The weekend was not as quiet and restful as we had hoped it would be. We managed to use up all of Saturday and Sunday as hard as we used up the rest of the week. Since we were out of cloths we gathered everything we could to take a trip to the laundry. We even stripped the bed and washed them as well. I located a broom and dust pan and cleaned up our space as well as the hall and bathroom. It is the least I can do to help Hortensia. The floors are tile or marble depending on the room. The house itself is clean enough to be healthy but would not win any prizes.
We had no place to hang a wet towel or our sweaters/jacket so we contrived one from one or two of the shops here. We bought a bit of cord and Don tied loops down the cord and we hung that from the curtain rods. Now we have a place to hang a few things but we mainly live out of our suitcases. Hortensia was impressed when she saw it. The other room they rent has a wardrobe (a.k.a closet) in it. I would not change our room just for the closet. We have an ´L´shaped room so it works as well as you could expect in a camping situation.
Last night Hortensia stopped in our room for something and noticed our suitcases on the floor. She then scavenged a table and carried it into our room. We decided we need some place to sit and write so we turned it into a small double desk. It was a great idea but the house is just not quiet enough to allow any studying to be done. We have an additional touch lamp that provides a bit more light but let me tell you these people have a ´thing´about using enough light to see by----anywhere.
After class today, which Patty and I spent at the local Mercado, Don and I ate lunch of a really good potato salad, a thin red salsa and the inevitable tortillas. The we took a shuttle bus to the Hyper Paiz (large mall) to buy some snacks and clothes hangers for our ´closet´. We picked up laundry and re- made the bed. We stopped at McDonald´s for a snack of chicken nuggets to help fill in the cracks. Hortensia makes sure all of the people in the house have a cup of liquid to drink with every meal. She brought up a cup of tea and that is how she saw our nifty closet.
Dinner was a bowl of cut up fruit supplement in our room with peanut butter and crackers. We ended the day by working on this blog at Xelapages.
Now my day is done and I have run down. It is time to return to the house for a cold ´hot´shower and another night of sleep. Things are better now that the pageant is done. Yeah!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
August 19 Sunday - Domingo Mayan Ceremony
We were up at out usual 6 am and Don made us a cup of hot tea thanks to Susan and her heating element! It works like a charm Susan. The water really boils and quickly. We have a cup of tea in the evening and it is a bit of heaven. I just wish we could heat the shower water as quickly and as hot! Oh well, If wishes were horses beggars would ride.
This Sunday the family slept in really late so we took ourselves off to McDonalds for the big breakfast of square eggs, sausage, hash browns, and English muffin and water. Knowing the family would be up we headed back for the house and had second breakfast at the house of left over rice with a small piece of chicken. Everyone began to prepare for the Sunday morning Mayan event we were invited to attend in honor of daughter, Sandra.
When everyone was ready to leave we all piled into the car to be driven up part way to the ceremonial site on top of a mini-mountain. As people gathered we walked around just a bit and took in the antique building. When they were ready we started up the mountain. It is an honor to be invited.
The trip up was not as hard as the climb up to the volcano but it was no picnic either. I took it slow and made it up to the site still able to speak. Don inquired about taking pictures of the Mayan ceremony and was told it was not allowed so we can only give a verbal accounting of the ceremony. We did not understand the Spanish that was being spoken but the Mayan people are a very caring people and they made sure by signs and words that we understood what was expected of us. We participated the best we could and tried not to be intrusive or to stand out more than we already did by being Americans.
We had to sign in at the top and were given our Nahuales, which is like a horoscope, or sign and describes who you are by your birth date. The first 2 hours was an attempt to educate the young people on Mayan beliefs and customs. The Mayan people are trying hard to maintain their identity. The Mayans were forced to convert to Catholicism many years ago and like many cultures preserving itself many are Catholic in name only. Such is the case with our family. They have a Mayan altar in the house.
Today´s ceremony was to honor Sandra and three other girls the same age. It was a ceremony to remind everyone of their connection to the heavens, the winds, and the earth. All of us were seated under a couple of tents. Hortensia had said to bring our umbrellas and they did indeed come in handy as the sun was very strong out in the open. After the first two hours we concluded under the tent with everyone standing up and being grouped by their Nahuales. We had attended a lecture on Nahuales (with a translator) so we had some idea of the things that were being said.
We then moved to ceremony around a fire circle. Inside the circle a Mayan ´priest´had been saying prayers and had set the fire circle up with large candles on the outer edges. The candles and their colors have significance to the Mayan. We were given several in different colors to put into the fire as the ceremony continued. We were also given earth, incense, and something sweet to put into the fire. We could not ask questions about the significance of the ceremony and we were the only non0Mayans in attendance so we decided it was best not to ask questions.
When the ceremony was complete all of the people there were fed a marvelous beef vegetable soup. It had a most clear broth with carrots, potatoes, quisquilla, and cabbage and was really delicious. We were also offered more of their corn tortilla/tamales but I declined because my blood sugar was a bit high. Most of the foods we eat are starch so it is a good thing Hortensia limits my portions but that means I am often hungry way before Don is.
We walked back down the mountain with little Michelle and her parents. It was much easier going down the mountain let me tell you. It was extremely steep in places and worked the knees and ankles. My ankle is getting a lot of exercise so my personal PT will be happy about that. Hortensia stayed behind to help with the cleaning up. We actually took a nap when we got back to the house. It was some hike for a Sunday.
After our rest we headed out to hunt and gather more food for our dinner. We needed a place we could study till the 7 pm Mass at the Cathedral. We thought Hortensia need to be free of the duty of providing an evening meal for us so we found ´a hamburger of a different color´at a little place Don and Juan haunt for chocolate con leche. They were tasty and no funky stomach developed from eating there. We left the restaurant and discovered Parque Central absolutely alive with people and 3 marching bands. There were food stalls and other vendor stalls all over the place. It was an amazing sight to see so many people out at that time of day. We went to Mass and discovered that not knowing the language was not really a problem---we could´t hear a word over the fireworks!!!! There is a challenge to following the Mass because there are some subtle bits that we miss and therefore we loose track of where we are during the Mass. The sound system echos so badly that deciphering the language is nearly impossible.
This Sunday the family slept in really late so we took ourselves off to McDonalds for the big breakfast of square eggs, sausage, hash browns, and English muffin and water. Knowing the family would be up we headed back for the house and had second breakfast at the house of left over rice with a small piece of chicken. Everyone began to prepare for the Sunday morning Mayan event we were invited to attend in honor of daughter, Sandra.
When everyone was ready to leave we all piled into the car to be driven up part way to the ceremonial site on top of a mini-mountain. As people gathered we walked around just a bit and took in the antique building. When they were ready we started up the mountain. It is an honor to be invited.
The trip up was not as hard as the climb up to the volcano but it was no picnic either. I took it slow and made it up to the site still able to speak. Don inquired about taking pictures of the Mayan ceremony and was told it was not allowed so we can only give a verbal accounting of the ceremony. We did not understand the Spanish that was being spoken but the Mayan people are a very caring people and they made sure by signs and words that we understood what was expected of us. We participated the best we could and tried not to be intrusive or to stand out more than we already did by being Americans.
We had to sign in at the top and were given our Nahuales, which is like a horoscope, or sign and describes who you are by your birth date. The first 2 hours was an attempt to educate the young people on Mayan beliefs and customs. The Mayan people are trying hard to maintain their identity. The Mayans were forced to convert to Catholicism many years ago and like many cultures preserving itself many are Catholic in name only. Such is the case with our family. They have a Mayan altar in the house.
Today´s ceremony was to honor Sandra and three other girls the same age. It was a ceremony to remind everyone of their connection to the heavens, the winds, and the earth. All of us were seated under a couple of tents. Hortensia had said to bring our umbrellas and they did indeed come in handy as the sun was very strong out in the open. After the first two hours we concluded under the tent with everyone standing up and being grouped by their Nahuales. We had attended a lecture on Nahuales (with a translator) so we had some idea of the things that were being said.
