(This page is in reverse chronological order, journals loaded as they come in, so please start at the bottom if you are new to the page!)
June 30
Hello! Nothing really exciting has happened since I gave the last update but I would like to type up a few things that have been on my mind/I love about living here.
First, I love my family, especially my little nephews. There are eight other people living with me. I have never in my life lived with so many people at one time. The most I have lived with is three other people when I lived in Buenger Hall at Xavier. I am not really used to the craziness or constant business of a house that big. I like it though. Recently I have been getting along really well with my nephews. Jeremy is 5 I think and Josue is 7 or 8. We usually play in the evening or watch a movie in Spanish together. Yesterday I was kind of hanging around the house, thinking of where I could walk to in the city, and they asked if I wanted to play. So we played. I forgot how fun it is to play with kids. We pretended to cook pizzas and deliver them, read some books in spanish, and we colored. They actually had The Very Hungry Caterpillar translated into Spanish, which was one of my absolute favorite books when I was little.
They are the so cute and I am going to miss them a ton. Jeremy is the silly one, always making crazy faces and wearing his Spiderman mask. Josue is more serious but has an easy smile that could break your heart. They are both sweethearts. I think it is really cool that they are cousins and that they can grow up together and have someone to play with. My sisters, Norma and Nilda, each have babies of their own. The two baby boys are about the same age and I think its neat that those two will have a playmate and friend like Josue and Jeremy have each other. So I am kind of dreading saying goodbye to them and everyone in my family. They have all been very welcoming, patient, helpful, and they really do feel like a second family to me now.
Just about 20 mins ago I said goodbye to someone from PLQ. Joe left to go to Guatemala City where he will wait for a friend to arrive and travel to Tikal, Rio Dulce, and Livingston. I am really jealous that he gets to travel more, but I am ready to go home as well. It’s a strange feeling because I would love to stay, but at the same time I am ready to go. It was kind of weird saying goodbye and we talked as if we were going to see each other again someday. Maybe we will, who knows, but in any case goodbyes are kind of sad.
And now a funnier story. This morning I was awoken by my parrot, Luis. I think I already said that Luis is our green parrot that lives on a hanging tire in the house. Anyway, I was in my bed and all of a sudden I hear this loud squawking. Sometimes in the morning Luis makes really loud noises and wakes me up, so I thought it was that. Then I felt something grabbing my leg and I looked up and there was Luis, trying to climb on my leg, loosing his balance, and squawking. I was really surprised at this new development so I reacted in a way that reflected my half-awake/half-asleep state. I screamed and tried to knock Luis off my leg with a book. Thankfully the parrot has some skills and fluttered onto my sheets while I scrambled out of bed. I have a door to my room and a sheet that’s kind of like a curtain as well. Usually I don’t shut the door, but just let down the curtain during the night. I did this last night and when I pushed the curtain aside I saw Jeremy, Josue and my mother Josefina laying down seeds outside my curtain to try to lure Luis out. She was apologizing left and right and all I could do was laugh. It was the weirdest wake-up I have ever had in my entire life, one for the books for sure. Apparently Luis was knocked off his tire by the stroller that Jeremy was playing with. The bird ran over into my room and decided that my bed looked comfortable. There is rarely a dull moment here.
Tonight is futbol (soccer) night so that means I am going to go, watch, and go out somewhere afterwards. I cant believe its my last futbol night! It will also be a night of goodbyes at the end because a lot of our friends are going to Antigua in the morning , so they wont be at graduation tomorrow. We leave here Saturday, spend the night in Guatemala City and leave for home at 6am. Whoo! Chris and I are already planning our first meals when we get back and I can tell you that I am SO looking forward to Bill Millers Bar-B-Que and sweet tea, Alamo Café and flour tortillas, and a huge salad from wherever. Hope everything is going well in the US!
June 22
Hola!! I cannot believe that it is my last week in Guatemala! Here is the lowdown on what all has been happening with me.
I went to Antigua and it was an interesting place to be. I went with Chris, and our new friends Heather and Joe. We took a minibus to a town called Chicobal and then took a chicken bus to Antigua. I don’t know If I have explained what a chicken bus is so ill do it here. A chicken bus is an old school bus sent from the States and used as public transportation. They are painted crazy colors and sometimes have names. The color schemes run from anything like orange and red to green and teal. Google Image ‘chicken bus’ and try and find one. Its definitely worth a look. Also they are packed to capacity whenever they run. Usually on a school bus one would be sitting with one other person in your seat and it would run four across an aisle. On a chicken bus its common to sit three to a seat, making it six across an aisle. It works I guess, especially if you don’t really have a sense of personal boundary.
So, we arrived to Antigua and at first it looked like any other city in Guatemala that I have seen. There were stalls selling hot food, purified water, counterfeit dvds, and whatever else. Then we turned the corner and we came to Antigua. There was a marked difference from what we are used to seeing in Xela and other parts of the country. It is hard to describe the difference now. We walked through an artisans market and for the first time we were spoken to in English by Guatemalans. We were told that they had good prices, what were we looking for? Would I like a bracelet for my friend, a blanket for my mother? It was kind of weird and for some reason that we couldn’t quite figure out we were offended. I think it was because we had spent all this time trying to learn the language so we could talk to them and now they were speaking in English. Everyone agreed that the weirdest thing was to see people that looked like they were just there to vacation. We are used to being around crazy cool people that are working for NGOs , cooperatives, or just here to soak up a cultural experience unlike any other. What we weren’t used to was the pack of vacationing, older Southern Belles wondering how much stuff they could fit in their tour van and take home. Or the giant UT football player. Or the woman asking, “Well I know its thirty quetzals, but how much is that in dollars?”
