Day 0: Sunday, 21 July
Day 1: Monday, 22 July
Day 2: Tuesday, 23 July
Day 3: Wednesday, 24 July
Day 4: Thursday, 24 July
Day 4: Thursday, 24 July (cont.)
Day 5: Friday, 25 July
Day 6: Saturday, 26 July
Day 7: Sunday, 27 July
When I boarded the plane from Houston to Guatemala City, instead of helping me to my seat, the stewardess just said "sit anywhere." It seemed odd in the normally tightly organized environs of a Continental flight -- the informal ways of Latin America were already upon me. My trip had begun! But, the first two people I met -- Valerie de Lille and Thomas de Paris spoke no Spanish (and little English) -- so my trip started en Français
The driver from the school met me at the airport. The weather was cool and damp as we stepped outside the airport in Guatemala City for the 40 minute drive and 1200(?) meter climb to Antigua. Antigua is a beautiful collage of cobbled streets, old buildings and pastel colors -- even at night. My driver told me the buildings were all painted one of four colors, though I did not understand why.
A short-haired dog announced our late-night arrival at la casa de Arturro, director of the school. One of Arturro's sons (hijos) opened the locked gate to the private street (calle), and led us inside. Arturro greeted me warmly, and gave me my schedule and a map to get to the school in the morning.
We passed by the ruins of a centuries-old church on the way to la casa de mi familia en Antigua. My hostess, Alicia, speaks no English, and I spoke as much Spanish as you can learn in three hours from a cassette, so she showed me to my room and gave me a pitcher of water whose safety I could not verify until morning.
I listened to my Spanish tape while reading the instructions for my new digital camera before finally surrendering to the sleep my packing had limited the night before.
Mi casa es on the edge of Antigua, up against the foothills. The morning light accentuated views from the balcony -- and my camera batteries were charged! :) There are two other borders staying with mi familia, Randi and Cristobal. Randi is a teacher from Santa Rosa, CA, and is a novice at Spanish, like me. Cristobol is more advanced, and leads the breakfast conversation en Español. Spanish is his third language (German his first). Still, English makes its inevitable way to the breakfast conversation. I will have to watch that.
The walk to the school is more beautiful than I imagined, and Antigua is much cleaner than any place I had been to en Mexico. Buildings freshly painted in red (rujo), yellow (amarillo), blue (azul), and white (blanco) -- four colors, yes, but with infinite variations -- more Spanish ruins, uniformed school children, mist hanging in the foothills. I wondered what the economic prospects were for the eager students on their way to school. I also wondered if they appreciated living among the clouds.
Arturro was skeptical that my laptop would connect to his internet service in Guatemala (perhaps because it was an English computer?), but he was very obliging, giving me the password for his ISP. Still waiting to hear about the freelance programming assignment that may come through during my travels. It would be really cool to be able to earn money while traveling in an exotic land ... though also great to travel without any other concerns. :)
I met mi Maestro Alicia at the school, Centro Linguistico Maya. She speaks English, pero nosotros hablanos (but we speak) en Español. She told me of her familia, about the town at lake Atitlan where there are no policia, San Pablo (y qué ellos fuman allá), and ... that there is no "Kermit the Frog" en Guatemala, but Rana René (and "Kermit" is hard to pronounce). So ... call me René (tio René por mi sobrinos y sobrinas Adam, Joshua, Sarah y Irene)!
Took a walk en mañana (in the morning) in and around the parque central. Took advantage of the morning light for some pictures. Next week I am studying in the morning, and it often rains in the afternoon. I met the new border de mi familia, Takashi, at lunch. Takashi is from Japan, and studied Spanish there for three months. In the afternoon, I took advantage of the school trip to a museum with mi maestra (my teacher) Lidia which featured -- oddly -- both local coffee production and musical culture. The museum was in Lidia's hometown (pueblo). We hung behind the tour and conjugated verbs ending in "ar" while the tour guide told about local coffee production and instrument making.
Also learned about web sites to host journals, photos and web pages. Getting close to getting this thing up and running. :)
Salsa class this afternoon at the school. I hurt my arm a few weeks ago in a Frisbee accident (try explaning that -- in Spanish), and wasn't going to take the class, but, of course, I had to go. Lidia and I took a break from our lesson. I joined in for about 15 minutes until my arm started to hurt a bit, and then I stopped.