We then moved to ceremony around a fire circle. Inside the circle a Mayan ´priest´had been saying prayers and had set the fire circle up with large candles on the outer edges. The candles and their colors have significance to the Mayan. We were given several in different colors to put into the fire as the ceremony continued. We were also given earth, incense, and something sweet to put into the fire. We could not ask questions about the significance of the ceremony and we were the only non0Mayans in attendance so we decided it was best not to ask questions.
When the ceremony was complete all of the people there were fed a marvelous beef vegetable soup. It had a most clear broth with carrots, potatoes, quisquilla, and cabbage and was really delicious. We were also offered more of their corn tortilla/tamales but I declined because my blood sugar was a bit high. Most of the foods we eat are starch so it is a good thing Hortensia limits my portions but that means I am often hungry way before Don is.
We walked back down the mountain with little Michelle and her parents. It was much easier going down the mountain let me tell you. It was extremely steep in places and worked the knees and ankles. My ankle is getting a lot of exercise so my personal PT will be happy about that. Hortensia stayed behind to help with the cleaning up. We actually took a nap when we got back to the house. It was some hike for a Sunday.
After our rest we headed out to hunt and gather more food for our dinner. We needed a place we could study till the 7 pm Mass at the Cathedral. We thought Hortensia need to be free of the duty of providing an evening meal for us so we found ´a hamburger of a different color´at a little place Don and Juan haunt for chocolate con leche. They were tasty and no funky stomach developed from eating there. We left the restaurant and discovered Parque Central absolutely alive with people and 3 marching bands. There were food stalls and other vendor stalls all over the place. It was an amazing sight to see so many people out at that time of day. We went to Mass and discovered that not knowing the language was not really a problem---we could´t hear a word over the fireworks!!!! There is a challenge to following the Mass because there are some subtle bits that we miss and therefore we loose track of where we are during the Mass. The sound system echos so badly that deciphering the language is nearly impossible.
Monday, August 27, 2007
August 18 Saturday An Easy Day -- Ha!
The plan for today was to do nothing and relax. If you are with Don ¨relax¨doesn´t come into play very well. We got up at our usual time so we would be on schedule for our meals. Doña Hortensia will prepare our meals as we sit at the table and wait for them. By Guatemala standards our host family is ´middle class´. We have had trouble getting the fathers name and he new Don´s name but had no clue what to call me so he didn´t address me personally. (That has been fixed). We are beginning to bond with the family and they with us. We are essentially ´camping´in our room and looked at that way it is not so bad. The bathroom situation is the worst. There is no place to put anything to keep it dry. They have no concept of the use of a shower curtain. In fact the floor has a drain in it!!! We share this bathroom with the kids upstairs and poor Stephanie was the worst for getting water all the way to the door a good 4 or 5 feet from the shower. Everyone in the family is patient with us and our poor Spanish and all are willing to help even Marianna who is studying English in school and while she won´t speak it she understands a good bit.
We left the house around 8 am for someplace with a table and light and a cup of tea to study. Of course nothing is open that early except -------- you guessed it ------ McDonald´s! We nursed a luke warm cup of tea for over an hour and worked on our Spanish. Since we needed cash we left McDee´s and went to the ATM machine across Parque Central.
Drum roll please................... no luck! no money the card was not accepted. The Visa card (or what Don thought was the Visa card was refused! We had several bad hours figuring out the problem until Don discovered he was trying to use the wrong card. With the correct card we were soon on our way and happy campers again.
Lunch at home turned into a big affair when the grandfather arrived. Don and I had been playing with the girls taking their pictures and laughing at what Michelle thought was a good face for a picture (a scrunched up munchkin look) so the camera once again broke the ice and we took pictures of grandfather and son (our host) and a social event began. They took pictures of us also. Marianna turned out to be pretty good with a camera. Lunch was chicken with a spiced white sauce with rice and vegetables, more of the native style tortilla-tamale which is made of corn and cooked on the wood stove in the kitchen.
When lunch was over we again left to go start this nifty Blog. Linda´s Excellent Adventure in Guatemala blog was started. We are kept so busy with classes and schedule daily activities followed by homework that getting here is proving to be a bit difficult. You will have noticed that Don´s blog is full of minute details and mine is a bit more fluffy. I hope you are enjoying the blogs.
Dinner was a California style burrito that the owner of this Internet cafe-Xelapages taught the owners to make. It is not quite a Freebirds or a Chipotile but it is not bad at all. One is big enough for us to split for lunch. The young couple who operate and I assume owns the Cubatenango lived and worked in the food industry in Chicago and food there is safe to eat.
The day will finish with a Classical Guitar concert. In case I forget ---- this concert started 50 minutes late! The guitarist was very talented and we don´t know the reason for the long delay.
We left the house around 8 am for someplace with a table and light and a cup of tea to study. Of course nothing is open that early except -------- you guessed it ------ McDonald´s! We nursed a luke warm cup of tea for over an hour and worked on our Spanish. Since we needed cash we left McDee´s and went to the ATM machine across Parque Central.
Drum roll please................... no luck! no money the card was not accepted. The Visa card (or what Don thought was the Visa card was refused! We had several bad hours figuring out the problem until Don discovered he was trying to use the wrong card. With the correct card we were soon on our way and happy campers again.
Lunch at home turned into a big affair when the grandfather arrived. Don and I had been playing with the girls taking their pictures and laughing at what Michelle thought was a good face for a picture (a scrunched up munchkin look) so the camera once again broke the ice and we took pictures of grandfather and son (our host) and a social event began. They took pictures of us also. Marianna turned out to be pretty good with a camera. Lunch was chicken with a spiced white sauce with rice and vegetables, more of the native style tortilla-tamale which is made of corn and cooked on the wood stove in the kitchen.
When lunch was over we again left to go start this nifty Blog. Linda´s Excellent Adventure in Guatemala blog was started. We are kept so busy with classes and schedule daily activities followed by homework that getting here is proving to be a bit difficult. You will have noticed that Don´s blog is full of minute details and mine is a bit more fluffy. I hope you are enjoying the blogs.
Dinner was a California style burrito that the owner of this Internet cafe-Xelapages taught the owners to make. It is not quite a Freebirds or a Chipotile but it is not bad at all. One is big enough for us to split for lunch. The young couple who operate and I assume owns the Cubatenango lived and worked in the food industry in Chicago and food there is safe to eat.
The day will finish with a Classical Guitar concert. In case I forget ---- this concert started 50 minutes late! The guitarist was very talented and we don´t know the reason for the long delay.
San Fransico Market by Chicken Bus
San Fransico el alto by Chicken bus -- was a whole other kind of experience. On the trip up once we were loaded onto the bus we sat close together so Don and his teacher Juan worked on verb conjugation. I took in the sights as we went up the mountain. Everything is up a mountain! We got off of the bus at the market and the first thing that jumps out at you is a ton of people and all kinds of colors. The native outfit here is worn by women and consists of a skirt usually in a particular pattern for her village or town and a huipil or blouse (which is fancy on top and sewn to the bottom is white fabric that serves as a slip) in all the colors of the rainbow. It matters not to them if the colors go together (skirt and blouse). Generally you will see a fancy and different color apron over the top of the whole outfit. The women and girls always look dressed up. The fabric is rather heavy which is great for a climate that matches California -- sorta warm during the day and by early evening cooling off to the point that a sweater or jacket is nice to have, then you top that off with rain every afternoon and the women are dressed just right.
I can hardly imagine something that I could not have bought at the market. If you need a new outfit, a belt, hat, dried skunk, a bunch of baby pigs, a scrawny cow you are able to buy them here. There were shoes and boots and food stalls (but gringos don´t eat here!), scarves, blouses, capes, ponchos, or backpacks, jeans,and quilts all are there for your shopping pleasure.
