2011 Guatemala Presidential Elections: Otto Perez Molina

How are the Guatemalan genocides of the 1980's affecting the 2011 presidential elections?

One of the candidates that many of the people consider likely to win is Otto Perez Molina. But he comes with his own set of issues.

A writer from Guatemala, Miss Trudy who blogs The Innkeepers Tail says: "All seems to point to Otto Pérez Molina's being Guatemala's next president."

Why could this be a problem? To understand you have to go back to the 1980's mass killings of indigenous people in Guatemala by the Guatemalan military:

"Pérez Molina is broadly considered to have been one of the military officials involved in genocide in the 1980s. Although he does not categorically deny having been involved in many Mayan civilians being killed, he does deny that this was genocide per se. A matter of semantics, of course, but an important one. Genocide, as defined today by international courts and human rights, includes what was going on in the highlands at the time. It is correct. And if accused and tried for that, it would be equivalent to being guilty of war crimes."

Being president would change the consequences for any of his participation in the acts of genocide. This could, in turn, sway the future consequences for many of those people who were involved:

"...As president he would have complete immunity from being tried in court and, as some friends in international aid tell me, they are afraid that as president, he might limit access or even close down the Historic Police Archives, which has been the documentation source for the recent trials which have ended in the historic landmark sentencing of former soldiers for genocide. As it is, one former Chief of State for a previous military dictatorship, an octogenarian, is under trial right now. Since up to now only foot soldiers--scapegoats, to an extent--have been tried, this is a first."

Why would Guatemalans elect a man like this to the position of president? Again, Miss Trudy explains:

"I have no doubt he will end up being president, since for many hard-to-explain reasons, Guatemalans like slogans such as his, mano dura, "hard fist" and rigid, authoritarian figures. Mayans are at the bottom of the social totem pole here, and having been them the fodder for genocide, I guess it just doesn't seem to most Guatemalans as a big deal for not voting for Pérez Molina."

She wraps up her thoughts with this:

"So, as that silly saying goes, it is what it is, and people have the governments they deserve. In other words, people are the makers of their own versions of hell."

Guatemalan 2011 Presidential Elections: The year for women to run on men's coattails?

Guatemalan presidential elections are coming up this September 11, 2011. As always, there's a lot of speculation, mudslinging and political campaigning. With Guatemala, however, there's also the sinister addition of murders with every election campaign. According to The Guatemala Times, the first murder of the season occurred this January 2011.

Aside from the sadly normal political proceedings for Guatemala, it seems this is the year for women to run for presidency as a liaison for a man who is not eligible.

Of course, much of the news lately has been concerning The First Lady Sandra Colom, wife of current President Alvaro Colom. Or ex-wife? Since she was legally barred from running according to the Guatemalan Constitution that bars presidential family members from running, she filed for a divorce from president Colom. However, the The Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala voted her down with an overwhelming majority. This sparked protests that stopped up the capital's traffic for a day, but their only plan at the moment is to appeal.

Guatemalan Politics: The Popular Struggle for Democracy

Sandra is not the only woman trying to run for presidency after her husband. The GuateFriends blog writes:

"Mayor of Guatemala City, Alvaro Arzu, ex-president of Guatemala. Article 186 of the Guatemalan Constitution states that the person who has been president by democratic elections or coup d'état, can not be eligible as presidential candidate. His decision to run for the presidency caused alarm in the right wing sectors of Guatemala. After a “no” answer to his inquiries at the Guatemalan Congress to legitimize his candidacy, Alvaro Arzu has now decided to promote his wife Patricia de Arzu as the presidential candidate of his party. The PR campaign is up and running, the picture shows Patricia de Arzu alone now (a week before it was the couple) with a slogan of kindness and order."

Who knows how they will try to circumvent the law.

Guatemalan Politics The Popular Struggle for Democracy (1993 publication)

In addition to Sandra de Colom and Patricia de Arzu, there is Zury Mayté Ríos Montt Sosa de Weller. The Guatemala Times reports:

"Parliamentarian, Zury Mayté Ríos Montt Sosa de Weller is the daughter of ex- military dictator Efrain Rios Montt. She was proclaimed the official candidate for president of the FRG party in October 2010. She is legally barred as a candidate according to the Guatemalan Constitution that bars presidential family members from running."



These are not the only women running for president. Also running are Rigoberta Menchú, Adela Torrebiarte, and apparently someone with the surname Montenegro. I can't find information on all of the women who are supposedly running, but I find it interesting that The Central American Blog says:

"Virgilio Alvarez from FLACSO divides the women into two divisions. Those who have used their personality and work ethic to make a name for themselves (Menchu, Torrebiarte, and Montenegro) and those who are riding the coattails of men (Baldetti, Torres, Rios, and Arzú)." (My words in parenthesis.)

If a woman is to win, may it be one who won it honestly and fairly.

Harina de Camote/ Sweet Potato Flour: A gluten-free option

As I've mentioned before, I really, really like the orange, moist version of the sweet potato found in the part of Texas I am from. Although it isn't native to Guatemala, there is another, purple-skinned, dry-meat version that is. While this version still works well with my mom's amazing sweet potato pie recipe (sort of like this one,) it's not at all the same baked or mashed. And, yes, I like the sweet potato for more reasons than flavor, they pack a nutritional punch:

"The sweet potato has been a significant source of nutrition for over 8,000 years and is now being seen as an incredibly underappreciated yet nutritious food. It is high in fiber, vitamin A, iron, and calcium. Despite the name “sweet,” studies have shown that it actually helps stabilize blood sugar levels. The roots are most frequently boiled, fried, or baked. They can also be dried and processed to make starch and flour."

Because of my obvious fondness for the sweet potato, I was really interested when I heard of people using sweet potato flour, especially to create gluten-free baked goods. 

