Summer > School

Hey folks! Time for another update. This past work week was productive – I finished all of my interviews with study team members and am almost finished analyzing and synthesizing the data. Next week, my goal is to finish a first draft of the paper to send to my coauthors for review. In comparison to the school year, it’s really nice to be able to focus on one in-depth project. It’s also wonderful to have my evenings and weekends free, and yesterday I realized that I still have almost three months left before fall classes start up!

A coworker and I preparing for an interview at a delicious restaurant/bakery less than a block from the office

View of Guatemala City from top of E's building

This past weekend, I spent Friday evening with some friends at a gay dance club, which, I must say, was pretty awesome. The club had three levels (including an outdoor patio), good dance music, unlimited drinks included with your cover, and several performances (read: men in drag wearing hot pink wigs, swirling around oversized lollipops). Funnily enough, the club was one of the data collection sites for the study I’m writing about.

The next day, E and I got up early to set out for a daytrip to Iximché, which are Mayan ruins about a 1.5 hour drive from Guatemala City. First, though, we stopped for much-needed brunch at El Pedregal, a homey, delicious restaurant right near the ruins (Tecpan). I ordered fried eggs on top of crispy tortilla strips, which came with coffee, oatmeal, whole grain bread, elderberry jam, beans, tortillas, and cheese (all for under $6).

I love this teapot

Eating our feat at El Pedregal

After stuffing our faces, we wandered around the restaurant’s garden in the rain and took pictures of flowers (see below).

Iximché, while perhaps not as towering or visually impressive as some of the better-known ruins, is a very special place. The majority of visitors when we went were indigenous Guatemalans, some of whom still use the area for rituals and ceremonies. The area is absolutely beautiful and surrounded by rolling hills, which we could see much better when the sun came out.

Roses at Iximche

At the ruins

 For all you puppy-lovers out there

We walked around for a few hours before deciding to continue on our trip back toward the capital. Our next stop was Hacienda Real, a restaurant/tourist destination right outside of Tecpan. There, we shopped at their artisan market, took more pictures of flowers, and ate some appetizers (fondue, garlicky mushrooms, and bread) while being serenaded by a classical guitar-playing musician.

Hacienda Real

Our final stop was Chimaltenango’s Parque Central which, on a Saturday night, was bustling with food vendors, church-goers, and an intense women’s soccer game. We closed the evening with a visit to a CD/DVD stand, so if anyone is interested in the latest reggaeton or bachata (or watching a pirated version of Contagion), let me know.

Parque Central, Chimaltenango

How I spent most of my Sunday - reading and drinking tea

Chilaquiles, the Police, Marches, and More!

Last week was productive in terms of work, and fun outside of work. One evening was spent eating a feast of Pollo Campero (Guatemalan equivalent of KFC but better) with my housemate and his friends and I also ate dinner at the same tapas restaurant twice in three days (they have really delicious garlicky mushrooms, what can I say). Last Thursday I went to (a portion of) a march to celebrate the Day Against Homophobia (May 17^th) which was a well-attended and high-spirited event despite the afternoon rain (photos from the march below).

This past weekend, I learned two major life lessons:

1. Guatemalan work parties are entirely more entertaining than those in the US 

2. If you need to resolve something like a car accident, don’t expect the Guatemalan police or your insurance company to help

Regarding the first point, this Friday I attended a going-away party for a coworker who is switching jobs. The party, which was scheduled to be a late lunch starting at 3pm actually started around 5pm, and went until almost 1am. We drank caipirhinas (among other beverages), ate delicious chilaquiles; danced merengue, bachata, “hip hop,” and some sort of Peruvian dance involving the waving of paper napkins; and closed the night with some passionate group renditions of ranchera songs, my favorite of which, entitled Rata de Dos Patas (Two-Legged Rat), can be seen here, accompanied by some hilarious English-language translations.

