Lake Atitlan

So one day at noon we piled into our usual transportation device (bus-thing) and headed to Panajachel. On our way we stopped at a buffet of traditional Guatemalan food and at another Mayan gathering site like Tikal. We got to Panajchel and checked into our hotel for the night.

It was Hotel California, a really tall hotel (like five stories), but with only three rooms on each floor. Our room was on the second floor. We did not get the street-side room with the balcony, but I figured it was for the best because of the electrical lines that were in reach.

This was the night that I remembered that I wanted to watch How to Eat Like and Animal, because a lot of awesome people shared it on Facebook. That night we watched it three times and it never stopped being absolutely hilarious. Stop reading this right now and watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiHnhm8MCw

After and before this video we also watched clips from Judge Judy and a video of a boy who had gotten his wisdom teeth out and was all drugged up. Don’t forget: corner kick.

We ate dinner at Solomon’s Porch, which was connected to Hotel California and, conveniently, owned by the same people. The outreach of Solomon’s Porch is to positively impact the city of Panajachel, which is known as a place where people go to use drugs and party.

This is Brandon (Crystal's husband) in the boat. He is so funny.

The next morning we had to be up earlier than everyone wanted to ride a boat to San Juan, one of the little towns around Lake Atitlan. This was also the morning when I decided I was going to take so many pictures that minds would explode. We approached a sketchy-looking building surrounded by nothing and it turned out to be our hotel.

La Voz

(Note: If you do not want to learn information about coffee plants, skip this section. I realized it might be boring for some people and I do not want to be the reason you are sad because then I would be sad and I certainly do not want to be the reason I am sad.)

We dropped off our stuff and headed to La Voz, a coffee plantation in San Juan. Here, we learned all about coffee and I learned so many interesting facts.

First of all, different types of coffee are grown in different types of shade. There are three types of plants used to shade the coffee at this plantation: avocado trees, banana trees, and weird archy trees.

strange archy tree

avocado tree

These trees provide shade for the coffee plants, but they have other sweet uses to. The avocado tree provides avocado, another way the plantation can make money. The banana trees are good for bees because the can pollinate there and whatever bees do. The weird archy trees are good for migratory birds, but I’m not sure why. I am actually not sure that I ever knew, but in my head I was good for the birds because as they are flying they can dip under the trees to add some excitement to their route.

Just like with bananas, there is a disease killing coffee plants. There is no way to fight it, so when it get a coffee plant and makes the leaves black, you have to cut the plant off at the bottom. The best part is that the plants is not even a complete loss. You cut it off and it grows back healthy. This is a cute little coffee plant that is old and young at the same time.

After the tour we were given samples of coffee and waited for the tuk-tuk to bring us our lunch. In that moment, we got a glimpe of how people were feeling post-coffee and pre-lunch.

Me: “Can I have a sip [of your water, Morgan]?”
Morgan: “Heck if I know!”
(Awkward silence where I kind of fidget uncomfortably)
Morg: “Wait. What did you say?”
Me: “Can I have a sip?”
Morg: “Oh. Yeah. I thought you asked what time it was.”
Crystal: “Hey Morgan! What time is it?”
Morg: “I don’t know. Have some water.”

Making Scarfs

After lunch at La Voz we walked to a woman’s cooperative where the Mayan woman made clothes on their looms and sold it in their stores. We had the chance to make scarves ourselves with the hip-loom. It took hours and I found it very enjoyable.

After we finished our scarves we went back to the hotel and chilled until dinner. Even though people said it was polluted, Jamie and I decided to swim in the lake because, let’s face it, this is THE LAKE ATITLAN. We had to swim in it.

Santiago Atitlan

The next day we took a boat to Santiago Atitlan, one of the little towns around the lake. We took a group trip to a church, then had until the afternoon to explore (Explore is a generous word. We were actually pretty confined for safety purposes). We wandered around and looked at all the stuff that was for sale and made some nice gift purchases. Dana and I bought bananas and tomatoes for lunch and enjoyed it on a dock with Jamie and Ana who had purchased tortillas and an avocado.

Panajachel, Again

We went to a different hotel for the night and they gave us delicious smoothies that no one liked so I had three. Also, I met Pablo, the only bird I have ever loved.

All throughout this trip we got in the habit of sleeping more girls in a room that what was originally meant to happen. At this hotel we had two rooms right across from each other and shared them both. It was a great couple of nights and I was super happy that we all could be together.

The Next Day

I blew glass.

I made a fool of myself in a park.

I ate ice cream before lunch.

I walked through a cloud forest (reminds you of a rain forest but it is not tropical. It is moist because you are in the clouds).

I swam in a pool of water that is heated by a volcano.

I ate ice cream again.

We watched Emperor’s New Groove.

Jamie bought pot holders.

Back to Antigua

All this weekend I missed my family and friends back in The States more than normal. I think it was because Antigua and my family here has become a second home for me and being away from that for so long was hard.

Either way, I was glad to be back in Antigua, back to my second house, my second family, and my second room. Seriously, I love it here.

PS. I won the tuk-tuk game. The prize was a little tuk-tuk. I gave it to Francisco.

PPS. Sometimes I eat chocobananos and I feel sick (sad face times one million)

PPPS. On the trip I ate pancakes for breakfast every day. That is four days in a row. It was great.