"Sweet potato flour holds moisture well, brings a richness of flavor, and adds a slight sweetness to any baked good... such as breads, cookies, muffins, pancakes and crepes, cakes, and doughnuts. It can also be used in soups, as a thickener for sauces and gravies, and in breading for fish. It is raw flour and does not require cooking before use. Sweet potato flour is great at holding moisture in baked goods and imparts a slight sweetness."

Now, this, is something I want to try! I'm always up for finding different baking options, and while none of us are allergic to gluten, I work with people who are and who are always looking for better options for baking. Besides, "according to some celiac specialist researchers, everyone has some reaction to gluten, but non-celiacs recover quickly" so including some gluten-free goods in the family diet is likely to benefit us all anyway.


While "harina de camote" or "sweet potato flour" is considered a product of Peru, I haven't found the flour yet in the physical Latin American market arena, only online. So, experimenting with this flour is still on my "to do" list for future endeavors. However, I have found how to make my own. This site about George Washington Carver and how to make sweet potato flour tells a lot of the sweet potatoes history as well. If you are interested in a pdf document titled "Making sweet potato chips and flour," follow this link. For just a website explaining how to do that, follow this link.

There are apparently many, many ways you can use sweet potato flour as a substitute for regular flour, but if you would like some recipes using specifically sweet potato flour try this link.

Have you tried using sweet potato flour? What other successful gluten-free options have you found?

2nd Trimester Triumphs and Fears

If you've read about my journey to running a 10k and then running most of a 5k in my first trimester this May, you already know two things: I'm fairly new to living healthily, and I'm pregnant. Those two facts together are sometimes hard to manage. Weight gain, whether healthy and with good reason like pregnancy, or not, gives me terrible flash backs. Rooted in the fear of former obesity, I hate feeling like I'm slowly getting trapped by my old body. Some of the fear comes from the future: wanting to have the healthiest birth and baby possible. I feel like, if I don't keep moving and find positive things to do, these past and future fears will suffocate my present.

There are several ways I'm trying my best to combat this fear:
1) I walk an hour every weekday morning. If I miss a morning, I make it up somehow in the day or walk extra the next day. I jogged in the past, but ligament pain is hampering that at the moment.
2) I swim as much as possible.
3) I find physical things to do that aren't too strenuous. Raking the yard, checking the mail (at the end of a long driveway,) hanging clothes on the clothesline, playing outside with Talia... basically, just looking for ways to keep moving instead of giving in to the siren's call of technology, air conditioning and the couch!

I try to think about the good things:
1) I lost all of the pregnancy weight within the first month. Though that still left me much higher than I should have been, the pregnancy part came off.
2) I am over halfway through my pregnancy and I've only gained 13 pounds. It could be much worse.
3) Even if I do gain some weight, I have the tools to know how to fight it this time. Even if I gain as much weight as I did with my first pregnancy, I'll still weigh LESS than my first pre-pregnancy weight!
4) Though always hungry, I try to make sure I'm really hungry; stomach growling or I can feel hunger, before I eat. I try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables.


Fear can either paralyze me or motivate me to overcome it. I choose to use what I have and what I know and keep moving, and moving forward! Afterall, the best way to overcome this fear of weight gain in pregnancy is to go the whole length and prove to myself afterwards by experience that I could do it.

How did you combat too much pregnancy weight gain? Do you have any tips that would help?

5 Expat Parent Observations: United States vs. Guatemala

When we come back to the States I always notice several things that impact my daughter differently here than in Guatemala. However, this is within a very narrow spectrum, so my experiences do not accurately reflect Guatemala or the States as a whole. Only my experience between a city setting in Guatemala City to a country setting in Texas. Here are some of the things I've noticed, particularly relating to raising children:



1. Larger range of ethnicities:

In Guatemala, most people are the following according to the CIA World Factbook:
Mestizo (mixed Amerindian-Spanish)and European 59.4%,
K'iche 9.1%,
Kaqchikel 8.4%,
Mam 7.9%,
Q'eqchi 6.3%,
other Mayan 8.6%,
indigenous non-Mayan 0.2%,
other 0.1% (2001 census)

In other words, almost everyone is brown-haired, brown-eyed, tan-skinned or else they are obviously foreign. There is a conspicuous lack of people of African descent. When we visited the States, that resulted in the following conversation:

Talia: "Mami, that lady has brown skin!"
Me: "Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?"
Talia: "But my skin is peach!"
Me: "Yes, everybody is different."

In the U.S. there is a much broader range of ethnic peoples- and that is a good thing when it comes to exposing children to more than one kind of nationality.

2. Free-range child rearing is more possible:

When I say free-range, I mean that children have a yard to play in that allows for minimal supervision, like an adult washing dishes in the house at a window and still checking outside occasionally. In Guatemala, at least in the city, that is a difficult thing to come by. There aren't really "neighborhoods" the same way there are in the States. Children, especially foreign-looking ones, can't just wander off to play if you don't want them to get kidnapped. Outside of the city, this is much less extreme! Talia has enjoyed being able to run around outside (always in the yard, always within sight) and play around trees and foliage that would never fit in a little city "garden." I appreciate the lack of stress of constantly having the thought in the back of my head that someone could run off with her. (Though I am aware that yes, that is still possible here.)

3. The lack of walls and barbed wire is surprising:

If you want any degree of a place like my #2 to play in Guatemala, then walls and barbed wire are necessary. It's nice to actually see houses here in the States. In Guatemala, everything is behind a wall with layers of barbed wire on top. You can't just drive anywhere and see a house, you have to have permission to enter the gate and then you might get to actually see a house. At first the barriers everywhere isn't such a big deal until you go back to the States and feel like you can breathe again... unless you've gotten so accustomed to the walls that you then feel unprotected. I like for my daughter to experience life without walls occasionally.

