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09.05.2009

category: School
tags: Confusion, Español

So I`m still not too cool for school. I`m back to taking classes again. There`s one verb tense called the subjuntivo that I have yet to learn. It`s the most complicated tense in Spanish, but is necessary to learn if I`m really going to have a decent handle on the language.

Aura, mi maestra, has told me that she can teach it to me in 2 weeks if we really focus. I`ve been told that its basically the kind of thing you can learn in a few weeks, but takes about a year or so to really understand.

4 comments

27.04.2009

Escipulas and a broken down bus

category: Travel
tags: Confusion, Dancing, Español, Food, Marti and Carlos, Mujeres

I went with Marty and Carlos to Escipulas this weekend for a tour. Escipulas is in the South-East corner of Guatemala and is a pilgrimage site for most of Central America. There is a statue of Christ called “Cristo Negro” (Black Christ) that is said to have miraculous healing powers for people of faith. This is taken very seriously. Though I did not see it, there are people that enter into the church on their knees, make their way up to Christo Negro to pray, and then exit on their sore bloody knees.

The group. Its hard to see in this photo, but there were 52 of us.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtqvDn8hYhU[/youtube]

Año Santo. 250th Anniversary of the church. This main entry door is never completely opened. For this year alone it has been opened completely. Pope Benedict has said that to walk through this door is a very holy act.

We had just been to Escipulas two weeks ago during Semana Santa when my mother was here (had decided last minute to go there instead of Chemuc Shampey because of whether conditions). It was good to go again to see it in a different way. We went to a handful of services. One was in a small chapel that is usually never open to the public, and another was during the main service in an elevated area that is very close to the Cristo Negro.

Escipulas

People outside. This photo doesn´t do justice to the amount of people that are are actually there on a daily basis. It is packed.

I will load more pics of Escipulas once I have them available…

The town that the church is in is completely dependent on the existance of the church. Without the church, I´m pretty sure there´d be no town. Everybody is selling religious paraphanilia along with everything else that usually makes up a Guatlemalan mercado. We were walking around and met this guy:

Master of the fortune telling paraquets

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdZxfNKvq6g[/youtube]start

So the paraquet decided to pick three papelitos of advice for me, out of which I chose the yellow one. I have to admit, I still do not exactly understand the elaborate prophecy that has been fortold. Marty helped me clear it up a bit though and it is something along the lines of the fact that I will soon be recieving news that will not be good. Fortunately, it also said that the news will not be bad either… just news.

So while climbing up the windy stretch of highway on the way home, the bus driver started to slow down and then pull over to the side of the road.

Hmm

Luckily, the bus driver was basically a mechanic too. After about 15 minutes or so, he was able to fix the bus and we continued on. We then drove for about 5 – 10 minutes more and pulled over again. Repeat. Then drove a bit more and then broke down again. After the 3rd breakdown, people decided that we´d better get another bus. We ended up getting many “microbuses” to drive us to the hotel we were eating at for lunch.

Breakdown

Filing into the microbus

Because it was a spur of the moment thing, our microbus driver didn´t have his transit papers. We were then given a “free tour” through Chikimulas to retrieve the papers before going to the hotel.

We then ate lunch and then hung out next to the pool for about 1.5 hours. When the bus arrived, the bus driver was completely covered in grease but said that the bus was ready to go. We then continued back to Guatemala city breakdown-free. Luckily, this had not been at night, that would have been a completely different situation…

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12.04.2009

Magic Cream

category: Problemas
tags: Confusion, Español

Magic Cream

After doing some intense Semana Santa walking (/running to keep up with my mom) in the sun (with [tight] jeans). I seemed to have developed slight jock itch.

I was not sure how to remedy the situation because my Spanish vocab does not include hygenic terminology that includes something of this specificity. This being said, I felt that I could whether the storm and try to live with it.

After a day or two, I finally decided that something needed to be done. After walking by several pharmacies, I finally found an empty one with only guys behind the counter. Having no other vocabulary at hand, I politely, and in the classiest way I could, tried to present my situation. I said (with a smirk) to one of the pharmicists, “So I`m not sure how to say it in Spanish, but do you have any medicine for when your balls itch?”. All 5 of the guys behind the counter then proceeded to attempt keeping a straight face. The majority of them then “went to look for the medicine” (while laughing) and came back with a little box in hand.

I then proceeded to read the box. Shampoo. The box also included pictures of green cartoonish bugs. “¿Este es si tu tienes animalitos? (This is if you have little animals/bugs?). Everybody then started laughing again. “Haha, no no no, glad I don`t have that problem… No, cream, do you have any cream?”. (Meanwhile, the guy doing the inventory on the computer was loving this).

One of the guys returned with a box labeled “Magic Cream”. “This will fix it”.

We (my mom was there to witness this whole thing) then left with cream in hand and everybody laughing.

