Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Packing

I’ve been in Guatemala for almost a year now and the new class of Healthy Schools volunteers are receiving their invitations and preparing for their January departure. I’ve got a few emails from people asking about packing tips for Guatemala, so here it goes.

Guatemala is a very geographically diverse country. Some volunteers live in the mountains at altitudes about 9,000 ft. Temperatures can drop below freezing and with no in door heating, fleeces, flannels and down sleeping bags are a must. I’ve got friend whose pilas (large basins used to store water during the week) freeze during the night, and they’ve sent home for warmer pajamas, thicker socks and hats and gloves. I spent the last week in Antigua, and a major cold front came in. The temperatures didn’t get above 50 all day and there’s no heat at the training center so be prepared to be bundled up even  in the classroom.  Out of the 180 or so volunteers in Guatemala, around 170 would tell you leave your flip flops, tank tops and sundresses at home, its too cold to get a tan. However, I spent most of the months of April, May, June and July wishing that it was culturally appropriate to wear a bikini to work. I live in arguably the hottest site in Guatemala. It’s a constant joke at the training center that the volunteers in Chisec don’t know how to pack for trips out of Alta Verapaz because I never show up with enough clothing (this was also a problem of mine back in California). Temperatures here range from about 75-110 year round. Its so humid that any thick cottons will mold before they dry and everything picks up this warm jungle smell. The only long pants I’ve worn in site are my white linen pants because they protect my legs from bugs and sun, and even those get too hot sometimes. I rarely wear anything with sleeves and I don’t even know what happened to all my socks (I haven’t pulled them out to wear since basketball season ended in June). While I own several pairs of shoes, great hiking boots, running shoes, business casual flats, I only wear my rainbow sandals in site unless I’m working out. I’ve yet to see a Q’eqchi woman wear closed toed shoes and really I could probably get away with not wearing shoes at all. Men tend to wear rain boots or cowboy boots all year round, but they make up for the amount of coverage on their feet by rarely wearing shirts. One of the returned volunteers from Chisec decided he was going to go an entire month without wearing a shirt to see if anyone notice. He was disappointed to find that people simply assumed he’d finally “gone native”.  A few weeks ago I took most of my clothes into Coban to get washed and dried (no dryers in Chisec). I left everything at a friends house in San Cristobal so that they don’t get ruined by the mold up here. I guess the best bit of advice I can give is  don’t pack anything you aren’t willing to part with after your service. Hand washing, harsh soaps and the weather wear away your clothes here much faster than in the U.S.

 

I’m off to wash my pillow cases (all my bedding molded while I was away for the week)