Los Dos San Pedros (The Two San Pedros)

I guess it’s my time to write, eh?  Josiah left off with going out dancing on our second to last night in Xela so I will pick up from there.  We got up early the next morning and of course ate our egg breakfast.  We hurried to gather our bathing suits and headed out to Fuentes Georginas.  Some of you may have seen our pictures on facebook, but this place was fascinating.  The Public bus dropped us off at the bottom of a hill and we had to catch a pick up (a truck with a cage like structure in the back where you can sit or stand) to the top of the mountain.  Winding up the mountain, seeing patches of farmland being worked by the Indigenous was breathtaking.  We were sharing our pick up with some beautiful Mayan women.  Lets take a moment to focus on this culture.  I have noticed many women still dress in the conservative but colorful dresses and skirts and carry their children everywhere with them on their backs.  The indigenous culture in Guatemala is still very alive.  We forgot to mention our weaving class at El Nahual.  A woman came to demonstrate weaving for the volunteers, and we all got to try it.  My camera was not working that day so I didn’t get any photos.  Okay, back to the hot springs…By the time you get to the top you are literally in the clouds.  We headed into the NATURAL hot springs, ate lunch, and were ready to be hot.  I went to a hot spring in Costa Rica, but I liked this one better.  It was less commercial feeling and you could literally see the steaming water running down the mountain.  (Once again check out pictures on facebook).  The water was so hot in the pool nearest the mountain that it took your breath away and you felt like your flesh was burning at first.  I made it in though and it turned out to be pretty refreshing, especially since I had a cold.  J

Following day, Couchsurfing with Juan Garcia.  Couchsurfing was brought to my attention a couple of years ago.  www.couchsurfing.com  Some people may be freaked out by the idea of staying with, or hosting strangers but you can always be choosy.  This community of people throughout the world are willing to meet up with you, or let you stay in their homes.  It’s a great way to keep costs down on your travels, while having first hand advice from someone who lives in the area you are visiting.  We met Juan at his café in Xela and he arranged to pick us up the next day.  We went to his house where he lives with his family and stayed in the upstairs of their house.  This family was truly inspiring to me.  They reminded me a lot of my own, were quick to welcome us into their barbeque (which made our tastebuds dance with excitement) and we could feel their love for each other and for life.  There were plenty of jokes passed around throughout the night and Josiah even got in on a futbol game with Juan and his friends.  We had an exceptional experience and if any of you go to Xela, stay with Juan.

So, off to Lake Atitlan or so we thought.  I have heard a lot about Lake Atitlan and its beauty, so the tourist in me wanted to check it out.  We go to the bus terminal asking for San Pedro La Laguna and they directed us to the bus.  We rode about an hour until we arrived in San Pedro.  We both thought this was a rather short trip.  We descend from the bus and start asking people how to get to the docks because that’s where most of the hotels are.  People looked at us like we were insane and quickly told me “there are no boats here you are in the wrong San Pedro”.  We looked at each other, sighed, and headed to find a bus to take us an hour BACK to Xela where we began in the first place.  Our bus driver felt so sorry for us that he got us off his bus and literally walked us to the right bus and threw our stuff on.  We waited at least another hour and a half before the right bus left, and finally we arrived just as darkness was settling in for the night.  But finally we are here.  

We got up early to go to explore the city and weren’t quickly blown away until we finally found a path that opened up such an interesting community.  We are finally seeing what makes San Pedro special.  We wanted to see the inauguration and were excited to see flyers up hosting “Good Bye Bush” partys around town to watch the beginning of a new era in United States history! People here were just as enthusiastic to see Bush fly away to his Texas ranch as we were. Much cheering and clapping filled the very narrow streets.  J  This brings us up to date.  We are relaxing at our hotel by the lake.  It’s much warmer here so I’m getting to use my tanktops at last.  Tomorrow we take a boat across the lake to spend a day in another town before heading to Guate once again.  Take care, and remember that we love you!