We found a nice little place called Casa de Nazarene which was about 12 dollars a night for one person, which I think everyone can agree is a pretty wonderful rate. We then set out to explore Antigua. We went back to the market for about an hour (much to the chagrin of Joe haha) and then went to their Parque Central. It was surrounded by old, Spanish looking buildings. It was also very, very clean and modern looking. We saw a sign that said that the Parque had Wi-Fi. Someone made the comment that if Disney were to build a Guatemala attraction, this is what it would look like.
We all agreed on Italian for dinner. We went to a place calle Queso and Vino, or Cheese and Wine. It was delicious. I had one of the best pizzas in my life and everyone agreed that their entrees were just as satisfying. The next day we woke up and went to a place called Y Tu Piña Tambien. I think mostly because if its name, which chris and I had a lot of fun saying. They had some pretty good licuados (fruit juice and either milk, water, or yogurt) and I had a great bagel. We walked around somemore, stopped into a few bookshops and marveled at the fact that Antigua had sidewalks that one can actually walk on. Xela, lovely and authentic as it is, has sidewalks that are very slim and that sometimes disappear. I have become skilled at dodging cars.
We ate some bar like place that had the best limonada con soda that I have had in all of Guatemala. I should explain more. A limonada con soda is what it says, lemonade with what I think is club soda. I order one every they appear on a menu here. I have had some terrible ones and some okay ones and some that are just an amazing drinking experience. The food wasn’t amazing, but it was okay. But like I said, the highlight was that limonada con soda. It was big and bubbly and had just the right amount of lime and soda. Anyway. Ill stop extolling the virtues of bubbly drinks.
In the morning we ate at Fernando’s, a little café right next to our hotel. Then we walked to the bus station and came home. Now that I look at this is seems like we didn’t really do much and I guess we really didn’t .The weekend was nice to unwind and have a different experience. We did walk a lot and saw some impressive buildings.
The entirety of the trip could be summed up as: Antigua is a nice place to visit in Guatemala. If you are looking to learn Spanish, don’t go there. You won’t learn much because no one will speak it to you. You will spend a lot of money. If you want to see what Guatemala really looks like, how the people actually live, go somewhere else. Again, it is a wonderful place to visit but in my opinion its not really a place to stay if you want to travel here.
We got back and the following week wasn’t that eventful. I didn’t really do much because I wasn’t feeling too good. I had what I think is tonsillitis and had a sore throat for most of the week. A little gargling with salt water and some meds took care of it though, so I am back in fine form. It was kind of a drag though. We did have a conference that was, well, interesting. The man that spoke was involved in the civil war in the 70s and 80s. He loves his country and its people, there is not doubt about that. What I thought was disconcerting was his constant sexist remarks. Some of the other speakers have spoken of women as fighters, as strong people who were working right beside them. And I have heard a woman speak of her experiences in the war and her belief that if they were fighting for equality for all people, women should be included in that. This man however only spoke of woman as objects. The only role they played in his narrative of the war was as characters that were there to be lovers and girlfriends. That along with some Anti-Semitic comments bothered me. I still don’t know what to think of this man. Some of his actions helped the revolution and he protected people. But at the same time I don’t know what to think about his attitude about some things. I guess I cant agree with all people, but it is kind of strange to hear someone who wants to fight for justice and equality and at the same time put down groups that are trying to fight for the same things themselves.
Other than that i studied. My teacher was Ruth and she was very good. She was so teacher-like with her own little box of flashcards that she had cut and laminated for herself. We played games with synonyms and antonyms that really expanded my vocabulary. That was the week I learned the preterit tense and all its lovely irregulars. I did exercise after exercise with the regular endings and irregular verbs. It was frustrating at the beginning, but by the end of the week I was pretty good, barely any mistakes. I can speak in the past now, at least one tense of it! Yay!
Friday was a good day, I went walking around the city with my friend Joe. We went to drop off laundry and walk around. He was looking for some shoes and eventually bought some red high top converse. We found a bookstore and I bought a good book. I am unable to walk past a bookstore without going in and pouring over their selection. We found a little café, sat down, and had some really good hot chocolate. We wandered all over and it was a good morning. That night was a graduation and afterwards we went to a place called ‘Pool and Beer’ afterwards. I played some foosball and talked to someone that goes to Dayton. It was really surreal when we found out we have a friend in common.
The next weekend I went to Lake Atitlan. We stayed in Panajachel, one of the biggest towns right on the lake. It was cool, but it rained the entire time. It was anywhere between light drizzle to downpour. Like Xela, the streets flood pretty easily. Chris and I took advantage of a slightly drizzly hour that and walked to a part of the lake with really good views. While we were there it started pouring and didn’t stop. We walked back in flooded streets and by the time we got back we were absolutely soaked. I mean, soaked. My skirt still isn’t dry.