Holy Week and Stuff

This is coming at you nice and late, but I hope you enjoy.

My hope is that it tides you over until I have the next one ready.

Semana Santa

We all know about Good Friday and Easter. What some of you may not have known about was Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday, and Holy Saturday. In Guatemala, the whole week before Easter is celebrated with much reverence. Every day there is a procession that leaves one of the churches and goes through the city. People make alfombras in the street which are then completely destroyed in a matter of two minutes.

The processions begin with a big float that has Jesus or some story from The Bible. It is carried by like 40 guys dressed in purple robes. Next there is a marching band and following the marching band is a couple guys pulling and pushing a generator-powered floodlight so the band can see its music when the darkness comes. After the band is a smaller float of Mary that essentially is carried by woman but usually there are not enough woman so men carry it.

  

      

On Holy Thursday, La Unión made an alfombra and all the students were invited to help. The alfombra (the Spanish word for carpet) was made out of colored sawdust. Once the  first layer of sawdust is down, stencils are used to make different designs on it.

This is the almost finished alfombra.

For safety reasons, the alfombra has to be kept moist. Justin was in charge of spraying the stenciled pictures with water.

We finished around 7pm and Jamie and I headed home for dinner. I went back to the school at 9:30 to watch the procession destroy the alfombra.

After the procession went by we continued with our night plans which included staying up all night looking at people make alfombras for the procession that was going to leave La Merced at 4 am. Dana, Morgan, Miguel (a friend), and I headed to La Merced to get a snack so we could have energy for the night. While we were snacking our friend Joel met up with us. The five of us hit the streets to see the alfombras that were the most beautiful ever. We laughed, we cried, and it was altogether a super fun night. At 4 am, at least two people from our group of 5 got to see the procession leave to church. Apparently, watching the procession leave is really exciting. I saw it happen, but I wasn’t as thrilled as my Guatemalan friend who was taking pictures even though he for sure had seen it happen many times before. This leads me to think that even though this whole celebration happens every year, it is a very important tradition for the people who live here.

Rumor has is there is 36 days left (Wednesday).

April 2^nd

In my opinion this day is not really worth mentioning, but some people have asked.

This Tuesday began quite beautifully because Cony made crepes for breakfast. I eat my crepes with honey and banana. It is one of my favorite meals here. After breakfast I went to my bed to do homework and I fell asleep on accident.

Now this day I decided I wanted to accomplish a few personal records:

1. Beat my personal record of number of bananas eaten in one day. Previously it was five.

2. Run to Cerro De La Cruz.

I was only going to go after the banana record if we had bananas for breakfast because that would give me a kick-start and I could finish off the record with chocobananos. Sure enough there were bananas at breakfast and I had two with my crepes. At around 11 I had my first chocobanano, bringing my count to three and it wasn’t even lunch yet. When lunch rolled around I was a little discouraged that there weren’t any bananas, but then I found some hiding in a corner. I ate a banana wrapped in a tortilla. I left for my volunteer work and brought enough money for two chocobananos. I bought on one the way there and one on the way back. Boom. Six bananas. I wanted another chocobanano that night, but the place close to our house was closed and I did not want to risk the buy at the other place recognizing me because I was buying my fourth chocobanano of the day.

Dana and I were supposed to wake up a 5:30am and run to Cerro De La Cruz. Dana did an exemplary job of waking up, but I forgot to turn up the volume on my alarm clock, so I slept until 5:45 and by then Dana decided it would be better if we went at 10 when she was done with her class. So at 10:06 we headed for the huge hill that is Cerro De La Cruz. For those of you who do not know, I hate stairs. Running up them is a bit more tolerable, but this was still super hard and sometimes I would take big, slow steps up the stairs instead of running. Dana was having some shin pain and decided it would be better if she walked up the stairs, but now we both have a new goal to get before the end of the semester!

The day after my birthday we had a meeting at Paul’s house and there was cake for my birthday. This was even more exciting because the day after that there was leftover cake.

Morgan and Dana live with Flor de Maria. Flor invited me to eat lunch with them to celebrate my birthday. It was so unexpected and so nice. She made pepian, a delicious soup thing with chicken and rice. It takes three hours to make and is gone in fifteen minutes.

Random Week of Injuries

One week Dana burned the back of her leg on a motorcycle and I fell playing soccer and got all scraped up. We got these sweet marks.

Damelo

Okay Dudes. 

Sometimes I have no idea what to blog about.

Also, I learned that some of you have been withholding secret questions.

So right now I want all of you to feel free to Facebook or email me with any questions (about (my trip to) Guatemala) you might have and I will try to address them in my next blog.

andbogert@yahoo.com

Peace.

Basically, Surprise.

I am so sorry that I am so bad at this. But really it is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

A Field Trip to Guatemala City

In Guatemala there are people who live in the garbage dump. Yes, people live in corrugated tin houses close to the dump, but there are people who live in it, too. And there are even more people besides them whose whole life revolves around the garbage that goes into the dump. They line up behind the trucks to sift through the garbage that has already been sorted through once. It was even worse when we were reminded about how in Guatemala you do not flush your toilet paper; you put it in the garbage.