 

Somos voluntarios

Hi everyone! I hear it’s been dropping below zero in Indy lately, I guess we left just in time. I hope you’re all keeping warm. I find it so funny to see how much people wrap up in fifty-degree weather. The wind chill drops the temperature a bit, but you would think we’re in an arctic blizzard. I know it’s been less than two weeks, but it already feels like we’ve been gone for such a long time. I can’t figure out why it seems so long, maybe it’s because we’ve already been so many places and met so many new people. Or possibly just not having the same daily routine of wake up, work all day, come home, sleep, and repeat where time seems to blend together. We wake up excited, not knowing what the day will bring, yet taking it as it comes and enjoying ourselves. Whatever it is, time just seems to slow down a little bit around here.

Here are a few more things I’ve noticed that make being in Guatemala different than being home. Everyday things are celebrated with fireworks, things like waking up; there’s no better alarm clock on the market. Milk is only served warm to hot. Water pressure and heat are not features of a shower; they are choices you have to make. Roads come two ways Cobblestone or dirt. There aren’t many regulations for pollution. Taxis are run without meters and the drivers’ just charge what ever they estimate. There are twenty-seven different languages spoken just in Guatemala; most of them Mayan. And, almost everyone drinks coffee.

This week has been has been an amazing one; I never thought I could get attached to a place so fast. I’ve been taking Spanish classes in the mornings, participating in different activities at lunch, and volunteering with the kids in the afternoon. As Angie may have mentioned the organization provided us with a home stay that includes three meals a day, but what also great is that we’re staying with the cooking teacher.

The Spanish classes are incredible. In the many years I’ve spent in school I’ve never had a teacher sit one on one with me, assess my current knowledge on a subject, and then tailor each lesson plan to my personal needs. My teacher would also change the lessons when needed, adapting to anywhere I needed improvement. We worked through every subject patiently until I fully understood it. I learned an incredible amount of Spanish in just one week, I’d recommend it to anyone; I think it’s the best way to learn another language.

   The volunteers and staff at El Nahual. . .as of Jan. 2009

There were eight other volunteers, Isabelle (Germany), Chris (Seattle), Creed (Kansas), Lindsey (Minnesota), Renee (Australia), Anna (New Zealand), Sarah (Canada), and Eva (The Netherlands). They are great group of people, all with big hearts, great stories, and with their own reasons for being there. As volunteers we’ve assisted in teaching the kids English, health, math, art, and also help out with their organic garden. Angie and I also thought a few Latin dance classes to the volunteers and students. Dance class with the children went as well as it could have considering that most of the children are still in the phase of boy germs, girl germs, and cooties. As for the volunteers, I think we’ve recruited some new salseros. It’s hard not to fall in love with the kids, especially when they’re so loving and happy that you are there. After telling the children we were leaving one girl cried and held on to my legs for five minutes before letting go. In other news, Angie figured out that gardening isn’t her calling; or at least working part. We have been having a lot of fun. 

Angie mentioned that the kids have been learning about brushing their teeth in health class, she also wrote about how due to road construction the school is without water. This turned out to be a terrible equation. Anna, a volunteering nurse/health teacher, used her Christmas money to buy over seventy toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste so that every child at the school would have some; she is a very caring person. The rough plan was to use a bottled water to wet all their toothbrushes and rinse out their mouths. We also had a bowl/dish for everyone to spit into that would later be pitched somewhere. And to set a good example we volunteers would brush our teeth along with them. Simple right! No. Sadly, for most of the children it was their first time brushing their teeth, and they just played with it like a new toy. A lot of the other kids had strange reactions to the toothpaste; you’d think it was burning their mouths the way the spit it out in disgust. Not knowing how hard to brush, a few brushed hard enough that their gums began to bleed; their faces looked foamy and red. Midway through brushing a few discovered the fun of flinging spit at each other. The worst was when they all tried to spit into the very small bowl at the same time; spit and backwash was getting all over everyone. Anna finally lost it when she tried to spit into the dish and one of the kids accidentally spit into her hair. It was one of the grossest happenings I’ve ever witnessed. In the following days we switched to a ” one at a time” system while brushing our teeth and things weren’t quite as bad.

