Slow life and a Baby in Guatemala
I am settling into the slow life in Guatemala. But not without some observations, of course!
Festival de San Antonio: For the past week the town I´m living in has been celebrating it´s Patron Saint. I discovered this when I woke up at 5am on my first morning in San Antonio to the sound of bombs and hymnal singing. People put off these noise cracker bombs all the time here at any hour of the day. Somehow, the Catholic Church has managed to set itself up perfectly in the middle of the town with perfect town-acoustics, and the singing and bell ringing of the church wakes me up every day at 5am and the sound quality is like it´s next door. Que buen suerte. In the center of town, are carnival games and rides and food. I took a walk there with my 8 year old companion Belinda, and when I asked her if she wanted a snack, she requested pizza. I indulged her and myself in this little bite of America (I also bought some peanut butter so I can instantaneously feel home in my mouth whenever I get a little home sick.) Yesterday there was even a bull fight in honor of the patron saint. Unfortunately, there is some extreme separation of churches. The family I live with is Evangelical, and they don´t participate in any of the festivities because they are "for the Catholics." This was illustrated for me most clearly when I was on my walk with Belinda and I wanted to go into this life sized diorama (sp) of Jesus feeding the crowds of Galilee, but Belinda refused to go inside because it was for the Catholics. As a result, this week of festivities feels more like a nuisance than a party.
Swine flu: All of the public schools in Guatemala are closed this and next week to "prevent the spread of swine flu." They are also closed to save the government some money, I´m guessing. Public school education is pretty abysmal here. Most kids only attend school for half a day. The school year ends in August and doesnt start up again until January (I might have gotten that wrong, my info was from an 8 year old who I couldn´t understand well.) After what is the equivalent of 8th grade, people have to pay tuition for their advanced schooling, called "diversificaciones." It is sort of the equivalent of trade school/community college.
Un bebe! This past Monday night, I witnessed a human birth for the first time. It was pretty incredible but actually a lot more calm than I expected it to be. The woman came early in the day, but Doña Vidalina sent her away because she wasn´t dilated enough yet. She came back around 8:30 at night. At the time I was complaining to Flora (daughter in law and mother of 5 that lives in the house) that I wanted to see a birth and she was like, Well, don´t complain so loudly, there´s going to be a birth here tonight. Then her son, my favorite, Janiel age 6, said we could have a sleep over party in the room they sleep in (because my bedroom doubles as the check up room and now the birthing room). I woke up right away and went into the room where the birth was happening. (I feel like a jerk, but I can´t remember the name of the woman who gave birth). Doña Vidalina didn´t directly invite me in, grrr. The woman was quiet throughout her entire labor, and started to cry a little bit just when she was pushing at the end. She said she had given birth previously in her home, but now she has kids that are getting older and are too curious, so she decided to have it here (my room). Doña Vidalina delivered the birth very calmly and there were a few moments when she yawned and said she was tired. Honestly, I think she could have done a better job calming her patient down and getting her to relax. Oh well. I thought that the cervix was still expanding, but all of a sudden when it seemed like the woman was in a lot of pain the baby crowned! Moments later the baby, Thelma Yolanda was born. She had a head full of hair and cried right away. After Doña Vidalina sucked out a bit of phlegm and cut the cord, she wrapped up the baby and put it to the side of the bed and delivered the placenta. Then she weighed the baby, dressed it up full of clothes, and finally gave it to the mother to nurse. I was surprised that the baby didn´t start nursing until maybe 10 or 15 minutes after she was born. Thelma Yolanda is now the youngest of 6 girls! After spending a few weeks reading a birth, there were a few other things that I noticed that were a bit weird: Doña Vidalina never checked the fetal heart rate, even though I know that she owns a fetoscope. She also wrapped up the placenta as soon as it came out, and didn´t examine it to make sure that it was complete. After the birth, Doña Vidalina cleaned up and then came the big surprise for me for the night: the baby and her mom were spending the night, in my bed, and I was to sleep at the foot of the bed. I slept alright but the baby cried a lot throughout the night. Needless to say, it was definitely a This Would Never Happen in the US moment. The woman and Thelma stayed throughout the morning in the room alone, and women in my house checked in on her every once in a while to give her food and drink. Around 2pm, her husband and her mother came to the house to pick her up, they thanked me (I´m not quite sure why), and left. I think they stayed that late so that they could rest a bit before heading back to a house full of curious kids. The kids in my house paid no attention to everything that happened. I guess that´s every day life here.
