Well besides the first of two elections coming and going this past weekend, things have been pretty tranquilo here in Tecpan. Peace Corps put us on a 3 day standfast for the weekend of the elections, this meant that we are not allowed to leave where we are- in most cases (unless you are on vacation) this means you cannot travel outside of your site. I took up residence at my sitemates apartment, where we baked, watched movies, made falafel, sweet potato black bean burritos, sandwiches (which sounds ordinary but are a commodity here in Guate!), and Barret's baked potato salad. Needless to say I gained about 3 pounds in the 3 day standfast! I guess I am just practicing for when I come home in November!
The election, at least in Tecpan, was pretty calm- besides the church that was trying to raise money through a loud speaker and bando music, overall it was pretty quiet! Most people came out to vote in their nicest clothes and brought the whole family along, it was very different from in the USA where you squeeze voting into your 30 min lunch break, people come from the villages outside of Tecpan to vote and want to feel proud to do so. We do have a new mayor in town, which I feel is what the majority wanted because there hasn't been any burning buildings or cars and the general feel of the town is a good one. I was talking with my host mom last night and she told me that their previous mayor had promised a lot but had done very little and was glad to see him go. The country still does not know the president. There will be a run off race between Perez and Baldizon on Nov. 6, the person who receives the highest percentage will be the new president. This is very controversal election because if elected (and it looks like this will happen) Perez wants to fight crime in the country with "mano dura" or firm hand. This was briefly tried in the early 2000s in El Salvador to fight the drug cartels and gangs, but ultimately failed and caused more human rights abuses than anything else. So the international community is a little worried about Perez being elected not only because of that but also because he was a high level military official during the internal conflict that lasted close to 36 years in Guatemala and many have blamed him for some of the biggest massacres against the mayan people during that time. Unfortunately it seems that it Guatemala will be stuck in its present situation a while longer. But this is a democracy and the people will choose who they think can represent their needs the quickest and most efficient and they seem to believe that mano dura is the way to do this.
So the next election will be Nov. 6th. Peace Corps is already predicting another standfast for this so it should be another fun weekend with my sitemates! But this week is also an exciting week because it is Guatemala's independence from Spain! Which means on every street corner in Tecpan there are taco stands, people are selling Guatemalan flags for insanely low prices, fireworks are being lit in every street, and people in general are feeling a sense of community! But unlike the USA the celebrations go on for about a week and a half which means no school and no work for healthy school volunteers, but we are finding other things to fill our time. I have started to dog-sit for a woman that owns an NGO that I am trying to also work with. There are huge celebrations all over the country, the biggest are in Xela, so my sitemates and I are going there for the weekend to see the huge ferris wheel and catch up with some other volunteers and then next week we are headed to MEXICO! for a much needed vacation!
well that is about all that is going on here, watch out for next week- hopefully i will have some humorous story about mexico!
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