Way back when, I mentioned that another part of the volunteers' responsibilities was something called Proyecto Familiar. Though I'm lazy and would rather stay home, I actually do really like this part of my job. The basic function for Proyecto is to take a group of brothers and sisters out so they can spend some alone time together away from all the other kids. Since I'm super tight with my siblings, encouraging bonding between the kids like this is really important to me.
Each month we have to do two Proyectos. Because of Kermes two weeks ago, I had to postpone my Proyecto to today. The kid I was assigned to this time around is actually a really nice kid. He works in the kitchen and seems like a friendly enough guy. He approached me a few days ago and asked if we could have our Proyecto in Chimal, the small city that's nearby. Normally we do our activities either on NPH grounds or in the local town, Parramos. Going to Chimal means that we would all have to take the bus which is a big pain in the butt. He and his brothers wanted to meet up with their sister too though, and since she is currently attending high school in Chimal, I agreed that we could meet her where it would be convenient for her.
After that was agreed to, the kid told me that he wanted to do go out to a restaurant. I straight up laughed in his face. Each kid is given Q5 for Proyecto, equivalent to about .80 cents. Usually each of the kids can buy a soda or an ice cream for that. SOMETIMES a volunteer will supplement the Proyecto, but I was definitely not in a financial position to do that, plus I barely know the family. I tell the kid I can't afford it and he assures me that he's going to take care of it. Immediately I can see how this is going to end: me trying to apologize to a waiter in my broken Spanish while the kid coasts out of there unscathed. I asked him again if he had enough and he said he did and all would be well.
So this morning we meet up and set out. It's three boys in total, ages 8, 11 and 17. We're running slightly behind schedule by the time we get going, so I ask the kid what time we're meeting his sister. "Oh, I said we'd meet them at 11:30." Hmmm. I asked who was "them" and he casually informed me that the reason we didn't have to worry about paying for the meal was because his family was going to meet us there, namely his father, step mother and step siblings. Now let me just remind everyone out there that while NPH was once strictly a home for children without parents, it has since evolved to allow all children without mothers in. From that point, it has AGAIN evolved to be a place for children from abusive or neglectful families. I do not know this kid. I don't know why their family was placed here. Is dad a raging alcoholic? Is step mom abusive? Not a clue. I immediately start cursing to myself and wonder what my best course of action is. I'm pretty sure that this is against the rules of NPH, but I'm not TOTALLY sure. I don't want to cancel the trip and make the kids go home if I'm just overreacting. I ask them if they had ever met their father on a Proyecto before and they said that they had. i knew that didn't necessarily mean that it was allowed, but at least it fed into my doubt enough to decide to go on.
We get down to the bus stop and wait. And wait. And wait. usually the buses run every 15 min, but for whatever reason they were super slow. We waited 45 mintes before a bus finally came, and by that time there was a huge crowd waiting to board. The kids were all freaking out because we had no way of contacting the family to let them know we were running late and I could feel my anxiety getting crazy as well. When the bus came, everyone piled on and it was clear to see that we weren't going to fit. I had to tell the kids that we had to wait for the next bus. Definitely not good news, but we had little choice. Luckily, the next bus came just 10 min later. The three boys jumped on the bus and I waited to board. Guatemala is kind of awful when in comes to waiting in lines. It's pretty no-holds-barred; when the doors open, the line turns to a blob and people try to push their way through. I'm not a very domineering person and I'm certainly not one to push a woman and baby out of the way so I can try to get a seat on the bus (even if they are pushing me and acting like total jerks).
So the kids are on the bus, looking at me standing on the ground letting other people board and they start freaking out telling me to get on the bus. I tell them it's ok, to go sit down. I figured even if I let all the ladies get on, I can always be the last one on. And eventually that actually becomes my goal, to be the last one on the bus. The ladies are pushing their two and three year olds onto the bus stairs even though there's CLEARLY no room. It was even to the point where the bus-helper-dude told them it was a bad idea and they should wait for the next bus (and I've NEVER seen that happen before. Those dudes are blood thirsty for money.) I saw the little kids getting on and thought, well they certainly can't stand right next to the open door, I'll stand here and keep everyone inside. Yeah, well kudos for good motivations Shawn, but you're an idiot. The bus was so packed that even all the standing room was taken up. There were probably about 20 people crammed on the stairs alone. By the time I "got in" the bus, really the only part of me that was in were my toes. I was standing on the very first step up with my toes, the rest of my foot dangling above the road. I had watched the bus-money-dude take this position tons of times before. I knew there was a little piece of metal that hung out above the front wheel that I could put my foot on, plus there was a bar on the inside of the bus above the door. I grabbed the bar and away we went.
It took all of about five seconds to realize how horrible this position was. The only thing keeping me inside the bus was my upper body strength (of which I have none.) The first time we went around a curve and I had to grip on for dear life, I went into a mini panic. There was no where for me to go; no way to get a better grip than the one I had. I started freaking out internally which in turn made my hands sweaty. Every time we went around a curve I would stare straight ahead at the kids and focus all my strength into my arms. I looked like a weight lifter; clenched teeth, bulging veins. When we would get to a straight away I'd wipe my hands on my shirt to try to give myself a little better traction. The people on the bus could see I was in trouble, they were all staring at me wide eyed as if they knew what was going to happen. I considered telling the driver to stop even though we were in the middle of nowhere on a curvy mountain road, but then I'd be abandoning the kids on the bus. I didn't even know how to get to this restaurant, it's not like I could meet up with them. I said a prayer for my family should anything happen, then I heard a noise and looked up. The bus-money-dude (who had been riding on TOP of the friggen bus this whole time) reached down from the roof, grabbed the frame of two of the windows and then swung down like Spiderman. He literally had his two feet flat against the side of the bus with his hands grabbing the window frames as if he was going to spring off into the woods. I thought, "This man is going to save my life. He used his Spidey senses to know I was in imminent danger and now he's going to perform a miracle and make enough space inside this bus for me to get inside. He does an impossibly graceful swing to where I'm clutching on for dear life, holds out his hand and asks for my bus fare. It took about 0.5 seconds for me to use my laser vision on him and burn a hole into his face. He must have gotten the hint because he then bypassed me and started collecting from other people. Mind you that there was no room for him to actually enter the bus, so he did this by swinging from window to window on the outside of the bus and having people pass their money out to him.
Two minutes later the bus stopped and a ton of people got off. I clawed my way inside and told the kids I hated the fucking bus and would never ride on it again (which they thought was simply hilarious.) We got to Chimal without further incident and ended up having a nice lunch with his family (who turned out to be really great folks.) They brought me fruit as a thank you for helping to take care of their kids. These are some kind of lychee. The asian ones don't have the fuzzy look going on, but they taste pretty similar.
Here's one of the brothers enjoying some pizza
A family shot
Agh! A giant!! (Sorry, this happens so rarely, I need to take full advantage while I can)
So end of story: nice family, horrible trip. Going to stick to NPH property for a while and try to keep myself alive (at LEAST until after my vacation back to the states)
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