I´m counting the days until my mom arrives and we travel together...next Friday here we come!
Festival de San Antonio: For the past week the town I´m living in has been celebrating it´s Patron Saint. I discovered this when I woke up at 5am on my first morning in San Antonio to the sound of bombs and hymnal singing. People put off these noise cracker bombs all the time here at any hour of the day. Somehow, the Catholic Church has managed to set itself up perfectly in the middle of the town with perfect town-acoustics, and the singing and bell ringing of the church wakes me up every day at 5am and the sound quality is like it´s next door. Que buen suerte. In the center of town, are carnival games and rides and food. I took a walk there with my 8 year old companion Belinda, and when I asked her if she wanted a snack, she requested pizza. I indulged her and myself in this little bite of America (I also bought some peanut butter so I can instantaneously feel home in my mouth whenever I get a little home sick.) Yesterday there was even a bull fight in honor of the patron saint. Unfortunately, there is some extreme separation of churches. The family I live with is Evangelical, and they don´t participate in any of the festivities because they are "for the Catholics." This was illustrated for me most clearly when I was on my walk with Belinda and I wanted to go into this life sized diorama (sp) of Jesus feeding the crowds of Galilee, but Belinda refused to go inside because it was for the Catholics. As a result, this week of festivities feels more like a nuisance than a party.
Swine flu: All of the public schools in Guatemala are closed this and next week to "prevent the spread of swine flu." They are also closed to save the government some money, I´m guessing. Public school education is pretty abysmal here. Most kids only attend school for half a day. The school year ends in August and doesnt start up again until January (I might have gotten that wrong, my info was from an 8 year old who I couldn´t understand well.) After what is the equivalent of 8th grade, people have to pay tuition for their advanced schooling, called "diversificaciones." It is sort of the equivalent of trade school/community college.
Un bebe! This past Monday night, I witnessed a human birth for the first time. It was pretty incredible but actually a lot more calm than I expected it to be. The woman came early in the day, but Doña Vidalina sent her away because she wasn´t dilated enough yet. She came back around 8:30 at night. At the time I was complaining to Flora (daughter in law and mother of 5 that lives in the house) that I wanted to see a birth and she was like, Well, don´t complain so loudly, there´s going to be a birth here tonight. Then her son, my favorite, Janiel age 6, said we could have a sleep over party in the room they sleep in (because my bedroom doubles as the check up room and now the birthing room). I woke up right away and went into the room where the birth was happening. (I feel like a jerk, but I can´t remember the name of the woman who gave birth). Doña Vidalina didn´t directly invite me in, grrr. The woman was quiet throughout her entire labor, and started to cry a little bit just when she was pushing at the end. She said she had given birth previously in her home, but now she has kids that are getting older and are too curious, so she decided to have it here (my room). Doña Vidalina delivered the birth very calmly and there were a few moments when she yawned and said she was tired. Honestly, I think she could have done a better job calming her patient down and getting her to relax. Oh well. I thought that the cervix was still expanding, but all of a sudden when it seemed like the woman was in a lot of pain the baby crowned! Moments later the baby, Thelma Yolanda was born. She had a head full of hair and cried right away. After Doña Vidalina sucked out a bit of phlegm and cut the cord, she wrapped up the baby and put it to the side of the bed and delivered the placenta. Then she weighed the baby, dressed it up full of clothes, and finally gave it to the mother to nurse. I was surprised that the baby didn´t start nursing until maybe 10 or 15 minutes after she was born. Thelma Yolanda is now the youngest of 6 girls! After spending a few weeks reading a birth, there were a few other things that I noticed that were a bit weird: Doña Vidalina never checked the fetal heart rate, even though I know that she owns a fetoscope. She also wrapped up the placenta as soon as it came out, and didn´t examine it to make sure that it was complete. After the birth, Doña Vidalina cleaned up and then came the big surprise for me for the night: the baby and her mom were spending the night, in my bed, and I was to sleep at the foot of the bed. I slept alright but the baby cried a lot throughout the night. Needless to say, it was definitely a This Would Never Happen in the US moment. The woman and Thelma stayed throughout the morning in the room alone, and women in my house checked in on her every once in a while to give her food and drink. Around 2pm, her husband and her mother came to the house to pick her up, they thanked me (I´m not quite sure why), and left. I think they stayed that late so that they could rest a bit before heading back to a house full of curious kids. The kids in my house paid no attention to everything that happened. I guess that´s every day life here.
I´m counting the days until my mom arrives and we travel together...next Friday here we come!