Undersong Adventure

Final Thoughts (A Few Months Late)

2010-08-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post this blog since before I even left Guatemala. Now here it is, nearly the middle of August and I feel overwhelmed sorting through these photos. So many memories and such richness and sadly, it already feels so far away. My heart thumps and my eyes moisten as they glance at the hundreds of photos on my computer that represent only a fraction of my life for a short and wondrous two years. About a month ago I began to cry upon viewing a photograph of a little girl from Toto taken by a travel photographer at an art outdoor art show. An experience like Peace Corps; my experience in Guatemala, is not something that is forgotten easily, yet I feel the need to absorb and cling to it to retain every last memory and detail that my brain and heart can handle.

Having said that, here are just a few photos from my final day in Chirijox, Santa Catarina Ixtahuacan, Sololá, Guatemala.

Don Juan fell asleep while listening to his radio in the 'yard'. I was able to get just one photo of him before he woke up.

Hendrick on his way to school. We both thought this would be it, that when he came home from school I'd be on my way. Turns out nation-wide protests over the price of electricity would keep me there until late in the evening when the roads were finally opened. That evening was one of my favorites with my family; chatting, exchanging stories and eating lots of food. At night, once don Pascual from PC arrived to take me to Antigua, the whole family bundled up and we walked with flashlights down the dirt paths, arms loaded with my things to the entrance of town. The called me 'sister' and waved on the side of the road as we pulled onto the hiway.

This photo is blurry but it's the only photo I have with tiny Doña Ana. As a parting gift the group had a traje outfit made for me and I wore it for my despedida; good bye party.

Arroz con leche, rice with milk was served on the chilly morning as women arrived slowly to gather in front of my house. One by one they said good bye.

A small portion of my women's group.

That afternoon Ela came up to my house to help me do the final clean-up. There was a knot in the wood of my door that was just Hendrick's height. When he would arrive at my house he would put his finger on the knot and declare, "gling-gling"; the door bell. He taught this to Elkin, but Elkin found it much better to just lay on his belly outside and slide his fat fingers under the door and through the flap of duct tape that served to seal my door from the elements. When Hendrick asked who was there, Elkin answered, "Sapo"; frog.

Those final days...my final week in Guatemala was a whirlwind. Once we passed the protests and I finally arrived in Antigua and the Peace Corps center, Volcan Pacaya, just over a ridge from Guatemala City, began to erupt, closing the airport. Compounding the situation was tropical storm Agatha, whose heavy downpours not only turned Pacaya's ash into cement but also washed out bridges, flooded villages and caused landslides. Volunteers where put on standfast and were ordered to stay put. Lucky for me, I had some good friends who had traveled to Antigua to say good bye so standfast turned into an extended Antigua vacation at the Burkhard. After a few days I was put on a bus and sent to El Salvador where I put another stamp in the passport, had a final visit with Makali and ate loroco papusas for breakfast before boarding my plane home. I was even bumped to first class on my flight to Houston.

Nic met me at the airport and the following day took me to my favorite beach, Pacific City and asked me to marry him. Since then, we have been in a whirlwind of life; planning a wedding, planning our future, apartment hunting, job hunting, visiting old friends, visiting family, drinking lots of delicious beer and sampling the bounties of a NW summer, traveling on the weekends, getting a few concerts in here and there and even did some backpacking.

That last list, that stream of activities is what I like my life to be like; busy with goodness, fullness and blessings. It feels good to be home. However, Guatemala will also be remembered as a home as well and when we return there I hope the whirlwind list of activities will be just as long.

Friday and Blacky

2010-05-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

Friday Ela and I set out to visit the women and their potatoes.

Feliciana's model tire stack, her little girl with a flower in her hair and rows of radish.

Julia's little one Denielsen watches on as we take apart her tire stack. Her plants rotted away due to undetermined reasons but we did find about a pound of golf-ball size spuds in the dirt.

Dominga attends to a customer at her carniceria while we wait to see her tire stack.

Also, in my previous blog I forgot to give proper representation to Blacky and her six-week-old pups.

Last Visit with Doña Tina and Don Pedro

2010-05-20T06:59:00.000-07:00

As many of my readers may know, but for those who don't, I am counting down my remaining days in Guatemala. I will return to Oregon by the end of the month. My early return is not attributed to any issues or frustrations in my work but only due to outside circumstances. As such, I am in the process of wrapping up the life I have participated in for the last year and a half. For Tuesday and Wednesday that meant a trip to Quiche to pack up Nic's house and have one last meal of doña Tina's fatty tortillas.

It is about a 40 minute walk from Nic's door to doña Tina's gate. It starts on a path and ends on a bumpy dirt road and all along gives wonderful views of green pastures and corn fields with a back drop of cloud-hung mountains.

A local woman carries her laundry to a spring for the daily load.

Almost there at the split in the road...

Don Pedro and doña Tina live such a wonderfully simple life. The house they built in 1975: two rooms and a latrine.

Doña Tina's famous meal: Beans from her field seasoned with herbs from her garden, spiced with chile, cheese from her cow and hot, thick tortillas fresh from her woodstove, all washed down with weak, overly-sugared coffee. The meal is always eaten with good conversation and laughter and always finished with "Costal llena, corazon contenta"; Feedbag full, heart happy.

Don Pedro is a lover of animals. Their dalmatian dog just had 11 puppies that he was so proud to show off.

What a beauty.

Doña Tina has such a carefree, positive and content spirit. I will miss her greatly and remember her as an inspiration.