Semana Santa…

5 comments

05.04.2009

Lago Atitlan, Xela, una Misa, Bailando, y una Procesión

categories: Fiestas, Travel, Visitors
tags: Dancing, Español, Food, Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So you´ll have to bear with me here, didn´t have time to explain. Check back for updates…

Arriving to Lago Atitlan

God

We chartered a boat ($12 a head) to see some of the pueblos that surround Lago Atitlan. There are 12 pueblos, and each one of them is named after one of the 12 apostles.

It was actually not the best day to go to the lake, it was cloudy and the water was choppy. However, Pedro was not at all phased by the conditions and we flew across the lake (faster than Marty would have liked).

Picture with Captain Pedro

Suiting up to head to Santiago Atitlan

Marty, Mom, and Carlos in Front of Iglesia Parroquial Santiago Apostal (built in 1547)

We got a tuc tuc (tiny toy-like taxi) and went to the center of Santiago. After some persuasion by the tuc tuc driver we then decided to do one of the tours that he was offering. We chose to go around town and to visit Maximon, a god/saint that some of the indigineous people of the area worship.

Visit to Maximón, indiginous god. Liquor and cigars...

Fitting in

After the lake we headed to Xela, Guatemala´s second largest city. It is about a two hour drive from the lake on roads that are undergoing serious construction. We were told that it is generally considered “The Athens of Central America”.

Pueblo on the outskirts of Xela

Muchos pollos

Mercado - look at the niña

Radishes

Rock n´ Roll electric altar

Centro de Xela

Xela´s Cathedral´s Double Facade. Original church in front, new church in back.

Local Mariachi´s

Flute

Our tour bus waiting in front of the cathedral

Xela

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFOD-1ojol8[/youtube]

Ridiculous end to our tour. Couldn´t have been more perfect.

After the tour we went into the Cathedral. Just so happened to be a wedding in progress...

Red light district. In Xela, red lights on Saturdays means Paches.

Paches

Leaving Xela

Sunday morning we went to a mass for Tita (Marty´s sister) and Paco. They have been married for 50 years. Otto´s family took up about the back quarter of a decent sized church. Not everybody made it into this photo.

Family photo after the Mass.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnr6jN7q2Tg[/youtube]

Tita and Paco´s 50th Anniversary party

Tub of salad and barrel of rice...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lPEsItL-MQ[/youtube]

Dancing it up

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVOcECA2ILw[/youtube]

7 comments

28.03.2009

Adios

category: Fiestas
tags: beard, Español, Gallo, Mujeres

So Friday was Charlie`s last day at Familias de Esperanza. We met up for drinks later that night.

Drinks

And I guess even without the full blown beard I`ve managed to maintain my scrubby bum-like appearance. While we were walking around, we saw a group of volunteers that had helped at the organization for a week or so. “Brian, you shaved!”. And these people had not seen my beard, they were talking about my 5 o`clock shadow that I had let go for a bit too long…

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26.03.2009

Weekend in HueHue

category: Travel
tags: Español, Food, Landscapes

I spent this past weekend in HueHuetenango. Jaime told me that the name of the area literally translates to “the place of old men”.

Rodalfo`s friend Carlos invited me to his house for a long weekend. HueHue is about 4.5 – 5 hours and 2 camionetas north of Antigua. The bus ride was awesome, I actually wished it had been longer. Mountains, farms, small towns… and fog, lots of fog.

HueHue bus station / market

The weekend was spent “perfecting my Spanish” (a joke that was repeated many times… you had to be there). Most of the time was just spent talking and going around visiting the local sites. Carlos and his brother accept lots of couch surfers into there house and have a few places of interest to show their visitors.

Carlos`s brother took me to the ruins of Zaculeu. This was a suprise after a little chicharron (authentic pork rind – actually really good on a tortilla with salsa, lime, and some greens). You`ll have to google it if you want to see pictures, I didn`t have my camera on me.

Carlos is a baker. He has recently started teaching classes about a block from his house in a small space that he rents. He likes to teach the international folks how to cook things. He taught me how to french bread and baguettes. I can now add two more things to the long list of things I know how to cook. The list is probably approaching a grand total of almost 5 or 6 at this point.

Watching the machine mix the dough was mezmerizing. This quicky became Carlos`s word of the weekend. From there on out, everything was "mezmerizing".

Prepping the dough

Making dough balls

Rolling dough balls

Carlos took me to a place called “El Mitador”. Its one of the highest points in HueHuetenango. There was an incredible view there. There were also two awesome houses. I`d have to say, I was into the houses more than the view.

Yes

House 1 from the back

House 2

Pretty decent view out the window

Descansando

One night we went to Carlos`s parents house for a bit. Carlos asked me if I was hungry. Do you like mango`s? He opened the fridge.

Muchos mangos

“Why do they have so many mangos?”. “Because they are crazy, they went to Guatemala city and bought 100 mangos”. We then sat around and ate mangos.