Finally got the web page up, and sent out e-mail. (Sorry for putting so many addresses in the "TO" field -- should have used the "blind CC" field.) Welcome to mi viaje.
The local fiesta starts tomorrow. Most of Antigua will be out celebrating (a local saint, I think). Tonight, there is fireworks and a show at the parque central. The entertainment is a not-so-traditional performance by three MTV wannabes. Not bad, actually, but muy sexual for a Catholic country.
I walk past the Casbah, salsa-central for Antigua, on my way home. Very difficult, but I resist the urge to go in. La semana proxima.
Silly me. I just realized that, while I have a Lonely Planet guide to Guatemala, you probably don't. If you want to follow along or suggest places you want to see, click here for some useful links.
I think I will go to Lake Atitlán this weekend. Lidia tells me the last bus (autobus pollo) leaves at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, but there is a direct bus 7:00 a.m. Saturday.
The parade passes me as I leave the internet cafe under "the arch" on my way to the school. I don't think anyone minds if I take pictures, but when the local beauty queens arrive, any doubts are laid to rest, as they pose eagerly for the camera (well, except for one, whom I have to coax out from behind her friend).
More later...
Randi and I went to hear a free concerto classico at the Iglesia de San Francisco. Unfortunately, they were out of programs. Several of the movements touched me, but they did not fall within my limited knowledge of classical music.
Leaving the concert, we ran into Takashi and Christobol and two two other amigas from the school on their way a dance club. O.K., I had been good; I could not resist joining them dancing. We had a few beers together.
Just before my friends from the school left they changed the music to something danceable, and the floor was suddenly shoulder to shoulder with tourists and locals speaking the language of el baile.
I stayed until the club closed, dancing a little Salsa, but mostly to techno/rave (which doesn't hurt my arm). Yo no sé que escribar aqui de este noche, excepto hablar: yo bailé con una mariposa.
They say that there is much you can tell from the bological diversity
of a species in a certain location.
That coral, for instance, did not originate in the Carribbean
becuase it is less diverse there than, say, in the Phillipines (though, that still
leaves plenty of species for me to observe when I get to Belize);
or that the age of a hedge
in England can be determined by multiplying the number of species of shrubbery
therein by 100 years.
So the irregular verbs seem to reveal our most primitive thoughts.
To be, to make, to do, to go, to know ... to have ... to give ...
the bane of language
students to conjugate, yet the core of the aesthetics of a tongue ... and a people.
Randi showed me the system of little white cards (available at a store near
our school), for building vocabulary. On the front is the word, and on the
back the meaning, conjugation, etc. It helps enormously.
Randi says she is a "visual person;" perhaps I am as well.
It is humbling when you can hold your entire vocabulary in your hand.
So many other uses, as well.
Great for making card houses in bars.
I think I may have discovered something for remembering names
at the next Lindy Hop "exchange."
(Have fun in Chicago and Seattle, everyone; I am sorry I will not be able to join
you, but ... I am happy to be here.)
Mi Maestra Lidia wants me to memorize verbs. But, I get bored, so I
start making a list of my favorite palabras (words).
Mostly, words dealing with
relationships. My brain works that way, I think ... searching for relationships
between things to add meaning.
So, I can tell you that Polk was president before the Civil War (U.S.) only
because I know he was involved in the U.S./Mexician war ... a war that let
us practice beating up on each other by beating up on our weaker neighbor ...
and, in a sense, resulted in my studying Spanish.
I ran into a group of students from the state department tonight (from my school).
It was their last day here so tongues ran free with the Brazilian Margueritas (with sugar instead of salt).
Though ... I was sworn to secrecy. ;)
Tomorrow, I take el autobus pollo (the chicken bus) to Lago Atitlán.
The pope is coming on Tuesday ... the whole country is shutting down!!
El autobus pollo is a bit of a disappointment. More of a tourist affair.
But, I am finally off into the verdant countryside...
I met Carla (from Italy) on the bus, and she helped me practice my Spanish. We told two minute mysteries en Español.
The view was breathtaking as we rounded the hill to the lake.
I was surprised to see high-rises in Panahachel (a.k.a. Gringotenango).
Having no plans, I join Carla and her friends Isabelle (Quebec) and Rachel (England) to the little village of Santa Cruz and the Arc de Noe hotel.