There were sections that did not smell so very great but you could buy fish if you wanted it. There was a man outside a church giving a talk about the snake he was giving a drink of water too! Remember it rains here? Well the venders just take that in stride and put up big umbrellas and plastic tarps and any purchase you make will be put into a plastic bags. There is no grass in most areas except the park, streets and pathways are rock and cobblestone. After a rain you will have some standing water but not a great deal of mud although parts are muddy. We did not purchase anything mainly because Don forgot to put on the money belt and we had just enough money to buy a coke and pay for our round trip on the chicken bus.
The return trip has a different tale. Juan located the correct bus to get us back and Don and I boarded. Juan ran across to a tienda (store) to buy a phone card so he ended up seated 4 or 5 seats behind us. I was seated next to the window so Don hands me the camera to take pictures of the country side. That soon had us interacting with the people around us. Two Mayan women behind us started asking questions and answering our questions. At one point I gave Don a quick kiss which must have tickled the women because they wanted to take out picture ´kissing´. It took three attempts to get the picture they wanted! By this time we are three to a seat with one large grandmother with grandson perched on the outside edge of the seat. I took pictures of the people around us stuffed into this bus like sardines. We always make sure to ask permission before taking pictures of people near us. We were very entertaining to those riding with us.
For any sane people our morning would have been enough. We stopped at the house to drop off stuff, took our umbrellas and sailed off to explore Xela on foot! We ate lunch at a restaurant called Cubatenago. The meal was a Guatemalan meal Tipico. It was barbecue chicken, rice, vegetables, two small potato patties & tortillas. They had to send an employee out to buy a coke light (a.k.a. diet coke) and Don had the sweetened lemonade. After lunch we set off on foot for the big mall that Patty and I had gone to--Hyper Piaz. We actually did it! We walked the whole way. I was pleased to have provided the general directions needed to catch a smaller chicken bus (Don calls them micro busses). We boarded one after checking out the mall and headed back to Parque Central. We spent $27.00 for water, 2 lap desks (an attempt to ease neck and shoulder pain and before the table was added to our room), a coloring book for Marianna, and a small pocket dictionary. We were truly tuckered out.
We were invited Friday to a Mayan ceremony with our host family through Marlo to be sure we understood the whole thing. We agreed to attend.
I can hardly imagine something that I could not have bought at the market. If you need a new outfit, a belt, hat, dried skunk, a bunch of baby pigs, a scrawny cow you are able to buy them here. There were shoes and boots and food stalls (but gringos don´t eat here!), scarves, blouses, capes, ponchos, or backpacks, jeans,and quilts all are there for your shopping pleasure.
There were sections that did not smell so very great but you could buy fish if you wanted it. There was a man outside a church giving a talk about the snake he was giving a drink of water too! Remember it rains here? Well the venders just take that in stride and put up big umbrellas and plastic tarps and any purchase you make will be put into a plastic bags. There is no grass in most areas except the park, streets and pathways are rock and cobblestone. After a rain you will have some standing water but not a great deal of mud although parts are muddy. We did not purchase anything mainly because Don forgot to put on the money belt and we had just enough money to buy a coke and pay for our round trip on the chicken bus.
The return trip has a different tale. Juan located the correct bus to get us back and Don and I boarded. Juan ran across to a tienda (store) to buy a phone card so he ended up seated 4 or 5 seats behind us. I was seated next to the window so Don hands me the camera to take pictures of the country side. That soon had us interacting with the people around us. Two Mayan women behind us started asking questions and answering our questions. At one point I gave Don a quick kiss which must have tickled the women because they wanted to take out picture ´kissing´. It took three attempts to get the picture they wanted! By this time we are three to a seat with one large grandmother with grandson perched on the outside edge of the seat. I took pictures of the people around us stuffed into this bus like sardines. We always make sure to ask permission before taking pictures of people near us. We were very entertaining to those riding with us.
For any sane people our morning would have been enough. We stopped at the house to drop off stuff, took our umbrellas and sailed off to explore Xela on foot! We ate lunch at a restaurant called Cubatenago. The meal was a Guatemalan meal Tipico. It was barbecue chicken, rice, vegetables, two small potato patties & tortillas. They had to send an employee out to buy a coke light (a.k.a. diet coke) and Don had the sweetened lemonade. After lunch we set off on foot for the big mall that Patty and I had gone to--Hyper Piaz. We actually did it! We walked the whole way. I was pleased to have provided the general directions needed to catch a smaller chicken bus (Don calls them micro busses). We boarded one after checking out the mall and headed back to Parque Central. We spent $27.00 for water, 2 lap desks (an attempt to ease neck and shoulder pain and before the table was added to our room), a coloring book for Marianna, and a small pocket dictionary. We were truly tuckered out.
We were invited Friday to a Mayan ceremony with our host family through Marlo to be sure we understood the whole thing. We agreed to attend.
August 17 Friday Chicken Bus - Field Trip
Our day began wit leftover chicken with a red sauce over rice tht is very good. There was also the native bread which fills yu up. My blood sugar was 127 this morning, but that could be from the bowl of lentils and rice we ate at Mart´s fiesta abut 10 pm last night. I will have to watch the effect of the corn tortillas on my BG.
We had no formal class today because we had another field trip, this time to the open air market, San Francisco el Alto. We left with Juan as our guide (Don´s teacher) and took a small bus to a bigger round-about to catch a ¨chicken bus¨for the trip. Let me tell you about the chicken bus. They are actually yellow school busses. These busses are painted very colorfully and many of them have been named. You may have guessed that they STUFF as many people and their stuff into these busses as they can. Large bundles are put on top of the bus. I actually saw a basket of chickens with a mesh cover over the top of them loaded onto the top of the bus. You sit at least 3 to a seat and the aisle are full as well. They give no quarter as they rumble down the street and they follow the same rules of the road as the rest of Guatemala--- absolutely anything goes!
Before leaving the market we were told to leave anything valuable at home since the large number of people invites pick-pockets and they are good. We followed this advice and there is a story to go with this one you will get later.
Don has run out of steam for today so I will tell you about the market next time we find ourselves here at Xelapages.
We had no formal class today because we had another field trip, this time to the open air market, San Francisco el Alto. We left with Juan as our guide (Don´s teacher) and took a small bus to a bigger round-about to catch a ¨chicken bus¨for the trip. Let me tell you about the chicken bus. They are actually yellow school busses. These busses are painted very colorfully and many of them have been named. You may have guessed that they STUFF as many people and their stuff into these busses as they can. Large bundles are put on top of the bus. I actually saw a basket of chickens with a mesh cover over the top of them loaded onto the top of the bus. You sit at least 3 to a seat and the aisle are full as well. They give no quarter as they rumble down the street and they follow the same rules of the road as the rest of Guatemala--- absolutely anything goes!
Before leaving the market we were told to leave anything valuable at home since the large number of people invites pick-pockets and they are good. We followed this advice and there is a story to go with this one you will get later.
Don has run out of steam for today so I will tell you about the market next time we find ourselves here at Xelapages.
August 16 Thursday AR verbs--Historical Tour
Up and dressed for desayuno (breakfast) which is prepared for us when we come down. We try to keep to a schedule so Hortensia can know when to expect us. We had scrambled eggs, Mayan corn tortillas, hot drinkable cereal (still tasteless) this morning. We walked to school with Stephanie, the other student at Kie-Balam.
Patty started me on AR verbs! We had 15 or so which we had to conjugate. The dry erase marker gave up the ghost so we had to switch gears. It was more difficult but we got the job done. I now have to spend some time learning the verbs and hunting for more.
Our afternoon activity was a walking tour of the historic district and the museums with Marlo, the director as our guide. It rained!! It rains most afternoons here because it is winter. Marlo is trying hard to whoo Don into promoting Spanish, Kie-Balam and Guatemala with Iowa State University. She is doing her best to fulfill her end of our education at her school. There are currently only three students. The summer vacation months June and July in the USA are her busiest times.