4. Playing with other kids in English:

In Guatemala, even if the parents speak English, usually the language between playing children is Spanish. I like this. I'm glad Talia is developing her Spanish skills from the playground up. She always speaks English with us at home, and we know that it is developing also. However, her English is more elevated than her age because of this. I don't think it's a bad thing that she doesn't speak with other kids in English very often, but I am glad when she gets the opportunity.
On the flip side, this helps me appreciate the truly bilingual environment we have found in Guatemala. One big reason to move to a Latin American country was to have a bilingual child. I like that during her language's most formative years, she is in a bilingual atmosphere. She amazes me daily with her grasp of both Spanish and English. (She's pretty good at understanding Portuguese too!)

5. Extended family:

One of the most common things an expat must choose to give up is his or her close proximity to extended family when moving to another country. It's nice when we get the chance to visit and Talia can play with and talk to other family members besides those she lives with every day. I grew up very close to my family and it's definitely the thing I miss the most when we are in Guatemala. I'm thankful for technology and the contact that has made possible, but it will never come close to a real life hug or conversation.

Most of these reasons have also contributed to us moving out of Guatemala City and to a less hectic, more country place outside of the capital- more like where I was raised.
I want to be able to grow herbs outside.
I want to be able to walk consistently.
I want Talia to have a good place to play outside with her puppy.
Nature is therapeutic and I want her to find that for herself.

Guatemala has many beautiful things to offer, but, in my opinion, the majority of those things are not found in the city setting, but rather in the majestic natural environment.

A Taste of Asia in Guatemala: Spring Rolls

When we moved to Guatemala, the last thing I expected to learn was any form of Asian cooking. However, there were several things I didn't know: 1) People from all over the world work at international schools, including people from Asia, and 2) There is a considerable Korean population in Guatemala, which means at least one good Asian market.

A friend who helped me on my journey towards fitness also introduced me to spring rolls. She learned from a teacher who had taught in China and got pointers on how to make the sesame/vinegar combo from another teacher who was Japanese. It's really amazing how many types of people come together in the international arena.

While I like trying new foods, I wasn't sure I would like spring rolls. I wouldn't eat many of the following things raw or in this combination normally:

This combination included the raw ingredients of cabbage, (you can use lettuce) carrot, cucumber, red pepper, mango, spinach, and sesame seeds. I was totally addicted after the first bite!



The first thing that we cooked was the vermicelli noodles:

The process is almost identical to regular pasta: boil water and then add the noodles. The exception is that they seem to be more delicate and easier to overcook.





Save the hot water from the noodles to help un-stiffen the rice paper wrappers:

The rice paper wrappers were the weirdest, funnest part of making spring rolls! To me, they start out looking like plastic, circular place mats. Once placed in the warm (not too hot or they'll crack!) water, they sort of "dissolve" into a wiggly sticky wrapper that I treat like Saran Wrap because it tends to stick together easily. However weird it sounds, it is quite delicious and one of the best textures that brings the whole spring roll (literally) together.

Once the wrapper has "dissolved" in the warm water, we let held it up and let the excess water drip off, then placed it on a waiting plate. There, we put a layer of lettuce or cabbage, grated carrot, cucumber strips, red pepper strips, mango strips, spinach, sesame seeds and a good helping of the noodles. This is also delicious with avocado inside... but in my opinion, anything is good with avocado. Wrapped up like a burrito, it now looked like this:

Next, we cut the spring rolls in half and added about a teaspoon full of what I'll call "special sauce" to the noodles to give them some flavor. I couldn't remember exactly how this part went, so I just added the sesame oil, white vinegar and soy in a combination that I thought would taste best together. If you have actual amounts, please comment. Otherwise, just experiment with the taste and see what you like best. We really liked how ours turned out.

What really added the crowning flavor for me to this entire concoction, however, were the following two sauces: sweet chili sauce and wasabi!

It doesn't take much of either of these two sauces, especially the spicy wasabi! A small amount is enough, though, to enhance all of the naturally delicious flavors that already exist.













To raw fruit and vegetables that taste delicious!

Do you have a favorite combination for spring roll ingredients or some pointers for this first time learner?

Thank You from the Birthing Clinic in Guatemala

Not long ago we brought your attention to an immediate need for a birthing clinic in Guatemala who needed two fetal dopplers. Because of your generosity, both of those needs were met!

You've helped add a much better option to this list:

What birthing options are available for Guatemalans?

•"For poor Guatemalans, there are the national hospitals: C-section rates are getting close to 50%, all kinds of other interventions are routine, and the woman is unaccompanied through her birth."
•"The IGGS, the social security hospital, is very similar."
•"Many people who can barely afford it therefore opt for one of the small private clinics, only to have the same experience but paying for it."
•"Aprofam, an organization that started out subsidized but has to be sustainable at this point, has taken the same route in order to sustain itself."
•"In the rural areas there are local midwives available, some of which are very experienced and well (mostly self-) trained, while others are not."
•"The big hospitals in the city have a C-section rate of 70 to 80%, besides being very expensive."

Now, for more women, a natural birth in the clinic is more of an option. Thank you!

Hannah, the registered midwife in Guatemala City who runs Manos Abiertas for low-income families and also has a clinic, Centro de Parto Natural, in the capital was appreciative to have those two things marked off of her list.

Another immediate need they have right now is the donation of a working laptop.
"We have very little room and it is specifically meant for my accountant who travels between the two clinics and for our educational presentations."



However, if you live in Guatemala City, a desktop would be much appreciated as well, "for the Ciudad Vieja clinic that just has one and people are always in line. It should just not be too old and yes, in Guatemala."

If you have a laptop (from the States until August) in Guatemala or a desktop in Guatemala you would be willing to donate please comment with an email address or email us directly at sagaunscripted [AT] gmail (dot) com.

