OK, so this weekend pretty much rocked. Antigua is a glorious little former capital, a collection of colonial era ruins, cobbled streets, near-tropical flora, and shops. Really, really cool. Also expensive and -filled- with gringos. Spanish is an option in this "latin american" city.
We climbed a(nother) volcano Sunday, called Pacaya. It had flowing lava at the top so we roasted marshmallows over the heat vents. Also my shoes melted a little bit. A friend lost his walking stick by poking it into a vent for a photo, meanwhile it caught fire so he had to throw it in. Oops.
As for bringing stuff back from Kuchub´al...I dunno. We visited them this morning but they weren´t open. That leaves tomorrow. I was planning on bringing back some organic coffee (it´s only $4 a pound!!!) and chocolate but I don´t know now whether I´ll be able.
Anyway, this could very well be the last post. We leave Xela Wednesday morning, spend a night in Guatemala City, and fly out in the morning. Should reach Minneapolis around 6 pm. Should. Whenever it is that I do arrive (in Dallas, not Minn), I will be calling the people I need to (that means you, mom) and catching up on the sound of everyone´s voice.
...El fin, pienso.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Hmm...
On Tuesday one of the directors of the fair-trade I'm working with took us to visit some of the cooperatives where the Mayans make the jam, cocoa and soy flour that Kristina and I are peddling to the hotels here in town. So far all these cooperatives are located in the coastal region of Guatemala, which means that they reside in a different country in terms of climate. Once you drop out of these mountains (which is quite a drop) the humidity sets in, and while it´s beautiful, with acres upon acres of coffee fields and hugely leaved palms and ferns, the humidity is stifling. One sits in the shade with the breeze even and just oozes sweat. Fairly uncomfortable.
We did cross into Mexico though. There´s a river that runs by Malacatan (sp?) and a border crossing. The bridge divides Guatemala's northern border with Mexico´s southern. So I literally walked my way into Mexico and back out again without having to show any papers. (I didn´t walk so far as to cross customs.) Hence, no Mexican stamp in the passport. :(
What else? Oh, we're getting dumped on again with rain. Just sort of happened. Shane´s post was hilarious. Really enjoyed it. Also can´t wait to return from land-of-the-always-raining to land-of-the-almost-flooding. I heard Iowa got wracked pretty bad with water, too.
We're leaving in a minute to return to the curry restaurant in town. I vote we take a kayak.
We did cross into Mexico though. There´s a river that runs by Malacatan (sp?) and a border crossing. The bridge divides Guatemala's northern border with Mexico´s southern. So I literally walked my way into Mexico and back out again without having to show any papers. (I didn´t walk so far as to cross customs.) Hence, no Mexican stamp in the passport. :(
What else? Oh, we're getting dumped on again with rain. Just sort of happened. Shane´s post was hilarious. Really enjoyed it. Also can´t wait to return from land-of-the-always-raining to land-of-the-almost-flooding. I heard Iowa got wracked pretty bad with water, too.
We're leaving in a minute to return to the curry restaurant in town. I vote we take a kayak.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
¡Feliz dìa de los Padres!
Hey dad, happy father´s day. Also, happy birthday...since I wasn´t able to call you that day either. I´m going to see if I can´t run into someone here with a phone, in which case I´ll call and say hi myself. Otherwise this will have to suffice. Having said that, on to another post...
I love this city...at times. Today is one of those times. We attended a Catholic mass this morning, in one of the hottest days here we´ve had yet. Sort of a nice change except for the sweating. Yesterday we climbed the extinct vocano Santa Maria yesterday just in time to watch its living offshoot, Santiaguito, erupt in a plume of ash and smoke. Very cool.
The day is much cooler now that it´s afternoon. There´s a soccer field across the street from my host family, and as I stepped outside after lunch there was another game in progress (I´d seen one leaving for church as well). I stood a minute and watched, with high clouds and Santa Maria looming behind it all, through the same link-metal fence we use to line our baseball fields. There were paths worn in the grass surrounding the field and folks chatting, drinking Pepsi around the same ramshackle worn out type of consession stand we have at the softball field in Fairfax. In fact, construction-wise, it was very similar. The only difference was the sport and the language.
The following is a blog post I´d meant to upload much earlier, sobre el tiempo y el ambiente. It relates to a lot of things:
At 7:15 I have breakfast, usually scrambled eggs, refried black beans and tortillas; which are thicker than ours and smaller, always corn. I look out the patio outside my door to check the amount and color of the clouds, deciding between sunscreen or rain jacket, or both.