Dia de la Madre

2010-05-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

I had yet to attend a church service since arriving in Guate; at least not a church service that wasn't held outside and for someone's birthday. Ela invited me to church on Sunday as there were going to be activities for Mother's Day so I thought I'd go for it. Even though I had a fairly good idea of what it would be like (long, slow and in K'iche), I needed to cross "church service" off my Guate list.

While the congregation was worshiping Ela and some other women were preparing the children for their presentation.

Ela spoke about the importance of a mother...

...while the children acted out a market scene. Ela emphasized the many roles that women play in Guatemalan culture and how even though they are almost always in the home they can be important financial contributors to the household.

The older children sang a song about mothers. After the presentation the sermon started. About ten minutes in Hendrick was already causing trouble (he didn't want to go in the first place. Earlier in the day when I asked him what time we would go he responded. "I'm not going because I have to eat lunch and then I have to go to bed at 6 p.m."). I gave him my camera and told him to keep busy.

He certainly did. Although there were a myriad of shots, here are some of my favorites. Isabel carries a jug full of overly sugared coffee from the kitchen to the service to serve with the chuchitos.

This one is incredible, I think maybe my favorite shot in all my time here. Just think of the perfect timing to get that drool just before it dropped, let alone the lighting, colors and composition.

I really like the perspective on this one.

Today, Monday, there were Mother's Day activities at the school. I joined Ela for this one as well.

Upon arrival Ela was given a name tag custom made by Hendrick. It said Ela's name at the top, Hendrick's name at the bottom, and we think it said "I love you" somewhere in the middle.

Kids wait patiently for their turn to perform a traditional dance.

Hendrick and some of his classmates lip-synced to a song about mothers while strumming cardboard guitars.

Hendrick was very into his part.

Clash of cultures: An indigenous grandma with her indigenous granddaughter in an American flag bandana and watching indigenous little girls in mini-skirts and boots dancing to the Guatemalan equivalent of "Girls Just Want To Have Fun".

And those patient kids had their time to shine.

Faces of the crowd.

These little guys did a great dance to a banda song...this was my second favorite. After Hendrick's performance, of course.

Elkin Turns 2

2010-05-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

Ela and Benancio have been talking about Elkin's birthday party for at least the last three months.

The night before, true to form, Ela and the other women of the family were scurrying to prepare things; decorations, food, gifts and the house. At 8:00 Cali, Charlotte and I went down to help make tamales. After helping to make the sauce we began assembling the tamales. Our goal was 180 tamales but by 11:00 we had run out of banana leaves. We were grateful, each having had a long day already.

Doña Ana finishes the last of the tamales the next morning after buying more banana leaves.

There was even a clown. Ela invited Hendrick's first grade class to watch.

This clown wasn't any old clown, mind you. Not only did this clown speak K'iche, he was also an evangelical clown, asking the kids who loved "Jesusito" to raise their hands and then opening with a special blessing for Elkin.

I must admit, the clown was pretty funny. He had Hendrick belly-laughing nearly the whole time.

Even don Juan enjoyed himself.

Ferando, on the other hand clung for life to his aunt Isabel. Earlier, while the clown was getting ready in the house Fernando passed his door, saw him and in the same heartbeat turned around and walked straight into Isabel's arms, shellshocked. Before the clown came out to the crowd I asked Fernando if he liked him. His response: "I'm going to kill the clown."

Cali and Charlotte's votes are still out on the clown.

Working his clown magic on the boys.

And then came the piñata. One for the girls...

...and one for the boys.

Elkincito hung in pretty good most the day, considering that while we were finishing up the tamales at 11:00 the previous night he was up and drinking Coca Cola and that a line of firecrackers 5 feet long was set off at 5:30 a.m. that morning followed by birthday cake and hot chocolate for breakfast.

By the time we sang "Happy Birthday" however, he was nearly in melt-down mode.

Guatemalans love "the bite".

And melt-down begins.

After the kids left and we had lunch the church service began. Here Ela speaks to her congregation and thanks them for attending Elkin's birthday.

Then while Ela tries to lead Elkin in a song, Elkin tries to bite the microphone.

And just like the weekend before at Fernando's party, it was a mad rush to plate and serve the tamales and cake. Cali weaves her way through the crowd, three plates in hands, like a pro.

Wednesday

2010-05-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

It had been a week or two since I've gone to check on potatoes. Today, I set out once again with camera to visit my ladies. Follow me through my day....

Elena brings a bowl of ash followed closely behind by Adolfo, her son.

Making my rounds I found myself behind these two women on a path.

A gem. I love how she tied her hair on top of her bandana.

Manuela, always a beauty, weaving.

Cata forms bread in her house.

Angelica, a sweet girl with a stutter follows me to the all the houses in one neighborhood of town.

Manuela sprinkles her huge potato plants with ash to prevent fungal growth.

I taught Manuela's daughter, Wendy, to use my camera this afternoon. This is a photo that came from that session. I love it.

And here are some of my favorite women: Ana, Manuela, Juana and little Juanita, as photographed by Wendy.

Fernando Turns 3

2010-05-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I got up and prepared to go for a run. Let me back up here, Saturday morning I was awoken at 5:30 by firecrackers and a live band serenading Fernando for this birthday. After the band left, the music stayed on at ear-drum rupturing levels, as is protocol for Guatemalan parties of any kind. (Even when grocery stores have sales they set up a wall of speakers inside the stores). As I passed the house on my way to run everyone was up and out, preparing for the party. I asked if there was much to do and, also in the normal dramatic Guatemalan fashion I was told that there was. I was promptly offered hot chocolate and birthday cake for breakfast. So much for my run.

Cata is a strong Catholic, as such there was a small shrine set up in the center of the party.