Please consider donating.

Spanish educational material about birth approx. 60$ or 470Q
1 professional grade, waterproof fetal doppler: $125 or 985Q plus shipping
1 complete birth package 240$ or 1,884Q

Also on their wish list is an obstetric ultrasound machine. Any donation, no matter the size, will help make a difference in a woman's life.

Thank you, from me, from countless women who would tell you if they could.

Read an interview with Hannah here.

Volunteering in Guatemala: Education and More- Solola

Many people want to get involved with volunteering in Guatemala, but know little about the organizations available or what those organizations do. This is one in a series of interviews with amazing volunteer organizations in Guatemala.

Karen Pickett (pictured below, right) is the director of Education and More, a Fair Trade Federation non-profit group dedicated to getting weaving by Guatemalan women of the Solola region exposure, income and education for their family.

1. Who are you and how did you get interested in Guatemala? My
initial visit to Guatemala was with a mission team to help build
houses and when I met some women weavers and got to know them it got
me interested in helping them sell their handcrafts and weavings.
Education And More was born as a result and is a Christian, Fair
Trade nonprofit, registered in the United States as a 501c3
nonprofit organization.

2. How did you get in contact with or start Education and More? I am
the founder / Director of E&M and started the organization in 2006
to help the women artisans I had met sell their weavings and to help
them educate their children.

3. What is Education and More's goal in their Guatemalan community? Our primary mission is two fold -- educating children and helping women earn a
fair wage so they can help to support their families. We feel that
as we help artisan groups sell their handcrafts and weavings the
dollars brought into communities has a ripple effect in the whole
community. Education helps the entire community whether it is the
young children finally able to go to school or young adults
returning to school to learn a skill or get a university degree.
We work with churches through our sponsorship program to give
educational opportunities to students of all ages -- pre-primary
through University and even technical, vocational schooling. The
sales of the handcrafts also helps the families in the ability to
educate their children, to give better nutrition to their family
because of the fair wages they receive, and business and vocational
skills through technical education for the women artisans.

4. Where are you located? We work with artisan groups and churches
in the Solola department and have recently expanded and we are
beginning to work with poorer groups in the Queche department of
Guatemala.

5. What is one experience that you remember the most? When one of
our women artisans started crying as she was trying to thank us for
all the help we give them in earning money to help their families.
The artisans are just so very thankful for all the help Education
And More gives to them and their families. It is very humbling!

6. What is something you learned from volunteering in Guatemala?
People are the same the world over; women are uniquely capable of
understanding each other even through the language barriers and
cultural differences.

7. How could future volunteers get involved? We are looking for
volunteers to help us in a variety of ways: hosting Fair Trade
bazaars at their church, school or home; helping us with our
Facebook pages and other online media, spreading the word about our
work and mission, designing new handcrafts, speaking to schools,
college groups, churches about E&M and our mission. There are many
ways we need volunteers to help!

8. What advice would you give someone wanting to volunteer with your
organization? We need passionate volunteers who are interested in
Fair Trade, education and helping to reduce the poverty in
Guatemala! We need your help and need your skills to grow the
organization! We are expanding into some poorer regions of the
Queche department of Guatemala and need more sales of the handcrafts
to help more women. Once you get involved and eventually go to
Guatemala and meet our artisans your life will never be the same.
We invite you to contact us for opportunities to volunteer with the
organization.

9. Do you have any extra thoughts you'd like to share? Education
And More is very passionate about helping not only the artisans but
their entire families and communities and we have developed programs
to do that. Programs such as: educational opportunities for women,
sewing centers for vocational training for women, educational
opportunities for adults returning to school and children; micro
enterprise help and micro-credit loans, business training,
development and technical assistance, spiritual development through
the Christian Education classes in churches. Our partnership with
local churches gives the sponsored students a community within the
body of Christ so they can grow spiritually as well as in body and
mind.
We are a screened member of the Fair Trade Federation and work with
artisan groups to help women and their families. Fair Trade gives
the artisans a fair wage plus many other benefits for them and their
families.

Thanks!

Karen Pickett, Director
Education And More
P.O. Box 201
Burlingame, KS 66413
http://www.educationandmore.org

Blog -- http://educationandmore.wordpress.com/

You can also contact Education and More on Facebook.

Final Teaching Thoughts 2010-2011

At the end of every teaching year, every teacher has some sort of self-evaluation. It's part of being a teacher. It's impossible not to worry that you could have done something better or to be excited about the successes you witnessed. Self-reflection encourages growth... and helps me stay sane! So here are some thoughts from my teaching experience this year:

1. I greatly prefer rotation to self-contained teaching. If I went back into the teaching arena, I would prefer to start with 6th grade if necessary so that I could be back on a rotation schedule. However, I stretched academically this year by teaching all subjects and I feel like I did a good job at it.

2. I still have a lot to learn. For some reason, this never changes. I think maybe it shouldn't.

3. Kids teach just as much as the teacher. Sometimes things that are more important.

4. Though I'm not naturally a social person, every relationship I have put effort into has always paid back exponentially.

5. I shouldn't be scared of parents.

6. The year will end. Show your students that you love them while you can.

7. We taught so much academic stuff! Sometimes I wonder how much social training we gave? So much teaching is intertwined with little "non-teaching" moments: on the playground, in out-of-class discussions, at the lockers in the hallways. How well did we teach there?

8. I will forever remember that ALT + 64 is another way to get the @ sign. (Spanish keyboard.)

9. Teaching Second-Language-Learners can be highly entertaining: One very naive girl wrote in a story that she was playing "high and sick" with her friends. Pronounced the Spanish way, it's easy to see that she meant "hide and seek." English is so much more complicated than Spanish. ;)

10. The people you work with can make or break a teaching position. I was blessed to work with an amazing, supportive community of educators. We all need a good community to do our best.

