Life at 8,000 feet.

So we ended up being stuck at the mudslide for approximately 4-5 hours (no one actually has a clock or watch, so we´re not totally sure).  Yes, 4-5 hours of sitting at a traffic jam.  When we had arrived, by the way, the mudslide had occurred 40 minutes prior-- and still, nothing was being done to correct the situation.  The local who is traveling with us (Nury) has a son who works for the U.S. Embassy.  So she made a quick phone call (to the embassy) and within minutes, there was a backhoe there to clean up the mess (incidentally, the only piece of machinery that ever showed up to clean up this massive mountain disaster).  So, while this lone backhoe was working to clean up the gigantic pile of the mountain that was now laying in the road (pictures to follow once I return home), I was able to wander around the area with others from my team. 

We met up with this girl, Abby, who is currently a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala.  I´m still not sure if it was a good or bad thing that I spent so much time talking to her-- it made me want to go home, sell all my things, and join the Peace Corps.  For those of you who don´t know: prior to me getting my current job at Pfizer, I was about 85% done with my application to the Peace Corps (a lengthy application, by the way)... so needless to say, I was overly interested in absolutely everything Abby had to say about every aspect of her life in the Peace Corps.  Poor girl was bombarded with questions from me.  But she was a good sport and answered all the questions cheerfully. 

So some of us talked with Abby, some talked with the locals, some shopped, some napped, and some took some amazing photos (yeah, that would be me... with my camera permanently strapped around my  neck) of the breathtaking mountainous Guatemalan landscape.  Around 2:30, the mudslide was cleared enough for us to get back on the road and finish our looooong journey (we had only completed about 2 hours of the trip; we still had at least 3 more to go-- once we got past the mudslide, that is).  So a quick breakdown: we left at 7 AM, stopped around 9:30 for the mudslide, waited about 5 hours, and got back on the road about 2:30 PM.  We finally arrived in San Marcos (after a quick stop in Quetzaltenango (AKA Xela) at Burger King for a late lunch-- yes, a very cultural experience, I know... and again, the only vegan option: a salad and fries) around 5 or 6 PM.  So yes, almost a 12-hr drive.  Very cool.  But like I said in my last post, it helps to be traveling with a bunch of people who are pretty relaxed when it comes to dealing with the unexpected.  And this crazy mountain phenomenon was definitely unexpected.  No one was hurt (thank God), and nothing was damaged. 

When we arrived in San Marcos, we went straight to the church where we´ll be working-- La Iglesia Luterana del Buen Samaritano (Good Samaritan Lutheran Church)-- and set up our eyeglass clinic.  Set-up went pretty smoothly, considering our very cramped and dimly-lit conditions.  After set-up, we sat down with the locals for some long-awaited good food.  The carnivores in the group were given a chicken-stuffed beef dish, with baked potatoes and a salad.  Vegan Melanie was given baked potatoes and a salad.  Not too shabby.  Doesn´t sound Guatemalan? It´s not.  But it was home-cooked and tasty.  We talked for a bit with the locals, and then headed back to our hotel for a quick meeting/ devotion and then off to bed. 

This morning I awoke at 7 AM and went to take a shower.  And **sound the trumpets** it was a HOT SHOWER... again, always a gamble with that.  I went with Allie (my roommate) down to breakfast, where we were served oatmeal, fresh pineapple, corn flakes, and BEANS.  By the way... beans are my all-time favorite food ever.  Perhaps that´s why a vegan diet suits me so well.  Anyway, I was overjoyed to be given beans for my first meal-- a great start to the day.  Not to mention that, also staying at our hotel is one of the major soccer teams in Guatemala-- so our view during breakfast (approx. 20 athletic young Guatemalan men) wasn´t too shabby... The other young gals and I were definitely in our glory :)

After breakfast, we went to church at 10 AM (a service almost completely in Spanish, save the translations during the sermon) and I´m proud to report that I understood everything during the service... I´m amazed at how easily my Spanish is coming back to me.  AFter the service, we immediately started seeing people in the eyeglass clinic.  I was in charge of the station at which we test our patients to determine their prescription for seeing distances.  I´ve been on one trip (2008) where we´ve conducted a similar eyeglass clinic, and today was by far one of the most challenging days I´ve ever experienced.  First of all, a vast majority of the people we saw today were deaf children.  Now, that wasn´t SO difficult for me (many of them can read lips) but I felt sorry for my non-Spanish-speaking teammates who were testing the vision, speaking to the Spanish translator, who was speaking to the sign language translator, who then conveyed the message to the deaf child.  What a train of communication.  Though it may seem like a nightmare, the clinic went surprisingly well.  It can be somewhat frustrating (and I definitely experienced it today) when you´re trying to help someone and a) they´re beyond help or b) you´re just not sure how to help them.  But sometimes, simple as it may sound, it helps to just take a step back, take a deep breath, slap on a smile, and try again.

We took a short break for lunch (salad and beans again for me... that´s beans 2x so far today) and continued to see more people in the clinic.  We stopped around 4 PM, and we went back to our hotel.  We lounged around for a bit-- I had some cerveza and did some crossword puzzles (with some help from my teammates... a sure team-building activity, haha).  We went shopping at a store just down the road from our hotel (did I mention it´s like 50 degrees here?-- people needed to buy some long pants/ long-sleeved shirts, because everyone packed for 90-degree weather) and came back to lounge around a bit before heading down to the hotel restaurant for supper (for the carnivores, milanesa: a dish very similar to wiener schnitzel, for all you Germans out there), scalloped potatoes, soup, and salad... for me, BEANS (that´s three meals of beans in one day), soup, and salad).  AFter supper, we had a meeting/ devotion, then off to bed.  Now I´m in the hotel lobby, shivering as I´m blogging.  Never really thought I´d be this chilly in Guatemala-- the past few times I´ve been here, I´ve been on the Caribbean coast, and it was easily 95 degrees every day.  But we´re here in San Marcos, in the mountains (8000 feet above sea level-- something I´ve never experienced before, but I don´t notice much difference, though others have had some issues with heartbeats/ breathing/ fatigue/ etc).  I´m definitely making good use of the one sweatshirt I brought, as well as the two pairs of long pants and three scarves that I brought. 

All in all, it´s been a wonderful experience so far.  I´m excited to continue the clinic tomorrow.  Serving as a vision tester/ translator seems to be a good fit for me.  Life at 8,000 feet is the good life.