My teacher this week is Saul. He plays the guitar at all the graduations and is the largest and tallest Guatemalan I have ever seen. I was a little intimidated, but he is very nice. Nearing the end of the lesson I had to read a pretty advanced paragraph about colonization by the English and Spanish of this region and then was asked questions like “Do you think Guatemala has had an authentic history?”, “What is the difference between the colonization of the US and this region?” and “What is God’s will in your life?” I was expected to answer these as best I could in Spanish. I was freaked out, but I got through it I think it went well. It was just kind of a surprise though. Today we are having a thirty min conversation with my 30 new vocab words and phrases. Included in that list are (in English): Anglo Saxon, impressive, exports, imports, hierarchy, footprints, it seems like, will power, be careful!, to reach, to plant, and government. What am I going to talk about? I have no idea. It should be interesting.
This morning it went to the Mennonite bakery again. It was a nice walk. Tonight I am going to Sabor de India (an Indian restaurant that I have been to before and is quite tasty) and a benefit for a local women’s cooperative. DJs and salsa demonstrations will be happening. I am pumped. Tomorrow I am finally going to try Pollo Campereo, Central America’s answer to KFC. Joe and I found out that we have both kind of wanted to try it and are going to eat lunch there. We are also going to try to find Café Luna, which boats many different types of hot chocolate. I will try my best to write more. Im sure there will be more exciting stuff. I had to leave some things out of this, but that means that I will have more to talk to you about when I get home! I have to go eat lunch now and practice for what will be an interesting conversation. Adios!
June 19
Hey everyone!!
So the last two days have been pretty fun, today especially. After an unusual lack of rain for about 4 days it finally started again Wednesday night. We walked home for dinner and back for the movie in the rain, which was wonderful. But the movie was good and they served us some really good hot chocolate. I don’t know what it is, but the hot chocolate here is different from the hot chocolate in the US. I may even go far as to say it is better. I have no idea what it is.
So Thursday I had a relaxing morning. I woke up late (830) and ate breakfast, did my homework and read a book. I think I needed a day to just do nothing and rest. Usually I am up and walking somewhere in the city or on a trip. It was nice to just sit around. Thursday was also soccer day. I don’t really play soccer so I just went to watch, which was still fun. Chris played. She was goalie and she made some pretty sweet saves.
Afterward a whole group of us went out to eat at an Indian restaurant called Sabor de India. It was REALLY good. The samosas were spicy and really delicious. I got chicken tandoori. They also served this naan that has cheese and spinach baked inside of it. So good. It was a very satisfying meal. I am used to dinner being the biggest meal of the day. Here lunch is the biggest and dinner is pretty small. It was nice to have a big dinner again. It was also nice to get to know some more people from the school. The afternoon group is really cool this week.
We decided to meet up at nine this morning to go in search of a Mennonite bakery that is supposed to be really good for baked goods and dairy products. On our way we also planned to stop by a really cool cemetery.
We all met at the school this morning and started walking. Chris and I had been right near the cemetery before and had never realized it when we were walking around one day. It seems the main difference between the cemeteries here and those in the US is that people being buried above ground, in mausoleums, is much more common. At least, that is what I have seen. We walked in and you are immediately greeted with graves that are stacked 2, 3, 4 rows high. Some are single though too. A lot of them are painted with some bright color, like turquoise or orange. We saw one that was painted pink. Apparently it is the grave of a young woman (she was 17 I think when she died) who had “died for love”. At least, that is what the inscription read. The thing to do is to write you wishes for love on her grave. There was a bunch of love poetry and wishes and hearts with initials in them all over her pink grave in sharpie.
We walked around for a while and walked up these steps that lead to the poorer section of the cemetery. Whereas before, with mausoleums that were mostly well kept, these graves were underground and a lot of them were overgrown. There was a definite difference in the two sections. We sat on a bench on the hill and could see the mausoleum section really well. In the distance, to our right, was Santa Maria, the volcano. After a few mins rest we headed out in search of the bakeshop again.
We walked for about 15 more minutes and found the bakery! We all went crazy. They sold: sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, hunks of cheddar cheese, yogurt, bagels, little cheesecake desserts, cookies, banana bread, sliced bread, parfaits, cupcakes, and I don’t even remember what else. We all bought something. I bought a bagel, some yogurt, and some chocolate chip cookies to share with my family. They are REALLY good.
We left and now I am at PLQ again. This weekend Chris and I and three of our other friends are going to Antigua. Antigua is a really big tourist spot in Guatemala. These are some of the words I have heard it described as: pretty, expensive (as compared to xela), touristy, fake, fun, wonderful. Every time I have spoken to someone about it, no matter what their opinion, they always say its something you don’t want to skip over. I am really excited to explore another part of the country. We are getting on a first class bus tomorrow, kind of early, and going to another town where we catch the bus to Antigua. We decided not to go the chicken bus route since we aren’t really sure exactly we would need to do to get from here to Antigua on one of those. I am way excited.
Something I have been thinking about here a lot is the women of Guatemala. I think they are so impressive. I see a lot of them carrying huge sacks of something on their head all the time and it seems to balance perfectly. Once, we were on a bus and we saw a older woman get on the bus with a load of her stuff on her head. She put the stuff on the top rack for the trip and when it was time to get off for her stop she took it down. She put it on top of her head again with surprising strength for a woman of her age and had this look on her face like “yeah, this is my stuff don’t mess with it.” Her face was set, like she knew what she had to do and kind of no nonsense. I see this kind of strength in my mother here too. She has a ton of people to take care of, including two babies that are both less than one year. She never seems impatient or hurried or stressed out. She just has a quiet dignity about her that is really impressive.