By 8 there´s still a bite in the air, but it´s losing ground quickly. Folks here wear sweaters most of the day here. Around this time I usually run into or find someone else in the group, it´s both exciting and calming to stroll around alone but the ritual of meeting friends has been nice as well.
Nine. What coolness there was is rapidly departing. By ten it´s either hot or raining.
If I get time before this cafè closes, I´ll post more about the homes and city.
I love this city...at times. Today is one of those times. We attended a Catholic mass this morning, in one of the hottest days here we´ve had yet. Sort of a nice change except for the sweating. Yesterday we climbed the extinct vocano Santa Maria yesterday just in time to watch its living offshoot, Santiaguito, erupt in a plume of ash and smoke. Very cool.
The day is much cooler now that it´s afternoon. There´s a soccer field across the street from my host family, and as I stepped outside after lunch there was another game in progress (I´d seen one leaving for church as well). I stood a minute and watched, with high clouds and Santa Maria looming behind it all, through the same link-metal fence we use to line our baseball fields. There were paths worn in the grass surrounding the field and folks chatting, drinking Pepsi around the same ramshackle worn out type of consession stand we have at the softball field in Fairfax. In fact, construction-wise, it was very similar. The only difference was the sport and the language.
The following is a blog post I´d meant to upload much earlier, sobre el tiempo y el ambiente. It relates to a lot of things:
At 7:15 I have breakfast, usually scrambled eggs, refried black beans and tortillas; which are thicker than ours and smaller, always corn. I look out the patio outside my door to check the amount and color of the clouds, deciding between sunscreen or rain jacket, or both.
By 8 there´s still a bite in the air, but it´s losing ground quickly. Folks here wear sweaters most of the day here. Around this time I usually run into or find someone else in the group, it´s both exciting and calming to stroll around alone but the ritual of meeting friends has been nice as well.
Nine. What coolness there was is rapidly departing. By ten it´s either hot or raining.
If I get time before this cafè closes, I´ll post more about the homes and city.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
¡Español! ¿Qué español?
Actually, my Spanish is improving--especially my level of comprehension. I can understand much more than I can return verbally. It works, I guess.
Later today (and some of this morning already) I´m working on my volunteer project. Having said that, I'm going to explain my "job." I work with la Red Kuchub'al, a local fair trade group here in Guatemala that markets the products (coffee, chocolate, scarves and cloth, jams and canned fruit) of rural, indiginous people here, 80 percent of these are women. Also, 90 percent of Kuchub'al's profits return to these mostly Mayan workers, or campesinos as they're called here.
My job here is very simple: talk to local restaurants, hotels, cafes--anyone--and ask if they'd be interested in some of these products. Kuchub'al sells in bulk, so restaurants could actually use some of it in their kitchens or else just set up a little table with the items. A bookstore, North and South, has this design. If they're not interested, we ask to hang a flyer and move on.
Also, soon I'm going to begin emailing organizations and churches in the US asking them to either post a link to Kuchub'al on their website, or better yet, to buy produce.
In about half an hour, another SDSU student and I are going to march down to the Parque Central and start pitching. I even got me a buttoned shirt for the occasion.
;-)
Later today (and some of this morning already) I´m working on my volunteer project. Having said that, I'm going to explain my "job." I work with la Red Kuchub'al, a local fair trade group here in Guatemala that markets the products (coffee, chocolate, scarves and cloth, jams and canned fruit) of rural, indiginous people here, 80 percent of these are women. Also, 90 percent of Kuchub'al's profits return to these mostly Mayan workers, or campesinos as they're called here.
My job here is very simple: talk to local restaurants, hotels, cafes--anyone--and ask if they'd be interested in some of these products. Kuchub'al sells in bulk, so restaurants could actually use some of it in their kitchens or else just set up a little table with the items. A bookstore, North and South, has this design. If they're not interested, we ask to hang a flyer and move on.
Also, soon I'm going to begin emailing organizations and churches in the US asking them to either post a link to Kuchub'al on their website, or better yet, to buy produce.
In about half an hour, another SDSU student and I are going to march down to the Parque Central and start pitching. I even got me a buttoned shirt for the occasion.
;-)
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Sorry mom!
We´ve been traveling all weekend so getting Internet was a tad sketchy. Back in Xela now tho. I start work at Kuchub´al tomorrow and have a new Spanish instructor for the afternoons. Need to find a laundromat pronto también.
You´re right about that credit load. Wow.
We just got back from la Laguna Atitlán, what Aldous Huxley called "the most beautiful lake in the world." Met the dean of arts and science there and took a ferry across to some other villages beside Panajachel where we stayed. Gorgeous.
You´re right about that credit load. Wow.
