Hola! Tara and Sydney here to tell you about our third day here in Guatemala! We began the day with breakfast at La Café RED and a talk on migration with a former guerrilla fighter. La Café RED is an organization that empowers young adults to educate themselves on fair trade and start their own companies. Their aim is to create a network of smaller and more connected businesses in order to combat the big businesses (McDonalds, Walmart, etc.) that negatively affect the Guatemalan economy. La Café RED is part of a larger organization called Desgua, which is a national organization dedicated to helping deported Guatemalans (who had grown up in the U.S.) transition to living in Guatemala. Willy, the former guerrilla fighter that spoke to us about this topic, is one of the co-presidents of the organization. It was truly eye opening to hear about the issue of migration from his perspective. Next, we walked to the local language school and spoke with Erica, a rural nurse who operates a small clinic out of her house. She taught us about the deficiencies of the Guatemalan health system; primarily that the clinics do not have the necessary supplies to treat patients because they do not receive enough money from the government. We also learned many astonishing facts about healthcare in Guatemala, like how you do not need a prescription to get any medication (besides antidepressants). The vast amount of information that Willy and Erica shared is hard to summarize in a blog post, but let's just say that many of us were feeling very challenged by the end of the morning.
After hearing many difficult stories and discussing hardships it was nice to give our minds a rest and bailar!!! We learned how to salsa, merengue, bachata and cumbia. We had a lot of fun learning these cultural dances even though some people ended up with many bruised toes. From this experience we now know we will never be on Dancing with the Stars!
To start the afternoon, we returned to our homes to eat lunch with our host families (a slight mishap as Sydney and I forgot what our house looked like and tried to enter a house that looked nearly identical). ¡Que horrible! We then regrouped and split in half. One group began with a drive to a small village outside of the main square. This is the group Sydney and I went with so we will share our experience with you. We had a short hike up a mountain with a stunning view of the city below. At the top of the mountain there was sauna Temascal, which is a traditional hot sauna. Prior to learning about the sauna, we learned about many different herbal remedies and natural medicines that some find very beneficial. For example, many of us cook with herbs such as basil and rosemary, however we did not know the countless benefits these herbs provide. We learned that rosemary can act as an antibiotic and can improve your skin tone. Basil helps menopause and improves coughs and sore throats. We also encountered native herbs to Guatemala, one even helps prevent kidney stones!
After learning about herbal remedies we each got to go in the hot sauna with the woman who practices herbal medicine. She taught us how to cleanse ourselves by massaging our bodies with the herbs. Muy caliente!! The grandmother welcomed us into her home and made us tea after our turn in the sauna. We were truly inspired with all the love we received.
We finished our day by regrouping and cooling off with some ice cream while reflecting on our experiences from the day. It was a day full of firsts, as it was most people's first time salsa dancing, weaving, and going in a hot sauna! By the end of the day we realized how important dissonance is, as we need to be pushed outside our comfort zones in order to grow. To our surprise, Sydney and I came home to an American Doctor who is volunteering at a local clinic who is also staying with our host family. Finalmente una persona con la que podamos hablar en inglés!!
Unfortunately we cannot say much about the weaving cooperative, but the students who blog on Friday will share the experience with you! The people we met today were so open and made us feel like we were one of them. A quote from one woman that really summarizes our afternoon experiences at Sauna Temascal and the weaving cooperative is "My house may be small, but it has so much love for all."
¡Estamos cansadas, buenas noches!
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