7 comments

19.03.2009

Marty Party

category: Fiestas
tags: Confusion, Español, Food, Marti and Carlos

So Marty had a birthday party on Sunday.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2BYwdfKZM[/youtube]

The party was a good time. Otto`s aunts and uncles took this as a perfect opportunity to sit down with the gringo and teach him a bunch of palabras malas. They didn`t forget to throw in a few hand signs too…

3 comments

08.03.2009

Cuchubal

category: Fiestas
tags: Español, Food, Marti and Carlos

So welcome to the Cuchubal, a monthly event held to bring the family together… and take their money.

The Cuchubal is a very common game played in Guatemala. It`s a sort of round-robin event held with a group of usually around 10+ people (Otto`s family plays with about 30). Everybody throws down Q200 (about $26) and hopes that they win the pot.

So here are the most important rules of Cuchubal (and people make sure that they`re followed to the T):

Come to the Cuchubal
Put down your Q200 (If you don`t come this rule still applies)
If you don`t pay the Q200 during the day of Cuchubal you need to pay a penalty to the last person who won Cuchubal
If you win, you need to wait for everybody else to win before you are able to win again
If you win, you need to hold the next Cuchubal

Reading the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here)

Reviewing the rules (lets make sure everybody`s clear here... if you wanna start something, the rulebook`s right here...)

Olga passing out the numbers for the cash money

Passing out the numbers for the bottle of gin

Suspense while everybody waits for the niña to hold up the sign with the magic winning number

12!

So what`s the point of Cuchubal? Good question, I wasn´t completely sure myself. You aren`t actually “winning” or “losing” the money. From what I could tell, there is really no difference between playing Cuchubal and opening a bank account and putting in Q200 a month (because no matter what you have to pay by the month and at some point you`re garunteed to win the Cuchubal). So what`s it about, winning a bunch of money at once so you can then impulsively spend it?

I asked my Spanish teacher Aura about this game. She used to play with all of the other maestras at school. She explained that this is actually a good way to save money. Since you have a responsibility to put down money (cuz if you don`t you`re gonna have to pay), you actually end up putting aside Q200 a month no matter what. It is also a way to watch out for your friends and family. For example, in select cases, if somebody`s child is sick and they need money for an operation or expensive medicine, the Cuchubal is shifted to them and they automatically win for that month.

Otto`s cousin (Olga`s son) ended up winning this one. The pot was Q6,800 ($858).

9 comments

04.03.2009

The processions have begun…

categories: Family Life, Travel
tags: Español, Stella

Throughout the entire 40 days of lent, Antigua begins to gear up for Semana Santa. Semana Santa is the last week of lent and the week right before Easter. From what I have heard, this is the time of the biggest celebrations in Guatemala. Antigua is famous for their processions and alfombras (carpets made of sawdust, fruit, flowers, stone dust, bread, etc). The alfombras are meant to represent a very transitory existence because they last for only a night or so. People stay up all night constructing the alfombras only to have them walked over by the people carrying massive floats representing scenes from the bible. Stella has told me that during Semana Santa, there are so many alfombras in the street that they are nearly continuous.

There are other places that have celebrations for Semana Santa but Antigua is by far the most famous in all of Central America. Stella`s house is a perfect place to be staying during this time because the cost of a hotel (if you can find one) is about 3x the cost…

Via Crucis. This is a very small float. There are only 6 people carrying it. During the week of semana santa there are floats with over 100 people carrying them.

This is a procession of Via Crucis (way of the cross / stations of the cross). This is a very small float. There are only 6 people carrying it. During the week of semana santa there are floats with over 100 people carrying them.

The procession would stop every 2 blocks or so to say a prayer. After the prayer, the guitarristas and niños would begin singing again...

This procession of Via Crucis was last Friday. The procession was made up of probably 400 – 500 people. There were guitars, children singing, and candles in everybody`s hands. At the tail end of the procession there were huge drums that would set a sort of marching beat.

I was completely amazed throughout the entire night. I`m pretty sure I had a huge smile on my face the entire time. At one point I said to Stella “esto es increible (this is incredible)” to which she replied, “esto no es nada (this is nothing)”. I can`t wait to see the bigger processions.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5Fyskkl9LQ[/youtube]

Every procession is put on by a different church. This one happened to be one of La Merced`s. After walking for about an hour and a half or so, we walked through the gigantic open doors of the church to hear a few last songs and a closing ceremony from the priest.

Alfombra in the church of La Merced. Keep in mind that this is made of stone dust...

Alfombra in the church of La Merced. Keep in mind that this is made of only sawdust and stone dust...

4 comments

26.02.2009

Time in Guatemala

category: Travel
tags: beard, Español

So due to popular demand I have uploaded a few pictures of myself.

Before (Jan 18 2009)

Now (Feb 25 2009)

My time here in Guatemala has really had a profound impact on me as a person. After more than a month of camioneta rides, mariachi music, and constant Spanish, I feel much more at home here. In a very short time I feel that I have been able to adapt to the people and their culture. I also consider myself to be much more of a seasoned traveler. I am tougher, more aware, and a bit more street-smart.

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