I am so proud of my students this year. They conquered things they didn't even think were possible! Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions really gave some of them trouble, but in the end they DID IT! Every single one of them advanced in reading comprehension, some above the 6th grade level! It's so exciting when a student gets something and then runs with it, learning even more with their interest.

If you can love the act of learning, you will never get "old."

Meet Don Quixote (sometimes de la Mancha)

Meet Don Quixote, a miniature Schnauzer:

He's the newest family member. We like names to be meaningful, otherwise, you might as well name something X6YU8QDQ8SN9 like a computer would. The first name thrown out for him was "caballero" which means "gentleman" because that's exactly how he acts. But "caballero" is an unwieldy name and add to that he's a little clumsy and bookish looking and the other suggestion "Don Quixote" seemed to fit.

If you are not familiar with Spanish literature, Don Quixote (pronounced Don Kee-hoh-tay) is a middle-aged gentleman from the region of La Mancha in central Spain. Obsessed with the chivalrous ideals touted in books he has read, he decides to take up his lance and sword to defend the helpless and destroy the wicked. The story has many adventures and winds to an end, supposedly illustrating the end of the age of chivalry.

So far, chivalrous is a good word for the dog. He's very patient with Talia, letting her hug him and pick him up without growling or snapping at her. He's generous with his adoration of her as well. Like all dogs, (and toddlers) he's also pretty good at getting muddy, so the "Mancha" part of his namesake might fit occasionally, since it means "stain."

While I understand the belief of many that you shouldn't pay for a dog, but rather adopt one of the many who are on the streets, this dog is different. All of the money made from him and his sisters will go to an orphanage to help take care of the children, who would otherwise be on the street. He still has two sisters waiting for a home, if you are interested, and they seemed to be equally good tempered.

To all the gentlemen of the world, canine or otherwise!

Birthing Options in Guatemala City: An Interview with Hannah Freiwald

I had a "normal, healthy" hospital birth with my first child, so you may wonder why I have chosen to use a midwife here in Guatemala City instead of the hospital option.

While I don't consider hospital births evil, and I'm not bashing doctors, I do think people use them with a different mindset. When I go to a hospital, I am surrounded by people used to looking for the worst case scenario. This is what saves many people's lives. However, if you have that mindset for birth, something the body is made to do naturally- not an illness, it's no wonder that many precautionary hospital practices have lead to an extremely high Cesarean section rate in the United States... and in Guatemala. I am glad these interventions exist and am thankful for the many lives they have saved, but in most cases I don't think it is the best mindset to start with.

Looking back, it was a miracle that I wasn't pushed into a C-section at the last minute like so many hospital births are. I was very overweight. The doctor's visit that I initially went in for ended in the hospital a week before my due date because the "baby wasn't moving enough." I later found out that the reason for that was because I was in the initial stages of labor. I was hooked up to a blood pressure monitor all night, which painfully took my blood pressure every 30 minutes- effectively removing my ability to sleep the night before giving birth. Exhausted, the next morning they started me on Pitocen which began to speed up the little bit of labor I had left, since my body had almost completely stopped contracting on its own. The doctor then broke my water as the nurse kept upping the amount of Pitocen going into my system. The shock and pain of all of these things happening at once, though I didn't want one, had me asking for an epidural. This was the first time I was able to sleep in 36 hours. This rest allowed my body the time and resources it needed to hurriedly get ready enough, though everything was still so rushed. Nurses came in every two hours to check my cervix. I prayed the whole time that my body would just cooperate and I wouldn't have to get a C-section.

I'll finish this part of the story just by saying that I did give birth to a healthy little girl. I was so exhausted and disconnected from what had happened that it didn't even seem real. I couldn't bond with my baby. I couldn't nurse. This only spiraled into a postpartum depression that got worse. I fought depression and pumped for four months trying to learn how to nurse before we finally figured it out. There is nothing I have faced worse than my baby screaming because she was hungry, and I was there ready to feed her, but we couldn't figure out how.

For every physical stretch mark that I have from birth, there is a mental one as well. I hated losing control over my own body. Do I hate doctors? No. Do I think my doctor did the right thing? No. I think she did what she was trained to do to avoid complications, to avoid lawsuits, to "deliver" me from myself... but I couldn't help feeling that birth was more instinctual and that it shouldn't be like the experience I had. I know many people think I should've just been happy that I had a "normal" delivery with a healthy baby as a result. Please don't get me wrong, I appreciated those things, but I didn't want to do it again. There had to be another option. This lead me to research my options in Guatemala City; the place we are now located, pregnant with our second child.

The C-section rates in Guatemala are horrible (as high as 70%) in many hospitals. I asked around in the expat community looking for any other option and, thankfully, discovered Hannah Freiwald, the only English-speaking (she also speaks German and Spanish) midwife in the capital. Also the only midwife with her own birth clinic. Thankfully, for me, another option. I still can't believe the difference in care, just in the prenatal spectrum, from my first experience. I don't feel like "just another patient." I'm not saying my first doctor was a bad person, but the clinical environment made every part of the process feel like I was just another patient with a possible problem that could become apparent at any moment. With my first pregnancy it felt like the unspoken rule was "ask no questions and do what I tell you to do." Hannah is different. The environment is different. The approach is different. The end goal is different. I'm still learning how to ask and not be scared. I'm still learning how to be in control of my own body.

