Guatemala is located in Central America just south of
Mexico. Guatemala has had three capitals, the second one being Antigua. Even
though Antigua is no longer the capital, it is a tourist hotspot. Every day
tourists are wandering around Parque Central, a square-block of trees and
fountains in the middle of this beautiful city.
So a group of 12 students from Michigan arrived at the
Guatemala City airport last Friday. They were greeted by sun and green trees,
which was all too unfamiliar. After stealthily sneaking all their clothes and
shampoo through customs, they were loaded cozily onto a bus for a rowdy game of
hot potato (I think another objective for this ride was to take us to Antigua).
Nestor, a teacher at La Unión, sat next to me. There was a bit of a rift in our
friendship because I did not know any Spanish, but I sealed the deal when I
gave him a Twizzler. Also, I think he appreciated how excited I was about a
billboard advertising “nachos as big as your head.”
Mi Casa
We arrived at La Unión, the language school that our Spanish
courses would be held at and were distributed to the families we would be
staying with. Jamileh and I were picked up by Luki, Heidy and Francisco
Pequeñ0. They are the daughter, daughter-in-law and grandson of
Cony, the woman we are staying with. We all live together, including Francisco
Grande, Cony’s son. It took us about four days to find out who Francisco Grande
was because there were four or five boys who were not introduced to going in and out of our house. Furthermore, it was hard to know who stays at night because Jamileh and I go to bed at like 9 and leave the house before
most of our family wakes up(As of this morning the man we thought to be Francisco Grande may not be. We are extra confused). For the sake of clarity, it is safe to assume that
every time I mention Francisco, I am referring to Francisco Pequeño. He is
four.
Our room was decorated with balloons and streamers, which
made Jamie and I feel super welcome. Jamileh and I were meant to be roommates
here in Guatemala. From Day 0 until the present we are finding out reasons why
we are so similar despite our differences. It is super fun living with her and
I am super glad we were paired up.
Our room is upstairs and is around a balcony that provides a
wonderful view and a place to bask in the glorious sunlight.
We were given the rest of the night to unpack and relax,
which meant a nap before dinner.
We were warned that transitioning to the food might cause some digestive uncomfort, so I was pretty pumped to put my stomach to the test. Our first dinner was spaghetti.
We were warned that transitioning to the food might cause some digestive uncomfort, so I was pretty pumped to put my stomach to the test. Our first dinner was spaghetti.
Cony asked if we liked cats and dogs. I did not think much
about this question, but the next morning I realized why she asked. At around 5
am a dog goes crazy and seems to drive a cat into an even bigger frenzy. This
is accompanied by a rooster and church bells that are about a block away. So far,
I have not needed to set an alarm to wake up each morning. Also, at lunch
yesterday we discussed our favorite way to eat cat.
The food has varied quite a bit since our first meal of spaghetti and as far as I
can tell the meals have yet to repeat themselves. I would also like to take
this opportunity to let my mother know that I am eating more vegetables than I
have ever eaten in my life (or at least in the past three years). She should be
very proud of me.
Field Trip Numero
Uno: La Azotea
While we are here we will go on a few field trips as a
group. So far we have been on two day trips. As much as I would like to say
that the field trips are the most exciting part of my time here, they are not.
It is fun to be together as a group and see the people you do not see every
day, but honestly the everyday stuff is the most fun. Unfortunately, every day is rather repetitive and would not be as funny hearing about it, so y’all will
mostly hear about the field trips.
We tied. After we went through the rooms of the musical
instruments, we watched a short documentary about Mayan music. My favorite part
was the end. After the music museum we went to the coffee museum were I could
follow along better because I know the Spanish word for cherry. After the real
tour went through, Crystal summarized everything the tour guide said. Guatemala
produces so much coffee, but for each dollar of profit from the coffee sold in
other countries, Guatemalan farmers only get 16 cents. The other 84 cents stays
in the importing country. The coffee farm that was connected to the museum is a
fair trade farm, so the farmers get more of the profit. Crystal said it wasn’t
really fair trade but we go to a coffee cooperative later on in the semester
where farmers get 100% of the profit. This is a patio where the coffee beans
sit in the sun to dry out.
They were not fooling me though. I could tell by the smell
that under each of those piles was the beginnings of the coffee made from fecal
matter. After seeing the patio we walked through the forest where the coffee
plants grew. The coffee plants were pretty interesting, but I got a few
pictures of some more unique Guatemalan shrubbery.
Each coffee tree only produces enough fruits for 40 cups of
coffee each year. Combine this with the fact that the process from tree to cup
takes about three weeks and you see what makes coffee really expensive. I thought
coffee was pretty cheap but Crystal says that Folger’s is not really coffee. It
is processed and contains mostly chemicals. That is why it is so much cheaper.
Despite all the distractions, I learned a lot on this field
trip. Also, I decided that if I ever have a part in opening a coffee shop I
will probably make sure coffee is purchased directly from Guatemalan farmers.
Field Trip Numero
Dos- A Mayan Village…Kinda…
This field trip was super interesting. We went to a nearby
town were basically everyone is Mayan. Most of the women still wear
traditional Mayan clothes that they make by hand. In a little room where the
walls were made out of hand-made clothes, we were told how men claim a wife and
then shown how a traditional wedding ceremony would go. The mother of the groom
blesses the couple and includes the blessing of many corns and beans. Corn
represents boy babies and beans represent girl babies. After the wedding,
everyone dances and parties for 12 hours. Some of us were up for it, but with
11 hours and 56 minutes to go the Mayan ladies started making tortillas and
people have to have priorities. Along with about six tortillas, I ate
traditional Mayan stew and delicious tea. It was
really nice to have a snack that afternoon because I am not going to lie about how hard it is to
withstand the usual six and a half hours between meals.
