End of story

I figured it is only right to finish this story with a picture of mine:

This picture was taken with the help of my Spanish friend Alfonso. The person sitting there is me, and behind me is the village of Yalambojoch, seen from top of the centre where I lived and worked for a month. It was taken just a few days before my long return home.

The trip back went very well, and was in itself a very short yet incredibly exciting adventure. Thanks to my Spanish skills and Barcelona-inspired spontanity I met loads of interesting people while I visited, after in-between sleeping in Huehue, the more tourist-filled places of Panajachel and Antigua, enjoying coffee after coffee and fantastic, luxurious and varying meals. And then I flew home without losing one single thing in my heavy luggage, arriving at Stockholm safely and happily for finally being home.

As any more details of this would sort of ruin the point of this voluntary blog, that is all I will be writing about that. The point I most of all want to make is that this adventure was even more than I expected - fluent Spanish, spontaneity, discipline, teaching, just to mention a few things I have gained from it, accompanied with loads of excitement and new knowledge and understanding about these fascinating cultures of Central America. Truly worth more than I expected. And, like I believe I mentioned before doing the trip, truly the trip of my life.

Now, though, it's time to finally take a deserved break. I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog, and I hope you've also gained something from it, whether it be knowledge or just some fun.

Oh, and always, feel free to contact me if you're wondering anything!
Ciao,
/Sebastian Everett

Last few hours...

This is it. First of august European time, took my last cold shower here (quite comfortable now that I'm used to it!), and in only a few hours I will be on the bus to Huehuetenango. All my voluntary work is finally finished, and soon I will be enjoying visiting a lake called titlan-something (I didn't hear the name very clearly when they spoke it) and another place called Antigua before my flight home. If all goes well with the schedule and such, that is.

Having the last lesson of computing today was very special. It went great, I think, as I found a website with exercises for the three lone students that could come this last weekend. Although in the end they were so tired that we skipped the last one and a half hour after lunch, and I took some photos together with them as a memory. Right after that they gave me a really touching goodbye, thanking me personally for the things I've taught them.

Except for the sad part of leaving all the friendly people here though I feel quite happy to soon be on my way home, and of course relieved to get a real vacation from the hard work. Eleven hours of computing every weekend and a class of teenagers in music, all in Spanish, is really exhausting. So I'm looking forward to two more weeks of chill relaxing, gaming and hanging out with friends. And bragging about my trip to everyone, of course!

Now, off to the last part of my great adventure.

11 - Saying goodbye to Yalambojoch

Once again it is night. Even later than before, and I got lots to do tomorrow. But this might be one of the last, if not the last, update I will be writing here in Guatemala, because after this weekend I will be going from one place to another all week until taking the plane back to Sweden.

I've been partying around a bit since yesterday with the people I've met here, as the teachers of the school went home for the weekend. We had a really great meal, and after some fixing of computers I managed to get some music going from Rosa's (one of the Spaniards) USB. After “dancing” a bit on the kitchen floor they asked (ordered) me to sing some songs with my guitar, and managed to play at least one out of two songs pretty well. Got Alfonso to dance as well!

And today, after having my last lesson with my private student, Pascual, he showed us (after I had asked him to earlier this week), a local band which played in one of the churches. It is so that the bands here seem to always play in churches, and I also think every church has its own band. Pretty funny. Anyhow, we had a great time there, and I got to play some guitar as well with the band which was quite fun. They seemed really impressed by my guitar and gathered around it after the show, and were pretty amazed when I told them the price I paid for it in Sweden. And, well, it's actually a pretty cheap guitar, but I guess they don't have many guitar shops here.

After the concert (or whatever it was), Pascual helped me find the way back home as it was really dark and I didn't have a flash light. And, after the drunkard that had followed us said goodbye, I took farewell of my student. It was quite a sad moment, as you might imagine, since I don't know when or even if I will be coming back here. Not at all like it was in Peru, where it had not been as personal. Also when I said goodbye to the Spaniards I felt like I'm really going to miss this place, even just after a month. Inside it feels like I've been here longer, and the last two weeks seem like months.