I'm not the only person like this. Many people in Guatemala have had much, much worse hospital experiences than I have. I am grateful that mine went so well. Women who can't afford care who go to public hospitals are not allowed to have family in the room with them. They labor in a room full of other women who are laboring and then, when high blood pressure becomes an issue (can you imagine it not being an issue in that situation?!) They are forced into C-sections with no family available and no second opinions possible. Many, many of these women have also found Hannah. Many of these women still face the initial hurdle of not being able to afford care... and Hannah helps them anyhow. Her clinic that helps mostly indigenous and low income Guatemalan women called "Manos Abiertas" (Open Hands) works on a sliding pay scale. This often means patients visit free of charge or pay much less than their visit costs, because most can't afford the $5 for a checkup. Still, Manos Abiertas, has to have money to survive. One of the programs they have started to help with this is the sponsor-a-birth program where people can help women like Maria Bernarda. (Pictured below.)

Here is an excerpt of an interview with Hannah explaining some of the challenges of birth, midwifery and funding in Guatemala:

What birthing options are available for Guatemalans?

•"For poor Guatemalans, there are the national hospitals: C-section rates are getting close to 50%, all kinds of other interventions are routine, and the woman is unaccompanied through her birth."
•"The IGGS, the social security hospital, is very similar."
•"Many people who can barely afford it therefore opt for one of the small private clinics, only to have the same experience but paying for it."
•"Aprofam, an organization that started out subsidized but has to be sustainable at this point, has taken the same route in order to sustain itself."
•"In the rural areas there are local midwives available, some of which are very experienced and well (mostly self-) trained, while others are not."
•"The big hospitals in the city have a C-section rate of 70 to 80%, besides being very expensive."

"In zone 11 we are facing the problem that people do not have a concept of a natural birth anymore - we have lost clients because they lost patience. People are so used to getting their babies cut out of them or pulled out of them or being hooked up to an IV that they do not believe in letting birth progressing normally. The urban clientele on one hand is used to getting things fixed "now" and on the other hand has no education to reason for themselves.
The c-section rate in Guatemala is shocking, and seems to largely come from doctors being in a hurry (lots of patients!) and having inadequate training in obstetric techniques. They also get more money for performing a c-section than a vaginal delivery (as is the case in the US as well.)"

How is what you offer with Manos Abiertas different?
"It is unfortunate that respectful, empowering, and patient-based care is not the norm, but it is clear that when women find it they will not settle for anything less. Patients came to Manos Abiertas from across the country, taking 3 and 4 hour bus trips to seek care. Patients told stories of other clinics they had visited, where they never received results, where procedures and medications were not explained, where their birth control was unreliable and suddenly unavailable, and where they were c-sectioned unnecessarily. Low income Guatemalan women have not yet grasped that they deserve respect. Teaching them this fact is a big part of our work."
"Manos Abiertas offers something different, and it is clear that it is needed. One of the most extraordinary things about Manos Abiertas is the home-birth atmosphere that they are able to offer to their clients. Women labor and birth in a quiet, comfortable, homey environment, surrounded by their family and friends (and sometimes half of the village.) They are able to deliver naturally, and usually go home to their family the next day. The new baby is celebrated and fussed over by the clinic staff, and the mom is at the center of all of the action."

I don't know how you feel about the midwife vs. hospital birth issue, and I welcome your dissent if you disagree with me, but if nothing else let's agree that no matter one's social status, they should have an option. The ability to have control over one's own body is a basic right. If that right is given away freely, that's one thing, but the ability to have a choice is necessary. Without funding, Centro de Parto Natural and Manos Abiertas wouldn't be able to offer the Guatemalan indigenous women, the ones who are constantly refused the rights to their own bodies on a daily basis, the ability to choose their own manner of birth. Please consider donating.

Spanish educational material about birth approx. 60$ or 470Q
1 professional grade, waterproof fetal doppler: $125 or 985Q plus shipping
1 complete birth package 240$ or 1,884Q

Also on their wish list is an obstetric ultrasound machine. Any donation, no matter the size, will help make a difference in a woman's life.

Thank you, from me, from countless women who would tell you if they could. Thank you.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Why My Husband is My Hero: Part 1

In honor of Guatemalan Father's Day next Friday, June 17th, I thought I'd write why I appreciate my husband, who is also an awesome father.

1. He waited until marriage for me, and appreciated that I did for him.
2. He is not overwhelmed or easily emotionalized into decisions. He is good at analyzing facts and then standing by what he believes.
3. He goes out of his way to make sure he says words that build his family up every day.
4. He is a family man. He doesn't look for ways to get out of his responsibilities, but actually finds ways to appreciate them most of the time.
5. He is a problem solver. If something doesn't work, he will either find a way to make it work or figure out a better solution.
6. He pushes himself. He's not satisfied with where he is in some areas in life, and he takes the time to make sequential goals that he knows he can follow that will benefit both him and our family as a whole.
7. He believes in me and gives me the freedom to believe in myself. When I was too scared to exercise by myself he helped me come up with solutions. Without his encouragement, I would probably still be overweight.
8. He is a generally happy person! It's a blessing to live with another human being who knows how to express himself without yelling or forcing others to do things. He knows how to state things showing what is most reasonable and to do it in a nice way.
9. He's a hard worker. I'm glad I am not married to a man that I have to worry will not go to work and support his family or will spend all of the money on his own desires. He is always looking for new ways to diversify his skills so that he is even more marketable and able to be an even better provider.
10. He has big dreams. Sometimes he dreams so big and so broad that I have trouble keeping up with him! But it's an amazing journey being his help-meet, we never know what adventure we will get to participate in next!
11. He is super intelligent. He speaks 3 languages. He reads voraciously. He writes crazily complicated and amazing things as easily as he breathes. He has several degrees that he never brags about. He has a calculator for a brain. His brain is huge.
12. He is humble. Even with so many things that he could brag about, he doesn't. Instead of always talking about himself to other people, he listens to them and what they have to offer. He is not too proud to admit that he is wrong sometimes and that he can learn from others.
13. He is a good father. Though he is always busy, he makes time to play ball, read with our daughter or to just have what they call "intelligent conversations." ;) These can be about anything and they usually end up laughing over each others perceptions.
14. He is strong. I never wanted a man that couldn't physically stand up for himself. In Guatemala, he is heads and shoulders above other men, literally. This comes in handy because nobody wants to try to assault him. He can pick me up if there's an emergency. Strong arms give good hugs. ;)
15. He's handsome. Handsome men make cute babies. ;)

I will leave this "part 1" on purpose, because I know that the longer we our married, I will keep finding more things to appreciate about him.