I think a lot of the women here are like that. I think it is because they have so much to put up with. The men of this country are notorious for creating a machismo culture. I have heard this from every Guatemalan woman I have talked to. They love to cat call and whistle at you in the street. It isn’t uncommon for a man to leave a woman after she becomes pregnant. Not all the men here are like that, but it certainly is the culture. My teacher told me that it starts happening very young. If a brother pushes a sister and she complains, she is told that she should just not mind it because it is the culture.
They also have to deal with being in a country that offers relatively little opportunity for both men and woman. With all that I think that I really respect these women. They still seem to have something inside that keeps a fire going, something that helps them remain as strong as they are. Whatever it is, I hope I have that in me. All the Guatemalan women I have met so far make me proud to be a Guatemalan woman too.
Well I have to go eat now, hope yall are doing well!!
JUNE 10
Hey all!
Ok so i have a few mins before i have to go home for lunch, but i will try and type as much as i can before then.
Sunday not much happened here. I woke up late. Here, I consider late to be 930am, which is very different from what I used to think late was. I went for a walk to parquet central and was surprised to find a market going on. Apparently it happens the first Sunday of the month. I had no idea that it was happening, so that was cool. Compared to other markets it wasn’t that big, but it was still interesting.
Other than that nothing else interesting happened. Well, I did watch Transformers with my family. It was in Spanish.
On Monday I got a new teacher named Lesvia. She is really neat. She tells a lot of stories and is really funny. I like her a lot.
Monday night I watched Man on Fire, in Spanish, with the family. I hadn’t seen that movie in a long time and I really like it. I even understood some of it.
Also on Monday I discovered that I have another brother. A guy walked in and introduced himself as the youngest son of Josefina. His name is Carlos. He may be around my age but I am not sure. He was really nice and knows a little English.
Tuesday Chris and I walked for 2 hours around Xela. We found Bab’s home, which makes homemade granola, bagels, breads, and cookies among other yummy things. We bought some really good granola. We also heard a testimony from a woman who was in the guerilla movement. It was really good to listen to because she explained how the movement started and what the different groups were and what their activities were. I want to write about it in more detail, but I don’t have a lot of time right now.
Today we went to Fuentes Georginas, which are hot springs that are heated by a volcano. On the way there were actually saw the Santa Maria volcano erupting. That was really cool to see. Tons of smoke and ash was billowing out of the top of the volcano. It was really cool.
These hot springs were different from the ones that I went to last week. This one had three different pools that you could get into, all with varying temperatures. There was one that is pretty shallow (about 2 feet) and is warm. The next is deeper and a hotter. The largest pool is the hottest. You are supposed to go one by one through the pools so that you get used to the rising temperatures. I started in the second hottest one and stayed there for most of the time. Most of the other people started out in the hottest one, but moved to the second hottest one because that one was better to stay in for long periods of time.
So that is a really condensed version of what the last 3 and a half days have been like. Those are really all the major points I think. Tonight we are watching Motorcycle Diaries. Chris and I both really enjoy this movie, which is about the earlier life of Che Guevara. This period of his life is the only time that I really like him. I learned about him a lot in a class I took at XU and he wasn’t really the hero that a lot of people see him as. At least that is what I think. But this movie is really cool and I am looking forward to it.
We have met some new people that started this week. Duncan and Laurel are traveling together. This is Duncan’s third time here and Laurel’s second. They have traveled all over Central and South America and Duncan is a really good person to ask about cool places to eat, stay, and visit. I also met someone from Dayton! That was weird but cool. Basketball was definitely brought up.
So I hope everything is alright in the states, I have to go eat lunch now. Bye!
6 June
Helloooo. Chris (Calme) and i are getting better at finding things around Xela, we found an internet café that we have been to before!! Yay! Today was exciting and cool, but first Friday´s activity.
PLQ took a group to the market in San Francisco. On Saturday, market day, the entire ton turns into a market. It is pretty huge and very crowded. You have to be careful with your stuff because there is a very high chance that you will be pick pocketed. Our friend Matlide had 400 quetzals stolen right out of her bag. Thankfully my money and things were safe.
But anyway, the market is pretty cool. It is like a one stop shopping area, like HEB or Kroger. They have clothes, shoes, all types of food, dishes, and an animal market. The animal market sells, cows, horses, cats, dogs, chickens, turkeys, chicks, and hogs. We wandered around for about an hour, just looking at things. It was like going to a grocery, sort of, but outside and town-sized.
The ride up there was pretty hectic because our first bus broke down and we had to switch buses. The second bus didn’t break, but we were in traffic for what felt like forever. When I got back to Xela I immediately got in the shower. It was so nice to be clean because the whole trip made everyone dusty and sweaty.
Yesterday was also my last day of lessons for this week. I have learned a lot, but I still have a lot more to learn. I feel more confident in my Spanish though, so that is good. Yay!
Chris and I went to graduation last night for all the people leaving. The school also served a cena tipica or a dinner consisting of food that is typical for Guatemala. Delicious, as always. There was singing and it was pretty fun. Afterwards I went home and crashed, because I had an early morning.