To be honest, Sweden feels like a completely different world from here. I simply cannot imagine myself being in Stockholm right now, with all the stressed up people, all the luxurious materialistic stuff. All the safety. And good foods. It feels like that part of me is in another life, unknowing about places like these. Which I guess is a bit true, considering the difference in time, and the fact that I've learned so much here – from washing clothes by hand to planning lessons, from cooking Spanish tortillas to learning Chuj culture, and in between it all a lot of Spanish practising. And lots more, surely making this the trip full of life-experience that I had hoped for. To say the least.

So now, we'll see how long it will take until I can mentally land in Stockholm. Probably I will be flying around in the air long after my physical body has arrived into the city life again. I just hope the silent, Swedish bus drivers won't be mad if I start saying “Buenos días!” every time I step on.

Good night!

10 - Night time writing

It's night at the moment, I'm lying on my bed writing before I go to sleep. Figured I need to catch one of these moments in text.

It is an unusually quiet night. Almost every time there has been some music playing down in the village somewhere, making me crazy with its melodies and rhythms that so easily get stuck into my head. All that I hear now from outside are the dogs on the “street” (dirt road) barking at each other as if having some war of sorts, and the insects. Usually I hear frogs, but it hasn't rained for two or three nights straight (WOW!) so I guess they are waiting for water.

I've been thinking about if I like it here or not. Thing is, it varies a bit. One day I might feel like staying even longer here, and the other day I find myself staring at my calendar counting the days that I will get back to my safe home in Stockholm. And actually, I have an idea why.
Once the Spaniards got me talking a bit more and acting less like a Stockholmer, I seemed to truly enjoy the spirit of this village. I mean, obviously it doesn't have all the luxuries of home, and the safety might not always be the greatest, so that part doesn't make it any better. However, every time I walk down to the village, or even around the centre, there is always someone to greet and be greeted by Every time I stay at the centre, when the Spaniards are home, I have someone friendly to talk to, and without much difficulty understanding each other at all – given enough time, of course. And also, what happened this past weekend was that I realized that the students learning computers are actually more grateful than what they first seemed. After teaching them how to use email and Skype, I received a few messages saying that they are learning well, and one which states that it was “thanks to me”.

Then, finally, I felt like I truly had achieved something here. Being probably the only one around here who can manage all these programs fluently, I feel like my knowledge are worth something here. And that I am worth something. And that is of much higher value than any top grade I can get at home. Which also means that this trip was a success since that was my goal the whole time, to give something to those who need it.

So yes, sometimes this place can be really nice. I'm still a bit homesick though, but maybe because I'm freaking out a little about working as a music teacher. Teenagers can be really difficult... But, on the other hand, only three lessons more to go!

Talking about work, I really, really need to sleep or I will freak out even more tomorrow (having class at 8:15, eek!). So, ¡Buenas noches todos!

Extra: Living in Yalambojoch

So, finally, I remembered to make this update. I'm pretty sure I didn't yet write about how I'm living here, except for mentioning a few things every now and then. So I'd like to spend some time doing so.

First off, I'm living in the centre of education, which is on top of a big hill from where you can see the whole village. Ages ago here used to be some Mayan ruins, but they were destroyed because the military figured this would be a good spot to put up a bunker; simply bulldozed the whole thing Anyhow, it now looks more or less like one of those Japanese or Chinese places of study in the mountains – dojos surrounding an open area with a garden in the middle, and with red roofs and stone walls. Really, really pretty, which I believe is greatly thanks to Per's bricklaying skills (if you ask me he's a true architect, although an uneducated one).

I have a room in one of the visitor's houses, which has eight beds in total but only three in use at the moment. That doesn't mean it's very big, however. We have a small kitchen and a dining room which we share, with a gas-stove and oven. Mostly we have running water which we can use for washing dishes, and also for drinking if we boil it first (it's drinkable otherwise, but a little risky for your stomach). The water system is quite fascinating, as it requires no pumps whatsoever but runs on the elevation of the water thanks to the mountains (at least what I understood) – and the sewer system designed by, guess who, Per, filters the water when it flows downwards.

The bathroom is unfortunately outside the house itself, so we have to first get the key and walk down some stairs before we get to it. And inside there, well... Toilets without water, and reeaaally cold showers. Although I've been told they are even colder during winter.