Las Chicas

Two Thursdays ago, we were expecting three boys from Little Rock to move in with us. In preparation, Jamie and I moved out of the room with three beds and into a little room downstairs. Cony offered to put another bed in that room, but in an reality there wasn’t room for one and the bed was pretty big so Jamie and I didn’t mind sharing for 10 days.

Jamie and I were so excited to get our new friends that we accompanied Luki to the school to get them. There we were, a happy Guatemalan family, expecting to get three more boys. Here, I would randomly like to insert a sentence about the growing popularity of ambiguous names. So after we collected our girls, we headed home to have them settle. After we got them to their room and had sufficiently bonded, Leidi came and took them away and gave us three different girls. After this emotional roller coaster I needed a snack so I ate some cookies.

I was really happy to have the girls here because it was new people to socialize with and socializing is something I like to do. Also, I do not know if this is a trend among all high-school girls, but those girls ate next to nothing. Sometimes they did not like the food, but even when they liked it they did not eat a lot. Cony serves our food onto plates for us and by the end of the week she was giving the girls half as much or less of the food she usually gives Jamie and I. It was a really sweet week where Jamie and I got to eat even more of the foods we love!

A Mini-trip to Semuc Champey

Two eight-hour rides in a 15 passenger van, rock-hard mattresses, spiders the size of your face, a cave that is full of bats, hours of walking through a forest. What on earth do we have here? If the bold heading didn’t tip you off, we went to Semuc Champey! Many of us had heard stories of this beautiful place, but a group trip wasn’t planned. Ten of us went through a travel agency and paid 50 dollars to have a three day trip to one of the Wonders of the Modern World.

The van ride was pretty rough, so every time we stopped Dana and I had to buy ice cream to make up for it. We stopped for lunch and McDonald's  but Dana and I ate the packed lunches our family gave us. As we unpacked our lunches, we both really liked the look of each other’s lunch and since we are in 4^th grade, we decided it would be appropriate to trade. After we finished our juice boxes, we decided to get the Strawberry-Oreo Blizzard that McDonald's was featuring (this might be illegal of them to do because obviously Jamie Bogert invented the ice cream-strawberry-oreo combination) and as if this amazing combination wasn’t enough, I smushed one of my bananas into it. Basically, it was awesome.

The seven of us who were no longer taking Spanish lessons arrived at our hostel around four and went to find some dinner. I guess now is the time to mention that, in preparation for the trip, Morgan, Dana, and I bought snacks that included, but wasn’t limited to, cookies. About one person in the group was full because she ate cookies and ice cream during the trip, but other people got burritos for dinner. It was dark when we got back and after a vicious game of UNO, Dana and I decided to sleep. Sometimes after we slept, the other three people of our group arrived (They left Antigua at 2 pm because they had Spanish lessons that morning. The rest of us left at 8 am).

The next morning the ten of us plus our guide and his wife and child piled into the back of a pickup truck and rode through some mountains for about an hour. We got out in a parking lot and our guide told us how this plant was used as paint by people a long time ago and it keeps mosquitoes away. He put this orange stuff all over our faces and said the mosquitoes would bother him but not us. First, I have never seen a mosquito in this country, even when we went to Tikal and people told us that the mosquitoes can give you malaria. Second…okay there isn’t a second but most of us are pretty sure that the guide just wanted us to look ridiculous and be able to know who was in his group.

First we hiked up and then back down a flippin’ mountain to see the nice view of the pools we would be swimming in. I thought this was cruel and unusual punishment, but some people really appreciated it.

Eventually we got the pools and were given an hour and a half to enjoy their splendorous and refreshing beauty. Dana and I noticed a group of people headed towards the far side of the pool where our guide said there were more pools. Naturally, we followed them. At first we were going to do what they did from a distance, but there were parts where we needed the help of the guide, like being pushed down the rock slide, so our cover was blown. Luckily, there was no way he knew whether or not we were in his group (-_-).

After we left the pools we took a lunch break and headed for the water caves. I have been in at least four different cave systems in the United States and realized pretty quickly that what we were doing would never be allowed there. For this cave tour you wear just your bathing suit and are given a candle to hold. We file into the cave and pretty quickly start swimming through the cave with our candles. I saw some people who were leaving as we were coming in; they had life jackets. We climb up and down ladders and slide all around to the back of the cave where we are then able to jump off a rock into a pool of water. You have to aim for where the light was because otherwise you hit rocks. This is Dana about to jump. She is thoroughly ticked about this picture, but I thought it was good because it shows the distance of the jump.

After people jumped, we head back out of the cave. We were about to climb up a ladder that leads towards the way out when one of our guides disappears into a little hole in the opposite direction. He tells a guy near us how to properly exit through the hole, but he missed some of the directions. This guy and Dana and I really wanted to go through the hole, so we start investigating. Inside the little hole is an even smaller hole with water gushing through it. We aren’t totally sure the proper method for surviving through the hole and are about to back out when the other guide comes and shows us what to do. So I shoot through that little hole which is actually a pretty small drop where you get drenched. In all reality, it was less scary that climbing up and down the ladders.

After the cave we were going tubing down the river. I walked down a path to where the wife of our guide was standing. I noticed the giant swing headed straight for the river and she told me to go. I am not impressionable or easily persuaded to do things so I ran and got the swing and was all ready to go when our guide came back and gave me very important instructions. I took off on that swing and basically it was the most terrifying part of the day. But it was really fun, too. Most of us belly-flopped really hard, but Kailee had perfect form.