This morning I had an early breakfast of mosh (like oatmeal, but made with maize) and got to PLQ at 7 to get on a bus to go to Nueva Amanecer. This is a community of 52 families who returned to Guatemala after living in exile in Mexico. The town is really cool and is a cooperative.
The first thing we saw was a apiary, or a honey farm. We walked into a room that had a lot of bees in it. I was a little scared because bees make me nervous. Bugs in general make me nervous. But it was ok, no stings! We were told how they separate the honey by spinning the combs in a machine to separate the honey from them. We saw how the wax was cleaned and reused to help the bees make new combs. It was interesting.
Next was a woodwork shop. They employ four people and they make anything from doors to tables. Then we saw a tortilleria, where they made corn tortillas, a staple of the Guatemalan diet.
We had lunch there and it was really delicious. It really was good after a long, hot day of walking around and riding on a bus.
I am not too tired, but I am a little worn out mentally. I am glad it is the weekend. Rest and recuperation is going to be very welcome.
Hope everything in the states is going well! Kateri
June 4
I have read many descriptions of what people went through during the civil war in Guatemala. I have never heard someone tell their story before. Don Pedro was accused of being a guerilla, kidnapped and tortured by the Guatemalan military.
Chris and I got lost on the way back to the school, so we were a little late, but I got most of it.
“We were taken in a car and we got to a field where they beat me. They hit me on the head, on the shoulder with full force. I was praying for strength between blows. Then they bit my ears until they were all bitten up. They started to hit my face with a machete until it was all cut up. They started hitting me on the head with the butt of the gun and it broke on my head. They said, “He must be a guerilla because his head is so hard that it broke the gun.”
“They made me start walking and while I was walking they were beating me. I had no idea where I was. We stopped at a hole and they put me in the hole. I was there for 8 days. Eight days with no water, no food, only beatings. I was thinking how many people had been here before me, how many people had already died in this hole. The military would bring other people, other prisoners, and would ask them if they knew if I was a guerilla or not. The other people said yes, but I know it was only because they were scared. They were afraid of dying too.”
“People trained in torture came. I knew they were trained because they knew exactly where to hit, exactly here it would hurt the most. They brought rope and hung me by my neck. They let me hang until I couldn’t breathe and then they would lower me down and ask if I was a guerilla. I didn’t say anything. They put me back in the hole and tied me up and dropped two big rocks on me. The rocks hit my stomach, it caused me a lot of pain. They tied me to a tree and shot at one side of me, then at the other side. I begged them to just kill me.”
“Later, they brought wood and gasoline and told me they were going to burn me. They were beating me and my body was black from the beating, from the bruising. After a few days the asked me if I was thirsty. I said I was and they told me to open my mouth. I did and they urinated in my mouth. They did it again the next day.”
“There was a day when no one beat me. A military man that said he was an Evangelical came to ask me if I was hungry. I didn’t know whether to answer because of the other times. I finally said that I was, and i was surprised when he brought me a tamalito to eat. He threw it into the hole and I had to catch it in my mouth. It was so nice to eat. He also brought me a half a bottle of water, and it was so nice to drink. I didn’t know if this was part of their plan or not, but I was just happy to have something to eat and drink. After that day I got back into a car again.”
“We stopped at a house and they told me to get out. I almost couldn’t because my body hurt so badly. There was other military and I felt despair. They said, “Here take the pig, wash the pig.” Everything hurt, my head, my legs, my chest, everything. I saw a hose and I drank from it and I didn’t care if it was purified or not. I just wanted to drink. They gave me clean clothes.
“Later someone asked me how I was treated. I didn’t know how to answer, because I dint wanted to say that the military treated me badly. He said, “You have already been through hell, if anyone hurts you know they will have to answer to me.” I stayed there for seven days. I was tied up and thrown down, but I wasn’t beaten. I begged the guards to untie me. They said, “Look when those other guards leave we will untie you, but when they come back we will tie you up again.” They did that. They asked me, sweetly if I was a guerilla, who were my companions. It was strange, the same men who had tortured me were now asking me so nicely. They said, “If you don’t talk, you will never see your family again.”
“Then one day they said, you are not a guerrilla, in then minutes you can leave. I didn’t know whether to believe them or not. They let me go. They shouted Get out pig! Leave! We never want to see you again! I said papers, I don’t know what they were. I returned home, but I had terrible suffering. They were still watching my house. They would still watch me at night. They told me that I had to leave me home because they couldn’t guarantee what would happen to me. I left my home, I walked. I kept having to stop very frequently because I couldn’t breathe. I walked until I got to Mexico. I got to a place where there was a lot of Catholics and I stayed there for three months. My wife and kids came there later.”
Some questions were asked after Don Pedro gave his testimony and I wrote those down as well.
Q: why were you accused?
A: We worked in a cooperative. They thought that it was communist, but it wasn’t. They confused it with being communist. They thought it was related to being a guerilla.
Q: How did your family know where you were?
A: The Mexico border was very busy because Mexico had a lot more work opportunities. Many people would cross and I sent word with them. That is how they found me.
Q: There are agencies that will offer protection for people telling stories like this. Did you ever have protection when you have told your story before?
A: I didn’t have protection. It wasn’t until the peace accords were signed that human rights existed. I still don’t tell just any random person. I have to be careful who I tell.
Q:Did you ever receive any compensation for what you went through?
