San Marcos

After a week of work, a pocket of GHI'ers decided to head across the lake to San Marcos for cliff jumping. 

I was so excited because I knew San Marcos was known for its yoga and holistic centers! 

When we got there, the sun was shining, perfect for warming up on a rock before plunging into the blue Lake Atitlan waters. 

The high cliff was about 35 feet above the surface of the water. I must have tried 7 running starts, but chickened out every time! What a wuss! 

So, the smaller cliff offered a more inviting jump. Claire, a girl in my homestay jumped off with me twice. She counted down from three in German as we held hands and flew into the water. I can't wait to post the photos later! 

After all of this cliff jumping, we decided to hit up a hotel for lunch. We had met the owner of the hotel/restauarant earlier when we were cliff jumping. He cooked us up some fresh sandwiches and drinks. And later that night, he showed us some San Marcos fun. 

As it had started raining during our lunch (as it does every day on Lake Atitlan between 1 and 4 pm), we decided to find our hostel. I guess I forgot to mention that--I left Santiago with only the clothes over my bathing suit and a bag with a book and a water--definitely not expecting to spend the night, but I am happy I  did. 

We split up a room with 2 bunk beds among 7 people--cozy quarters and now, we're much better conocidos. After some evening games, wink wink, we met up with the hotel owner, then had some curry chicken at a restaurant and listened to live music. 

The next morning (today), I took advantage of 8 am yoga. A group practiced in a circle under a pagoda on straw-weaver mats, focusing its attention on a central candle. I had no idea I had been practicing for 2 3/4 hours until I left the yoga place and found my friends, looking for me, waiting to go down to the lanchas (boats), to catch the next one back to Santiago! 

Lovely weekend! 

Panajachel

Looking over a calm Lake Atitlan at the Hospitalito. Watching clouds roll up Volcano San Pedro.

Last night I went with GHI'ers (Guatemala Health Initiative students from UPenn) to Panajachel. It is a party hotspot. We danced until about 1 am at various clubs. They played some much appreciated Gringo music and I was happy to move my body. I am staying in an Evangelical household here in Guate, so dancing is pretty forbidden.

I started breaking out in hives when we were eating dinner. I don't know what irritates my skin so much--but it must be something!?! Maybe the instant coffee--it is so hard to come by fresh brewed coffee here--they export it all.

I was so happy to find granola and milk in Panajachel. I bought about three boxes of milk. Once you open one, you have to refrigerate it. I can't wait to have cereal for breakfast instead of mosh, which is a very watery oatmeal.

We have had so much rain for the past few days. I feel like my feet are constantly wet. Now, the rain has abated and clouds are rolling away. Hopefully it will be dry enough tomorrow for me to do some laundry! You can't hang up clothes in wind and rain!

Sometimes my research gets me down--it can be overwhelming. This coming Wednesday I am organizing a group of pregnant women in a small community to meet and discuss warning signs during pregnancy. I will offer the opportunity to participate in my study--have the anthropometrics taken after the meeting. I am also serving frescos (like tang) and chuchitos--little snacks made in the market.

Day after futbol

Writing from the Hospitalito in a light rain, clouds moving in over the lake and shielding the peaks of the surrounding volcanoes.

I am so happy I am feeling better.
Yesterday, I actually did about 30 minutes of yoga.
Then, I played futbol, or soccer, with the boys in my host family and a bunch of other Penn students.
Today, I actually went for a morning run, then tried finding pregnant women.
What a task it is!

Something exciting...
yesterday was Corpus Christi Day. The Catholics in Santiago celebrated by laying down pine needles in the middle of the roads. They filled in plywood cut outs in the shape of flowers, birds, doves, and fish with colored wood shavings. It was a real spectacle to observe. Around noon they followed this up with a procession through the streets.

Last night I also went to church with my host family and 2 Penn students staying in the same house. The family is Evangelical. There is a joke here that Evangelicals neither like nor get along with Catholics. :)
We spent the first 30-45 mintes singing in Spanish. A band with drums, guitars, keyboards, and other instruments lead the songs. The lyrics were projected onto a screen at the front of the church.
The pastor spent 30 minutes on his sermon, mixing Spanish and Tz'utujil. It was somewhat difficult to follow, but the important passages he noted were projected onto the screen.
Communion was also served today. It is only served about once every 3 months!
We wrapped up the service with about 20 minutes of singing, again lyrics projected at the front of the church.

Nights are early here, the tuk tuks stop running at 10 pm, so every night, I am in by 10. I spend nights after dinner chilling with other Penn students, watching movies or at the Gringo-laden Posada. The other night we saw the Royal Tenenbaums! What a royal soundtrack!

A bunch of us Penn students plan to spend next Saturday night in Panajachel after partying at a discotech! I think it sounds like fun...exciting...!

I will keep you all updated as more exciting things progress.

Getting Better

So I was sick my first weekend in Santiago. Not too much fun. I got scared into going to the Hospitalito and left with a vial for a poop sample!
Nothing much, just a virus.

I have started recruiting women--how exciting. Weighing them, measuring them, asking questions.

Just got done with a field meeting after watching a storm roll in on the lake--picturesque!

Con carino,
Hayley

Being in Santiago

Being in Santiago is great.

We spent a couple of nights in the gringo laced Posada, then moved in with our host families.
Though I am not living with the host family I expected, I am living with a lovely family that will help me integrate into the community.
We (a couple of other Penn students and I) live with Anna and her sons and daughter in laws. She has a couple of grandsons living there as well.

Research will be more difficult than expected: a quantitative/qualitative mess. I will have to do a lot of networking to jump back in!

Hours before

Hours before we leave for Guate and I am starting to freak out. 

Actually, I have been freaking out for a while. 

I can't wait to get in the field, recruit the women, and track their weight gain. I think the most difficult part will be the 24 hour dietary recall. I haven't even developed a suitable document to record the foods. I wonder how I should organize the sheet. I hope I can find a copy machine in Santiago to make all of the copies. 

Arghh--almost 3 hours to go and I can't wait. 

What am I doing

So...
...What am I doing for 3 months in Guatemala?

Last summer (2008) I received an award from a group at UPenn, University Scholars (UScholars), promoting research for undergraduates. This award "matched" me with a professor, Dr. Barg, who shared my research interests.
Dr. Barg was working with UPenn's Guatemala Health Initiative (GHI)-a joint program among the School of Arts and Sciecnes (my home school) and the schools of Engineering, Nursing, and Medicine. I appreciated what she was doing there--contributing her knowledge of medical anthropology to combat maternal and child mortality.

So, last summer I spent 2 weeks in Guatemala, getting a brief experience in the "field," as anthropologists call it. Most of last summer I helped Dr. Barg back in Philadelphia, processing field notes submitted from researchers who were in Guatemala all summer. I also build a literature database related to maternal and child health.

In reading through pages of field notes, I noticed a recurrent theme...
...local physicians, non-local physicians, nurses, comadronas (midwives), community members, and mothers themselves said pregnant women weren't gaining weight, or gaining very little weight...

This shared observation and concern transferred to me!

Fall 2008 I applied to be a part of UScholars, which guaranteed me a research community with which to share my interests and funding for summer research! I presented my research interest as maternal health in Guatemala with a medical anthropology focus.
After learning I got in, it was time to start applying for funding through the program. I constructed my own research protocol, which involved tracking a group of 60 Guatemalan women in their 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy. I would track their weight gain over three months and their initial height. I would also collect food recalls for 24 hour periods.