It's a blessing to have supportive, amazing husbands and father's in our lives. I know I'm not the only woman blessed with one.

Many of the father's in Guatemala work very labor-intensive jobs every single day to support their very large families. Many of them get up before daylight to go to the river to dig sand to put into bags that will later be used to make cement. They are often bowed over before their time due to the hard work and constant struggle to make ends meet. If you would like to support Guatemalan father's who are doing everything they can and still have trouble bringing home enough, I would encourage you to visit MayanFamilies.org to see how you can use as little as $5 to change a Guatemalan families life for a week. According to their website, here is a list of items people need and how much your money can buy:


$35    Large Basket of Food
$80    100 lb of Black Beans
$5       Carton of 30 Eggs
$54     Baby Formula for babies 12 months and under for 1 month
$30     Milk for infants 12 months and older for 1 month
$45     Double Mattress
$170   Bed and Mattress
$160   Onil Stove
$60     Ecocina portable Stove
$110   Wooden Table & Chairs
$95/$100    Traditional Clothing
$8        Traditional Belt
$30     Leather Shoes
$5       Plastic Shoes
$6       Umbrella
$115     Pila, a two sided cement wash basin - sink for Washing
$170     Family Wardrobe
$150     Food to feed a family for one month
$35     100 lb bag of Corn (This makes tortillas for a family of five, 3 meals a day, for approximately two weeks)
$40     Egg Laying Hens  (These provide a family with a supplemental income and food)
$12/15     Rain boots Child / Adult
$30     Tradition Cloth Baby Carrier
$25  Family Health Pack (Family of 5) Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Kotex, Soap, Clothes detergent, Dishwashing detergent.
$25     Traditional Apron
$20   Blankets
$40    Water Filter Replacements
$20    Kids Soccer Jersey, long lasting.
$80    Hope Chest

May 2011 Arcoiris: 5k's while pregnant

May 2010 was my first experience ever participating in a 5k. March 2011 I ran my first 10k. This May 2011, I ran 3k and walked 2k... because this time I was running 12.5 weeks pregnant. (I would usually push through, but your body lets you know when you need to slow down in pregnancy.) With my first pregnancy, running any amount of a 5k would have been a difficult thing to imagine. I was 214 pounds when I got pregnant and I gained 48 with pregnancy. Most of that was due to a fear of being outside with strangers and what they'd think of me. That fear kept me from exercising the most effective and cheapest way possible: walking outside.

It's been a long and difficult transition since then, but things have changed, in a very ironic setting. Where I was once scared to walk in un-gated places without reason, now I can't walk for very real and substantiated fears. However, excuses are not an option. There is always a way to exercise, you just have to be determined to find it. I have used our 2 level stairway to run up and down, created a mini-track in our garage to run around, found numerous exercise videos on sparkpeople.com that don't require equipment and found many ways to play chase with my toddler creatively. There is always something that can be done. Thankfully, where we work has a dirt track that is free and it has come in very handy!

In addition to this, we now live in a country, Guatemala, where there are always different types of fruits and vegetables in season. Sparkpeople.com also helped me track calorie intake and make better food choices. With this mindset and available blessings, I am starting this pregnancy at 150 and have only gained 3 pounds in the first trimester.

What this doesn't conquer, but helps manage, is the paranoia that uncontrolled weight gain will still be a part of this pregnancy. I think this is something that I will have to prove to myself. Once I experience a healthy, active pregnancy, I will know that I can do it.
I am blessed with people who support me and a healthier lifestyle. While I have learned some independence, I still realize that the support of other people helped me get to the point of being able to be independent.

I would like to encourage you, whether struggling to be healthy in general or during pregnancy, with irrational fears like mine or just seemingly insurmountable weight to lose; you can do it. Don't accept excuses from yourself. Be creative and you can always find a way. I certainly plan to keep proving this to myself!

Macadamia Nut Farms and How They Benefit Guatemala

Guatemala is mainly known for its coffee farms, but I had heard of many macadamia farms around Antigua and decided to do more research.

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Eco-Friendly Macadamia Nut Farm

Apparently, the people who founded the Valhalla Macadamia farm, (close to the Panajachel outside of Antigua) have a wider vision for the macadamia than just exportation. Here is a quote that states their vision better than I could ever paraphrase:
 "The potential of the Macadamia tree as an environmentally friendly alternative to slash and burn agriculture is incredible. For example, if you compare the Macadamia tree with a pine tree, the tree most often used in reforestation projects in Guatemala, you will see that the Macadamia tree, thanks to its broad leaves, has the capacity to convert more carbon dioxide to oxygen than the pine needles can. For every pound of nut meats we take one pound of carbon out of the air. The Macadamia tree converts sixty three cubic feet of carbon dioxide and releases 55 gallons of water vapor into the atmosphere every day. Most importantly, the Macadamia tree is an economically favorable tree, a food source, and firewood for cooking. It is environmentally friendly, but it can also provide the indigenous communities an income."

Macadamia Oil Deep Repair Mask, 8.5 ounces Jar
This farm mainly uses macadamia nuts for the oils to create cosmetics: lotions, soaps, oils, and some edible products as well. I found macadamia nut butter for sale from this farm. Many people who have visited have commented on their sustainable and non-toxic farming methods. Erica from Travelpod says: "The farm grows completely organic macadamia nuts.  We saw the plants they grow to make natural pesticides, boil in water, which is then used to spray the trees and keeps insects from feeding on." 