I mostly stayed in the kitchen. The women were making pepian, the national dish of Guatemala and I wanted to learn how to make it. Pepian is a tomato-based stew made with lots of seeds and spices. The stew has either turkey or chicken, potatoes, peas or green beans and is served over rice. Here, over the fire they are roasting the tomatoes and onion and have already de-seeded the three kinds of chilies.

Maria toasts the pumpkin seed after having toasted the sesame seeds, cinnamon bark and whole peppercorns. In the back ground women are preparing the corn leaves to make tamalitos.

Doña Ana and Doña Chuz make baskets and basketsof tamalitos (tamalitos are corn dough steamed in corn leaves, a common alternative to tortillas). When the corn leaves are young like they are now, they give the tamalitos a wonderful flavor.

Hendrick, always mischievous, carried his camera around all day as well, informing me multiple times that "This camera is from the United States.".

Fernando's piñata was sponsored by the number 3 and the color blue.

Fernando examining my gift to him: a pack of 6 race cars. I still don't know if he found them acceptable.

Outside Isabel takes out some of the broth from cooking the turkey with a giant hollowed-out gourd. They will use this broth to liquify the seeds and chilies for the pepian.

Chow time: Oscar with Fernando, who is digging into his lunch. I must be honest, I am not the biggest fan of pepian (early on in my time in Guate I had some that made me a bit sick) but this was the best batch I had tasted. I saw it from start to finish: from three live turkeys to five women working together to make it without a recipe.

After lunch the church service started. It is customary to invite all the member's of one's church to birthday parties. Cata attends a big catholic church, which means there were a lot of people and a long service. I learned early on to make my self scarce when the services are starting lest I be caught in the crowd, unable to escape the hand-clapping, repetative songs and the pastor's yelling. Instead, Ela and I had a nice, relaxing chat in the warm kitchen.

After the church service it is then customary to feed everyone. Cata and Oscar ordered 500 tamales which arrived in crates the day before. The giant pot on the floor is highly sugared coffee which will be poured into the styrofoam cups to be delivered the the attendees by the basketful. There were something like 12 cakes that were cut and ready to be distributes as well. (Hendrick, the biggest cake monger I've met in my life, even more so than myself, threw fit after fit until his mom gave him more and more cake. At one point, he grabbed a large piece with bright pink frosting, smeared the frosting across his face and said, "I'm a clown." and walked out of the kitchen.)

The calm before the storm: Each styrofoam plate received two tamales, two slices of bread, one piece of birthday cake on a napkin and with a fork. Maria thought it was important that each be just as such. We did our best to prepare as many as possible before hand but once the service was over and it was time to serve, the storm hit. The kitchen almost instantly became a forest of bodies and a sea of noise; six or seven working around the table, all yelling what they needed, "Napkin!", "Cake!", "Tamal!", styrofoam flying in all directions, hands colliding across the table in an effort to deliver what they held. Another five or six were delivering food to the crowded room below, all the while dodging kids and navigating rain and slippery steps. As empty hands returned to the table they would instantly be filled with plates and ordered to "Go! Go! Go!".

In what seemed a matter of minutes and as the baskets of tamales dwindled someone from below came to inform us that "Ya.", everyone had been served. All of us women looked around, as if waking up from a mid-afternoon nap and assessing the damage. Frosting smeared on nearly everything, prepared plates askew, waiting to be carried out, women sighing and laughing, brushing their dark hair from their faces with their forearms, hands stained with pastel goo.

As the attendees said their goodbyes (another Guatemalan social practice: get your food and leave right after), we grabbed what remained of the food (which was a lot), found a seat and began to eat. Nearly everyone in the kitchen was chatting in K'iche, reviewing the day. Elkin saw my food, approached me with a sweet grin on his face and said "Hola.". Clearly he was after my tamal. I hung out for awhile, ate my cake, watched Hendrick eat more cake and lick the cake lids clean of their smeared frosting (surely he made himself sick off it), grabbed a half-dozen of the 100 or so left over tamales and headed to the peace of my adobe room.

Pre-Party

2010-04-30T19:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we celebrate Fernando's 3rd birthday. Birthdays are always a big event here...a special lunch with family and close friends then a church service at the house followed by a piñata as pay-off for the kids for sitting through a church service.

Cata and Oscar, Fernando's parents are never ones to skimp on a party. They bought three turkeys. This afternoon the whole family was there to help kill and prepare tomorrow's lunch.

They even built a temporary shelter to house the temporary outdoor kitchen.

The birthday boy himself with his mom, Cata.

Once the turkeys had bled they were put in the giant pot of boiling water for just a minute to soften the skin for de-feathering. Once that turkey was out of the water it was a frenzy of hands and feathers.

After the feathers are removed just the feet are dipped in the boiling water. This helps the rough skin on the feet to just peel off. Yes, this is me just peeling off turkey feet skin. I'm gonna be honest here, I didn't think I could do it. What I did not do that every other woman there did do was snap the toe nails off the birds.

More feather plucking.

After all the birds had been par-boiled Isabel scoops water out of the giant pot so we can lift it off the fire.

Cata and Ana work hard to get all the feathers off the naked birds.

After all the feathers are gone the bird is passed over flame to singe any that we may have missed.

All the while the kids are running around causing trouble. Ela gave Elkin strawberries to keep him busy but we looked over in time just to see him smashing the berries through the mesh wire cage of his pet rabbit, Flash because Ela told Elkin to share.

(A side story: Here, when kids start to get whiney or cry parents always try to distract them by pointing something else out; "Look at the truck!", "Look at the cat!", "Look at your friend, she's not crying!" are examples. Today, I heard a new one; "Look at the turkey blood!")