A: I got 20,000 quetzals (about $2,500). It wasn’t much, it went very quickly. It was just a symbolic, almost senseless bit to give.
Don Pedro did add something at the end,
“Guatemala is a country that is simply bloody. Even with a change in governments, it is still bloody. Until we Guatemalans make changes ourselves, it wont change. For so long, fear has been a powerful, intimidating force for Guatemalans. I hope that by hearing this you will be more conscious not only in Guatemala, but in other countries as well. We need to change the mentality of destruction and start seeing each other as brothers and sisters”
Needless to say, hearing his story brought out a lot of different emotions. I cant even imagine the kind of fear that was in the country at that time. I know that it was very easy to be accused of being against the government and the military, which were the same thing. It has changed, but only a little. The fact that people are still afraid to talk about what happened, that they still have to be aware of what they say to what people is sad and disheartening. I was talking to my mother during dinner yesterday and she was saying that the people here cannot go above what they already are. It is very difficult to change even an individual`s situation, let alone an entire country`s situation.
That was on Tuesday. Wednesday we had our first trip! We went to Chicovix, which is a pool/baths that are fed by water that is heated by a volcano. We went in a taxi, but not what I used to think a taxi was. Taxis here are either from a company, or just a random car that someone is enterprising enough to offer taxi services with. We took the random car. We had five people in the backseat. It was…interesting. The driver was 79 and drove very slowly because the car was so packed. I don’t know how slow we were going, because the speedometer was broken. We were going slow, but I don’t think it was 0 mph.
The drive to Chicovix was very scenic, as are pretty much all of the drives to anywhere in this country. Mountains covered in green, farms on the side of mountains, it was cool. We opted out of taking baths and swam in the pool instead. It was nice and warm, a welcome change from most of the water here. The spout where the water came into the pool had really hot water though and we all took turns under that. Very fun, very pretty.
So while we were at Chicovix we experienced some of Guatemala`s most wonderful weather. Sun, a little wind, a little hot, but just enough. It was like that the entire morning and while we were walking back to PLQ. I went to the computer lab to write my e-mail and had a lot down. All of a sudden I hear this weird, loud noise. The city is pretty noisy so I just continued on without a thought. Then I hear someone say that it is raining. I was like what??!? It was hot and sunny literally 15 mins ago. I looked into the courtyard and it is pouring. I mean, POURING. We looked for a while and then went back into the lab. I typed a few more lines and then all of a sudden, BOOM!! There was a POP! And the electricity died, taking my email with it. Greaaat
So I decided to just go home early for lunch. I didn’t have my raincoat (I mean, really, all morning it was perfect. Where did this rain come from???) so I had to run home in the rain. Which is difficult when the sidewalks are about a foot wide, if there at all. I got to my street and the water was already about 2 inches high. I had to cross and it was kinda gross. The city is really dusty, so it was all mixed up in that water. Yay. I got inside and showered. I don’t know how, but my shower was hot. I don’t mean like kinda hot, I mean hot. It was very welcome after a frustrating afternoon. After I showered and changed, my sister and mom called me to go look outside at the street. The water was now about 10 inches high, and covered the sidewalk.
June 4
So today we went to Chicovix, a small town about 30 mins away from Xela. It is mostly an agricultural town. WE saw three things, San Simon, a Catholic church, and a women`s cooperative.
We got there by bus, it was crowded and a little fast. Not too bad though. We got to Chicovix and the first thing we saw was a brown river with trash all over the bank. It was covered with trash. We walked up to where the shrine to San Simon was. San Simon is a Catholic saint, sort of. He is a mix of indigenous Mayan spirituality and Catholicism. The people buy him his favorite things, rum, boots, cigars, and in return he can help them with anything. Love, money, a quarrel, whatever. You can burn red, green, white, or yellow candles, depending on your situation.
This was actually one of the strangest things I have seen in Guatemala and actually in my life. We go back past a house and there is a sign that reads Casa de San Simon. We paid 5 quetzals to enter. If we wanted to take a picture, it would be 10 quetzals per picture. We walk inside and we see a man-doll sitting in a chair. He is wearing a cowboy hat, boots, sunglasses, a bandana over his mouth and had flowers, candles, more boots, and rum all around him. A woman had just lit a candle and was kneeling to pray. One of the strangest parts was that right next to the shrine and the praying woman was a tv that was playing cartoons. The boys that were taking the money were watching that. On the walls were posters and a calendar with a bikini clad women advertising beer. It was a very strange mix of objects and images. We were all kind of confused and taken aback.
We then walked around behind the shine and saw where San Simone “sleeps” at night and we watched a ritual (I think) to San Simone. There were mixed opinions about the whole thing. Some thought it was legit and others thought it was just a way to make money. I think it’s a little of both. The church and the cooperative were pretty cool, but San Simone was by far the most intriguing. I am going to go eat lunch now. I am tired and worn out. Bye!
elaborations!! yay!!
school was founded by people who wanted to talk about the politcal and social justice issues of the country. it was started in 1988 and they had to meet in secret because it was still dangerous to talk about it. it still isnt very well liked to talk about it and to openly be against the government, but as someone said "the foreigners keep them safe."
chris and i walked all over the city, went to the parque central which is less like a park and more like a town square. architecture is very heavily influenced by greek and roman architecture. We walked around, people watched, it was cool.
