CPGC Guatemala

On Saturday at 8am we (Kayleigh, Nikki, Emily, and I) hiked up to Cerro de la Cruz. It was beautiful and surprisingly a short hike! We sat up on the hill looking out upon Antigua and Volcan Agua for about an hour. It was such a nice day.

I then headed to a biking tour that ended up being private because no one else signed up! We (Ricardo -my guide- and I) hopped on our bikes around 11 am and pedalled along the cobblestone road until we finally reached a paved highway to the surrounding towns. We biked through 3 pueblos on the way to a Macadamia Farm called Valhalla. The first town to my surprise was celebrating Corpus Cristi! (The celebration I have heard about for the past month and thought I had missed.) It was beautiful. The church was packed-people were standing out the doors. There were white and yellow ribbons flying everywhere – draping off of the church roof. The streets were filled with fruit, chocolate covered apples and marshmallows, food, games, and people. Everyone was out celebrating. There were tons of games and a ferris wheel exactly like a fair. Many of the streets were adorned with beautiful ¨paintings¨made of what looked liked colored sand. It was beautiful and full of energy. I wish our town celebrated something like this. I wanted to stay longer to watch the procession through the town, but we had a schedule to keep.

We biked through 2 more towns, stopping at a couple churches and biking through a market street. I wanted to buy everything, but was unfortunately not hungry at the time, and I can´t actually buy the already sliced fruit even though it looks the most delicious. (Don´t want to risk the parasites.) All of the churches were full by the way (even those in the towns that were not celebrating Corpus Cristi).

We finally made it to the Macadamia Farm, Valhalla, after about an hour and a half of biking. It was much smaller than I expected. It looked like more of a nice garden to read a book in. We were immediately greeted by Emilia- the wife of the owner. She was 68 and looked about 58. Her husband swears it´s the macadamia facial products. I can´t decide if he´s right, or if he´s just trying to make a profit and she ages well naturally. Anyways, she greeted me, gave me a glass of water and asked if I wanted a tour. A couple from Argentina and Guatemala joined and I eventually no longer understood the Spanish. I understood everything until about 10 minutes into it and they were just having a fast conversation. What I did get out of the tour was interesting. They are a sustainable, organic farm growing macadamia nuts which came from nowhere other than California! They use the cascaras (skin/shell) of the nuts to fertilize the plants.

We got free samples of the delicious pure macadamia nuts and chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I also got a complementary ¨facial¨using macadamia products. I cannot believe they don´t charge for anything at the farm! I guess the prices of the products they sell make up for it. Emilia said that everything is free because at the other farms where they charge, no one comes.

I completed my time at the farm with the ¨world´s best¨ macadamia/blueberry pancakes. Sadly they did not live up to the name. Unfortunately I do not like macadamia butter or their blueberries or the hard pancakes. But they meal was still wonderful because of the beautiful setting and my company (the woman from Guatemala and her boyfriend from Argentina). Everyone was so friendly. People always compliment food here. The first bite she took, Lucia made an ¨mmmmm¨noise and said ¨Que Rico!¨

Getting back on the bike to go back was less exciting than the first time. I didn´t realize how bad my body felt until I sat down. The ride back was painful, but beautiful. While we had to climb a huge mountain, we got to see beautiful landscape once again- green hills, mountains, and flatlands.

Overall it was a great trip getting to see the outskirts of Antigua (San Miguel Dueñas, San Pedro de Huertas, San Bartolo, San Lorenzo, Vieja Ciudad, and San Antonio), getting to chat with my guide in Spanglish, and meeting the couple at the macadamia farm, but I don´t think I´ll be signing up for another bike ride on cobblestone streets or on dirt roads anytime soon.