So then we went tubing. Dana and I were taking pictures as we tubed so we quickly found ourselves in the back of the group. As we floated along and thought about catching up, a boy came and asked us if we were going to jump off the bridge. Of course we wanted to. He was walking toward it and when we got closer he told us to come to the shore and he would show us. After half a second of debating, we told our group we would catch up as we frantically paddled for the shore. Then we jumped off a bridge.

End Adventure.

Volunteering

With 6 weeks left, I still need a practicum. On the bright side, I found a place to volunteer my time that is not business-related, so it doesn’t count. Yay.

Casa Jackson currently is the home for 13 children who are malnourished. These children, for various reasons, were not given proper care by their parents or guardians. Until they are back to 100% body weight, they live in Casa Jackson. Casa Jackson does not charge anything for their services and operates completely from donations.

I go in the afternoons and hold the babies, feed the babies, and change the baby’s diapers. Feel free to keep your surprise to yourself when thinking about my history with babies (Manda).

Amigos

Justin and Geovany clean the school. Geovany is super nice and remembers everyone’s name. Also, he is super good at soccer. Justin dreams of going to the United States or Canada and starting an organization that uses the arts to help teens stay out of trouble. There would be a dance studio and places to paint and music. You have no idea how much I love that a 17 year-old boy has this dream.

We met Armando and Wilson when we played soccer through the school. They were random boys were just there and played with us, but now they are our friends. Armando owns a shop in Cuidad Vieja where he and his employees paint and fix cars; Wilson works there. 

Together, they coach a team of young soccer players. One of the funnier moments of my day is when Armando yells Wilson’s name. It is a bit like Castaway, but less sad.

Johana is Dana’s Spanish teacher. Dana switched to afternoon Spanish classes so she doesn’t almost fall asleep every day, but they are still very hard for her and she is quite sick of them. To lighten the burden I try to visit occasionally and chit-chat for a couple minutes. Johana is really funny, which is a characteristic of all the teachers at La Unión.

Raul. Oh Raul.

Delicious Food

As if the food in our house isn’t delicious enough, we have the opportunity to buy delicious food in the park every Sunday while the processions happen. And if you think this deal couldn’t get any sweeter, there is food every day this week because it is Semana Santa, the busiest week of the year in Antigua (but more about that next week. Ya know…after it actually happens).

Last night, Dana, Morgan, and I got food from like a block from their house. You can buy different meat that is grilled right there in front of you. There are empanadas and churros and chocolate-covered marshmallows and fruits! Yesterday Dana got a hollowed-out pineapple filled with smoothie! There is pizza and sandwiches and popcorn. It is exciting.

This week, people are walking around and selling chocobananos in the streets, making my mission that much easier. I don’t even have to go anywhere to get a chocobanano; they come to me.

For those of you who are insanely curious (Manda) a chocobanano is made my sticking a banana on a stick and then freezing it. When someone wants a chocobanano you take the frozen bananastick out of the freezer and cover it in chocolate (usually there is a crockpot filled with chocolate and it is spooned onto the banana). If someone wants a chocomania, you would, at this point, roll the chocobanano in chopped peanuts.

Today with our breakfast Cony made us strawberry-banana smoothies. They were delicious. Also, I made a banana-jelly sandwich.

I’m out peeps.

Love y’all.

Check out Dana's blog: http://guatemala2013.blogspot.com/

Those Were the Days

Sorry this took so long, peeps.

Field Trip #5: Tikal

On Sunday (three weeks ago) at 4:30 in the morning we left Antigua for Guatemala City where we got on a plane headed towards Flores City (This was a really small plane that was completely full and I was the last person to find a seat so I sat next to the flight attendant in a seat that faced everyone else! This was pretty exciting for me.). From there we had a short bus ride and met our tour guide for the day, Eddie. Before we arrived to Tikal National Park, Eddie was imparting all sorts of knowledge on us.

“[something educational about Tikal] Look at that pig! [more educational stuff]”

“Four corn tortillas have the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk. This is good for when you need to carry a refrigerator up a hill or something like that.”

Tikal was beautiful. It was so cool to imagine that at times there were so many people there. I could just picture them walking around in all the buildings, filling the courtyard-thing.

This trip ended in a way that nobody thought possible: a ride on a plane that was smaller than the first! It was basically a party. Everyone felt bad for the two people who were not in our group.

Más Español

My first week without Spanish was pretty weird. I was in the process of looking for an internship and my online class has not started so the only required event of that week was my class with Paul. By Tuesday I was super bored and I really missed having Spanish lessons. That being said, it was not a hard decision for me to decide to take more lessons. Unfortunately, Brenda had already received a new student that she would have for 10 weeks so she could not be my teacher. This made more than one person mildly sad, but with or without Brenda I wanted to take more lessons. My new teacher is Olga. At first she appeared to be the exact opposite of Brenda. This was not bad at all, just different. After a week of classes, Olga and I had really bonded. She is so sweet and I am glad I had the opportunity to be her student. I was really happy to be at La Unión every day and realized even more how addicting Spanish lessons can be. I never wanted to be done.