Awkward family photo from work party

Regarding the second point, E and I spent Saturday and Sunday in Antigua, a gorgeous town about 45 minutes from Guatemala City. E was about to go to a lunch with classmates from her MPH program at Universidad Rafael Landivar and I was preparing for an epic market shopping trip when E, driving a 1994 Mercedes, began a three-point turn on an un-crowded side street. She had pulled forward between two motionless cars at which point the large pick-up truck in front of us began to reverse. And then kept reversing. Right into E's stopped car. E honked right before the driver hit her car but it was too late. Even though the truck was reversing slowly, it did some damage (see below). 

The next two hours were spent talking to the driver of the truck, the police, and E's insurance company trying to resolve who was at fault. Here is a summary of how this conversation went down.

E's/my argument: As a driver, it is your responsibility to look behind you as you are reversing to make sure that you don’t run into anything, like a small child, a dog, a mailbox, or a car.

The other driver’s argument: As a driver, it is your responsibility to make sure, even if you are at a complete standstill, that other cars do not back into your car. This is especially true when you are driving a “very small” car, such as E's (refer to above photo).

The police’s argument: As the police, we are certainly not in the position to decide who is legally culpable, but we are glad that no one was hurt. We are not sure what the traffic laws are, and since both drivers believe the other was at fault, it seems like the best thing would be for you both to come to a friendly agreement, especially because we are ready for lunch and would like to leave as soon as possible.

The insurance company’s argument: We are also not sure what the traffic laws are, and since both drivers believe the other was at fault, it seems like the only option is for E to drop the issue and pay for repairs out of pocket because they will cost less than the deductible (this was the final resolution).

All in all, I was impressed with how E (and E's posse of MPH friends who came to help) handled the frustrating situation. See below for a photo of E discussing matters with the cops.

Otherwise, we had a lovely time in Antigua shopping, eating, walking around and hanging out with the MPH crew. Here we are at MonoLoco in Antigua sharing some liters of beer.

Week 1: Guatemala City

Hello friends! I have just decided, about a week into my summer, to try to keep a blog. First, it will remind me to take pictures. Second, it will provide you with an answer to what I did this summer. And third, it will force me to write something non-academic for the first time in, hmmm, years? And I just realized that this paragraph so far looks a lot like the introduction of a research paper. Oy vey.

On May 7, I arrived in Guatemala, City where I will spend six weeks working with a health studies organization at a Guatemalan university. The organization primarily conducts HIV surveillance and behavioral research in Central America. My main task while here is to work on a journal article for a 2010 study that compared two different sampling methods (one that’s social network-based and one that’s venue-based) which were implemented at the same time within the same population (men who have sex with men in Guatemala City). I won’t bore you with details (okay no promises), but the article will describe the implementation and operational issues associated with each sampling method. I’m really excited because this will be the first time that I’m taking the lead in writing an article, and I’m able to write about a topic and population of both public health importance and personal interest.

After my first week here, I’m incredibly impressed with the people I’m working with – a very accomplished, international crew from all over the Americas: Guatemala, the US, el Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, and I’m sure even more that I can’t remember right now. The office environment is great; everyone has been really welcoming and I’m especially enjoying the open air, meaning that I’m not freezing all the time like I usually am in offices.

Last Wednesday was Mother’s Day here and we celebrated with a group lunch of chop suey, cake, and dancing. Thursday and Friday were quite busy because I was helping the team with a proposal for the Pan American Health Organization; I got to pretend like I know things about evaluation methods and brush up on my Spanish-to-English translation skills. This week, I’ll mainly be conducting interviews with members of the study teams, which will inform the results presented in the article I’m writing.

Outside of work things have been great too. I’m living with two lovely coworkers, who have graciously offered me a room in their home and rides to and from the office. I also joined a really fancy gym where one of my housemates belongs with lots of classes, a hot tub, and a sauna. Since my housemate is (a) really into exercising, and (b) my ride from work, I have turned into somewhat of a gym rat.

And if you're wondering, yes the only photo on this post is a stock image from my gym's website. I will do better next time.

I’ve also been spending time with E, a gringa who’s been living in Guatemala City for 3.5 years. She’s been great to hang out with and has introduced me to the wonders of Guate such as the central market, views from the top of a parking garage, pan con chile (sandwich with chile relleno inside mmmm), a live Trova music night, the benefits of treating oneself to a massage, and some amazing graffiti/street art, among others.

That’s all for now, more to come!