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| Punky - my host cat |
I’m apparently terrible at blogging. It’s that simple. I’ve done
decently with keeping Twitter and Facebook up to date – but attempting to sit
down every night and type up my day feels like an exercise in futility. I like
to end my days by completely tuning out for at least an hour before I start to
try to sleep – perhaps it’s rooted in my old insomnia conquering tricks. I
updated the first weekend after the first four days that I was in Guatemala and
by my calculations it has been 23 days (3 weeks) since then. I offer the
largest and most sincere apologies. There has been excitement and adventure,
but there have also been learning curves and frustrations. I’ll attempt to give
a few recaps of the weeks I’ve had – as much as I can – in an attempt to fill
my readers in. It honestly doesn’t feel like I am at the halfway mark. Maybe it
is due to the Sunday excursions and days in classes, plus the 4 days in
Antigua… perhaps the last 4 weeks will drag by as I attempt to cram in as much
data collection as I can while simultaneously writing the paper that data is
based on.
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| Spider Monkey |
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| Palm Leaf Graffiti |
05/27/14-06/01/14 – We started classes. Two assignments were
due this week involving active listening in conversations (while also still
note taking) and an observation of the transportation in our towns. Language
barriers were ever present during this time. I am able to get around and
function in daily tasks including small talk, but high concepts are a pain,
especially when the Spanish we learned in school is not exactly the same as the
Spanish spoken here. There are some words that aren’t used or understood and
there can be misunderstandings leading to a conversation that makes no sense. I am confident in my ability to conduct my research though. It is straight forward and not as tricky as explaining a stomach ache. I
am lucky in that the family I am staying with seems to have an abundance of
patience. It is hard to carry on a conversation in groups though because as I
pause in attempts to find certain words the family carries on a secondary
conversation in Kaqchikel. The outsider feeling is very strong while at my
local home. I figured that adapting to it will come in time. I believe it was Monday that we went to the nature reserve and walked around a bit. There were old rope (or wire) bridges leading us up into the canopy. We also saw a few little spider monkeys hanging out.There was also some very interesting graffiti in the form of scoring palm leaves (so that the scored portion dies and browns) to leave an inscription. Highly destructive of course, but not less inventive.
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| Altar to St. Simón (Maximón) |
On Saturday I was invited to a town named San Jorge for a
hike to various Mayan altars in the mountainside. We hiked up the mountain on
paths sometimes no wider than 10 inches. The climb was steep and it was
insanely humid. I have no idea how long we had hiked for, but in the end we saw
5 different areas and 6 different altars including the personal one of the Mayan
Priest who was taking us on the hike. I was the only one not from San Jorge to
join in, but I liked that it felt very private and personal. Our guide
performed a small ceremony at each of the altars (except for the last one which
was reserved solely for the sick and infirm). The altar to
St. Simón (Maximón) was the third one we were taken to. According to our guide, it was a bad day (
according to the Mayan astrology) for him and the altar. He called me over and began blessing me and the altar. I caught some of what was said (the parts in Spanish) and when he was done he thanked me and told me that my spirit was open and powerful, and that I was the only one there who had the correct energy to help out. It was a powerful experience. Something I cannot put properly in to words.
On Sunday we took a day trip out to Chichicastenango. It is
a town about an hour north of the lake and has one of the biggest markets in
the area. It was certainly huge. It reminded me of the huge flea markets back
home - the kind that they have out at the fair grounds – except that they were
up and down streets in a sectioned off portion of the town. I ended up picking
up a gift for myself and something for someone else. I still have a ton of
souvenir shopping to do in regards to getting other folks keepsakes. I didn’t
carry my camera with me in to Chichi due to not wanting to keep an eye on it.
Pictures of the market will be cannibalized from fellow students to give you
all a peek at it.
06/02/14-06/08/14
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday it rained… and rained… and
rained. We had class on Monday and the ride in the morning was fine, but
shortly after lunch the outlying area of a tropical storm in the Yucatan began
affecting us. It went on for three days. It was so bad that some students were
stuck in Panajachel, unable to reach home due to washed out roads and other
such disasters. Being cooped up for 72 hours is mind numbing – especially when
you are away from home (and all your distractions) and your house isn’t so much
of a house as four bedrooms stacked on each other. The “common area” is
outside. I read. I read everything that we were required to for the classes. At
least I have no more reading (except for what I need to for citations) though I
may crack open a fun read I brought along. It did mean that once the rain
cleared up I had to crunch in as many assignments as I could to maintain being
ahead. I was still sweating about not having received my Fellowship money and
that caused no end of sleeplessness. It got taken care of rather quickly – but
it was no less frustrating. The week was incredibly uneventful due to the rain,
but on Sunday we left for a few days in Antigua as a mini vacation. Frankly,
Antigua deserves its own mention here, so…
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| Lunch at La Cuevita |
Sunday - Wow. The entire city is a giant, colonial ruin! I
feel like I can’t use words and should just plaster dozens of pictures right
here. The first day a group of us made a beeline to grab lunch at a place called “
La Cuevita de los Urquizu” and had extremely typical
Guatemalan cuisine. Essentially the place has a dozen or so main dishes of
meats and/or vegetables in thick sauces and gravies bubbling away in clay pots.