We ended the day wet and tired. Just when we thought we would finish for the day Marlo invited us to a fiesta her sister Marta (from Chicago) was throwing at the school. We felt obligated to attend at least for a little while. After the party we left and discovered no running water at the house! It turned out to be a major problem for that sector of the city for a couple of days and included the school. Fortunately it rains in Guatemala and they capture the rain water for just this reason. So wet, cold and no shower available--- was a great day indeed. We went to bed and called it done for the day.
We found a laundry just down the street. Here it is call a lavanderia. We drop off our dirty clothes and after class pick them up folded. The cost is about $4.00 each time. It is really kind of slick -- no dish washing, meal preparation, no laundry and for this I am learning to say hello in Spanish.
Patty started me on AR verbs! We had 15 or so which we had to conjugate. The dry erase marker gave up the ghost so we had to switch gears. It was more difficult but we got the job done. I now have to spend some time learning the verbs and hunting for more.
Our afternoon activity was a walking tour of the historic district and the museums with Marlo, the director as our guide. It rained!! It rains most afternoons here because it is winter. Marlo is trying hard to whoo Don into promoting Spanish, Kie-Balam and Guatemala with Iowa State University. She is doing her best to fulfill her end of our education at her school. There are currently only three students. The summer vacation months June and July in the USA are her busiest times.
We ended the day wet and tired. Just when we thought we would finish for the day Marlo invited us to a fiesta her sister Marta (from Chicago) was throwing at the school. We felt obligated to attend at least for a little while. After the party we left and discovered no running water at the house! It turned out to be a major problem for that sector of the city for a couple of days and included the school. Fortunately it rains in Guatemala and they capture the rain water for just this reason. So wet, cold and no shower available--- was a great day indeed. We went to bed and called it done for the day.
We found a laundry just down the street. Here it is call a lavanderia. We drop off our dirty clothes and after class pick them up folded. The cost is about $4.00 each time. It is really kind of slick -- no dish washing, meal preparation, no laundry and for this I am learning to say hello in Spanish.
Field Trip with Patty
This morning after breakfast of a boiled egg, beans, white bread, and liquid cereal we went to school. Patty covered ¨la familia¨before 10 a.m. then we headed out on a field trip. Today Patty has a ´practical´at the hospital for her training as a physical therapist. We found ourselves stuffed into a more or less 15 passenger van/bus for 1 quetzale (about 15 cents) and I had to pay her fair. I counted 22 people in that bus not including the driver and the ´town crier´who hangs out of the door drumming up passengers as it is his job to fill the bus. It was an experience! Remember that there are no stop signs and I believe only one red light signal that I know of and street markings are for show! Nobody dies!!!!
At the hospital I was able to see the ´hand and arm´portion of PT with pulley ropes with weights and hand massage from my perch in the hallway. I could not follow Patty in with the patient in small cubicles with curtains across the doors. They looked much the same as those from the Rehab center in Iowa. I sat next to a woman working on a blouse that she was crocheting while she waited from her husband. The hallways of the hospital were dark as are most places I have been in. There is a cost factor involved in using electricity here. Don struggles with the lack of light more than I do.
After PT we went to a huge shopping mall. While window shopping we studied Spanish by naming everything we saw. It was Chick Spanish¨for women or ¨español para mujers¨. While adding to my vocabulary we exchanged ideas on the clothes we like best, counted the number of stores from the USA (Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, to name some). We had a great day.
Once again we ran across the director, Marlo, and got ourselves invited to a poetry reading at Patty´s college in the evening. We we got as much out of the evening was we did a Mass on Sunday--lets be nice and say we understood about 10 words.
Day is done!
At the hospital I was able to see the ´hand and arm´portion of PT with pulley ropes with weights and hand massage from my perch in the hallway. I could not follow Patty in with the patient in small cubicles with curtains across the doors. They looked much the same as those from the Rehab center in Iowa. I sat next to a woman working on a blouse that she was crocheting while she waited from her husband. The hallways of the hospital were dark as are most places I have been in. There is a cost factor involved in using electricity here. Don struggles with the lack of light more than I do.
After PT we went to a huge shopping mall. While window shopping we studied Spanish by naming everything we saw. It was Chick Spanish¨for women or ¨español para mujers¨. While adding to my vocabulary we exchanged ideas on the clothes we like best, counted the number of stores from the USA (Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, to name some). We had a great day.
Once again we ran across the director, Marlo, and got ourselves invited to a poetry reading at Patty´s college in the evening. We we got as much out of the evening was we did a Mass on Sunday--lets be nice and say we understood about 10 words.
Day is done!
Tuesday Class with Patty
On Tuesday Patty kept me busy. We covered body parts and I learned way more body parts than Don did but go figure-- Patty is preparing to be a physical therapist! Five hours a day is a long to do do anything and it really pushes me to pay attention that long to something I do not understand well but I am hanging in there.
The afternoon activity was a Salsa dance lesson. It was an experience to say the least. They managed to teach Don the ´Salty Dog Rag´but will never teach him to count the steps in Salsa dancing. It was however an interesting afternoon. Stephanie was well into it by the time we arrived but she is 21 and blond so the instructor worked hard with her.
After our day was done at school we both had a load of homework to do. We may be hard pressed to get the homework done as the director of the school invited us to attend a lecture on Nauali (which are a lot like your horoscope or signs) for the Mayan people. There was an interpreter there so we were able to follow somewhat the gist of the lecture. The object of the exercise was to ´hear´the language so we can eventually communicate.
The afternoon activity was a Salsa dance lesson. It was an experience to say the least. They managed to teach Don the ´Salty Dog Rag´but will never teach him to count the steps in Salsa dancing. It was however an interesting afternoon. Stephanie was well into it by the time we arrived but she is 21 and blond so the instructor worked hard with her.
After our day was done at school we both had a load of homework to do. We may be hard pressed to get the homework done as the director of the school invited us to attend a lecture on Nauali (which are a lot like your horoscope or signs) for the Mayan people. There was an interpreter there so we were able to follow somewhat the gist of the lecture. The object of the exercise was to ´hear´the language so we can eventually communicate.
Our Host Family
To continue on from the first day of school.
We started right in with a trace of a grin and we studied for 5 hours before we were taken to the home of our host family. We had all of our luggage with us at the school so we picked it up and toted it down the street. Our family is an Indigenous Mayan Family and they only speak Spanish. I believe they may understand some English because English is taught in the school at least a little. They own and operate a ´tienda´(small store) which is next to the garage and the garage is IN the house. They park their car next to the sofa! They have an absolutely beat up and finished sofa and two chairs. They face an entertainment center with a TV and DVD/Radio player and that stands next to a class display case in the shape of a cross with a statue of Jesus. Senor Miseal and Senora Hortensia Xicara may claim to be Catholic but that is in name only. They are Mayan and hold Mayan ceremonies. They often have lighted candles set in front of the display.
The family consists of Mom and Dad, 3 teenage sons and 2 teenage daughters, one 9 year old daughter, one grandchild, Michelle age 2, and Michelle´s dad. All of these people are at the house everyday for the big meal at lunch time. The evening meal can be rather skimpy. For the most part the home is poor but Don said that they have a better computer than we do and a better digital camera.
When we arrived the host family already had one student from Kie-Balam (our school). Stephanie had been taking Spanish in school and this was an enhancement. She had been in school here 2 weeks when we arrived. Can I say she was a blond! A generally smart blond but blondism is not something you can wash away!!!
Our room is upstairs at the back of the house directly over the primitive kitchen/dishwashing area. The furnishings are a bed (comfortable enough), a 4 shelf book shelf, a small stool of some kind and for the first week and a half that was it. One day Hortensia came in and saw our luggage on the floor and carried in a small table to put it on. I changed it´s function to a small dual desk so Don and I could work in our room (so far not quiet enough to really make that functional) but it was a good idea. Two walls of our room are windows which provide more light than we would otherwise have for the room. We have a key to the house and a key to our room.