-Kara

On Saturday a really nice man whom we met at salsa class and then at church and has been showing Emily (our housemate) around Antigua, took us to a beautiful catarata (waterfall). We first took a chicken bus about 15 minutes away to San Miguel Dueños. Then Manolo asked a friend if it was safe for us to walk to the waterfall. Then they decided it was safest to ask the police, so we asked the police. 20 minutes later we were in the back of a police truck with 4 police up front. We drove through a lot of coffee plantations and then parked. 2 of the 4 police followed us on foot all the way to the waterfall with big guns. It was a beautiful day and I would have felt completely safe without the policemen, but it was very nice of them to come. I wonder what they would have been doing if they weren´t with us though.

We hiked along a beautiful river with lush greenery. A local was picking out cangrejos (crabs) from the river and let us take a photo. We crossed a bridge we most certainly would not have been allowed to cross in the US. There were planks sporadically attached to 2 cables at the bottom, with 2 cables to hold onto. The beginning was easy, but thaen the bridge slanted so that you had to walk on the tip of the plank to stay on. It was exciting.

Once we crossed the bridge, we reached the waterfall. It was thin and tall and beautiful. We took lots of photos, went all the way up to touch the waterfall- some of us falling into what seemed like quicksand in the process.

Guatemala is beautiful!

-Kara

Today I went to Obras Sociales de Santo Hermano Pedro on my day off to check out another non-profit in Antigua. It is an association that takes care of people (babies up to the elderly) with mental and/or physcial disabilites. I was expecting to talk with men like I did at another association a few years ago that cares for men with disabilites, but found something completely different. I entered a beautiful yellow building with a beautiful garden and church, and then entered a room of 13 to 18 year-old kids in what seemed like cages. They were all huddled up in their individual cribs, disfigured, and unable to talk. They looked like they were 8 to 12 years old. Two of the about 20 kids were screaming at the top of their lungs as if someone was harming them. It was very sad. I tried to smile and be friendly, but it was very shocking. I asked what I could do to help and the kind nurses gave me a bunch of sweaters to put on the kids. They showed me how to bring down one side of the cagelike crib. Then I attempted to put a sweater on Eduardo, but his arms were folded rock hard to his chest and I could not open an arm to get it in the arm hole. I looked over at the nurse and she came and told me to go to the next patient while she put Eduardo’s sweater on. I had no idea if he was tensed up because of me, or if his arms were just stuck like that. When Blanca, the nurse, came over he relaxed his arms and she more easily put the sweater on. I felt so bad- his arms were so tight because he was scared of me. I more easily put the sweater on the next kid, but then watched the nurse to figure out the best technique. It made me appreciate putting the clothing on the hyperactive babies at the Hospicio. I thought it was difficult to diaper and dress a hyper baby, but it is nowhere near as difficult as it is to dress the children at Obras Sociales. The room- entitled Belen- was a very sad sight. I wanted to calm the children down, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know how to touch them, or if I could touch them, or what to say. After putting the sweaters on, the nurse told me to chat with a girl who seemed to be upset. I came over and tried to talk but I ran out of things to say quickly and I don’t think I calmed her down at all. She kept trying to grab me and I wasn’t sure what that meant. Was she mad at me? Did she want a hug? Did she simply want to sit up? I had no idea they were not going to be able to speak at all and would be what seemed like terrified by me.

It is very nice that there is a place that will take care of these chidren and give them a life, but it appears to be not much of a life. They sedate the children twice a day to keep them from convulsing. I wonder how much the children can understand. If they can understand a lot, their lives must be torture.

I hope to go back another day to see what the lives are like for people in the other rooms with different abilites and to ask more questions.