I was a little scared for classes. My teacher has to speak to me in only spanish, kind of hard with my limited grammer an vocab. also, it is ive hours long. I think doing aything for five hours is exhausting. We spent a lot of time in conversation, sort of. he is really helpful and encouraging. we have a break during lessons, during which they serve tea, sweet break (i love sweet bread) and all the students get to know each other. we met Zach, who goes to Harvard Divinity School. He is at PLQE for 3 weeks, and in Guatemala for another 6 weeks. he has no idea what to do with the other 6 weeks though, he has nothing planned.
Some things here are familiar. They have McDonalds, in fact my nephew Jeremy had a happy meal this morning and was playing with his toys that came with the meal. Also, my family has tv, cable, and a computer (but no internet). When we were walking I saw some really nice cars, a Lexus, a Lotus, and some really nice SUVs.
But there are definetely differences. Most of my meals are grain based, LOTS of corn, beans, rice. I dont know if i will have a hot shower, today was ice cold. The area where i live and where my school is located is pretty loud, cars, people, the Protestant church across the street are all outside my wall.
Things are a little slower here too. It is okay though as living slower is nice.
i really have to go this time, I will let you know all about the testimony i am about to hear soon!
ps chris says "hey" to everyone :) also she has alerted me that Bear Grylls is on Discovery not Nat Geo. oops.
june1 continued
i am frustrated, myxu keeps signing me out, have lost two emails. sorry if i dont have real sentences but i want to type this as fast as i can bc we have to leave soon.
orientation yesterday about history of country (brief) and of school. will elaborate later.
Chris and i walked a lot, found internet cafe. need to get more familiar with streets.
classes started, my teacher is fernando. i was nervous, but it is ok. i want to type a lot more, but i cant! i will go into detail when i have more time. basics:
-2 to 7pm one on one lessons. a challege, but ultimately good.
-all in spanish, hard bc i have limited vocab and grammer, making it work.
rained a lot yesterday. i got wet. it was cold during class.
several activities goig on this week, i will suprise you all. i cant wait for them! should be good. hints: hot water, a saint who likes rum, and "the thing that brings our spritis alive"
very tired, went to bed early. good day, even if rainy, cold.
june 2.
woke up, showered, breakfast. walked around looking for internet cafe again. got lost, need to know streets more.
going to the school to hear the testimony of a man who was kidnapped, torutred by guatemalan government. very interesting, will let you know what i learn.
have to go!! will elaborate more later.
Saturday 5.29
I did not sleep at all. i was supposed to get a good night´s rest so I would be ready for my international adventure, but I was so excited/nervous/antsy that sleep was just impossible. I hopped in the shower about 4am and left the house around 5am. I said goodbye to my mom and got on the plane to Houston.
The flight took about 45 mins, and felt like it was over as soon as we got in the air. we landed and i only had to walk about 30 ft to my next gate. Chris got to the gate about 10 mins later. We said hello and talked about her graduation, summer in san antonio, and our growing excitement.
I slept through most of the flight to Guatemala City, but was awake for the best part. When you fly over the city, you get to see a perfect snapshot of the country. The mountains are huge and are covered in trees and the clouds were hovering around the peaks. It was really pretty. I dont think i can really describe it that well, i wish i had a picture.
we landed and it took us about 10 mins to get out of the airport and onto a bus that would take us to out hotel. We stayed at Hotel Barcelo. This hotel is quite swanky, actually. I think it beats most of the hotels that I stay in in the US. We were in a very comfortable room that looked out onto the city. We could see the mountains in the distance. We had a message waiting for us, from Cynthia, a friend of Richard, who was our guide through Guatemala City. She said she wouild like to go to dinner with us. We agreed and went up to the room, where we watched Bear Grylls (from Man vs Wild on NatGeo) in Spanish and napped very soundly until dinner time.
We met Cynthia, her husband Jim, Richard, and his friend Miguel by the pool. Cynthia is a law professor at Santa Clara Univeristy in California and Jim works with computers. Richard is a human rights professor at a university in Guatemala City. Miguel is a lawyer. We took a taxi to dinner, and drove by what used to be the palace. We ate at a hotel downtown. We had some very refreshing margaritas with our dinner. We went back to hotel after dinner and watched a little more of Bear Grylls. We tried to pick out words we knew and the most we could come up with was- water, beach, tree, body, i need, fish, and fire. yay! we are totally on our way to mastering spanish. :)
Sunday 5/30
Today is an eventful day. We get to Xela and meet our familes today! After a very filling breakfast at the hotel with Richard, we all get in a taxi to the bus station. We buy out tickets and wait for the bus to leave. We say good-bye to Guatemala City and head to Xela.
The roads around Guatemala City and Xela are winding and narrow. They have to make their way through and around huge mountains and hills, so that is why it isn´t impossible for one to get carsick while taking a ride through the countryside. The ride was about four hours, and was one that i enjoyed very much. There was a lot to see as we drove, including the mountains, people of all ages, farms, animals, and of course, construction. I fell asleep for a while and when i woke up my window was about 3 inches away from a wall of rock. Like i said, the roads are very narrow. They also drop off quite suddenly and it sometimes felt like the bus was a few feet away from sliding off the side of a mountain.