Finally, Ela cut all three birds. Just in case you can't fully see, she is using a machete to butcher the turkey.

Check back soon for photos of the birthday party.

Creative Space

2010-04-27T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hendrick's classes were cancelled today, which is not an uncommon occurrence here. Generally on days when his classes are cancelled Hendrick can be found planted in front of the T.V., sometimes making an appearance outside to kick the ball around for a minute.

When I came back from my run mid-morning he was set up on the terrace, set up with desk, chair and supplies and looking much like a little artist in his work space.

I didn't think he'd be there long but sure enough, he spent all day there. I decided to pay him a visit with my camera in tow.

Generally making faces for the camera or hiding his face, he invited me to take as many photos as I liked and to stay as long as I liked while he worked away.

We chatted cordially a while as he discussed the 'beautiful view from his terrace' and the projects he'd been working on.

He showed me a painting he completed this morning.

As I prepared to leave he welcomed me back any time, for as long as I'd like and went right back to his work.

Tires, Tires...

2010-04-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

The work continues with this project of growing potatoes in tires and continues to provide me with wonderful photographic opportunities.

Team work: Mixing dirt with ash and mulch to make soil to fill in the second tires of each stack.

A sweet little guy, rapidly becoming my new favorite, although I haven't learned his name yet. He doesn't speak Spanish and I don't speak K'iche. Ela translated for him today; he asked me, "When we are going to plant more potatoes?" When little Elkin was mindlessly ripping at the potato leaves, this little one ran to me, tugging at my pants, pointing to alert me.

Yup, everything looks good here.

Filling the edges on the tires first.

It's always a scene....

Don Juan happily waters his newly planted garden at dusk.

A view of Chirijox. In the middle is visible the dirt central plaza and the church with the rusted roof to the right. I live just behind and below the big yellow building on the left edge of the plaza.

Just Another Day...

2010-04-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

I am pleased that at this point in my community I can whip out a camera in confidence. The women I work with all know me by know and know that my camera is never far. People around town have seen me enough to know that I can be trusted to take their portrait from time to time. Today as I left my house I put my camera in my bag and set to snapping. Here then, is the chronological, photographic story of my day today.

Tires. Potatoes. I never would have guessed that this project would take off the way it has. I had a hard time keeping the women interested in nearly any of my ideas before this one. What started originally as around 30 active families has now exploded to around 70. As such, Ela and I are scrambling to keep up with these fast-growing papas. All the families have their first tire planted, now we are on to placing and filling the second. Here, Dominga piles dirt into the tire while her daughter, Emma, holds the plants back.

Before.

After.

Doña Francisca has been a consistent and active part of the group from the beginning. She is a tiny old woman who doesn't speak a word of Spanish. We had to loosen soil from packed ground and carry it about 10 feet to the tire. She took tiny little swipes at the soil while I shuttled the small buckets. I asked her if I could help her, if we could switch, and she would have none of it. This is not because she is a prideful woman, I believe, but because of her desire to do things herself, to show that she is not taking advantage of my support and that she is serious about the project.

In the end we filled both the second and third tires. Afterward, doña Francisca sat me in a dim room with overly sugared coffee and moldy bread. She sat with me, her wrinkled face turned toward the light. She had a one-sided conversation with me in K'iche while I smiled and agreed.

The dry season is construction season. Most of the houses in Chirijox are made from adobe and from November to May one can find at least one work site that looks like this at all times. These men mix straw and water with the ground beneath their feet to form large blocks that dry after a few days in the hot sun.

This man was particularly nice and offered to help Isabel fill her nearby tire.

Last time I saw Santa she was big and round under her traditional skirt. This time I was introduced to Melvyn Martin, now some 40 days old. Here, when a child is born, instead of clothes and toys (I suppose there are enough of those laying around from previous kids and neighbors) household items like soap, sugar and eggs are given to the family. I brought Santa a half dozen.

I finished my tour of tires with Ana after nearly 6 hours of visiting women. Ana is one of my favorites. She lives nearby and is active in the group, has an adorable little daughter and has a wonderful sense of humor and demeanor.

Once home I updated Ela on our progress. We needed at least 40 more tires to have each women complete their stack to a height of three tires. As we debated the best way to get more tires (as we have depleted Chirijox) I mentioned that I had seen some in the next town over. Ela suggested we go right then to look for them. Tired, sunburnt and hungry I agreed. Hendrick joined us on our journey and provided entertainment in the truck ride there. We didn't find any tires.

Flores, El Mirador and Easter in Antigua

2010-04-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Get ready, this will be a long one, but it will cover ten days of travels, adventures and holidays.

On Friday Nic and I traveled into Guatemala City to catch our bus across the country to Flores. Upon arrival we found that the company did not have our reservations (after making them two weeks in advance and confirming them two days earlier. This is so typical of Guatemala) and all the buses to Flores that night were full. The woman at the desk was nice enough to call another company who did have space, however. We boarded that bus at 11 p.m. and after traveling through the night, ran out of gas at 5:30 a.m. Mind you, this is a professional bussing company, similar to Alamo. Fortunately for us we were in a city and were able to get gas and be back on the road in about a half hour's time.

Flores is a charming little town located on a small island (it takes about 20 minutes to walk across) in the middle of Lake Peten Itza.

It doesn't feel as much like Guatemala as a mix of Caribbean and Colonial design.

Lots of bright colors.

The weekend we were there was Palm Sunday and the start of Semana Santa, Holy Week, a huge event in Central America.

Sunset over the lake.