On our last day we got all most all of the volunteers and coordinators from El Nahuel to come out salsa dancing with us. We went to a local club called “La Rumba”. It was exciting finding out that Guatemalans dance Puerto Rican style, I felt right at home. The salsa, however, didn’t last long. This place was crazy. I really think the DJ was had multiple personalities, was schizophrenic, or something. The total percentage played of every song was less than forty. The song were all mixed together, and the music would jump from salsa music to country square dance music, to old school gangsta rap music, to swing music, to reggaeton music, to Elvis music, and so on. At one point, within the span of six minutes, the song selection went from a Bachata by Adventura to the “Super freak” by Rick James, then to the “La Bomba” song, then to a swing melody, and after that “Billy Jean” by Michel Jackson; this is the kind place we were at. I got used to the randomness, however, the only thing that continued to bother me is that they never ended a song; they just kept blending each song into the next. When the songs don’t end you get stuck dancing with people for long periods of time because it’s rude to leave someone while that song is still playing. As a result there were awkward goodbyes, and awkward situations.  All complaints aside though, we had a super fun evening. Everyone got to know each other better, everyone loosened up, some acted like fools, and even though the goodbyes were sad they were filled with fun and laughter. I hope life is wonderful for all of you. As for us…our journey continues….                       

    

  

El Nahual

Good News!  Josiah and I are feeling back to normal (well, not that we are NORMAL by any means, but we are feeling more like ourselves once again).   J

On Sunday afternoon we set out to head to a woman’s house named Patricia.  Our bags were weighing us down by the end of our 20 minute hike through the traffic filled streets to her house.  Upon arrival we were greeted by many enthusiastic Guatemalans of all ages.  They were all eating lunch after a night of fiesta at the wedding of Patricia’s sister.  They were quick to offer us a snack and show us to our room.  We did a lot of resting that evening as we were still not feeling well.

The following day, Monday, we officially started our studies/volunteering at the organization El Nahual in Xela, Guatemala.  This organization is who set us up with our homestay.  I found this organization on idealist.org a few months ago and I wanted to visit because I found aspects of it very interesting.  I’m so excited to finally be here observing everything first hand.  El Nahual is technically an after school program for children, but in reality, for some of them it’s the only education they receive.  It is also a Spanish language school for foreigners in the mornings.  All of the proceeds from the money that the students pay for class goes to fund the school and the community programs they have going.  The students from the community come and learn math, art, English, Spanish, etc.  Volunteers teach the classes and interact with the students.  Each volunteer brings new talents, passions, and ideas for the classes. 

As many of you know, the summer after I graduated from Anderson I went to Germany to live with my brother for the summer.  I did a lot of reflection on what direction I wanted my life to be heading.  Laying by the canal in the sun one calm Berlin day, listening to my brother Nathan sing melodiously (of course) I had a vision.  The vision consisted of a community center in Latin America.  It kept coming rapidly to me as I thought about all my friends and different talents they had, at how a group of people can do amazing things when they come together.  How exactly it would be run, and specific aspects of the center were all very vague.  That is why I’m here, right now, in Central America.  I wanted to seek advice, inspiration, and guidance from existing Non-Profits in this region.  El Nahual was the perfect place to start our journey.

Josiah is currently taking a class at the school.  He has 4 hours of one on one teaching daily.  He is really excited and thinks he will gain a lot.  I’m sure he will expand on his personal experiences at the school soon.  In the afternoons we all come back to the school from 3-5 to have school with the children.  Yesterday I did publicity in the community during this time.  How insightful.  I knew the education system in Guatemala was bad, but to hear story after story from women about how the schools turn away their children in painful.  El Nahual really is doing great things.  This week during some of the classes we are focusing on health, one of the volunteers is a nurse from New Zealand and she is focusing her time on teaching these children proper hygience.  I will let Josiah expand on this as he was in class yesterday with the kids while I was doing publicity.  To put it simply, we believe it was the first time some of them had brushed their teeth.  To fill my time in the mornings I will be working in the organic community garden.  El Nahual works with women in the community to run the garden, and the women can use the produce for their own cooking or to sell in the market for some income.  I will also be updating the schools Facebook page so look us up and add us as your friend!

I feel like I’ve made this too long already so even though I could say so much more, I will cut myself off.  Oh one more thing, the students are studying art today…so Josiah and I as part of the class are going to teach them merengue.  I can’t wait. 

