Around Xela

Here are some more pics from day to day here in Xela. I´m sure people would rather look at pics than read anyway:

My trusty steed that I have rented for the month... Relampago (Lightning) is what I have named it. Its very convenient and barely functioning. But I appreciate it

This is Ana Laura in the garden at our house. She is the granddaughter of the people whose house I live in. She will be 5 in a few days and she is the sweetest little girl. I am going to the talent show at her elementary school tonight :)

Karla posing in front of the volcano that sits on the outskirts of Xela. I think its called Tacamulco and is sitting at about 4000 meters. This could be all false information. I´m not sure.

This is a sign on a house about 2 blocks from my house. It is translated to "Injections and IVs put in here." I know personally that I really prefer to get my IVs in hospitals. On second thought maybe it would be safer at this ramshackle joint where there is no indication that this person is qualified seeing as how the MRSA bugs are running rampant in the hospitals. I dunno. Not too many things shock me anymore but this did. Also for those of you not used to Central American security measures. Note the crushed glass bottles around the top of the wall. While they may be unsightly they are apparently effective at keeping intrudors from scaling the walls. Back to IVs, I have heard that IVs are used for everything. Hangnail, get an IV. A cold, get an IV. Flu, get an IV. Cough, get an IV. This person is clearly just taking advantage of the booming market.

This was not taken in Xela but in Lago de Atitlan where we spent the past weekend just relaxing. This was the view from the balcony of our hostel (for which we only paid about 3.50 per night and I think this view alone was worth it). Karla awoke me to check out this sunrise for which I am very grateful :)

And now some pictures from the school where I am teaching about oral health one hour a week for three weeks. I talked about it in the last blog. Today the kids were showing off their history projects and these were some of the more impressive ones! These kids are so bright and work so hard. They are a joy to work with!

Now on to the tooth stuff. Today was the debut of the "Super Cepillo" (Super Toothbrush) skit in the Prepa (kindergarten) class. I would say it was a big hit and I will continue with the 2nd and 3rd graders tomorrow :) We did skits like this in the US in elementary schools but I thought they would be much more fun if all the kids had costumes (if you consider a paper hat that says Diente on it to be a costume). Below I am featured with my Dientes (teeth) complete with paper hats. After that is a Kindergartener showing of the scary Microbio (microbe) costume complete with tin foil hat and green paper gloves.

They also liked it when I demonstrated how a Microbio should die after the Super cepillo brushes him or her. Note my legs sticking straight up and the kids bad fitting tin foil hat falling off.

AFter learning about what happens when we brush your teeth we went to do it for real. They already are brushing their teeth every day after snack which is great. I´m trying to get them the resources to be able to do this in pre-k through 6th grade

These children are just too precious. After you spend even a half an hour in their class they will come up to you and hold your hand at recess or attack you in a hug which eventually ends up with the whole class nearly knocking you over. I just feel really lucky to be able to have this opporunity to work with these kids who are just so excited to learn and really themselves are lucky to get the opportunity as there are so many Guatemalan children who are not offered the possibility.

For those people who wonder, maybe critically, why I come here to work with Guatemalan children when there are needy children just down my street in the US I refer you to the article written by my friend once again http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/7/14/1805/48246/627/551598

While it is undeniable that stark poverty exists even blocks from my own home in Minneapolis it is simply not on the same level as here; whats more we have the means (if that isn´t the biggest understatement of the day) in the US to correct the system. There is a way but there is simply a lack of will in our "great" country.