We just got back from la Laguna Atitlán, what Aldous Huxley called "the most beautiful lake in the world." Met the dean of arts and science there and took a ferry across to some other villages beside Panajachel where we stayed. Gorgeous.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The title of this blog becomes more true every day
"Las calles aquí son rios." That was going to be the name of this post, because the streets are running like rivers with all the rain here. Last night was the first I spent legitimately cold and this morning the first with wind. We´re supposed to get some sun on Thursday though.
I can see now why Xela has stone archways across some streets and sidewalks two feet higher than the streets between them: Rain. The little 8 yr old living in my house here hasn´t had school most of the week because of it and I wouldn´t want to send out my kids in it either. Even if they didn´t fall into a foot of water, they´d get sick from the damp and the cold. I mean, this is no South Dakota winter or anything, but it is very very wet and fairly cold. This afternoon is quite a bit better though.
I have a meeting on Thursday to get to know the trade org I´ll be working with. So far it´s been Spanish classes from 8 to 1 and most of the afternoons off. A friend and I found a great little bookshop/café near the Parque Central (downtown) that we´re keeping a secret. Me gusta.
Still healthy, family is okay (I´ll have to make a post on that), and the weather has to let up sometime.
I can see now why Xela has stone archways across some streets and sidewalks two feet higher than the streets between them: Rain. The little 8 yr old living in my house here hasn´t had school most of the week because of it and I wouldn´t want to send out my kids in it either. Even if they didn´t fall into a foot of water, they´d get sick from the damp and the cold. I mean, this is no South Dakota winter or anything, but it is very very wet and fairly cold. This afternoon is quite a bit better though.
I have a meeting on Thursday to get to know the trade org I´ll be working with. So far it´s been Spanish classes from 8 to 1 and most of the afternoons off. A friend and I found a great little bookshop/café near the Parque Central (downtown) that we´re keeping a secret. Me gusta.
Still healthy, family is okay (I´ll have to make a post on that), and the weather has to let up sometime.
Monday, June 2, 2008
No me gusta la lluvia
"I do not like the rain."
Apparently there´s a hurricane hitting the Atlantic coast of Central America and what´s left of it is coming down as very, very steady rain (but no wind). This has been going for a few days now and should continue until at least Wednesday. Today has been the most solid. Very glad I brought tall boots and a waterproof jacket. Haven´t been seeing those stray dogs nearly as much though.
Apparently there´s a hurricane hitting the Atlantic coast of Central America and what´s left of it is coming down as very, very steady rain (but no wind). This has been going for a few days now and should continue until at least Wednesday. Today has been the most solid. Very glad I brought tall boots and a waterproof jacket. Haven´t been seeing those stray dogs nearly as much though.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Well... um, yeah
So we rolled into Xela around 5 pm after a 7 hr bus ride through some seriously formidable mountains. Good thing these guys don´t get any snow because wow. Just figured out during that sentence how to accent my letters (I´m typing on a keyboard de español, after all). Every one of these keyboards is a little different, but this place has nice computers (running Vista) and a decent price so I think I´ll try to frequent it.
It´s hard to remember all the things I wanted to say now, sitting at a computer. Feels farther away than the Xela just outside the door.
So...um, school begins at 8 and runs til 1. My professor keeps calling me "sueño," which means sleepy. This is because I´m yawning all the time. I mean, it is several hours of Spanish, after all. Also, I took likely the hardest Spanish exam of my life this morning; it was a placement exam and whew, boy, did I ever bomb that thing.
This town, though, like Guatemala City before it, is gorgeous. It sits at around 12,000 feet, inside a huge volcanic crater something like 3,000 ft across. Like I said above, the roads leading up to Xela are a winding twisting beautiful mess. I think we took the Pan-American Highway, but I can't find out for sure -- but once you reach the summit, the road drops down as sharply as it twisted up and you find yourself looking at a huge sprawling plane ringed in gargantuan mountains with looming Santa María and smoking live Santiaguito to the south. (Sorry, I´ve been reading my travel guide a lot.)
Yeah, but all that happened two days ago. Feels like I´ve been here for a month or something - there´s just been so much around us. There´s the host family, the trips around town, and going out last night all to talk about. In the span of two days, it really does feel like a lot.
My family is good, mom - you´ll be glad to know that. There are two grandparents (los abuelos), a mother named María and her two children 4 yr old Luis and 8 yr old Deborah. All are pretty cool.
Anyway, I´m running real close to the 45 minute mark, after which I´ll have to pay another, oh, quetzal for the time. Which is something like 20 cents.
It´s hard to remember all the things I wanted to say now, sitting at a computer. Feels farther away than the Xela just outside the door.