We are having a great time…Hasta Pronto!

I'm Alive!

It was a beautiful drive from Guatemala City up and through the mountains to Huehuetenango with Ruban his father and brother. The many sights from volcanoes, valleys, streams, waterfalls, to forests that seemed to stretch up into the sky made the six-hour drive quite bearable. We road there with them to see a village in the mountain that they loved, and it was also very close to our next stop, Quezaltenango. Once there Ruban and his family began the long progress of buying some land. They went through many negotiations and actually measured it out by holding the ends of a rope, marking trees, and putting sticks in the ground. I would have liked to observe much more of this process, however, I spent most of the time resting in the car. I had become very ill.

I don’t think it was Acute Mountain Sickness, it may just been the change in climate. At this altitude the sun is hot, however, the breeze is still very chilly. It’s quite deceiving. I came down with a bad fever, headache, stomachache, and the like. I tried to just tough it out, but I eventually went to the hospital. The doctor prescribed some antibiotics and I’m feeling much better. Now what is left to overcome for both Angie and I, is the Revenge of Montezuma, a.k.a. traveler’s diarrhea.

Angie has been a real lifeline and having each other has made everything a little easier. She has been great about helping overcome my sickness, and even better about not getting annoyed at my random needs for translations. We laugh at the awkward and embarrassing situations our (illnesses) have put us in. I went though an entire doctors check up with my fly wide open, and everyone knew but me. She thought it was the funniest thing ever. And people…sometimes…you can’t trust a fart.

A traditional Guatemalan breakfasts consist of the fallowing, beans, rice, eggs, tortillas, fried plantains, and some sort of meat. Most Guatemalan meals also include eggs, tortillas, beans, and some sort of meat, so they seem to have a strict diet. There has been a lot of Americanization here. There lots of our fast food chains, McDonalds, Burger Kings, Subways, and so on.  However, out here those restaurants are more high end and refills don’t exist. We’ve been as selective as we can about what we’ve eaten, but in some areas options aren’t available. We have, until recently, been brushing our teeth with tap water, and that may have been where we contacted some strange bacteria.

When I thought about seeing more of the world, I didn’t really think about also meeting new parasites, bacteria, and viruses. I believe we’ll be fine, our immune systems are just learning new tricks. We are in Xela now, and I am super excited to be starting Spanish classes here. We’ll be staying with a family and I will receive a lot of one on one intense tutoring.  We will also begin our first volunteer project. Things are in motion and all is looking up. More coming soon…

The Sick Little Josiah Bug...

Today we headed north from Guatemala City to a town called Huehuetenango.  A lot of Rubens family lives here, and he bought some land to build a house on.  I got to go see the land and give my opinion on where the house should be built.  It is in such a peaceful and secluded area in the mountains.  All of his neighbors in the area are family, and oh my gosh are they the sweetest people ever.  I absolutely fell in love with his fathers 78 year old cousin and his grandson Josue.  I really feel we got enlightened into more of their culture and lifestyle.  These people live sooooo simply and took so much pride in serving us coffee that they picked, roasted, ground, and brewed all from their own coffee trees outback.  Not to mention the abundance of orange trees surrounding their small houses.  Soon after the hot meal of rice and beef (i of course made rubens brother eat my meat) Josue hiked us around in the dark with a flashlight so excited to show us all of the flowers around.  he tried to pick me one but the trees were too high for him to reach (he is in 5th grade).  Oh man these people are so full of joy and their joy is contagious beyond words.  I could have stayed there for days and days with them in the tranquility.  (hopefully there are pictures to come soon)   It was a GORGEOUS ride through the mountains, however it was also 6 hours long.   

Soon after we left the city Josiah started feeling a bit strange and as the day progressed he felt worse and worse.  he was burning up with fever, and then his hands kept clamping up.  he could not keep them stretched out on his own accord.  he was pretty freaked out as was I.  So in short, we think he has acute mountain sickness due to the altitude at almost 7,000 feet.  I looked it up and indiana's altitude is 715 feet so you can imagine the difference.  Pobrecito, i feel so bad for him.  Tomorrow we are supposed to go another town, Xela and its elevation is almost 8,000.  I'm not sure if we will go if he's not much better.  we will take our time and feel it out.  