-Kara

Yesterday after Spanish class, Kayleigh, our housemates (Nikki from Wisconsin and Emily from Australia), and I went with Manolo, Emily’s friend from the church we went to twice now, to the dumpster. We first bought warm children’s clothing (it’s “winter” [or the rainy season] here for those of you unaware) at the market right next door and then brought the clothes to the dump. About 30 people were there scavenging from things they could recycle and sell. When they saw us with clothing they all ran towards us. Tall older men even tried to grab the clothing despite the fact that the clothing would not fit them at all. It was a bit overwhelming, but there were less people than I was expecting, so it wasn’t too overwhelming. We handed out the 10 items of clothing we had to the kids that they would fit. We then took the children we had not given anything to and their mothers to the market to pick out warm clothes. It felt very odd categorizing the young children as children and their mothers (who were younger than me) as adults. There was one 14 year old mother with her baby (her 16 year old husband appeared to be on drugs). The family I took around the market for clothing consisted of an 18 year old mother with a 4 year old daughter and her 14 year old brother. They wanted the first thing that they saw, it took us a while to find clothing that actually fit well (aka big enough for the children to grow a bit). We then all (including 9 women and children from the dumpster) went to the shoe store in the market to buy shoes.  We got shoes for all of them for about $80. We also gave them bread and bananas and brought back food to the dump for everyone else. They were all really appreciative and the girls all gave us about 5 hugs each (so I got about 20 hugs) when we left. We really wanted to take the 2 babies home to bathe them.

I was happy to give them warm clothing and shoes, but I feel more pessimistic right now. I feel like we only helped those few individuals for a millisecond. I wish there was some sort of program in place to really get them on their feet and keep them there. It’s daunting to see how much help is actually needed.

-Kara

I went to see the Mayan ruins in Copán, Honduras this weekend with my housemate, Nikki. It was incredible. We drove six hours in a van with 9 people from all over the world (Switzerland, Roma, NYC, Spain to name a few) to get there. The countries of Guatemala and Honduras are beautiful. The rain can get a little annoying, but the beauiful countryside makes up for it. The entire trip was on a highway overlooking lush green mountains. The ride was a little scary because no one uses their turning signals here and they like to pass people by almost running head on with the driver coming in the opposite direction, but we made it safely luckily. We went on a bilingual guided tour of the ruins because one lady could not speak English, and one girl could not speak Spanish. The guide was really good at going back and forth. I feel like I learned a lot about the Mayan civilization in Copán, and just as much about the Roman culture (from the strong personality of Silvia). Everyone is so unique.

The ruins at Copán overlooked the amazingly beautiful green landscape we had seen the entire car ride, and a river.Beautiful Guacamayas (or Macaws) flew over our heads.  I cannot even imagine what it would have been like to live there in 500AD. While I´m told it was an honor, I don´t think I would have liked to have been sacrificed. The sporting event they play also sounds just as sacrificial. The ball they used was so hard, that they could not use their hands, feet, or heads because it would break their bones.

The buildings were impressive, reaching great heights, and with amazing artistry, but I don´t even want to know how many slaves were used to create them.

After visiting the ruins, we took a tour of a coffee plantation. Who knew the process of making coffee beans was so intense?! The coffee bean can be found inside a small fruit. There are two layers that must be peeled. And the beans go through an extravagant process before they are roasted at 220 degrees centigrade.

The particular finca we toured grows 8 different kinds of Arabic coffee. (The temperate rain forest setting makes it ideal to grow coffee beans.) The rain forest setting was beautiful! I saw so many plants, flowers, insects, and animals I have never seen before. Beatiful flowers and interesting animals! I filled my camera´s memory card, but unfortunately can´t figure out how to get them online right now. Sorry about that! I will work on it…

The trip was amazing. Guatemala and Honduras are beautiful. There is so much to explore!

-Kara

Kayleigh and I played in a soccer game with our Spanish school, Ixchel, against another Spanish school today. It was an experience! The field was just dirt-really hard and very uneven. The goals existed, but lacked nets. Our team consisted of Kayleigh, Fernanda (the receptionist), one teacher from our school (Luis), 7 other guys that work at Ixchel ranging in age from 20 to 50, and me. A.k.a. it was just the two of us with all native speakers. It was exciting, especially in the beginning when I felt like I could contribute, but it got sad when I realized no one was ever going to pass me the ball (except for Diego who I really appreciated!). My first pass went out because the ball flies on this surface! But I didn´t feel too bad. Most of the guys were definitely better than me (typically due to the fact that they are simply stronger, but some had a lot of skill). However, there were worse players who got the ball ahead of Kayleigh and me and I´m sure it´s due to the fact that we are girls. I definitely think it has a lot to do with the ¨machismo¨culture, but then again, boys don´t pass to girls in the US either. Machismo exists everywhere.