You get to pick one (or two smaller portions of different main dishes) and two
sides from a large table of nearly 2 dozen side dishes (mainly various types of
salads – think beet salad, potato salad, guacamole, etc.) I lovingly referred
to it as Guatemalan curry. In a word: amazing. They eat a lot of
caldo here, which is essentially
something cooked in a broth. It isn’t quite soup or stew, but it is close.
Imagine making soup stock and adding in vegetables that are rough chopped like
in a stew (except bigger pieces) and then dropping in whole fish or quarters of
a chicken and boiling it for a bit. The broth is thin like a soup, the
vegetables are large like a stew, and the meat is a large portion (that you
generally end up eating with your hands). The thick gravy of a hearty meat
based stew was refreshing. Every culture seems to have its own take on stewing
meats and vegetables for a hearty, flavorful dish. I’ve been looking for
another place that serves these various
estofados
since getting back from Antigua.
We explored for a bit with not much happening. I did discover that Antigua was
home to an Irish pub called “
The
Snug” and an Irish tavern called “
Reilly’s”
(it would turn out that there are in fact two “Reilly’s”). I attempted to get
people to go check out the pub for dinner because I found it fascinating that
an Irish pub was open in Antigua, Guatemala, but we ended up getting side
tracked in the adventures. We ended up eating at a place called “
Gaia”
which specialized in Mediterranean food. We had amazing falafel, hummus and
lamb.
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| These girls wanted a picture. I took one of them photographing us |
Monday – The day started by hanging out all morning with
other students and walking around town to get to know it better. We ended up
splitting off into smaller groups a few times and eventually 3 of us found a
small bakery to split a loaf of sourdough bread for a brunch-time snack and to
wait out the storm that had rolled in and caught us all unaware (see: without
rain gear). We eventually made it back to the hotel for a change of clothes.
There is an exciting story of a new friendship forged in the fires of being
stung in the neck by a malicious flying insect and me saving the day – but
that’s likely one of those corny stories meant for small talk at a party. I
ended up with a nice button down shirt during my shopping efforts leading to a
welcomed change of pace from the graphic t-shirts I had brought along. Lunch
was at a small café called “
Y tu Piña
Tambien” that served up salads and a sandwich called
the
grilled cheesus – which is made on a Panini press that has an image of
Jesus on it. It came with bacon and was delicious. I still wanted to check out the pub and was
very pleased to walk in and find the owner. I talked with him for a bit and
discovered they had only been open for about 6 months. I also learned that on Sundays
they do a huge roast beef dinner and use the unsold cuts to make shepherd’s pie
for lunch specials on Monday and Tuesday. I was bummed that I had already eaten
at the café. We hung out there for a bit getting to know some locals before
getting invited to check out a bunch of other places in town. A tour of Antigua
by locals: the only answer to that is a resounding ‘yes’. I met at least 30
people, travelers and locals alike, in the tour of the town. Many of the places
were hotspots for travelers: restaurants, bars, hostels, and things of that
nature. It was a blast.
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| The arch |
Tuesday – I ended up tagging along with fellow students to
check out the shops and museums – basically filling in the gaps of the previous
day’s tour. The sun was intense and it was certainly out to get us (and make up
for the freak storm the day before). The day was slow and with the intensity of
the sun, so was I. We got lunch at a small sports bar like place. I ended up
with chicken wings and it was a welcome homage to home. We went to
Las Capuchinas Convent which is now
a museum. I’ve never been in a place such as that before. There is a prayer
chamber underground in one section that has perfect resonance to the point of
being able to whisper into the wall and someone on the other side being able to
hear you perfectly. It reminded me of something from a horror film. We ended up
grabbing dinner at a small place called the “
Rainbow
Café” which had a nice atmosphere as well as a brief performance of some
children doing a handkerchief dance (very similar to the one I saw performed at
Chatham University’s day dedicated to Chile). We walked around a bit more
before I called it a night.