But, of course, this past Wednesday I finished my Spanish lessons again. Cony asked if we needed lunch the next day and I told her that I didn’t think so because I had plans with my ex-teacher. I guess this made everyone laugh, but Brenda is the one who referred to herself as that. After the laughter I did clarify that the plans were with my first ex-teacher. This made Cony laugh even more.

People Leaving

Compared to the majority, we are staying in Antigua for a long time. We have made friends with people from all over the world, and a few weeks ago we experienced the first wave of leavers. Jeff, Keely, and Tanner left. This was rather uneventful and I am completely secure that their lives will be awesome. Tanner will know when the guys on his baseball team are making fun of him and Jeff and Keely will be able to teach the children in the DR.

A little harder goodbye was the one to Rob. I legitimately might have not mentioned him before, but he had come to be a pretty sweet friend of some of us. Rob is from London and was in Antigua to learn more Spanish. From here he goes to Hong Kong to visit his cousin and eventually he will end up in Central America for a bit longer. The celebration of Rob leaving began during Spanish lessons. Some of us and our teachers watched a movie and ate pizza. The movie was preceded by short speeches by everyone. Jamie was first and touched our hearts by finishing with her Shakira voice. Ana went next and read the note she wrote Rob. Next were Dana and I, giving a joint speech, since Rob would expect nothing less. Since Dana refuses to practice her Spanish she said some words in English and we finished with the abridged version of My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. The celebration continued into the night and concluded at an extremely reasonable hour and absolutely no tears were shed.

Note: After the celebration there was confusion in our household and we were locked out. Jamie boosted me up like a professional cheerleader and I was almost on the little ledge to where I could easily enter our house but I slipped and fell into the street. I knew I could make it if we tried a second time but the neighbors were looking out the window so we just went to Dana’s house and all three slept on her single bed.

Last Saturday we said goodbye to Paul and Barbara. In the slightly distant future they will join Jeff and Keely in the DR. Paul and Barbara became our friends at salsa lessons and we have always enjoyed talking with them at school. Many people at the school rave about what an awesome couple they are.

Chente didn’t have classes this past week, but he will be back in the afternoons this week. That was a close call.

One day after classes I bonded pretty well with Nat and Max from Canada. They are gone now and with them went a piece of my heart.

Other

Church is bilingual. Some Sundays the lead pastor speaks in English and a man translates to Spanish. Other Sundays another pastor speaks Spanish and a guy translates in to English. This Sunday was the latter. So this happened:

Pastor: “Estas frio?” (asking if we were cold)
Translator: “It’s a little nippy out, eh?”

I have a completely irrational fear of birds. There are birds everywhere here. We will be walking down the street and a bird will come at mebro and I jump because it is terrible and then Dana jumps because I jump and then people stare.

In the Presence of a Star

Last Friday Jamileh’s dad came! His name is Abrahim Attalah and he is previously known for his role as the voice of Gru in Despicable Me. Now, one of the most enjoyable parts of my day is watching Abrahim either attempt to talk to our family or practice his Salsa and Meringue. He usually does the latter whenever the feeling hits him (on the stairs, in Central Park, etc.) Usually Abrahim practices his Spanish with our family members. He decided to take four hours of Spanish lessons over two days. After day one he learned hor to have a basic 30-second conversation with someone. After practicing with Dana and then Austin, he was ready to practice with our family. The family really enjoyed their personal conversations with Abrahim. Outside of Spanish class, Abrahim learned how to say he like different things. Since he is a semi-professional chef, he always learns how to say different foods we eat. At dinner he told Cony and Jamie and I all the foods that he liked and concluded with the grand finale:

“Great! Now everything is me gusta’d.”

Field Trip #6: Monterrico. A Beach.

First of all, I just thought that it was going to be an average Saturday where I went to a black-sand beach in Guatemala, but I was so mistaken. I was preparing to leave my house for the daily activities of beaching it up when SPIDERMAN CAME TO VISIT! I even got a picture of him without his mask on. Sucker.

For at least the past two weeks I have been so excited to go to the beach. Although people tried to deter my excitement by saying the waves were crazy, they only made me more excited because I love crazy waves. So we get to the beach and Dana and I are running to the ocean and clothes are flying and I cartwheeled down the last hill. We hit the water and it was great. For lunch I had a fish, eyes included, but I decided to not eat the eyes.  Now it is one week later and my back “is peeling like a new born baby.” (This is how Morgan calls it. I don’t understand it either.)

Field Trip #7: Earth Lodge

The Sunday after Monterrico Beach we went to Earth Lodge. A van and a pick-up truck took us up one of the mountains around Antigua and after a short hike (down, which I thought to be counter-productive (or maybe part of the ride up was counterproductive))  we were outside of a little building where we could order lunch. There were hammocks and there was Americanafolk music and there were eggplant sandwiches. I will always refer to this place a Hippieland or ThemotherlandofCrystal.

Processions

In the weeks leading up to Easter there is a procession every Sunday. All the processions are a little bit different and are a really big deal in Antigua. I am still researching more about their significance, but our family always encourages us to watch them. The past Sunday we stumbled across the procession a couple times. I really enjoyed the band, so here is a VIDEO (!!!??:O!!) of the float and some of the band.

(my internet isn't good right now. but I will get this video up ASAP).