Hortensia, does all of the cooking and will do a better job managing my diet than I ever will. The director of the school is diabetic and had a heart to heart with Hortensia. My meals tend to be a bit skimpy (to be nice) considering the 5 hours of head work and the walking to and from every place we go. So far I have not starved. La Cena (dinner) has been a dollop of frijoles (beans) and her version of corn tortillas (tasteless) and one or two cups of tea. La desayuno (breakfast) could be one scrambled egg, a dollop of frijoles and a cup of a milky, drinkable cereal (no idea what this is yet but it has no taste either). El almuerzo (lunch) can be a small serving of spaghetti with a little tomato sauce, a tortilla and two squash like vegetables plus a glass of pure water. I think it would be safe to say that Mayan meals are rather bland. The best part about it is that I do not have to prepare them or wash up after meals.
We started right in with a trace of a grin and we studied for 5 hours before we were taken to the home of our host family. We had all of our luggage with us at the school so we picked it up and toted it down the street. Our family is an Indigenous Mayan Family and they only speak Spanish. I believe they may understand some English because English is taught in the school at least a little. They own and operate a ´tienda´(small store) which is next to the garage and the garage is IN the house. They park their car next to the sofa! They have an absolutely beat up and finished sofa and two chairs. They face an entertainment center with a TV and DVD/Radio player and that stands next to a class display case in the shape of a cross with a statue of Jesus. Senor Miseal and Senora Hortensia Xicara may claim to be Catholic but that is in name only. They are Mayan and hold Mayan ceremonies. They often have lighted candles set in front of the display.
The family consists of Mom and Dad, 3 teenage sons and 2 teenage daughters, one 9 year old daughter, one grandchild, Michelle age 2, and Michelle´s dad. All of these people are at the house everyday for the big meal at lunch time. The evening meal can be rather skimpy. For the most part the home is poor but Don said that they have a better computer than we do and a better digital camera.
When we arrived the host family already had one student from Kie-Balam (our school). Stephanie had been taking Spanish in school and this was an enhancement. She had been in school here 2 weeks when we arrived. Can I say she was a blond! A generally smart blond but blondism is not something you can wash away!!!
Our room is upstairs at the back of the house directly over the primitive kitchen/dishwashing area. The furnishings are a bed (comfortable enough), a 4 shelf book shelf, a small stool of some kind and for the first week and a half that was it. One day Hortensia came in and saw our luggage on the floor and carried in a small table to put it on. I changed it´s function to a small dual desk so Don and I could work in our room (so far not quiet enough to really make that functional) but it was a good idea. Two walls of our room are windows which provide more light than we would otherwise have for the room. We have a key to the house and a key to our room.
Hortensia, does all of the cooking and will do a better job managing my diet than I ever will. The director of the school is diabetic and had a heart to heart with Hortensia. My meals tend to be a bit skimpy (to be nice) considering the 5 hours of head work and the walking to and from every place we go. So far I have not starved. La Cena (dinner) has been a dollop of frijoles (beans) and her version of corn tortillas (tasteless) and one or two cups of tea. La desayuno (breakfast) could be one scrambled egg, a dollop of frijoles and a cup of a milky, drinkable cereal (no idea what this is yet but it has no taste either). El almuerzo (lunch) can be a small serving of spaghetti with a little tomato sauce, a tortilla and two squash like vegetables plus a glass of pure water. I think it would be safe to say that Mayan meals are rather bland. The best part about it is that I do not have to prepare them or wash up after meals.
Monday, August 20, 2007
La Escuela - Spanish School
August 12, 2007 Sunday
We arranged for a shuttle bus to pick us up at the hotel in Antigua and take us to Xela (short for Quetzeltenango). The highway is under construction so the generally 4 hour trip took 5 to 5 1-2 hours. The bus driver/tour guide was Lucas and he spoke no English. We developed a relationship with him and he was soon pointing out spots of interest and giving micro Spanish lessons. He would pull over so that Don could take pictures. We saw political posters attached to the mountain side because elections will take place here in September. When we reached the ´four corners´we changed buses. They have the drivers take off from both ends of the trip and they meet here and return to the city they started from. We exchanged a whole big group of people heading for a lake and ended up with just thee people on our bus. Several times we had to stop and wait for the construction and they were excellent times to practice Spanish. Once we followed a pick up truck with people loaded in the back. One mother and her young daughter were soon waving and blowing kisses at Don! Both of us were safely separated and mama did not feel threatened. Later we passed Mom and baby again when they had stopped and gotten out of the truck. The baby made a big to-do waving and blowing kisses as we passed. Everyone was grinning about the baby´s interacting with perfect strangers.
Since our school was closed on Sunday we stayed in a hotel called Dona Mercedes. It was a really nice place and our room had a private bath. All of the rooms have kitchen privileges so we were able to make ourselves a cup of tea. It was also mercifully quiet so we got a good nights sleep.
Breakfast at 7 am in Xela took place at-----wait for it-----McDonald´s. There are few places you can count on that the food will be the same. Eggs & sausage at McDonald´s is the same in Guatemala as it is in Iowa. There were no other places open that we new of at that time of day to get something to eat. Classes were to begin at 8 am and we had to be there fed and with our luggage to begin our Spanish lessons.
We arrived at Kie-Balam, our school or escuela and jumped right in with Spanish lessons. We were introduced to our teachers and classes began. My teacher is a young girl of 23 years who is studying to be a physical therapist. Her name is Patty and she is as cute as a bug. We are actually working well together. Towards the end of the first week Patty needed to be at her teaching hospital for a short clinical (I think) and I traveled with her. We took a shuttle bus that should hold about 15 people but actually had 22 people loaded into it to her hospital. I had to wait in the hall while they were in with a patient. I spoke to a women who was crocheting a lacy blouse.
After the hospital we went to a big shopping mall that was within walking distance. They say GUA is a third world country but you can buy anything you might think of. Don and his instructor teased us then and now about doing Spanish female style. We window shopped and named everything we saw and debated about wearing some of the dresses we saw in the window.
Time is up for the evening. This portion will be continued at another time.
We arranged for a shuttle bus to pick us up at the hotel in Antigua and take us to Xela (short for Quetzeltenango). The highway is under construction so the generally 4 hour trip took 5 to 5 1-2 hours. The bus driver/tour guide was Lucas and he spoke no English. We developed a relationship with him and he was soon pointing out spots of interest and giving micro Spanish lessons. He would pull over so that Don could take pictures. We saw political posters attached to the mountain side because elections will take place here in September. When we reached the ´four corners´we changed buses. They have the drivers take off from both ends of the trip and they meet here and return to the city they started from. We exchanged a whole big group of people heading for a lake and ended up with just thee people on our bus. Several times we had to stop and wait for the construction and they were excellent times to practice Spanish. Once we followed a pick up truck with people loaded in the back. One mother and her young daughter were soon waving and blowing kisses at Don! Both of us were safely separated and mama did not feel threatened. Later we passed Mom and baby again when they had stopped and gotten out of the truck. The baby made a big to-do waving and blowing kisses as we passed. Everyone was grinning about the baby´s interacting with perfect strangers.
Since our school was closed on Sunday we stayed in a hotel called Dona Mercedes. It was a really nice place and our room had a private bath. All of the rooms have kitchen privileges so we were able to make ourselves a cup of tea. It was also mercifully quiet so we got a good nights sleep.
Breakfast at 7 am in Xela took place at-----wait for it-----McDonald´s. There are few places you can count on that the food will be the same. Eggs & sausage at McDonald´s is the same in Guatemala as it is in Iowa. There were no other places open that we new of at that time of day to get something to eat. Classes were to begin at 8 am and we had to be there fed and with our luggage to begin our Spanish lessons.
