Daily Life

TAC asked what my daily routine is like here.  And to be honest it is a hard question to answer because  for the most part there is not a daily routine.  I've been super busy conducting my own research, co-running an intensive Kaqchikel program, and navigating issues of female modesty and of course rain.  On the days that I haven't been taking language classes or running them this is more or less what my life is like:

I wake up early.  The buses start going by about 5 or 5:30.  Living on the main road in the city means that I wake up then too.  While this is early to an Americana, it is not so early for women and men here in Guatemala.  Most mornings I can hear the women I live with at their pila-already washing the dishes from dinner the night before.  Typically I read a little or just lie in bed because it is too cold to get up, just yet.  Then I tidy up a little and eat some breakfast.  Some days I wash the dishes of the family* whose kitchen I use (it is 2 doors down).

My pila- it has a great view

Depending on the day I then get to washing some clothes in my own pila.  I can't say that I am an expert.  I can navigate washing clothing, but sheets are beyond my abilities.  I wish that there was a video of me trying to wrangle a wet sheet in the pila.  Also the fact that I'm about a foot or so taller than the average Guatemalan woman makes the washing experience a little harder.  I'm just too tall for optimal pila usage.
For the most part I wash all my clothes in the pila, except for jeans.  They just take too long to dry and come out pretty stiff.  Jeans and other things that need shrinking I take to the lavanderia down the street.
After clothes washing I do a loop around town.  Stop in the central park for a bit.  And head to the market and/or the Dispensa (Guatemala's version of Kroger).  Then it is back to the house for cooking lunch.

I live on the second floor of this building-
store below and apartment for Peace Corps workers and Anthropologists above.

After gorging myself on toasted tortillas (which is really the only way to get them down).  I  do some transcribing as it rains.  I try to work on typing up notes, but I've been exhausted.  Plus there is the noise of kids and buses to contend with.  It is at these times that I get a coke of desperation from the store below my room.  I spend a little time chatting with Rolando, day-keeper and store owner.
For me, the afternoons are long.  We don't typically eat dinner until 7 or 8 (I often eat dinner with the family whose kitchen I use).

*The two houses aren't connected, but are both owned by one extended family.  I live with the mother, sons and daughter(s)-in-law.  The kitchen and wifi is at the house of the daughter's family.

The Soundtrack of Guatemala

There is one song that overshadows all others here in Guatemala right now: Fuiste Tú.