A Little Too Nice…

In recent days Cony has started being really nice to me. She says my name all friendly when I get home and she says “my pleasure” about all the things she offers to do for me. She wasn’t even fazed when I ran into the house, asked for dinner at 9 pm, and ran back out after she said it was her pleasure. At first I thought she was just warming up to me because I can talk to her a little more now, but in reality I know that she is trying to get me to make my bed.

17^th Anniversary

This past Wednesday La Unión celebrated its 17^th birthday. There was food and dancing and lots of people. This night was very special to me because basically all of our friends were there, even the ones who don’t attend La U anymore. There were lots of teachers and their families and other friends of the school. There was dancing and eating and more dancing. All I can say is “Thanks, Meme, thanks for the salsa.”

In the words of Dana,

Hasta.

What's a Hermanope?

Week Three has, in my opinion and the opinion of at least one other person, proven to be the best week so far. Even though it was the best week ever, it probably won’t take too long to talk about it because it is the kind of awesome that cannot be expressed in words.

Being Philosophical

I am taking Survey of Worldviews this semester. Since I am in Guatemala, I am taking it in tutorial form. This means that Paul (SAU’s boss-man here in Antigua) and I sit down for an hour each week and talk about my questions and comments about the books I am reading. So far I have read some about Judaism and Christianity. Not only have these readings been super enlightening, but I really enjoy my chat with Paul each week. This week I was especially glad because before my class I had had 3.5 hours of Spanish lessons with my teacher, one hour of Spanish lessons with a teacher who needed practice, and a fifteen minutes conversation in Spanish before being late to class. Paul always asks how I am doing before class and that day I was just super excited to have a deep conversation in English.

Spanish

Speaking of me trying to have conversations in Spanish, it is super hard for me to have conversations in Spanish. It was only today at the gym that I realized that I cannot talk in Spanish and do anything else. Usually when I talk in Spanish I am sitting at a table and can focus completely on making a sentence. This works out really well, but usually after forming a sentence that has more than seven words, I have to wipe the sweat from my brow.

This past Friday, I finished my three weeks of Spanish lessons. Even though I was sad to be ending lessons so soon, Week Three was the best week at school. This week a big group of Canadians showed up at school and more students meant more teachers and more teachers meant Manolo.  I did not know a lot about what I would be doing in Guatemala, but I knew I would at least meet Manolo because my friend Tim gave me something to give to Manolo.  The quest to find The Real Manolo was an interesting one, but not one I will reproduce because even I think it is a little creepy. Brenda, my teacher, and Manolo are good friends so I think that is why Brenda and I changed tables to one that was closer to Manolo.

I was kind of excited about the end of lessons because learning Spanish everyday has made my head spin, but when my lessons actually ended I was kind of sad. Mostly I was sad because I would not be seeing my new friends at La Unión every day. Of course, I realized that this was ridiculous because I will see them every day when I visit.

Tuk-tuk Bingo: Almost a Lost Cause

There are 176 tuk-tuks in Anitgua, Guatemala. Here is Dana and I riding in a tuk-tuk.

Tuk-tuks are a pretty popular form of transportation around here, but I don’t think riding in one is better than walking. I guess it was an important cultural experience, though.

I arrived at Paul's one day and Dana told me she figured out what a tuk-tuk was. She says it is a mix of a motorcycle, a tricycle, and a Jeep Wrangler. It is part tricycle because it has three wheels, a motorcycle because it is driven with handlebars just like a motorcycle, and it is a jeep wrangler because above your head it just bars with a tarp-like covering.

Tuk-tuk Bingo was invented by students who came last semester. A couple of them wrote down and kept track of all the tuk-tuks they spotted and eventually spotted 1-176. Crystal decided to make it into a game for us, so she gave us each a little peice of paper with 176 numbered boxes and said the first person to find all the tuk-tuks get a prize. I like games, so I have been playing quite competitively (but let’s just say, good thing Tuk-tuk Bingo is not a contact sport).

There have been a few close calls that have got me thinking that my tuk-tuk paper isn’t happy with me. Dana and I were walking to her house and I noticed my paper was missing from my back pocket. I exclaimed loudly and proceeded to run back down the street. After about ten seconds of frantically flailing, I met up with a guy who was walking his dog. He had my paper and gave me the best advice I had received all day.

“Stop dropping important [stuff].”

I tried to tell him that the worst part of my scene was that the paper wasn’t even important, but I saw in his eyes that he thought I was a little crazy so I ran back to Dana.

Another day this week, Dana and I were walking to Paul’s house and my tuk-tuk paper was safely in my back pocket. I knew that the way I wear my backpack causes my tuk-tuk paper to sneak out, so every block or so I would stuff it back into the safe depths of my pocket. One time I went to mark a tuk-tuk and it was gone. I figured this was for the best because Tuk-tuk Bingo was consuming my life. Dana said we could go back for it, but I decided being out of the game was for the best. Three hours later as Jamie, Dana, Austin, and I were walking back from Paul’s a small, white square was spotted across the street. Since Dana is the least likely to get hit by traffic (not), she retreived it. Of course, it was my tuk-tuk paper.

Field Trip #4 ¾

This trip doesn’t get its own number because it was just a walking tour around Antigua and I had already been lost to all the places Paul took us to. I still figured it was worth mentioning because we went in the authentic Mayan disco-tech and enjoyed a really nice piece of grass.