We arrived at Kie-Balam, our school or escuela and jumped right in with Spanish lessons. We were introduced to our teachers and classes began. My teacher is a young girl of 23 years who is studying to be a physical therapist. Her name is Patty and she is as cute as a bug. We are actually working well together. Towards the end of the first week Patty needed to be at her teaching hospital for a short clinical (I think) and I traveled with her. We took a shuttle bus that should hold about 15 people but actually had 22 people loaded into it to her hospital. I had to wait in the hall while they were in with a patient. I spoke to a women who was crocheting a lacy blouse.
After the hospital we went to a big shopping mall that was within walking distance. They say GUA is a third world country but you can buy anything you might think of. Don and his instructor teased us then and now about doing Spanish female style. We window shopped and named everything we saw and debated about wearing some of the dresses we saw in the window.
Time is up for the evening. This portion will be continued at another time.
A trip up an active volcano- Pacaya
Today we took a trip out of Antigua to walk to the top of an active volcano! After a nearly sleepless night we were up bright and early so that we could eat and be downstairs to meet our transportation ( a micro bus- aka van). We picked up two young couples, one from Spain and one from Israel, then we started out to the volcano. It was a bone shaken, body beating trip out of Antigua! I am not sure why there are not car body parts lying around all over the place! Has anyone ever heard of suspension in a car? Well put that idea right our of your head! That must be the first thing to go! It was nice to hit the highway, sorta - there are few stop signs and little or no signal lights and drivers simple go where they want to go. If you can imagine riding with your fingers crossed you would be right on target. At any rate it was a drive of about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to reach Pacaya. The driver took us up as high as a vehicle can go. He parked at a small village where we bought walking sticks from small boys and started up the volcano on foot.
I made the attempt to climb Pacaya on foot. It was soon obvious that I would need to ride a horse to the top so I made a couple of new friends. Cinnamon was the name of my steady steed and his handler was Sevin (pronounced SeBin). Sevin was a nice young man of few words but he and the horse have an understand of the job to be done. Sevin gave advice when needed -- such as stand and lean forward so the horse could climb a portion of the mountain that was straight up. Sevin never appeared to be out of breath and I was working up a sweat staying on the horse. The only thing to hold on to was the rather large pomel or the back of the saddle. The stirrups were just barely short enough for me to get my feet into and only offered some protection from scraping on the mountain side.
Our tour guide was named Arturo. He did an excellent job with his small group. Since the other two couples were younger and more agile Arutro stayed with Don and I to be sure we stayed safe. Don had the stamina to make the whole trip on foot. When we reached a point at the top where we could see old lava flows and the ground was flat with green space for the horses we were ready to complete the trip on foot. The horses would rest and eat and for a price would return me to the bottom of the volcano. It had taken and hour and a half to climb this far.
Arturo was full of encouragement and determined that I would make it to the hot lava. From our vantage point we could see red places where the rock was super heated! Arturo took my hand and zig-zagged me up and down the lava valley. He guided my feet and kept reminding me to ´go slow´. He managed to get me where he wanted me to be. He took my stick and calved off some lava and took my picture with molten rock on the end of my walking stick. It set the stick on fire but was a great experience. A little further up was a place where the rock was flowing down to the crater and Arturo got us as close to it as we could stand (extreme heat) and took our picture.
We rested a little distance from the hot rock but still sitting on lava. We ate our snack and shared with Arturo. We decided that 1 liter of water was definately the minimum amount one should carry to climb a volcano.
Going down was faster but certainly not easier. It is hard on the knees to be in a steady down hill walk. Riding straight down was no picnic either. Holding on to the back of the saddle and praying that I would not fall off I made it down the volcano. We had to find a couple of ´lay overs¨ to allow another group going up to pass. Don gave Arturo a tip for his special care of us. Sevin was paid handsomely for both the trip up and down on his horse. It was an adventure but I am done climbing volcanos.
I made the attempt to climb Pacaya on foot. It was soon obvious that I would need to ride a horse to the top so I made a couple of new friends. Cinnamon was the name of my steady steed and his handler was Sevin (pronounced SeBin). Sevin was a nice young man of few words but he and the horse have an understand of the job to be done. Sevin gave advice when needed -- such as stand and lean forward so the horse could climb a portion of the mountain that was straight up. Sevin never appeared to be out of breath and I was working up a sweat staying on the horse. The only thing to hold on to was the rather large pomel or the back of the saddle. The stirrups were just barely short enough for me to get my feet into and only offered some protection from scraping on the mountain side.
Our tour guide was named Arturo. He did an excellent job with his small group. Since the other two couples were younger and more agile Arutro stayed with Don and I to be sure we stayed safe. Don had the stamina to make the whole trip on foot. When we reached a point at the top where we could see old lava flows and the ground was flat with green space for the horses we were ready to complete the trip on foot. The horses would rest and eat and for a price would return me to the bottom of the volcano. It had taken and hour and a half to climb this far.
Arturo was full of encouragement and determined that I would make it to the hot lava. From our vantage point we could see red places where the rock was super heated! Arturo took my hand and zig-zagged me up and down the lava valley. He guided my feet and kept reminding me to ´go slow´. He managed to get me where he wanted me to be. He took my stick and calved off some lava and took my picture with molten rock on the end of my walking stick. It set the stick on fire but was a great experience. A little further up was a place where the rock was flowing down to the crater and Arturo got us as close to it as we could stand (extreme heat) and took our picture.
We rested a little distance from the hot rock but still sitting on lava. We ate our snack and shared with Arturo. We decided that 1 liter of water was definately the minimum amount one should carry to climb a volcano.
Going down was faster but certainly not easier. It is hard on the knees to be in a steady down hill walk. Riding straight down was no picnic either. Holding on to the back of the saddle and praying that I would not fall off I made it down the volcano. We had to find a couple of ´lay overs¨ to allow another group going up to pass. Don gave Arturo a tip for his special care of us. Sevin was paid handsomely for both the trip up and down on his horse. It was an adventure but I am done climbing volcanos.
A trip up an active volcano
Okay here goes - a trip up to an active volcano. Pacaya is active and a favorite spot for tourist to visit so of course Dad had to give it a go. We were up bright and early (with no sleep the night before) ate the foods we could scrounge, packed a snack and at least 1 liter of water each and headed for the outdoors to wait for our transportation. It was a micro bus . We picked up two other couples, one from Spain and one from Israel. We started out on a body beating trip out of Antigua and were relieved when we hit the highway. It was at least not cobble stone but there are few stop signs or red lights and everybody just drives where they want to be. The vehicles horn has a language of it´s own! We are even beginning to know what the combination of honks mean. The trip up to Pacaya took one to one and a half hour with the driver taking us as high as it was possible for a vehicle to go and from there the trip was done on foot or in my case by horse.
I started up Pacaya on foot but it was not long before I realized that I would not make it up on my own with the altitude not helping and the way diabetes effects my heart, so I opted for the trip up on a horse. While that may sound like it was easy let be disabuse you of that idea. We are talking riding a horse ´straight up´ a volcano (which is pointy on top-sorta). I had the pommel of the horse and the saddle to hold on to and the stirrups were just barely short enough so they were not a great deal of help--except when I had to stand and lean forward so the horse could climb! The horses name was Cinnamon and his handler was Sevin (pronounced SeBin). He was a nice young man of few words and he never became breathless going up or down! Our guide for our small group was Arturo and he was excellent all the way. The other two couples were much younger than Don and I so he concentrated on taking care of us.
