Guatemala

Remember us saying something about a trip to Guatemala? And then never blogging about it? Well, here is the long overdue recap:

Our friend Ben was down for about two weeks in August, and he came to visit at a perfect time. In the first week of August, the nation’s teachers declared a strike which ended classes, and effectively destroyed all of our current projects in the process, or at least put them on hold until classes restarted. Nobody really knew when classes were going to resume, and there was wide speculation that the strike would last until the end of the school year in November. This also coincided with our need to shake things up a little, as we were both hitting a burnout stage in our work and desperately needed a change of scenery to recharge the batteries. Neither of us had left Vegas in months, and the strain was starting to show.

We decided to take some vacation time and to go visit neighboring Guatemala, and it was, in a word, fantastic. Perhaps it was the fact that we had been in Honduras for almost a solid year without leaving the country, and needed to get back to our travelin, ramblin´ways, perhaps it was presence of the predominant ethnic groups wearing traditional dress and speaking in indigenous tongues, perhaps it was the fact that you could buy beer in liters. Whatever it was, we instantly fell in love with Guatemala as soon as we crossed the border.

For the first part of our trip, we took Ben to visit the Mayan ruins at Copan which are in Honduras, but used to be the easternmost part of Guatemala prior to the area’s declaration as Honduran territory. These ruins were discovered after the border relocation; much to the chagrin of the Chapins (nickname for Guatemaltecans) I’m sure. Copan boasts lush green foliage combined with ancient dwellings, and scarlet macaws flying all over the place. From there we took a van to Antigua, Guatemala, a tourist hotspot for its European appearance, a result from Antigua’s importance as a colonial center during the Spanish involvement in Guatemala. Located in a deep valley surround by three volcanoes, the city and its surroundings are stunning, my like what we anticipated from Latin America before our arrival. We spent a couple days wandering the cobblestone streets, noshing on Antigua’s international cuisine, and browsing the many markets that offer hand-woven handicrafts, pottery, and woodcarvings. We also had the chance to go out and participate in some nightlife, which is usually impossible in our town which shuts down at nine. From Antigua, we took a little trip to Lago de Atitlán, a large lake surrounded by yet more volcanoes in the highlands. The lake is ringed by five villages, each with its own store of ethnic crafts and culture.

The most striking aspect of Guatemala was the people, who are extremely helpful, polite, and cheerful, and who are more laid back than most Hondurans. One would not expect to find such a drastic change in attitude, demeanor, and worldview less than hundreds of miles away from where we live, but the experience left a mark upon us displaying the true influence of indigenous culture upon a group of people. The interactions that I hoped to make while in Central America have occurred more in Guatemala thus far than in Honduras. We can’t wait to get back, hopefully soon.

The first day that we got back from Guatemala and back to Las Vegas (after 15 straight hours of bus travel) somebody broke into our house and robbed us. We assume that they broke in looking for Ben’s camera, (which was pretty spiffy) and in the process stole our cell phone, crystal’s camera, and my shoes. As anyone who has gone through this can contest, we felt violated and upset, as well as disappointed. However, these things happen, and there is not a whole lot that can now be done about it now. As a result, we have switched houses for the third time, and we now reside in a much more secure house in a better part of town. After the break-in, we took a quick trip to the north coast of Honduras, where Ben got to log in some beach and jungle time on the beaches of Tela. A couple days later Ben was back in Minnesota and with the end of the teacher´s strike we were back to work.

more pics

Here she is! Honduras was just too lonely without a dog around, and after missing Lucy, we decided to try it again.

This is Stella ( or Estéla). She is an 8 week old purebred Rottweiler that our PM was nice enough to find for us! Don´t worry, she´s harmless. She is the calmest puppy we have ever met.







And this is what it looks like on a cloudy day from the top of our mountain, above the clouds! If you could see down below, you would see our village. (pic: Los Andes, SB)

September 15th. Independence Day.

And this morning our band marched in their first parade. It was also this morning when I was informed that the verb I had been using to tell the kids we are going to march (afilar) actually means ¨to sharpen¨. Like a knife. I had been telling the kids we are going to sharpen for months now. In the case someone needs the correct verb, ¨to march¨ is ¨desfilar¨. It must be admitted, they were pretty darn cute. Our little bell player, who was going through sensory overload, forgot all her songs but one, the most annoying one. She played it for over 2 hours while in a daze.

We`ll post some pictures when we got a chance. It went quite well, and we have one parade left, tonight, up the mountain in our aldea called El Mochito.

The Youth in Asia and other tales

First story: Its been an interesting week, to say the least.On Monday morning, we took Lucy to the vet in Villanueva, a suburb of San Pedro Sula. Her neck has been all inflamed and weird lately, and we decided that it was time to get some x-rays. On Tuesday, Crystal went up to the vet to pick her up, but came back alone. As soon as I asked her were Lucy was, then saw her blotchy eyes, I had my answer. It turned out that Lucy had some rare form of bone disease that could not be fixed and that was causing her a lot of pain, therefore we had to put her down. Along with being sad, it was really frustrating, as we took excellent care of her, but just couldn’t beat genetics. The house has been really sad and lonely this week without her. Losing a pet is always like losing a member of the family, which in many ways, Lucy was for us.
Second story: Our town has a series of children whom subsist as street beggars. This isn’t done out of boredom, but out of need to survive, and it is often a difficult encounter, as we always want to help, but lack the means to do so in a fashion that is productive and healthy. Yesterday, on the way to baseball practice, one of our street children asked me for shoes, which I really can’t provide (my own shoes having been stolen the previous month aside, but more on that another time). Instead, I allowed him to tag along to baseball practice, where he had a great time playing with the other kids and chasing after balls. Actually, he can throw pretty well! It was nice to finally offer something to what must be a real dismal existence. Today he saw us walking in the street, and gave each of us a piece of candy, which was a touching and appreciated display.
Third Story: Today is our municipality’s (which is pretty much the equivalent of a county government) anniversary, and in accordance there are a bunch of celebrations today. We were invited to a luncheon held by the mayor, and were presented with an odd situation that has happened a couple of times. These events come up from time to time, and we always show up wearing t-shirts and ripped jeans, and end up talking with the real brass of the community, each wearing designer suits and jewellery. The rest of the community was treated to free plates of beans and rice in the central park, while the community elite ( and by our position as peace corps volunteers, us) were whisked off to a lunch of filet minion. Being as sensitive to social-economic class as we are, these little lunches always make us feel out of place and a little self conscious, as they lare bare the drastic differences in class as found in the developing world. Truth be told, we have much more in common with the people that were at the steak dinner in terms of mentality, backgrounds, and aspirations; but we tend to feel more comfortable with the crowd that eat with their hands on the street, even if they have never read a book or don´t appreciate our different views.

sorry that we have been slacking off on the posts lately, we will try to get back on top of this blog business. Blogs are kinda wierd, in that you always evaluate the ¨blogability¨of your experiences, and that makes it a little harder when you have no idea whom is reading your ramblings. Granted, we have a lot of stuff to talk about, like getting robbed, moving houses, and our trip to Guatemala, but those will come another day soon....
simon