So that’s my past couple days. Tomorrow we go to Tikal which should be super cool.

Everything is beautiful.

Peace, pessoas.

P.S. Don't worry about what a Hermanope is, Manda.

Face It, This IS Real Life

I cannot believe how fast this past week went. I really hope weeks start slowing down. Otherwise, this trip will be a blur! Maybe if I start being more excited for the summer, my time here will seem longer. I am scared to test this idea because maybe my brain will see past what my mind is trying to convince my head.

This week is my last week of Spanish lessons. I am sad because I will not see my friends at La Unión every day and I will have to try more deliberately to learn Spanish. The plus side of Spanish lessons ending is that my brain will not be in knots as much. One friend at school really summed out how we beginners feel at lessons:

“Yesterday, I said “bueno s’il vous plaît” and I don’t even speak French!" 

Field Trip Numero 3: A Macadamia Nut Farm

On Wednesday we visited a macadamia nut farm. Raúl said the name was a Spanish word for paradise. We learned the process from tree to cookie (or lotion) in approximately 10 minutes. After this short tour we could roam around the farm and check out the bamboo bathrooms. I was told these bathrooms are the most photographed bathrooms in the world. I decided to rebel by deciding that even if I had brought by camera on this trip, I would not have taken any pictures of it.

Family Matters

In Brazil I learned how much of a relationship can be developed without being able to communicate verbally. Here, I am learning how much relationships are limited by not being able to communicate. I love talking to people and getting to know people, but I cannot do that here because I cannot understand Spanish. It makes me sad when I think of the relationships I am missing out on. Also, it kind of makes me sad because most of my family knows English, but they are told not to speak it to us so we can learn Spanish better. I totally understand that, but I cannot help but think about it. Sometimes I talk to them in English anyway and they respond in Spanish. I am okay with this because I usually understand and at least they aren’t ignoring me.

It has been requested (by Dana) that I write about the mystery of my family. I hesitate to do this because, although Dana finds it hilarious, I find it rather frustrating (and I don’t know if it will make sense written out). Either way, here goes. When we arrived we were given a list of the people who live in our house. As I told you, we live with Cony, Luki, Francisco, Heidy, and Francisco. My previous post mentioned how we had a hard time figuring out which of four or five men Francisco was. Just when we had figured it out (basically the night after my first post) the mystery got even deeper. After dinner that day, Cony asked if we wanted cake. Of course we both wanted cake. She pulled out this really nice cake, so Jamie asked what the occasion was. “No occasion. Antonio just really likes cake,” was what I heard. This whole ordeal could have been entirely prevented if one of us simply asked who Antonio was, but the cake was all that was on our minds. A little later, as we reflected on our cake, we realized we had no idea who Antonio was. As the week progressed and my spying skills increased, I realized that indeed another man stayed the night in our house.

By this point we were 90% sure which man was Francisco, so we decided the other was Antonio. Of course, Antonio’s relationship to the family still had to be figured out. We started to assume that Francisco was a son, due to the role he seemed to play in conversations we had with Cony. This situation could have been figured out much easier if everyone actually ate dinner with us, but of course that never ever happens. At this point I will talk about the most awkward dinner yet (“besides the first one,” says Jamie). I thought we were making great headway towards the mystery of Rene, but I realized I was wrong as the web was spun even thicker. I decided to just be blunt and ask Rene how he was related to the family. “Ask Cony,” he says. This was really awkward of him to say, but I just went with it and asked Cony. She started going on about him being dead and 16 years or something like that. As she continued, I made more sense of what she was saying. Rene is Cony’s husband. They separated after 16 years. “Francisco was 13 and Luki was much younger.” Of course you see the problem in this translated quote from Cony. She does not even mention Antonio. Okay, so Antonio is not her son, but who is he??

Well, another night at dinner we got to talking about hair and Cony told a story. Luki had long hair and it was up in two pigtails. Antonio cut one of them off so she had one short one. She shock on my face had nothing to do with how surprising it is for a little boy to cut off a little girl’s pigtail. It had everything to do with Antonio and Luki being together as children. I think is all of the mystery for now. Speculation is still going around as to Antonio’s actual relation. I am currently leaning towards cousin. There is also a plan in place for Dana to come over and obnoxiously introduce herself to everyone and asks their names so at least we know who is who.

Más Sexy

Salsa lessons continued and this week the dance room was much more crowded. This was okay though, because more people meant more guys and more guys meant more chances for girls to dance (Last week we had to spend more time standing as we rotated through the three men.). For some reason girls from our group are super hesitant to learn to Salsa. According to short interviews, a lot of this comes from not wanting to be embarrassed. I cannot sympathize. After this past Monday’s lesson, we met Rob, who has henceforth proved to be a good friend. He also reminded us of the zoo trip happening the next day.

The Zoo

On Tuesday Manuel came around to all the tables and asked who wanted to go to the zoo in about 20 minutes. I was hesitant to say yes because I did not know how focused my teacher wanted to be (What was I thinking? My teacher never wants to be focused.) and she was wearing heels. But she said she wanted to go so ten minutes later we were waiting for the bus to take a group of us to the zoo in Guatemala City. I was pretty excited because I really like zoos. I really like animals, but I don’t love them so much that I hate to see them in cages. This is the perfect balance for a zoo-lover. When we got there Manuel said something but I was in the back of the group and distracted by something so I didn’t hear him. I caught the rail end of his hand motions though, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what he said.