Leaving Flores on Sunday we traveled three hours on a dirt road North to the town of Carmelita. This is the kick off point to hike El Mirador. Even though two out of those three hours we were on a "protected" bio-reserve, we saw extensive logging along with slashing and burning to make room for cattle grazing.

Carmelita is exactly what one might think of when one thinks of a jungle village.

**************

We set off hiking on Monday morning and after covering 6 miles arrived at Tintal, one of the many ruins in the area. The camp is well established as it's a working archeological area.

Carlos, our trusty guide who is from Carmelita and has worked in/around El Mirador for more than 20 years. He even claims to have discovered another set of ruins called Nakbe that were another day's walk from El Mirador.

From left: Jim, Sara, Nic, Alana, Charlotte, Anne and Emily.

We hiked to the larger pyramid at Tintal for sunset.

The lump is the other pyramid at this site. The view was incredible...a blanket of green in all directions as far as one can see. Carlos pointed out small bumps barely visible on the horizon; one was El Mirador and the others were more pyramids in Mexico. They looked so far away.

The next morning we rose early to beat the heat. After 9 miles we arrived at the ancient city of El Mirador. As soon as we entered the site, it was as if there were treasures to be found down every path. This is a "mascaron", a big mask, about the same height as me, in front of a smaller temple. The designs to the right have been restored, but the original red paint is still visible through the light plaster.

Atop another pyramid for susnet. El Tigre is the second largest pyramid at El Mirador. The Pyramids were named for their size in correlation to the size of jungle animals; the largest is "la danta", the tapir, then "el tigre" and lastly "los monos", the monkeys.

La Danta.

Sunset.

Another "mascaron" at another building. There are some 24 mascarons at El Mirador.

This was my favorite part of the whole park. A large relief depicting the Mayan creation myth.

A smiling face.

A mythical creature.

The creation myth involves a set of twins who had to travel to the underworld and who eventually are placed in heaven as the moon and sun. This is one of the twins.

Amazing trees everywhere.

A beautiful moss.

Designer roots.

I just couldn't see a vine and not swing on it.

The info plaque at the base of the La Danta Complex. The base of this complex is the size of 17 football fields.

The top of La Danta, some 72 meters (nearly 250 feet). La Danta is not only the tallest pyramid the Maya ever constructed, it is estimated to have more mass the largest pyramid in Egypt, technically making it the largest in the world. It was constructed in 300 b.c.

A side temple.

Our guide informed us that the stones were cut using obsidian, but the nearest volcanoes are on the other side of the country.

The steep steps up and the side temple.

And the sprawling view from the top. The bump is the pyramid "El Tigre". Just in front of El Tigre there is a small pink flowering tree. This tree's bark is boiled into a tea and used to treat malaria.

Impressive.

Along with lots of ruins we also encountered lots of wildlife. Monkey were abundant. In the day we saw spider monkeys. They would crash through the trees all around us, drop sticks or unripened fruit on us from above. The best is when they brace themselves between two branches and shake vigorously in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate us. One morning Nic barely escaped being urinated on by one. At night, however the howler monkeys ruled the jungle. Their cries are incredible; laying in my tent in the warm night listening to their calls made me feel like I could have been camping in Jurassic Park listening to dinosaur calls. One night they were very near our camp and the volume of the calls drowned all other sounds. It was one of my favorite experiences on the trip.

Along with monkeys the park is home to these amazingly painted jungle turkeys. Also on the trail we saw a few jungle fox, a jungle squirrel and Anne nearly stepped on the most poisoness snake in the jungle, "barba amarilla", yellow beard.

Walking up the smallest of the major temples, "Los Monos" for our last sunset in the park. This is what all the temples looked like, completely unexcavated.

Sunset and La Danta.

"La Muerta", The Dead Woman, are the last ruins as you leave the park.

Yes, one can crawl inside. And yes, I did.

After entering the first chamber, hook a left through this crawl space into a larger chamber that was tall and narrow and home to a few jungle bats. We all made it out of the jungle without a hang up and even without too many bug bites.

**************

After a rightly deserved shower and dinner we watched processions pass through the streets on Flores. It was now Good Friday and the processions were solemn. The photo is blurry, but the men who lead the procession swinging incense wear black robes with skulls on the dunce hats. I asked a local what the skull represented but he didn't know.

Mother Mary is at the feet of Jesus after they have taken him down from the cross.

The people are silent and the music is gloomy and dramatic.

Another beautiful sunset over lake Peten Itza. Our bus back to Guatemala City left at 4 a.m. on Saturday. I had stated to feel stomach pain ever so slightly on Thursday afternoon but by Saturday, I was full-on sick. Thanks to Nic I had a window seat (and the window even opened!) which helped, but I knew it would be a difficult ride. By 8 I was pleading for Pepto or Imodium for survival. My stomach went in and out of cramping on the 10 hours as we crossed the country through the heat of the day. It seemed the bus driver stopped to pick up every person by the side of the road, even though it was a charter bus and even when we thought no one else would fit in the aisles. I had to stick my head out the window when the ladies came on selling fried chicken because the smell nauseated me so severely. The Imodium held for just the right amount of time. I can honestly say it was the worse bus ride of my life. But once in Antigua and in our hotel room I was able to relax and keep near a bathroom.

Easter Sunday morning was quiet. Nic and I got up and dressed, preparing for mass. When we walked around town the churches were still shut. We heard from folks who were in Antigua last year that Easter is actually the most quite day of Semana Santa. We carried on and had a nice breakfast with friends. Later that afternoon, however, the processions started. Except these ones were different. In front were men, women and children dressed as Hebrews, singing and dancing, playing tambourines, flutes and horns, laughing. Everyone walking with the procession waved yellow and white flags, said to represent the glory of Christ's resurrection.

