The Case of the Perplexingly Pungent Perfume

Chilascó is a farm town. As a farm town it presents a dizzying array of sights, sounds and smells. The occasional rooster will come meandering through your doorway, the wild dogs have a habit of keeping you awake at night as they apparently hold choir practice at 4 am, and you will all too often find yourself asking “what in the hell is that odor?”

Well, for the past two weeks I have been asking myself that very question… on a daily basis! From the picture above you can see how my bedroom is laid out. The room is about 10 feet across, on the right side sits my bed and on the left side sits my dresser/bookshelf. What you can’t tell by the picture is that behind the dresser is an archway that leads to the next room over, it is closed off with wooden planks.

Okay, so the scene is now set. Two weeks ago, just about when I got back from vacation, a mysterious aroma started plaguing me as I would lie down to go to sleep. I also came down with a pretty bad sinus infection at this time and was pretty stuffed up, but even with this inhibited sense of smell the stench was pungent. “Something smells like crap”, I said to myself. (Literally, out-loud, I said this. I’ve been catching myself talking to myself more and more.)

My first line of defense was to start burning incense. This was able to mask it, but only until the stick burned out, then the beast would return with a vengeance. The key was to try and fall asleep before the incense stick, “mystic wood” scent if you’re curious, burned out. It was a futile effort to race the beast.

Next, I washed everything; sheets, blankets, pillow cases, all my clothes, ALL OF IT. But alas, no dice, fail, the beast persevered. So, after a little anxiety attack, I went on a cleaning frenzy. Seven hours of cleaning under everything, in every little crack and crevice, pouring bleaches on the floors and walls, lysoling the hell out of everything… I even flipped my bed over and washed the underside. I was half expecting to find a dead family of mice or something, but there was nothing. The beast prevailed.

Then, today, just as I was about to take a bath in tomato sauce (I once heard this is how you get skunk spray smell out), I came home to find the door to the next room over open. The smell of the beast was pouring out the door. I put my game face on and went storming in for the final showdown, and found myself face to face with 400 pounds of fertilizer. Chicken shit. Several feet from where I sleep seems like a reasonable place to store feces, right?

Today, I conquered the beast. Or more accurately, I relocated it to the front porch of my host family’s house. Now they can deal with it...

There is a beast in man that needs to be exercised, not exorcised.

~Anton LaVey

One year in the books...

A year ago today I stepped off the plane and into a new world, a different life, and an exciting adventure. I have been trying to find a way to sum up the past year, but I cannot seem to find the words. When I came here I professed that I was looking to gain a new perspective on life and on the world. I can say that I have unequivocally achieved this, but paradigm shifts occur gradually, and to explain mine I first need to rewind the tape to the point where it all began…

And so now, having just stepped off the plane from spending the Holidays with my family back home, I find myself stepping back on. The ball rises as we count from one to ten, and the Sabres start with a 4-3 lead at the end of the third period only to see themselves fall behind 0 – 3 in the second as I sit next to my Father and sisters watching on. We take the ornaments off my Mother’s 14 foot Christmas tree one-by-one. I wind up back in the Antigua market returning Christmas gifts. We take the cement off first, then the individual bottles, until all that is left standing is the frame of the would be bottle school. My Spanish slowly deteriorates and I turn the pages of many books in reverse. ADESOCHI first stops using the accounting practices I had taught them; then the daily administration tools disappear; in the blink of an eye we don’t even have a guestbook anymore. Many Guatemalans from all over the country go from trusting me, asking for all different kinds of advice and using the informal tense, to being lukewarm but still unsure, to curious with the formal tense, to doubtful, to baffled about my presence in their town, to not knowing me. I hand my diploma for completing training back to the Ambassador and walk backwards down several volcanoes. Florecita sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Start to me in reverse. The plane backs its way to Miami, then to Washington, then to Buffalo. My dad drives me back home from the airport and I unpack all my stuff. At the going away party I am presented with a special presentation, “The Twelve Days of A Guatemalan Christmas” (but it is performed in reverse). I am back at the office, and we hit chapter skip back, a year flies by and I am now staring at the blank application form for Peace Corps on my computer.

What was in my head at that moment? It is tough to say now. There were definitely feelings of stagnation and restlessness; certainly a curiosity about the rest of this world we live in; for sure a desire to help people who recognize their needs and want to learn to meet them. But above all, the chorus that was ringing in my ear was probably singing “Go, live, make your life a story worth reading”. If nothing else I had my instincts, and they were telling me that this was the right move. So I took a leap of faith, filled out that application, left everything behind, and followed a dream.

I can say now, with complete conviction, that I could not have made a better choice. From the open homes and caring hearts of the people here I have learned a great deal. I have learned that happiness is something that you first must find within yourself. That what’s really important is people; relationships, friendship, love. That you can have just as much fun rolling an old bike tire up and down the street as you can with a Playstation 3. That a house can have dirt floors and still be a home.

I have learned that we don’t need to be in a hurry all the time. That it is important and healthy to take things slowly sometimes. That it’s not the quality of the meal or the coffee but the value of the company you enjoy it with that matters. That we need to do more listening and less talking.

I’ve learned that the world is a big and beautiful place with millions of things to see and billions of people to meet, and that invisible lines drawn on maps are not reasons to deprive yourself of these wonders. That we need to respect and take care of nature. That, while you can’t help everyone, you can certainly help someone… and you always should.

I have learned that, contrary to popular belief, people can change (timshel). That our pasts form us, but they do not define us. Every day is a new day, and it is never too late to chase a dream, to reconcile with an old friend, to make a new one, to learn something new, to forgive something old, to confess, to ask for forgiveness, to say “I love you”, to move on, to move forward.

I have learned that closed-mindedness is something to be feared. That there is nothing wrong with telling the people you care about just how much you care; and telling them as often as possible. That unless you are foolish enough to think you can really make a difference, you never will.

I realize that this all sounds very cliché, and that some of you may be sitting there rolling your eyes as you read this. Which brings me to one last thing I have learned; that clichés exist for reason - that being the inherent truth in them. But they are very much like advice from a parent; sometimes you can’t really understand it, believe it or appreciate it until you learn it through your own experiences. That’s what I have done in this past year. These are all excerpts from my journal, things I have learned through my own personal experiences here in Guatemala.

This last year has truly been incredible. I wouldn't change a second of it, and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store….. Happy New Year to you all!!!

This is a long story that you might not believe if I told you.

Christmas photo with the crew of Viviente Verapaz (and some cute little girl who snuck in the picture)

The dance of the Venados in Chilasco.

Ditto. This is a yearly tradition on December 7, the day they burn out the devil.

Johnny on his first trip outside of the village, ever. Eating some Pollo Campero fried chicken (his choice).

The Thanksgiving crew at La Casa de las Tres Gracias.

Photo shoot with some chicas bonitas in the Tres Gracias garden.

Kickin' it with the cast of El Laberinto de la Mariposa... what an amazing play~!

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've always imagined."

~ Henry David Thoreau