Me: “Did he say to go everywhere?” 

Brenda: “No. He said stay together.”

At the zoo I really revert to childhood. I ran around from animal to animal and really tipped my teacher off as to just how crazy and juvenile I am. While some people doubted my sanity, I had a stellar time at the zoo and really appreciated being able to go.

Field Trip Numero 4: Guatemala City…Round One

Right after lessons on Friday we loaded into a little bus and headed for Guatemala City. We went straight for an archaeological museum which I am sure was very interesting, but due to our location, all the plaques were in Spanish. This was slightly sad, but what can you do (Besides, like, learn Spanish)? I know that museums kind of have a bad rap, but let’s face it, museums are pretty interesting. You go to a museum and get to learn about something that you previously have no knowledge of. I never thought I would miss not being able to read the plaques at a museum, but this was about stuff I seriously wanted to know. Pictures and pottery are great, but those plagues probably said a lot of interesting stuff.

After the museum, we went to a pretty big mall. We were given half an hour to check things out. Paul said there was a restaurant in there that had a sweet fish tank. This wasn’t a not-your-grammas-flan fish tank either. This had sharks and sting rays. Since my previous plan was to find a nice bench and stare at people for a half hour, I decided that finding this restaurant would be a nice warm-up. I took Dana with me and after many escalator rides and a trip on the elevator, we found the place. They would not let us into the restaurant, so we just pressed our faces up against the windows for a few minutes. Even from a distance, it was a pretty cool fish tank. The fish tank really got Dana in the mood for one of those coffee-smoothie things from Starbucks, so we went there for the rest of our time. We met back up with the group and a few of them were buying bubble tea. This reminded me of my Core 200 trip to Chicago. That trip rocked socks.

My favorite part of the mall was something that I was not even present for. In fifteen minutes Jamie went into a store, grabbed three dresses, tried them on, and bought three of them. That is straight up skill.

After the mall we checked into the hotel. Jamie and I got our own room. This was okay with us because we got our own bed which meant I got four pillows to myself. Using four pillows blew my mind yet did not lead to especially wonderful sleep.

We walked about five blocks to a restaurant for dinner. Dana only walked in front of unyielding traffic once. Everyone learns their lessons after once, some people learn it sooner. The dinner table talk was extremely stimulating and everyone surrounding Paul learned a lot about social studies. We discussed a vast number of topics and a lot of people got to put in their say and have their questions answered. It was a dinner that some people will ponder for dinners to come.

When we returned to the hotel, the post-dinner craziness commenced. Even though we were on a steady 9 pm until 6 am sleeping schedule, Jamie and I managed to stay up until 1 am or later doing random craziness. Evidence is somewhere in cyberspace, although I am not at liberty to say where.

...and then there was night and some of us thrashed a lot.

The next morning we went to the National Palace, which is where the President of Guatemala lived until too many rocks were thrown through his windows. This building was super pretty. It was filled with beautiful artwork and displayed the work of extremely talented carpenters. After that we went to the market, a catholic church, and lunched at a chicken place. If you want me to come up with some details about any of those places, let me know and I will see what I can do.

We got home from this trip and mass napping ensued.

Ayer

Dana, Jamileh, and I went to mass yesterday. Previously, Jamie went to the 6:30 am and 4:30 pm masses, but we all went to this one to hear Raúl play the marimba and flute. Raúl is a teacher at La Unión. We have become pretty tight and even have a secret handshake. This is Raúl and Rob at the zoo.

I couldn’t understand mass, so I decided to read some of the Apocrypha. It was pretty interesting. After mass I went to the English-speaking church I attended previous Sundays. I am really glad I did this because there was a guest speaker and he presented a really nice message about rejoicing.

For dinner, we all went to La Peña del Sol Latino. When big groups come, they ask for food to be pre-ordered, so we picked what we wanted on Saturday. Starting about 4 pm, Austin and I got really excited for Paco’s Nachos, which we both pre-ordered. Paco’s Nachos are “as big as he is!” I got a little worried when Paul said that Paco had been losing weight recently, but neither Austin nor I were disappointed when the nachos came. Everyone left that restaurant super full and we talked about what would happen if any of us sneezed. General agreement: the results would not be good.

There is Week 2. Let me know if you have any questions.

Peace, peeps. Love you guys.

Jamie’s blog: jamieinantigua.blogspot.com

Dana’s blog: guatemala2013.blogspot.com

P.S. Pens like never run out of ink, but I the first two weeks here two of mine have. This is unfortunate and ironic because for once in my pen-using career I legitimately have a limited number of pens. They would run out now.

OH MY WORD!! This very day I was organizing my bag and came across the letter my family wrote to me on Day 1. I was all, “I wonder if I can read this now.” Sure enough, I could read it and sure enough it said this non-direct quote: “Antonio and Luki are your new siblings and Cony is your new mother.” I was seriously appalled. That whole time it was right there! And then as Jamie and I left our house right after we were saying goodbye to me and Antonio said goodbye and I said, “Goodbye, Antonio.” It was a beautiful moment.