So, what do I do here? I go to bed as early as possible, around eight if I can, and get up around six or half past six depending on how much time I need. Then I eat my breakfast, brush my teeth, and go to work. Between Monday and Thursday that means going to the teacher's room before having a music class, otherwise I'm having my computer classes during the weekends. And after that, well, I do random stuff. Either I do my duty and wash dishes and clothes, or I might get lazy and play games on my computer, or I might socialize with some people if there are any around. During weekends I'm mostly so very exhausted after more than five hours of computers class though, so I tend to mostly lie in bed in between cooking and buying ingredients in the nearby shops.

Speaking of which! The shops here are great; open every day, and just a two minute walk or so from the centre. Unfortunately they don't have much, but that makes it an even bigger surprise when you finally get to find some specific fruit or vegetables, for example potatoes or bananas. Oh, and there's no queue, you just go up to the shop, look around a little, and tell them what you want and they'll pack it into a little plastic bag for you. Sometimes their mathematical skills are a bit slow, but it's not like anyone's ever in a hurry here anyway.

That's pretty much all I can think of right now of my life here in Yalambojoch. Quite chill, and very non-European. Great for escaping big cities like home.

Nighty!

09 - Mayan ruins in San Francisco

Yesterday I finally got to walk out of the village for a while. I normally never leave the centre, especially not with my camera as this is not really the most secure way to walk around alone as a Gringo. So when the Spaniards invited me for a walk I happily accepted, brought my camera to finally get to take some photos (other than of the centre), and went out with them.

After going past some shops looking for some things to buy, we left the village to go to a place called San Francisco. That is, not the one in USA. This is actually a completely deserted village; the history of the people of this village, completely deserted and burned down and now just a green area without any buildings. Except for one, of course, which is an old Mayan pyramid out of dark grey stone. The same pyramid that is described in the book The Puma's Daughter (previously mentioned in an "extra").

I was really delighted when we could go past the barbed wire (there to keep the cows in, I believe) to go up to the pyramid, climb it and take photos. I took as many photos as my imagination could handle, from the top, from the bottom and from the way up and down. It was quite steep so I had to be careful, but truly it was one of the most fascinating buildings I've seen - completely empty of other tourists, and other people, only the cows and my Spaniard friends. And to again think of the book, and of the protagonist who sat on top of it seeing her village burned, looking from the same view as I was doing. And once again, of the reality, to imagine all the houses surrounding the pyramid years before, with so many people populating them.

There is so much history behind such a place, not just Mayan, and I could probably go on forever romanticizing it. But now, I need to take a rest, keep working with the long lesson plans, wash clothes and cook dinner. And probably some other things I can't remember at the moment.

Enjoy reading!
/Seb

08 - The music teacher challenge

I got so caught up in the recent happenings that I forgot to mention that I started teaching a class in music as well. Fifteen teenagers now struggle to understand my very, very different way of explaining and teaching music, and of course my still half-fluent Spanish. It truly is a challenge, especially when all I have is four lessons more.

The first lesson though must've been one of the most successful ones so far for me. Although I must say I was explaining it in a pretty weird manner; since I didn't really know how to explain the difference between the refrain and the verse of modern music, and even less in Spanish, I played songs for them and once explained by jumping up and down to show them the feeling of the energy you "unleash" at the refrain. Yes, it does sound quite insane, but I think it worked; shortly after I got them competing in groups who could guess the most parts of songs I played. Unfortunately though I only have the music I brought from home, and they had to cope with listening to System of a Down, Stone Sour, KorN and Rise Against. But they really liked it when I let them warm up with the song "Bounce", jumping up and down during the refrain and doing some sort of Ska-dance during the verse, the last two lessons. So I guess it's not too bad.

Besides this though, I feel pretty sad about the quality of the musical education here. They have a teacher who, although nice, lacks any musical experience at all, and all they do (or so I've heard) is work with this book which I think it utterly useless. It is like trying to teach about Mozart without hearing his music. I mean, what's the point? In music, without practical experience, it lacks any real usefulness. I guess that's why I tend to be a little insane during the lessons; I get the feeling they need to see the emotion of the music instead of just the talking!

So, we'll see how good I'll manage with that next week. Haven't got too much time left for teaching, so I guess it'll be pretty hard. But I'll try my best!