As for me, i'm doing well.  I just find myself a bit more fatigued due to the elevation but no illness.  :)  

!Estamos aqui!

We made it!

 

            Big thank you to Bev and Jon for taking us to Chicago and also to Thea and Lindsay. You all saved us from so much stress not having to bus or train there; thank you.

And the flights were very smooth and safe, so no worries Mom. While I do feel liberated having left my jobs and home to see to more of the world, it is a step into the unknown. 

Our descent into Guatemala City was interesting, watching from the plane, it looked as if everything were built around, through, and on top of mountains. There are many places where if you weren’t careful you’d fall to your death. And as we moved closer it was easy to tell that things here are very different. Most of the buildings are very brightly colored and look to be constructed mostly of concrete or concrete blocks. The winding roads make you wonder if their blueprints might have been mixed up with pages torn from a child’s coloring book. However it’s beautiful here, and there is something wonderful about exiting a plane into 75-degree weather as the temperature plummets in the winter of your hometown.    

There is much poverty here. In many place there are neighborhoods constructed almost completely out off thin random sheets of metal.  In other areas houses were built very close to each other scaling the side of a mountain, and they all seem to be on top of each other.  Some people brave living in the valleys, however, many have died in mud/rock slides. Driving around and seeing people struggle brings me sadness. It is good to know that there are people that care enough to try and make a difference. I am anxious to help those people, and to learn what we can from them.

 Then there is the traffic. The traffic is crazy to the point where using your car horn is essential for your survival. It’s mind boggling that I have yet to see a collision. I saw a man trying to load a bag of salt he could barely lift onto the seat of his motorbike and attempt to drive off. Later I saw a bus on the highway stuffed well beyond it’s capacity, they were hanging from the windows, out of the back door,  and a few were holding onto each other and the sides of the entry still merged from the side door. Maybe there is a method to the madness that I just can’t understand yet. What I am understanding much faster than I thought I would is espanol…well at least the comprehension of the language. I still have a very long way to go. 

Angie and I are having a lot of fun. She has some wonderful contacts here in the Lopez Lopez family.  They are the nicest people ever, and such gracious hosts. They are letting us use one of the units in the apartments they rent out, and they share their meals with us. Today they drove us to see an old town called Antigua, there were many tourists there but once there you understand why. It’s in the valley of three volcanoes, has many historic museums, beautiful parks, and many excellent restaurants for all to see. We then returned to have my Latin American favorite, Platanos fritos. That’s all for now! 

Hasta pronto

Hola Todos!!

Estamos aqui!  We made it!  Our flight was calm, and we made it to Guatemala to find ourselves greeted by my friend Ruben’s father (Misael).  I came here two years ago to visit, and this family has accepted me as one of their own.  We are currently staying in an extra apartment they have in the back of their house, and they have been constantly entertaining and feeding us.  Shortly after our arrival Josiah asked if there was a place nearby to get his hair cut and next thing I know we are in a shopping center and OFF IT CAME!  Now he is back to looking like the boy who first stole my heart on the salsa floor.  J  Today Julia and Misael (my Guatemalan parents) took us to Antigua.  This city is sooooooooooo nice.  It used to be the capital of Guatemala.   We spent a lot of time sitting in the Central Park people watching, playing hacky sack, and of course I had to drink some coffee.  There are a lot of different cultures in Antigua and a lot of Foreigners live there now.  I can’t help but think Nathan and Anna (my brother and his wife) should live there for sometime.

 

    Our next few days are going to be spent here with my family traveling around to various places.  We are trying to figure out our next plan of action when we venture out to visit some of the non-profit organizations we have contacted.  I am loving watching Josiah’s reactions to things.  He has such child like facial expressions when learning new things and seeing things that surprise him.  He is also really surprising me with his ability to communicate and understand Spanish!  Yaaaaaay!  People also constantly mention how he looks Latino (I wonder why!?  Hehe)  So this makes me feel at least a little less obvious that we are tourists. 

 

 I’ve been taking pictures that will soon appear on facebook.  I hate to rub this in, but it’s 75 degrees and beautiful here.  I love you all and hasta pronto!