Here Jesus is alive and blessing a priest.

The music was happy, almost carnival like. And, keeping with the carnival theme, vendors selling cheap toys bring up the rear of the procession.

A Day at the Lake with the Chiroy's

2010-03-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

I have kept in casual contact with the Chiroy's, the family I lived with during training. Irma, the middle sister, who I became close with in my three months living with them, had some vacations time (in Guatemala state jobs get a month of vacation in one chunk). She had called me a few weeks back and asked if 'we' could come visit. I was excited to have some time with Irma and her lovely young daughter, Estefani. As the time approached for her arrival I prepared the house and planned a special menu.

Upon arrival I was surprised to see her husband, Isaias and Marta, her mother, in the car as well. I immediately thought, "Typical Guatemalan style, failing to include important information in planning". After doing a quick count in my head of cups, plates, forks, plates/bowls and chairs in my house and realizing there would be enough, I became glad that the others had joined us as well.

We enjoyed the evening chatting, catching up and dining on a specially prepared dinner and dessert (good thing there was just enough food!). We bedded down (also, just enough bed space!) and slept well, despite 'las bombas' from little Estefani.

In the morning we had a relaxing breakfast of french toast and they invited me to join them at Lake Atitlan for the day. I cancelled my plans to plant with Benancio and got myself ready for a mini vacation!

A view over the lake with San Jorge in the forefront and Panajachel on the shore. In the background faintly are the volcanoes near Antigua, one of which is putting out smoke.

Estafani, hamming it up in front of Volcan Santiago and Volcan San Pedro.

The shore with 'lanchas' lined up while the drivers holler out prices to other lake-side towns.

Estefani and Marta.

Beautiful Irma and her first time at the lake.

Irma, fully enjoying her vacation, hired a 'lancha' to take a quick tour around the shores near Pana. Estefani was glued to me all day and sat right next to me even with all the boat seats open. Marta relaxes in the seats behind us.

Marta reaching to feel the warm water.

Although she looks sad, she was really very happy.

What a place.

Benancio's Birthday

2010-03-22T06:37:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we celebrated Benancio's 33rd birthday. Around 5 o'clock, Nic and I went down to the house to hang out and help get things going.

Churasco, or grilling, is a Guatemalan specialty.

Nic played with Elkin while we waited for the grill to heat up.

I kissed Elkin while we waited for the grill to heat up.

Benancio guards the meat from lurking chuchos who wait for an opportunity to swipe it.

Nic and I with pineapple up-side down cake for everyone.

Mi hermanito, the one and only Hendrick Nataniel Calel Perechu.

Dinner was typical of Guatemala and amazing; carne asada, grilled potatoes, guacamole, black beans, grilled onions, fresh salsa, chile, and of course, hot tortillas.

Volcan Tajamulco: Round II

2010-03-15T07:49:00.000-07:00

Followers of my blog may remember the hike up Volcan Tajamulco that I posted about on Dec. 8th, 2009. Last weekend I had the opportunity to conquer the sleeping volcano again.

Nic and I at the trailhead.

A view of the summit and the road that leads to the trail. This round it was hot and very very dusty, a big change from our trip in December which was cold and cloudy.

Houses dot the first half mile of the road to the trail. Kids have become unashamed panhandlers, approaching hikers with snot-noses and smiles asking first for a quetzal (the Guatemalan currency) and if that fails, a cookie or some candy. But I have learned the secret weapon against kids like these; they run for cover when the camera comes out.

It might not protect one's exposed skin to the wind, but look at that view! An old outhouse and Volcan Tacaná in Mexico.

Our lunch spot had a fantastic view of the valleys and communities around Tajamulco. It is really amazing how remote some of these communities are.

As we lunched we watched huge, fluffy clouds fill in those valleys and communities below.

The crew: Jerami and Zane, Cara and David, Rachel and Jose, Nic and myself. We arrived at base camp after taking a leisurely pace up the trail. Nic brought his GPS and to our astonishment the trail to base camp was only two miles (it felt like four)! However, in those two miles we gained 3,000 feet putting base camp at 13,000 feet.

We woke at 4 a.m. the next morning and climbed in the dark another 850 feet to the summit.

Unfortunately the camera fails to capture the beauty. If you look closely, the small whitish dot in the sky, left of center, is a crescent moon.

Although still windy and chilly at the summit, the night was mild (40 degrees) and we enjoyed being outside every minute.

Clouds blanketed the valleys all the way around the mountain. We were on an island in the sky.

Volcanoes on the horizon.

The shadow of Tajamulco and the peak of Tacaná.

Even as the morning progressed and as we packed up and began down the trail the clouds lingered between ridges and peaks.

More Tires...

2010-03-04T17:44:00.000-08:00

As well as a new project we have added a new group. Today we planted with a group of women that live a short walk from Chirijox.

The women were very friendly and enthusiastic. Each woman helped to prepare the tires of all the other women in the group, a parade marching from house to house in the dust.

Here a woman pushes dirt into the sides of the tires to prevent air pockets. This community has particularly sweeping views of the valley and ravines below.

Group participation.

A particularly surly one.

A typical scene: A partially completed weaving, basket of multi-colored yarns, a mat for sitting and a chucho taking advantage of the shade on a hot morning.

Ode to Don Juan

2010-03-04T10:44:00.000-08:00

Papas en Llantas!

2010-02-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

With much legwork behind us now, we have hit the ground running with a new project! After hauling 125 used tires in from an hour away (and nearly throwing out my back in the process) we distributed them to around 50 women in the community. This week I am busy stopping at each women's house to plant.

