled against Penn St. the next week, but they are not as talented so we probably could have survived. Anyway, as the title of Weis's new book indicates, this is "no excuse". Charlie is responsible for finding a way to get the troops motivated and ready. Lou Holtz was a master at doing this and with all his mind games could trick the players into believing Navy was better than the Dallas Cowboys. With his NFL background, Charlie is not yet in tune with how the emotions of college kids can impact their performance. But he’s a smart guy, so I have no doubt he’ll figure it out soon. The good news is, the rest of the schedule is not quite as tricky to manage this season. It shouldn’t be a problem getting pumped up for USC the week after playing Army. Of course, there’s always the classic “looking ahead” problem as well… oh man, Charlie better sit down with Lou.
*As always, please post your comments/questions/complaints on these shenanigans or email us at MrOConnor@alumni.nd.edu.
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