On the way home José sat next to me. He is a teacher at La
Unión who came along on this field trip. We talked about Cuidad Vieja (the
first capitol of Guatemala), Carnival and Semana Santa. He shared how during Carnival everyone buys eggs filled with confetti or flour and busts it over
other people’s heads. This gave me an excellent idea, so I was careful not to
share this bit of information with any of my fellow students.
Meringue y Salsa y
Bachata
On our first day of classes Alfredo gave everyone a schedule
of events that La U sponsors. Some cost and others are free. That same day the
event was free meringue and salsa lessons. Everyone (and by that I mean Dana,
Jamie, Morgan and I) was pumped. At 5 o’ clock, five of us (We are friends with
a girl from Traverse City, MI who just happened to got put in the same house
and Dana and Morgan.) headed to La U where we were then escorted to Salsa
Dreams, a dance studio down the road. I expected to have fun learning to salsa,
but I was so surprised at how much fun I had. It was seriously a blast. The
next day there was free bachata and salsa lessons so we went back. It was so
much fun again and now we are pretty good friends with Mike, the instructor. All week I
have been super excited to go back and dance more. For now, I think I will
spend my Monday and Tuesday afternoons taking dance lessons. Jamie and Dana are
even thinking about taking private lessons.
Francisco
Francisco was really shy when we first arrived, even though
Cony said he had kept asking when we were coming. After classes on Monday,
Francisco was playing some soccer in the garage, so Jamie and I joined in.
Jamie was a little less into in after Francisco kicked the ball into her head
and we stopped playing after he kicked it into mine. The next day we played
again and he was a little gentler. Of course, this gentleness could not last
forever. The day after, Francisco had his swords out, so I thought we could
have a friendly little spar. Less than five minutes later Francisco was beating
me black and blue with his sword. While this was a sure relationship builder
for him, I usually run to my room if I see him digging around in the box where
he keeps his swords. The next day our relationship took a positive turn when we
raced each other up Cerro de la Cruz (more about Cerro de la Cruz later). On
another positive note, Francisco taught me The Comer Song (Comer is “to
eat”), which was not previously in my set list.
New Friends
To be completely honest I am not good with strangers. Being
around strangers makes me shy and nervous and I just have a hard time talking
to them. But this is okay because I combat this by quickly making everyone who
might have the chance at being a stranger into my friend. Here are some of my
new almost-strangers.
Keely, Jeff, and Tanner. All the students take Spanish
lessons from 8 am until 12 pm, but from 10 til 10:30 everyone is on break.
During this break most people tend to chill in the garden. On Day 1 I saw two
people wearing Tennessee apparel, so I started chatting with them because I
love Tennessee. These two people were Jeff and Keely. Keely is a teacher in the
Dominican Republic and Jeff will be too after their four weeks at La U. Tanner
is a friend who came along to Antigua for the experience. It turns out that
Jeff and Tanner went to Tennessee Technological University, which is about 20
minutes from where my family used to live, so we know some of the same places.
Carlos. There is a used book store in Antigua and I have
been itching to check it out ever since we arrived. Morgan and I went one day
and we looked at most of the books. The man at the desk spoke English so we
exchanged some words about Machiavelli. I did not end up getting a book, so I
went back the next day to look some more. Really I just wanted to tell the man
at the desk that my Spanish teacher made some feminist comments that related to
our discussion about Machiavelli. So I browsed some books and made some small
talk. The man behind the desk/owner is Carlos. It got super crazy when it turns
out that he is from Tennessee, too. He splits his time between Antigua and
Knoxville. I had to rush out on Carlos that time, but I will definitely go back
to that book store when I need a book. As I left, Carlos reminded me not be
reading “that Machiavelli stuff.”
Brian. One of the men who always seem to be in and out of
our house was a very intriguing mystery because it appeared as though he stayed
the nights here on several occasions. One night he ate dinner at the same time
as us so I used my new language skills to ask him where he was from and what he
was doing. Thankfully, I had Jamie to fill in the gaps. Brian lives about three
hours by bus from Antigua, but he goes to high school here. During the week he
stays at Cony’s house. After that night we ate with Brian every night and had
great conversations about sports and learning. Now it is the weekend and Brian
is gone. Jamie and I are sad.
Getting Buff
Included in our Guatemala package is a three months
membership to La Fabrika, a gymnasium. This is very exciting and so far Jamie,
Dana and I have taken advantage of this opportunity every day. The gym has free
pilates and tae-bo classes, but our schedules haven’t allowed us to go to one
yet. Another perk to this gym is that you can have a personal trainer that
tells you what machines to do each day. One day when Jamileh couldn’t go to the
gym I took Ana, but we have to stop taking friends because then every girl will
want a red-shirted Guatemalan.
That’s Week One, y’all. Just in case you doubt it, I love it
here and am really happy.
Peace.
For another point of view, feel free to check out Jamie or
Dana’s blog.
http://jamieinantigua.blogspot.com/
http://guatemala2013.blogspot.com/
P.S. Today I went to put on a pair on my short and I had
them mostly on and there was a gigantic spider on them. It was terrible.
P.P.S I have an armpit rash.
A. I especially loved the larryboy reference.
ReplyDelete2. I will start draining eggs straightaway.
D. I get you. I just get you.