Hopefully they will pass more next time. We´ll see.

It was so frustrating not being able to say anything. You can´t just translate word for word. It doesn´t work sadly. I tried to say ¨cross the ball¨ using the verb ¨cruzar¨ meaning ¨to cross,¨ but no one got it. Apparently you are supposed to just say give me it ¨dimela.¨ I also wish Kayleigh had played in the goal! I understand she didn´t want to get hurt by the men, but in the end we lost 4-3 because the goalie just let a goal in. Kayleigh would have definitely stopped it!

-Kara

Hello world!

Kayleigh and I have been in Antigua, Guatemala for 2 weeks nowand this is my first blog because we have been so busy! We are so lucky to be here in a beautiful city surrounded by volcanoes and filled with loving people.  Everyone says hello here (random strangers). This is so where I am meant to be! haha.

We are so lucky to be following Hilary Mislan and Darian Lunne because they left a great relationship for us to continue at the Hospicio de San Jose (where we work) and with our homestay family (Olga Marroquin and her children and grandchildren).  People are so sweet- everyone asked how Hilary was doing and gave a us big kisses.

We attempt to run at 5:30am, eat delicious food cooked by Olga and Lily (her daughter), catch a chicken bus at 7:30a, drive about 25 minutes outside of Antigua holding on for dear life as we turn sharp corners, switch to the microbus, and arrive at El Hospicio just after 8am along with the majority of workers there. We help bathe the 9 babies and dress them. We spend the morning playing with these adorable children (Hansel, Lester, Cindi, Angela Maria, Ana Lucia, Astrid, Kataryn, Yandel, and Sofia-the 2 month old). They are super cute in the morning and become more of a handful by noon when they get tired and we have to wake them up for lunch.  There are 2 -at first sad and now interesting- things we learned from day one.  First, never let the babies sleep unless it is the designated time to sleep (at night and their naptime at 1pm).  Second, never pickup up a crying child, unless they have clearly been injured. At first we felt really bad complying with both of these rules because we have always been taught to never wake a sleeping baby and because our natural instincts tell us to pick up a crying child. Now I see that children in Antigua cry a lot less than children in the U.S. and that if you don´t let them sleep during the day, they will sleep the entire night. I´m still not too sure how I feel about these two things, but I´m getting on board.

We  play with the kids, read to them, and do whatever is needed. At first we didn´t feel too useful because we were sort of in the way not knowing what to do and with so many kids around (there are 82 kids in the orphanage), but now we see that there is always something to be done. We have spent full days with the babies, helped with physical therapy, read to/with the older kids, helped with homework, and helped in the kitchen. The ladies in the kitchen work so hard constantly feeding 100 people for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and barely get paid anything (40 quetzales a day (9 hours per day) which works out to about 52 cents an hour!  I am amazed at how much energy everyone has the hospicio. Everyone is constantly full of energy working, playing with the kids, giving them hugs and kisses, and never resting!

At 2:30 we leave the Hospicio and take one-on-one Spanish classes for an hour (4-5) at Ixchel right by our house. I really like my teacher, Ana Lucia. It´s nice having someone to talk to about Guatemala, el hospicio, and my homestay.

At 5pm I go to different free Salsa classes. I am still exploring to find my favorite before I pick one to actually pay for private lessons. I also stop by a few panaderías on my way home just before I eat an amazing meal with Olga, Kayleigh, and the rest of the guests. The food is amazing here! Especially the fresh fruit! They are little stingy on the water, but I feel like they have the right given the amazing deal they gave us for room and board. Olga is hysterical and the whole family-especially Lily- are so sweet and patient! Sara-Lily´s 2 year old daughter- is adorable! (as are Felix and Victor- 2 other nietos of Olga)

There is so much to here, we still have yet to explore the majority of Antigua.

-Kara

Kayleigh Herrick-Reynolds ’11, Kara Percival ’11 and Jane Holloway ’11 willing be blogging from Guatemala this summer.