When we reached a point on the top of the mountain (like a mesa with a few trees and green grass for the horses) it was time to dismount and continue on foot. From here we could see a lava river, a place where the volcano had erupted before. We walked on pea size volcano bits which were very slippery and at this point Arturo took my hand and I climbed to the actual volcano. We could see from here read streaks where the rock was super heated!!! Arturo was bound and determine that I would make it to the hot lava. He would hold my hand and tell me where to put my feet. He stayed on me to ´go slow´. The lava rock was rough and had craters all over the place. With all the help and encouragement from Arturo we reached the hot rock. Don and I had walking sticks bought for a song from a young boy at the base of the volcano. Arturo took mine and calved off molten rock onto the end of my stick and I had my picture taken with hot molten lava. A little further up the rock was melting and pouring (slowly) down the mountain and Arturo had us back up as close as we could stand it and get a picture! Lave is extremely hot!!
There were others on the volcano and one person melted some marshmallows by volcano and I think someone made a grill cheese sandwich! We rested a little distance from the hot rock and ate out snack which we shared with Arturo. We were in agreement that 1 liter of water was the bare minimum of water one should climb a volcano with. Don fell twice on the crater but fortunately the damage was minimal. Arturo would not let me fall! The climb back up to the horses was tough for me but I struggled along and Arturo kept me zig-zaging until he had me back up to the top. Needless to say Don gave Arturo a tip for his care of us during the climb. Sevin was paid both for the trip up and the trip down and we decided the charge was sufficient to include a tip.
Going down -- should have been easier and it some ways it was. It was definitely quicker at only 1 hour down. But it was STRAIGHT down! I had muscles in my arms and legs that were complaining the next day!! I had bruises on the inside of my knee from rubbing against the saddle but I was not actually saddle. I have been so saddle sore that sitting was nearly impossible and I was not in that much trouble.
I started up Pacaya on foot but it was not long before I realized that I would not make it up on my own with the altitude not helping and the way diabetes effects my heart, so I opted for the trip up on a horse. While that may sound like it was easy let be disabuse you of that idea. We are talking riding a horse ´straight up´ a volcano (which is pointy on top-sorta). I had the pommel of the horse and the saddle to hold on to and the stirrups were just barely short enough so they were not a great deal of help--except when I had to stand and lean forward so the horse could climb! The horses name was Cinnamon and his handler was Sevin (pronounced SeBin). He was a nice young man of few words and he never became breathless going up or down! Our guide for our small group was Arturo and he was excellent all the way. The other two couples were much younger than Don and I so he concentrated on taking care of us.
When we reached a point on the top of the mountain (like a mesa with a few trees and green grass for the horses) it was time to dismount and continue on foot. From here we could see a lava river, a place where the volcano had erupted before. We walked on pea size volcano bits which were very slippery and at this point Arturo took my hand and I climbed to the actual volcano. We could see from here read streaks where the rock was super heated!!! Arturo was bound and determine that I would make it to the hot lava. He would hold my hand and tell me where to put my feet. He stayed on me to ´go slow´. The lava rock was rough and had craters all over the place. With all the help and encouragement from Arturo we reached the hot rock. Don and I had walking sticks bought for a song from a young boy at the base of the volcano. Arturo took mine and calved off molten rock onto the end of my stick and I had my picture taken with hot molten lava. A little further up the rock was melting and pouring (slowly) down the mountain and Arturo had us back up as close as we could stand it and get a picture! Lave is extremely hot!!
There were others on the volcano and one person melted some marshmallows by volcano and I think someone made a grill cheese sandwich! We rested a little distance from the hot rock and ate out snack which we shared with Arturo. We were in agreement that 1 liter of water was the bare minimum of water one should climb a volcano with. Don fell twice on the crater but fortunately the damage was minimal. Arturo would not let me fall! The climb back up to the horses was tough for me but I struggled along and Arturo kept me zig-zaging until he had me back up to the top. Needless to say Don gave Arturo a tip for his care of us during the climb. Sevin was paid both for the trip up and the trip down and we decided the charge was sufficient to include a tip.
Going down -- should have been easier and it some ways it was. It was definitely quicker at only 1 hour down. But it was STRAIGHT down! I had muscles in my arms and legs that were complaining the next day!! I had bruises on the inside of my knee from rubbing against the saddle but I was not actually saddle. I have been so saddle sore that sitting was nearly impossible and I was not in that much trouble.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Pacaya, an active volcano
Today we were up by 5 am for our hike to the top (nearly) of an active volcano! But I am getting ahead of myself. We got very little sleep because it seems getting ready for Market Day is a good reason to party all night! It was like a disturbed ant hill in Antigua. The streets were much busier that usual. There were small pickup trucks loaded to the hilt with produce and people coming in all day. Finally at 3 am I asked the people laughing and making noise in our courtyard to please go to sleep.
Time to eat again so I will continue about the trip up the volcano another time. Stay tuned because you don´t want to miss this!
Time to eat again so I will continue about the trip up the volcano another time. Stay tuned because you don´t want to miss this!
Walking Tour of Antigua
August 10
We slept well in Antigua but the room is nothing to write about. We had the best room in the house to start with and it contained a double bed and a small single bed and a couple of benches and a table and a built in closet/wardrobe, with a private shower and toilet. The plumbing system in GUA is lacking somewhat and all paper must be disposed of in a trash can that is provided everywhere. There may not be toilet paper but you have a trash can for it.
Our walking tour started with a hunt for breakfast and once fed we met with a tour guide, Elizabeth Bell. She is a US citizen who has lived in Antigua and made it her home for a very long time now. The tour was a lot of fun and we had a brief introduction to Antigua and the people of Guatemala. It was a great way to begin to understand just a little about how the people live here. We saw the ¨hidden¨Antigua. Many of the places we visited had two doors. The outside door was generally heavy duty metal with great big locks but once opened you might see some extremely beautiful homes with grassy courtyards with flowers everywhere and trees. It was a surprise to see the life inside. Don took some great pictures and someday you may be lucky enough to see them.
On the second day in Antigua we did look for a different place to eat but finally decided to stay on the safe side and stayed with La Fuentes. We thought that we arrived at school we would be able to learn of more places safe for us to eat. The object being to stay healthy so we could study and learn Spanish. The toilet failed on our room on the second day. They moved us to a smaller room which was a real challenge. It had a bed and one bench and no place to put the luggage. It did have a newer bath with shower. We looked like squirrels trying to arrange things so we could function. We packed a day pack for our trip to Picaya Volcano -- an active volcano, which was planned for 6 am the next day. We packed some snack food and had to carry at least one liter of water a piece for the volcano.
My souvenirs from Antigua are a Jade pendant (no chain) from the Jade factory which we toured on our own before the Walking Tour. We were escorted by the owner of this factory so we had a most excellent tour. Then we found a pretty purple wrap around skirt in a GUA design and a white GUA style ¨peasant¨blouse. We bought a Spanish prayer book. We also buy a lot of water and cokes to drink. Water is very heavy to move around.
We stopped at an Internet cafe & checked our e-mail and sent a brief message to everyone on our list. By then it was dark and we bought a coke to take back to the hotel and drink on the roof so we could watch the craziness below. There are no stop lights in Antigua and very few stop signs and the road markings are mearly decorations. It is an adventure to get from one place to another. There are cars, trucks, motorcycles, and a motorcycle type taxi called a ¨Tuk-tuk¨all driving kamikaze style and people crossing streets in between. Life is an iffy thing on the streets of Antigua. We went back to our new rooms and showered and with luck hoped to sleep. There was a party/fiesta or some reason for people to gather all night. The door bell rang like crazy and finally at about 3 am I called out of our window ¨Por Favor, Buenes Noches. (Please, good night!) and the noise stopped. With two hours of sleep we were ready to start a new day (yeah right) climbing a volcano exhausted. All total however, it was a good day.
We slept well in Antigua but the room is nothing to write about. We had the best room in the house to start with and it contained a double bed and a small single bed and a couple of benches and a table and a built in closet/wardrobe, with a private shower and toilet. The plumbing system in GUA is lacking somewhat and all paper must be disposed of in a trash can that is provided everywhere. There may not be toilet paper but you have a trash can for it.