So...um, school begins at 8 and runs til 1. My professor keeps calling me "sueño," which means sleepy. This is because I´m yawning all the time. I mean, it is several hours of Spanish, after all. Also, I took likely the hardest Spanish exam of my life this morning; it was a placement exam and whew, boy, did I ever bomb that thing.
This town, though, like Guatemala City before it, is gorgeous. It sits at around 12,000 feet, inside a huge volcanic crater something like 3,000 ft across. Like I said above, the roads leading up to Xela are a winding twisting beautiful mess. I think we took the Pan-American Highway, but I can't find out for sure -- but once you reach the summit, the road drops down as sharply as it twisted up and you find yourself looking at a huge sprawling plane ringed in gargantuan mountains with looming Santa María and smoking live Santiaguito to the south. (Sorry, I´ve been reading my travel guide a lot.)
Yeah, but all that happened two days ago. Feels like I´ve been here for a month or something - there´s just been so much around us. There´s the host family, the trips around town, and going out last night all to talk about. In the span of two days, it really does feel like a lot.
My family is good, mom - you´ll be glad to know that. There are two grandparents (los abuelos), a mother named María and her two children 4 yr old Luis and 8 yr old Deborah. All are pretty cool.
Anyway, I´m running real close to the 45 minute mark, after which I´ll have to pay another, oh, quetzal for the time. Which is something like 20 cents.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
La manaña primer (The first morning)
So there´s a guy here...his name sounds like Atan but it´s Ethan in English. Anyway, he´s adopting his second little Guatemalan child. The boy just burst through this room actually, we´ve been hearing him all morning. The man is returning to Jerusalem this morning, so it was very interesting to speak to him. He is from France originally.
The shower here is sort of a little can with a small heater wired in that drops warm water straight down. They gave us each towels and soap. The place is beautiful.
We catch our bus in about thirty minutes I believe. Also, the shot of the night city from last night is now a shot of the two volcanos outside Guatemala City with the town beneath. I like this place.
The shower here is sort of a little can with a small heater wired in that drops warm water straight down. They gave us each towels and soap. The place is beautiful.
We catch our bus in about thirty minutes I believe. Also, the shot of the night city from last night is now a shot of the two volcanos outside Guatemala City with the town beneath. I like this place.
Monday, May 26, 2008
¡In Guatemala!
We just arrived in Guatemala City and I´m having worlds of trouble with this keyboard. The shift key is different, like very old keyboards in the states, and the @ symbol requires a key stroke. The keyboard is ççç ... muy diferente. I keep making a funny symbol when I want to capitalize things.
The place here is amazing. Very old, stucco-like building. I gave the man one US dollar and he gave me a half hour of internet and two quetzales in return. I don´t know how that translates. We get breakfast in the morning, which is pretty "dulce", which means "sweet".
Tomorrow morning we hop a bus for a four hour ride further into the mountains, to our town Xela. I´m really excited.
The place here is amazing. Very old, stucco-like building. I gave the man one US dollar and he gave me a half hour of internet and two quetzales in return. I don´t know how that translates. We get breakfast in the morning, which is pretty "dulce", which means "sweet".
Tomorrow morning we hop a bus for a four hour ride further into the mountains, to our town Xela. I´m really excited.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Más explicación
I thought I would add a little more to clarify.I am leaving for Guatemala this Monday. While there I will be attending a Spanish language school, Minerva, at www.minervaspanishschool.com/, and volunteering with a Fair Trade org, Kuchub'al. Click the links to visit their Web sites.
Also, the city has its own Web page apparently. See it at www.xelapages.com/.
I'm going to try to post the photos I take on Panoramio. This site lets me post photos for you all to see, as well as tagging them to Google Maps, so you can see where I took the photo as well. Should be pretty cool; my profile is here.
I meant to add some photos here of the Guatemalan region, but got impatient with it. I'll try to get something up later, or you can visit some travel sites like Lonely Planet to see a little of what Guatemala looks like.
Hello, folks. This blog, as said above, will contain information about me as I move through Guatemala. It might become more, we'll see. For now it's a place where those who care may look up to see what I'm doing while I'm gone.
Feel free to comment on my posts if you'd like to respond.
Oh, and P.S. "Una casa en la playa" means "A place by the sea," which really has nothing to do with Xela, as the town is located in the mountainous highland region of Guatemala, nowhere near either of its ocean coasts. I just thought it sounded nice ... and Spanish.
Feel free to comment on my posts if you'd like to respond.
Oh, and P.S. "Una casa en la playa" means "A place by the sea," which really has nothing to do with Xela, as the town is located in the mountainous highland region of Guatemala, nowhere near either of its ocean coasts. I just thought it sounded nice ... and Spanish.
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