La cultura y más

I figured now would be a good time to tell a little about the culture, lifestyle, health and general atmosphere of Santiago, so that you all can better picture where I am. Some of this Lisa has told me and some I've observed walking through the town or talking with my host family.

Santiago Atitlán is one of several towns around Lake Atitlán, in the region Sololá of Guatemala. Santiago is near the edge of the lake in between three volcanoes, and it has a population of about 40,000. The people here speak a Mayan language called tz'utujil, and although many children and some adults also speak Spanish, a large portion only speak tz'utujil. Women generally dress in traditional clothing, which is long wrapped skirts of colored stripes and patterns, and short sleeved shirts usually in bright blue or purple with designs like flowers or birds around the neck. Most men wear jeans, but some wear traditional pants, which are white with dark vertical stripes and sometimes designs around the bottom, with button down or t-shirts. Women carry huge baskets or heavy bags on their heads, and men usually carry loads on their backs with a strap around their forehead. Children are usually in school until they can work, if they go at all, and here a sixth grade education is good. Some children go all the way through high school, but if they want to go to college they have to go to boarding school in Gutemala City because the schools here don´t prepare them enough. There is a health care system of little clinics in each of the towns and one hospital for all of Sololá, and in Santiago there is also also the "hospitalito" (where I'm going to shadow one of the volunteer doctors tomorrow afternoon). There are a lot of problems with the health care system and health of people in general, and it's really great so many people come to Santiago to help out. There are volunteer doctors and nurses who come for a week or months at a time, and lots of groups like church mission trips that come to do certain health related projects. The other day I met a group from the US that is coming to Santiago next Spring to do cleft lip & palate surgeries. To get back to the general atmosphere... the streets are full of many children playing and people out going to the market, working in tiendas (stores), going to church, etc. I stand out since I'm a white girl in Western clothing, but everyone is generally very friendly and says "buenos días" or "buenas tardes" (good morning or good afternoon). There are also stray dogs everywhere and in addition to the tuk tuks (the little red taxis) there are pickup trucks with wood & metal house shaped structures in the back that function as taxis - people ride standing in the back packed in with each other and fire wood and various other objects.

This is just a general description of some aspects of Santiago, but I'll definitely be telling more in the coming weeks!