Our walking tour started with a hunt for breakfast and once fed we met with a tour guide, Elizabeth Bell. She is a US citizen who has lived in Antigua and made it her home for a very long time now. The tour was a lot of fun and we had a brief introduction to Antigua and the people of Guatemala. It was a great way to begin to understand just a little about how the people live here. We saw the ¨hidden¨Antigua. Many of the places we visited had two doors. The outside door was generally heavy duty metal with great big locks but once opened you might see some extremely beautiful homes with grassy courtyards with flowers everywhere and trees. It was a surprise to see the life inside. Don took some great pictures and someday you may be lucky enough to see them.
On the second day in Antigua we did look for a different place to eat but finally decided to stay on the safe side and stayed with La Fuentes. We thought that we arrived at school we would be able to learn of more places safe for us to eat. The object being to stay healthy so we could study and learn Spanish. The toilet failed on our room on the second day. They moved us to a smaller room which was a real challenge. It had a bed and one bench and no place to put the luggage. It did have a newer bath with shower. We looked like squirrels trying to arrange things so we could function. We packed a day pack for our trip to Picaya Volcano -- an active volcano, which was planned for 6 am the next day. We packed some snack food and had to carry at least one liter of water a piece for the volcano.
My souvenirs from Antigua are a Jade pendant (no chain) from the Jade factory which we toured on our own before the Walking Tour. We were escorted by the owner of this factory so we had a most excellent tour. Then we found a pretty purple wrap around skirt in a GUA design and a white GUA style ¨peasant¨blouse. We bought a Spanish prayer book. We also buy a lot of water and cokes to drink. Water is very heavy to move around.
We stopped at an Internet cafe & checked our e-mail and sent a brief message to everyone on our list. By then it was dark and we bought a coke to take back to the hotel and drink on the roof so we could watch the craziness below. There are no stop lights in Antigua and very few stop signs and the road markings are mearly decorations. It is an adventure to get from one place to another. There are cars, trucks, motorcycles, and a motorcycle type taxi called a ¨Tuk-tuk¨all driving kamikaze style and people crossing streets in between. Life is an iffy thing on the streets of Antigua. We went back to our new rooms and showered and with luck hoped to sleep. There was a party/fiesta or some reason for people to gather all night. The door bell rang like crazy and finally at about 3 am I called out of our window ¨Por Favor, Buenes Noches. (Please, good night!) and the noise stopped. With two hours of sleep we were ready to start a new day (yeah right) climbing a volcano exhausted. All total however, it was a good day.
Arrival in Guatemala
August 8 -- Day One
Our Most Excellent Adventure in Guatemala finally began. For the past several months we have planned and researched and prepared for our trip to study Spanish in Guatemala. We had to wait forever for the pass ports to come in and while we waited Don searched for good airline tickets (by good I mean cheap). One day a most excellent price was found so Don decided to buy-- but yet no pass ports. You can imagine that we were pleased when the pass ports did come in and we had tickets --- the adventure began.
The week before we left we started shopping for things we felt we had to have. Don had done a lot of research and was in contact with the gentleman who runs this Internet Cafe ¨Xelapages¨ who sent a lot of basic information to us. The shopping was interesting because whatever we bought we would have to hand carry as we would have no car in GUA. Our friends Al and Judy volunteered to drive us to the train station in Galesburg, IL so that we could leave our car in the garage. It was bright and early on Wednesday morning when we boarded Amtrak headed for Chicago. We had a room booked at a hotel near the airport so we could be on time for a 6:10 am flight for Miami. We changed planes with no problem in Miami and while sitting in the plane at the gate we were handed papers to fill out that we would need to enter GUA so the time was well spent. After that brief delay we were on our way. American airlines has televisions in the center of the planes so we watched a really dumb movie on the first leg and ignored what was on during the second leg.
We arrive in Guatemala and begin the process of passing through immigration, that is after a really long hike. Like most airports this one is under construction which adds a lot to your fun and pleasure. Getting checked through was a piece of cake. It happened so fast that we were out on the street before we had time to get money for GUA. We had arrived in GUA at 1:30 pm and went looking for our transportation. There was someone from the hotel in Antigua with a sign with our name on it waiting. We climbed into this rattletrap truck and took off for Antigua.
Antigua
In Antigua we found our room and dropped all of that stuff and took off for a walking tour of our area. The roads in Antigua are rough cobble stone. If you don´t need to visit the restroom before you get to Antigua you will shortly after getting a full body massage on their roads. Walking on them was also a trip. The roads are barely wide enough for the cars and the sidewalk is barely two people wide and has a lot of broken uneven places. You know me and the foot -- I had to watch where I put my foot and trust Don to do all of the navigating. I had to stop moving to take in the scenery.
Our dinner was at a restaurant that had been recommended as one that was friendly to the American tummy, ¨La Fuentes¨. The restaurant was a surprise like most of the places we have been into, the front door is nothing to look at but once you enter there is an entryway then you find yourself in a courtyard with a fountain in the middle and grass (very little grass shows in GUA because it rains a lot so all city streets are cement). Around the edge of the little courtyard were tables and chairs that were under a roof. Behind the tables were little shops and an Internet Cafe (which Don thought was too expensive). To make a long story short the restaurant was perfect for our tummys and we subsequently ate all of our meals there.
Our Most Excellent Adventure in Guatemala finally began. For the past several months we have planned and researched and prepared for our trip to study Spanish in Guatemala. We had to wait forever for the pass ports to come in and while we waited Don searched for good airline tickets (by good I mean cheap). One day a most excellent price was found so Don decided to buy-- but yet no pass ports. You can imagine that we were pleased when the pass ports did come in and we had tickets --- the adventure began.
The week before we left we started shopping for things we felt we had to have. Don had done a lot of research and was in contact with the gentleman who runs this Internet Cafe ¨Xelapages¨ who sent a lot of basic information to us. The shopping was interesting because whatever we bought we would have to hand carry as we would have no car in GUA. Our friends Al and Judy volunteered to drive us to the train station in Galesburg, IL so that we could leave our car in the garage. It was bright and early on Wednesday morning when we boarded Amtrak headed for Chicago. We had a room booked at a hotel near the airport so we could be on time for a 6:10 am flight for Miami. We changed planes with no problem in Miami and while sitting in the plane at the gate we were handed papers to fill out that we would need to enter GUA so the time was well spent. After that brief delay we were on our way. American airlines has televisions in the center of the planes so we watched a really dumb movie on the first leg and ignored what was on during the second leg.
We arrive in Guatemala and begin the process of passing through immigration, that is after a really long hike. Like most airports this one is under construction which adds a lot to your fun and pleasure. Getting checked through was a piece of cake. It happened so fast that we were out on the street before we had time to get money for GUA. We had arrived in GUA at 1:30 pm and went looking for our transportation. There was someone from the hotel in Antigua with a sign with our name on it waiting. We climbed into this rattletrap truck and took off for Antigua.
Antigua
In Antigua we found our room and dropped all of that stuff and took off for a walking tour of our area. The roads in Antigua are rough cobble stone. If you don´t need to visit the restroom before you get to Antigua you will shortly after getting a full body massage on their roads. Walking on them was also a trip. The roads are barely wide enough for the cars and the sidewalk is barely two people wide and has a lot of broken uneven places. You know me and the foot -- I had to watch where I put my foot and trust Don to do all of the navigating. I had to stop moving to take in the scenery.
Our dinner was at a restaurant that had been recommended as one that was friendly to the American tummy, ¨La Fuentes¨. The restaurant was a surprise like most of the places we have been into, the front door is nothing to look at but once you enter there is an entryway then you find yourself in a courtyard with a fountain in the middle and grass (very little grass shows in GUA because it rains a lot so all city streets are cement). Around the edge of the little courtyard were tables and chairs that were under a roof. Behind the tables were little shops and an Internet Cafe (which Don thought was too expensive). To make a long story short the restaurant was perfect for our tummys and we subsequently ate all of our meals there.
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