We are growing potatoes in a stack of tires. We begin with one tire, filled to the rim with dirt and compost...

...and plant four potato plants.

As the plant grows to the height of 8-10 inches, we place another tire over the first.

By filling the second tire and burying the existing leaves, the plant is forced to grow upward,

while the buried leaves will form new spuds.

We will stack to the height of three tires,

Which should give us a bountiful yield in four months from now, if all goes well.

Of course, it's always fun for me to drop in on the women and get a glimpse of their lives.

Beautiful Beans

2010-02-17T06:11:00.000-08:00

What I love about the markets here is that anyone can sit down along a street and sell just about anything they make in their house or grow in their yard. I try to buy from the old women that just have a few items; avacados, limes, peaches, greens or beans. The last batch of beans I bought carried a small rainbow of speckles and colors.

From Scratch

2010-02-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

Those who know me know I love to be in the kitchen. Living in rural Guatemala, I have enjoyed the challenge of making foods I love out of ingredients available and with the tools available.

On days like today, for example, when plans get cancelled I like to browse recipes and see what inspires me. I've had a recipe for homemade raviolis bookmarked for a while now so I thought I'd go for it.

As far as tools go, I am fortunate to have inherited a food processor from another volunteer, which made making the dough a snap. For the next step I had to use some muscle, rolling out the sheets of pasta as thin as my arms could bare.

Ricotta is easy to make with powdered milk and using vinegar to curdle it, thus forming the cheese. I had some parmesan in the fridge and with some thyme from my garden, some lemon zest and a squirt of lemon juice from a lemon a friend gave me, I had my filling. (For those who were wondering, yes, the grapefruit-sized yellow thing in the back left is, in fact, a lemon.)

After piecing them all together I had an army of raviolis drying on my table. They will be enjoyed tonight in a white wine sauce and with good company.

Chujuyub Feria, '10

2010-02-10T07:53:00.000-08:00

Feria is a fun time for all. People travel from distances of sometimes over an hour to go to feria. Here, a man walks the lonely road that ends in the happiness that is feria.

A few days before feria actually begins vendors begin to arrive. At every feria there are people that sell these cookie/bread rings. They arrive with huge baskets of them and people seem to love them...

A carousel for the kids...

Comedors, or eateries are set up...

Local men chat about local business...

The ferris wheel is always a big hit...

And of course feria food! Here, Cali, Charlotte and Sara enjoy 'elote loco', crazy corn-on-the-cob. It's corn covered in any combination of mayonnaise, ketchup, hot sauce and a parmesan-esque cheese.

However, the highlight of any feria is the music and the dancing. Most ferias have "El Baile de Disfrases", the costume dance. This is an extra big deal where Nic lives in Chujuyub and this year, we were fortunate enough to be asked to participate. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into...

After two nights of two hour practices (we skipped the third night), we went to rent our costumes.

The Aztec King and the Aztec Goddess.

Getting ready with all the other dancers. All the costumes were elaborate like ours. The crowd had gathered outside by 8:30 a.m. and the live music, "Los Conejos Internaciónales de Marimba", The International Marimba Rabbits, was bumpin'.

It was show time. Even our costumes couldn't disguise us. We were head and shoulders above the other dancers and the band repeatedly announced that there were gringos dancing. (Thanks Cali for the photos!)

We danced in a big, dusty field with around 50 other people participating.

The dance moves were not complicated and definitely did not require the three nights of two hour practices. Circles...

Lines...

After two hours we were released for a short break.

And this is how we felt: tired and sweaty. These costumes were hot and stinky.

One of Nic's buddies. He was drunk, like many Guatemalan men choose to be at 11 a.m. during feria. He was excited to see us dancing and offered us cold Cokes that tasted so very good.

We were a sort of celebrity with the kids, some of whom Nic works with in the schools. Also some of our friends, here Cali, came out to watch the action. We danced for another two hours and couldn't take anymore. Many of the dancers were smarter than us and shared the costumes with another pair, so they only danced half that time. There were some though that danced until 6 p.m. that night. We learned that El Baile de Disfrases is something many Guatemalans take very seriously. During a break, we saw one man having his calves massaged by his wife while he stood rehydrating himself.

And of course no feria, at least for Nic and I is complete without the recuerdo. A guy behind the camera made me laugh.

Morning

2010-02-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

I get up around 6:30 each day. I open my eyes to a dark house (shutters cover my windows and only small beams of light penetrate the cracks). I get up, put on my shoes and a jacket and open the door, eyes squinting in preparation for a waking world outside.

A particularly beautiful morning with cotton ball clouds, light breaking over the ridge and a view of Nahualá.

Corn stalks, doubled and dried, waiting to be cleared out.

It might be a latrine, but it's a beautiful latrine.

The Waiting Game: Update

2010-02-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

The meeting that was scheduled for last Wednesday was, as anticipated, a bust. Ela had to go to Sololá for a meeting for the day and only 5 of around 50 women showed. One of them showed two hours late. As one might imagine it left me annoyed, disappointed and disheartened.

When Ela returned from her all-day meeting she immediately came to my house and said, "Let's go! We're going to meet with a new group!". Guatemalans, as a whole are not the most informative people. I'm not sure why, but on most occasions they will simply fail to inform one of a meeting or an important or interesting or helpful bit of information, often then leaving that person in an unprepared or clueless state. So, as we walked the dusty paths and I began to interrogate Ela about this new group. They live in another community, in another municipality even, but this community is pegged to Chirijox. There is a Y in the road, seemingly still in the middle of Chirijox, and at that Y the village of Xolcaja in the municipality of Nahualá begins.