 And others comment on their commitment to use the macadamia trees to improve the lives of people in Guatemala. According to one of the farm's tourists at virtualtourist.com:
"Valhalla gives baby trees away to indigenous farmers, 100 trees per family because that is how many one family can care for A tree matures in 8 years, but it will produce some nuts before that. One tree produces 150 lb. of nuts per year, but ¾ of the weight is shells. They could eventually get $1000 per year in income from them."

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Eco-Friendly Macadamia Nut Farm

Next up: I want to take a tour of this farm! I would love to eventually have the land to plant some macadamia trees, though maybe not 100. Also, I want to try macadamia butter.

I appreciate the way these people have found a solution to several problems at once; slash-and-burn farming, income for Guatemalan families, non-toxic pest solutions and of course, the delicious and useful products from the nuts themselves.

Indigenous Guatemalan Men's Clothing

While the indigenous men's clothing in Guatemala is disappearing at a much faster pace than the indigenous women's clothing, it is still visible, especially in the smaller towns. Jeans shipped from the north have rapidly replaced the hand-woven textiles that formed pants or shorts identifying each man's region and heritage. Sometimes, instead of being replaced, a unique compromise occurs with Mayan textiles and Western patterns.


Another example of that is this heavily (and heavy!) embroidered-collared shirt necessary for warmth in the mountains of Todos Santos, Huehuetenango.

Apparently this is a topic many people who study indigenous people are interested in. There are many museums and universities out there with a ton of information on the different types of influences of Western culture on the Mayan indigenous dress, male and female. One university museum who has researched this topic is the Sam Noble Museum from the University of Oklahoma. The Sam Noble Museum's website says:
"This man's shirt from Todos Santos Cuchumatan, Guatemala, shows the influence of Western style in its chest pocket and machine stitching. Also, it is worn with pants largely of Western design; the pants are fitted rather than loose and have a waistband and beltloops, features absent in the older styles of pants."



They go on to say: "In many ways, though, this outfit remains true to the traditional clothing styles for this Mayan community.

The fabric of the shirt is woven on a backstrap loom, the cuffs and collar are heavily brocaded, and like most traditional shirts, it has no buttons."

Ball caps are rampant, but the hand-woven sombreros with textile bands are still very common.

While it is hard to reconcile "Western" rules of matching to Guatemalan textiles that are worn together, there is no denying that they are wildly vibrant and colorful!



Though most Guatemalan men have switched to the cheaper, less labor-intensive Western clothing shipped down from the States, others proudly wear their indigenous clothing and identify with their ancestry through it. According to the Sam Noble Museum website: "Even within a community where men and women both continue to wear traditional styles of clothing, these styles are different and reflect the sexual division of labor. There are only a few villages where men continue to wear traditional clothing, and oftentimes they continue to do so to demonstrate their pride in being Mayan. By far, villages where men and women both continue to wear traditional styles of clothing, such as Todos Santos Cuchumatan, San Juan Atitan, and Santiago Atitlan, are exceptions to the rule. Men of these villages are instantly recognizeable because of their distinctive clothing styles."

Horchata: A Central American rice drink

When I saw the English translation for "Horchata" was "Orgeat" on the B&B version of the condensed drink, I had to look it up. I've never heard that word before. The definition according to Merriam-Webster was: a sweet almond-flavored nonalcoholic syrup used as a cocktail ingredient or food flavoring. That's not at all what horchata is today, but after researching I found that in the past almonds actually were an ingredient.

According to eHow.com, "Horchata is a traditional Central American rice drink that blends ground rice, cinnamon and sugar into a delicious and milky result. The Spaniards brought this drink to the new world, where they replaced the traditional ground melon seeds with squash seeds, and later with rice and almonds. The rice was traditionally ground with a "metate y mano," an old Mayan-style mortar and pestle. More modern, less ambitious methods use a blender."

I've never seen horchata made with anything other than the following ingredients:

(Uncooked) White Rice 1-2 cups
Sugar
Cinnamon(powder)
Cinnamon sticks (3 to 4)
Pitcher
Ice
Blender

If you would like the "less ambitious" method, here is a recipe:


1. Get your blender and put about 1-2 cups of your uncooked white rice in your blender, you'll need the lid on there because you don't want rice flying everywhere.

2. Now you're going to add about 3 cups of water to your blender (depending on the size of your blender, you want the water to be 2/4 to your rice). Now you are going to blend the water and the rice all together. Do this for about 1-2 minutes to make sure everything mixes all together.

3. Now that you have all this mixed together let you blender sit in your fridge with the rice for about 1 to 2 hours, this will assure that the flavors from the rice stick to the water so when it is time to take the rice out the rice flavor is still there..Also let your cinnamon sticks sit along with your rice water. If you use powdered cinnamon in there, use about half a cup of cinnamon.
You can adjust the tastes to your liking.

4. When 1-2 hours have passed you are going to get a colander and drain the rice out. You can transfer the water into your pitcher now.

5. Now you add about 1 cup of sugar. Make sure you taste your Horchata and make sugar and cinnamon adjustments if it needs to be sweeter. Here you will now need about 2-3 cups of milk. The milk is what brings the whole Horchata together.
Add ice and you have yourself a cool summer Central American beverage.

If you would like an even less ambitious version of this drink, buy the concentrated version, (B&B is one of the best) and just mix with the ratio of one cup of concentrate to 12 cups of water. Make sure you use cold water or it will make a clumpy, stringy mess. Chill and drink!

This is one of our daughter's favorite drinks! If you are very hungry and have to wait to eat, this beverage will make you feel full for a little while, so go easy if you drink it with a meal.