We got to Xela and shared a cab with a very nice woman we met on the bus, Simone. She is from England and is doing volunteer work in Xela. We rode to our school, PLQE, and walked inside.The interior is very bright. The walls are a sunny yellow and the courtyard is open air. There are posters, paintings, weavings, and colorful plants all around. It was very welcoming. We checked in with Carlos, the main director, and waited for our familes to come pick us up.
The 20 mins that I was waiting for my family was filled with anxiousness. What will they be like? Will they like me? What can I say to them? My very limited Spanish would definetely be an obstacle. Chris was picked up first, by her brother, Christopher. About 5 mins later i was picked up by my new sister, Norma. She helped me with my bags and we walked to her/my house. I walked inside and was immediately greeted by my mother, Josefina Perez. She showed me around the house. I have my own room with a desk, chair, and bed. We eat in the kitchen/dining room. There is one bathroom for the whole family.
After the tour I met the rest of my family. I actually dont know for sure what her husband´s name is, even though i asked several times. I know it sounds a lot like mine, so what i think it is (excuse the spelling, because it is probably wrong) Katerio. The way it is said, I think you just add an -o to Kateri. I cant belive i dont know his name correctly! But i do know everyone else.
Norma, the woman who picked me up, is my sister. She and has two children, Jeremy and Xavier (cool name, right?). Her sister, Nilda, has one child, Josué. They are all very nice and are all helping me with my Spanish. Oh! We also have a bird, Julio. He is a green parrot. He talks...sort of :)
As soon as i got there, Josefina offered me lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day, and it was delicious. We had chicken in some kind of sauce, rice and corn mixed together, and fresh, hot corn tortillas. Definetely up my alley, definetely satisfying. I got settled and just hung around for a while, getting used to hearing and speaking Spanish. During one of our conversations (which is a term i am using lightly, it involves a lot of hand gestures, referrals to my spanish dictionary, confused expressions and Josefina´s endless patience) I told her I was adopted, and that i was from Guatemala. She was very interested in that and told all the family members as they came in about how i was born in this country, but live in the US, and have come back to learn about my home country. It was very nice to feel that i was welcomed back, and that she was happy to have me in her home.
Fun fact about Josefina and her husband: their first language is Quiche, which is an indigenous language, one of the main ones. I heard them speak it at dinner once and it was really cool to hear. I never thought i would ever get to hear someone speaking Quiche.
At dinner, I couldnt think of much to say. Actually, that isnt true, i had a lot to say, i just didnt know how to say it. It was very frustrating. I started the conversation with a comment on how the bread looked like an animal. She said the kids like it, it is in the shape of a crocodile. Jeremy had eaten its eyes though. She cut up some of the bread and asked ¿Quienes un poco cocodrilo? Do you want a little crocodile? I thought that was funny. Our meal was very simple, just the leftover rice and corn with some very fresh scrambled eggs and tortillas. Those eggs were really good actually. Better than the caf.
It feels like my family is going to be very accomodating. Josefina tells me the names of some things in Spanish and then later asks what the name is, to see if i have remembered. She also corrects me when I speak, which is good. THere are some things that i do need to get used to.
A List of Things to Remember and Get Used To:
1. Never ever put the water from the tap near my mouth. The family has something like a water cooler that they drink water from. I get water from there to drink, brush my teeth with, baisically anything that has to do with it coming in contact with my mouth. In restaurants, I cannot have anything with ice and i have to ask for agua pura, purified water. There are amoebas and parasites in the water that could make me sick.
2. Another thing with water, there is no hot water here. My showers are lukewarm. I have had to take cold showers before, and they are not pleasant. But the lukewarm water is just fine, and is definetely better than ice cold water. Also, in order to conserve as much water as possible, i take short showers.
3. The climate here is interesting. It is warm in the daytime, but pretty chilly at night and in the early morning. I wear sweaters when i walk to school at 8am and when i am around the house at night.
4. I cannot put toliet paper in the toliet. The septic system cant handle it. I forgot about this once in the hotel. Also, i should carry toilet paper with me, because sometimes the bathrooms do not have it.
5. Speaking Spanish. I have a very limited amount of Spanish to work with. It is hard and confusing at times, but it is really cool when i get a word right. when my family and are understand each other, its a cool moment.
I went to bed at about 10:30 because i needed to wake up at 630 am. And i was very tired. Traveling all day and meeting the family was exhausting. Wonderful and fun, but exhausting.
Monday 6-1
This morning i woke up at 630 and got in the shower. It was lukewarm, but okay. I was only cold when i got out of the shower, but that happens in Buenger too, so nothing new. I got ready for the day while Josefina fixed pancakes. She also gave me some hot tea. It was pink and very welcome since it was pretty chilly. We had blackberry jelly on our pancakes. I headed off to my orientation at school with a full stomach and wet hair.
I walked into PLQE and there was about 25 people milling about. Half were waiting to get paired with a teacher to begin lessons. Morning lessons are from 8am to 1 pm with a half hour break at 10:30. Chris and I have class this afternoon, from 2pm until 7pm. We didnt meet our teacher this morning, but will meet him or her this afternoon. We both had our orientation this morning. There were about 9 people in the afternoon group. We are from all over the world. Ohio, Texas, Denmark, Conneticut, Germany, to name a few locations of origin.
The orientation was mainly about the history of Guatemala. They covered about 400 years of history in about an hour, it was very condensed. I can type that later. I actually need to tell you it all later because i need to get back to the school.
Ok bye!!!