They are a group of about 20 women that Ela had worked with in the past. She had recently talked with the leader and she had expressed interest to participate in the larger group again. We met with the leader, Ana, and Ana said that her group wants to participate with the projects but they don't want to arrive at my house for meetings, a ten minute walk away. At this, I was immediately annoyed and thought of how typical this was. Groups want the benefits of the projects but don't want to have to put in the work or responsibility to receive them. I have officially become jaded.

As Ela and I walked home I asked about this. Apparently, years ago, there was a conflict between the two towns over a soccer field that is near the boundary. People of both towns still have animosity towards each other but they don't even really know why or remember what the conflict was about. Ela said she is a good mediator because she is neither from Xolcaja nor Chirijox. In fact, Ela said that the committee may be upset with her for even going to a meeting without speaking to them first. Ela said the animosity is purely psychological.

A few day's later, Ana had spoken with the women of her group and they decided that they would attend meetings and participate fully in the larger group. Today we will go to meet the group and register all the women. I asked Ela about taking to the committee first before starting work with the group. Ela basically said to forget about the committee as she had called them all to try to organize a meeting but they aren't returning her calls.

Because the thing is, Guatemala is a culture where rarely will this, or any, committee be called out on their negligent behavior. At the next meeting all will be as though everything is fine and the psuedo-power of the committee will continue, which is, as one might imagine, incredibly frustrating. As such, it made me very happy to see Ela stand up to the committee.

Panqueques

2010-02-02T05:19:00.000-08:00

For Hendrick's 6th birthday, Nic and I found the perfect gift. Hendrick LOVES Spriderman (pronounced speeder-mahn) and he LOVES pancakes (more, he loves sugar). While in a fancy grocery store in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, we spotted a pancake pan that burns the face on Spiderman on the pancake. Since we gave it to him on his birthday in late December I've been telling him I'll make him very special pancakes whenever he wants. Only yesterday did he take me up on the offer.

He arrived at my house around 5:30 p.m.. He said he wasn't too hungry so he suggested we build some hunger over a game of Uno. Earlier that day Ela told me how Hendrick hadn't eaten much for lunch the day before. When she asked him about it he said it was because he was fat and shouldn't eat too much. I asked Hendrick about this over cards. He said, yes, he was fat but that it should be okay because as a person grows they loose their fat. But there was one thing Hendrick didn't understand; his grandpa that lives in another town is grown but he is still fat. See photo for reference.

I explained to Hendrick that sometimes people grow and are thin and then as they get old they get fat again. It seemed to understand.

After our Uno game we prepared to make the special pancakes. Hendrick asked if I had a chef's hat and coat. I looked around and gave him my pink frilly apron and a straw hat.

He pulled up a stool to my big table and went to work mixing the batter.

He was an eager chef's assistant.

The final product: Chocolate chip, peanut butter, banana pancake.

He said he had never tasted anything like it in the world and ate with the usual gusto.

The Waiting Game

2010-01-25T06:41:00.000-08:00

These days are strangely familiar. January; the hills are monotone brown and the needles of the pine trees are dulled, coated in the dusty soil. The days are hot and the nights are cool. The fields have been cleared, leaving the dry soil susceptible to involuntary removal by gusts of warm winds.

The holidays and harvests are over and now women are busy preparing their children to return to school from the two month "summer" break. Schools themselves are busy constructing more classrooms due to higher registration rates than school capacity. I am here planning, dreaming, hoping and waiting.

"Stuck between a rock and a hard place" is, I think, the appropriate saying to describe my position. It has been over 6 weeks since I have had any 'official' work. By 'official' I mean organized meeting with a group of women. The holidays and harvest and now the starting of school has stolen all the women's time away from our meetings. Yet, here I am, excited and full of ideas and projects yet unable to realize them, at least at this point. Let me explain what I mean. The women of my committee are incredibly jealous women. If I start a project, even the simplest of projects, and I don't first talk to the committee about it, when we do meet, they will be distant and angry with me over the fact that I did not run it by them first. However, one should know that running it by the committee first does nothing of benefit for myself or the project. These women rarely help to refine the ideas or organize any of the work. What they might do is help spread the word, which I suppose may have greater impact than I realize. Meetings have been scheduled and canceled or postponed due to one thing or another. Or meetings have been scheduled simply to have no one show up. So, I continue to wait through the hot days.

I am excited for a project that I think could be very successful here. Growing potatoes in tire towers. One starts by planting 3-4 potato starts in the bottom of a used tire. Once the plant has grown 6-8 inches above the upper rim of the tire, another tire is added and filled with dirt, burring the branches of the plant and therefore creating more spuds. I have heard this method can produce up to 25 pounds of taters in a season. It is recommended that the soil is a mixture of compost and soil for greatest success, so I hope that this will allow me to push worm composting on the previously hesitant group.

In the mean time, for myself I have enjoyed dreaming and planning for my own gardens. I too, will have a tire tower for taters. I will nix carrots and onions in my own garden this year (both are cheap and abundant in markets and take up precious space in my small gardens) to have more room for chard, kale, brussels sprouts, broccoli, beets and spinach. I will also leave a shady portion underneath the peach tree for beloved sweet potatoes. I am working on the sprouts now.

Sweet potatoes are actually more closely related to morning glories than to potatoes. As such, they sprout differently. Where potatoes sprout from eyes, sweet potatoes produce shoots. Once the shoots are about 2 inches long they can be planted, each node throwing down roots and creating the delicious and nutritious tubers.

Work will come, we have a meeting planned this Wednesday to begin discussing the potato tower project. Until then I will do my best to enjoy the slow days and plan for future gardens.