Wednesday – We were leaving shortly before 10:00am, and so
we spent the morning walking around a bit in an attempt to get some last minute
shopping done. I hadn’t found anything that really caught my eye the entire
time I was there (besides the shirt I found), which was a bit of a bummer. Some
of the things I was interested in were found in fancy jade shops which were
clearly meant for higher end tourists, at least as far as the things I was
interested in goes (all of the prices were in USD and it was far from
inexpensive). With the mini vacation done we headed back to the lake to begin
chipping away at the mounds of work that we had in front of us.
06/12/14 – 06/17/14
Thursday was an unwinding day and the first day of the World
Cup. How lucky are we to be in Central America during the Cup! I decided to
spend my day in Panajachel and to take in the atmosphere of the event. I parked
myself at a restaurant for lunch and started taking notes about what was going
on. I was honestly surprised at the seeming lack of turnout. I walked up and
down the street and while every restaurant had the game on, the average number
of people inside watching it was around 5. One small clothing shop even had the
game on the radio and played it into the streets. It turns out that most people
watch from home or in small groups at tiendas and other such smaller places.
It’s a bit different than back home. While I can’t say what watching the Cup at
home is like in Guatemala (maybe they have large parties for their favorite
teams), the public scene is much smaller than large games in the United States.
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| This cutie found us as we pulled in to the performance building |
Friday was class again. We had a group come in to give a
talk about the effects of the Civil War and tell their personal stories. It was
incredibly powerful to here the stories of three women who had husbands,
fathers, brothers, and cousins slaughtered during the conflict – especially in
regards to how it impacted their lives and the choices that we available to
them. I won’t get much deeper into it here, but it is easy to forget that this
conflict only officially ended 18 years ago. Current political leaders were
members of the army that perpetrated the war crimes and are currently affecting
policy in the country. It is staggering to think or such a thing – especially
when Guatemala has a Democratic process.
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| The symbol of the organization is the bat |
Saturday we were taken to see a group of performers (
Sotz'il). They
are in the process of turning their project (centered on cultural preservation)
in to a series of workshops meant for local and international consumption. They
wish to share their culture as a means to preserve it: so that it won’t be
forgotten. These groups (made up of smaller groups centered on history, art,
music and theatre, etc.) even now have not escaped the Civil War. One of the
founders is said to have been assassinated (the evidence points to that rather
than a random act of violence as the M.O. fits the bill for what happened to
political enemies during the war years) as recently as 2010. They were kind
enough to let us take video of the short performance they gave us. I would gladly share it here - but the upload time on the public WiFi I am using is estimated at 3 hours. Sadly, you will have to wait.
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| Greco-Roman Architecture in Xela |
Sunday was spent at the
FuentesGeorginas near Quetzaltenango (Xela). This is a small park type of area
with natural hot springs that you can swim in. I would be lying if I said it
was not amazing. The water is full of minerals and after being in there for the
length of a long, hot bath back home I emerged feeling clean and refreshed. The
stay was all too short though and it wasn’t long before we were eating lunch
and back on the road. We made a pit stop in Xela to walk around the town, get a
small snack and take some pictures. I’d like to explore there more at some
point – if I ever find myself back in Guatemala – though it was no match for
Antigua in my mind. I ended up getting incredibly car sick on this trip. It was
only slight on the way there, but the way back had me reeling. I haven’t been
motion sick in many years, more than a decade in fact, and it was very intense.
I came home, had to explain to my host family that I wasn’t feeling well, why I
wasn’t feeling well, that I was unable to stomach dinner and simply wanted to
sleep. They become extremely panicked thinking that I was super sick and should
see a doctor (mainly because I didn’t want to eat) and after letting them know
that one of the directors knew I wasn’t feeling well and that I didn’t need a
doctor (but agreeing to see one if I still felt sick in the morning) seemed to
calm them enough that I was allowed to go to bed. I was of course roused at
5:30am the next day to be checked on and delivered breakfast to my room. I
drank the mug of milk (so it didn’t spoil), but left the plantain on my desk
until I caught a few more hours of sleep. The communication barriers for things
like that become a bit frustrating at times – why I can’t eat as much as they
assume (or have experienced with former students) Americans can, if I am
feeling slightly under the weather or have an upset stomach from too much heat
or not enough water (and how hot coffee is not the fix for something like that
for me), and other such daily things or approaches to daily routine. While I
know I am communicating and being understood it seems there are forces of habit
and culture getting in the way.
I spent Monday and Tuesday working on IRB stuff, updating
this, and planning out how I am tackling the next two weeks (while I wait on
approvals to start the research). I’m still sweating the IRB mainly because of time constraints, but I have my
fingers crossed. I’m
keeping high spirits that things will work out.
Until next time, readers!
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