* well, 10 Q., actually, but we didn't know the first day.
($1 = approx. 7.8 Q.)
Carla and I take the 3 hour hike to San Marcos. The path winds high above the lake
with spectacular views.
As we pass the village of Jaibalito, there is exhuberant music coming from
somewhere in the town. I imagine some wild festival with dancing.
Later, I find out from Sherrin it was an evangelical church meeting, and went all night long..
Young lovers in their Sunday finest sitting on a rock near the path seem to be saying
yes, we know how beatiful our home is.
We pass signs of the aesthetic appreciation of the people of this land.
Colors on a tile roof, in the clothes; the sound of music.
Weekend estates and tasteful hotels dot the shore. The Mayan villages are high
up the hillside. The villagers have planted corn on slopes of more than 60 degrees ...
with no terracing ... in an earthquake zone, no less.
That cannot bode well for future generations.
At one point, someone had planted four corn plants in a narrow strip of
land between the fork in two paths.
A niño nonchalantly carrying a machete greets us with
yo quiero una Quetzal
(I want a Quetzal). O.K. Thanks for sharing, kid.
From San Marcos, we take a launch back to our hotel in Santa Cruz. (Carla teaches me how to ask ¿para (como?) ir a puerto, y tomar una launcha?).
We return to a fabulous buffet of bar-b-q chicken and delicious
vegetarian dishes.
Later that night, an impromptu band has started at the inn next door. Two drummers
and a singer/guitarist who sings his own songs, including a brilliant one about
the women of Amsterdam.
That night
I am glad to have come to this beautiful spot by the lake, and I look forward
to seeing more of Guatemala.
A colorful shirt from the Mercado
30 Quetzales
Passage across the lake
20 Quetzales *
Room & board in hotel,
incl. an amazing all-you-can-eat dinner, drinks & breakfast
230 Q. (approx)
A weekend in paradise
with new friends
priceless
Drummers sound the beat of foreign lands
Uniting travelling souls
A storm brews over the volcanoes
We have come here to find
A beautiful land
A people
Each other
Ourselves
The last bus back to Antigua from Chimaltenango is at 6:00, so I plan to spend the night in Chemaltenango, and as long as I can at the lake. It is a lazy day, hanging in hamocks, reading, and eating a leisurly breakfast. After mi amigas leave, I walk up to the village of Santa Cruz and stroll around. It is a pretty, though poor, town, with spectacular views, narrow cobble streets, a school, two small stores, a church, and a fried chicken stand.
I notice more half-finished buildings here, as I had on our hike.
My maestra, Lidia, says it is because of the recession.
And so many children. It is a land of children. Beautiful children.
Suckling at their mothers breasts.
Asking for a Quetzal from the foreigner walking their streets.
A volunteer worker at the bar last night
told me of some of the difficulties of life here.
Women tired from childbearing and work do not have time or energy to better their lives.
Children become tough at a young age, making them difficult to teach.
Alcoholism is common as well.
At the church, I meet Jonathan and Rebecca from the U.S. Rebecca tells me a tale of robbery at gunpoint on the hike to the 7 altars falls outside Livingston. Exercise caution, my friends.
Our boat back to Panahachel runs out of gas about 200 meters from shore,
and we have to hail a passing boat to refuel. I meet Sherrin on the boat;
she also wants to take the chicken bus, so we plan to take a taxi together back to Antigua from Chimaltenango.
However, we luck out, as the last bus to Antigua has waited for us.
The chicken bus has kind of a party atmosphere. The children play, and everyone is extremely friendly. The kids like seeing their pictures on my digital camera. I talk with Oscar, who wants to wants to know how to get a job in the U.S. I give him my e-mail address (if he can figure out how to write me, then perhaps he has a chance).
Back in Antigua, we go to a birthday dinner for a new friend of Sherrin's,
a doctor who has been travelling to remote villages, providing care.
My travel plans are starting to take shape. I have already signed up for another week of classes in Antigua, but I cannot stay there longer. I have to see more of the country. I will find a school in another city, heading further into the highlands. I meet Åsa on the bus, who is currently studying in Xela (Quetzeltanango),
where others have also recommended schools. And, there are schools around Lago Atitlán, in Todos Santos, and other cities.