PatchesWeaver | www.patchesweaver.com

09.05.2009

category: Travel
tags: Gallo, Landscapes

This past Tuesday, Stella, Karla, Karla`s friend Luzbin, and I went to Monterico. It`s a beach on the Pacific side of Guatemala.

beachside hotels/whatnot

The beaches in Guatemala are a bit different, they have volcanic black sand… and the waves are ridiculous. I went in to swim for a bit. On about the fourth wave or so, for about 2 seconds I literally thought I was going to drown. Later that day we saw somebody get rescued by a lifeguard. Lost his bathing suit in the process, but he ended up being ok.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOu5MHUzpb4[/youtube]

Note: video does not do justice to size of waves or Brian`s wicked tan line.

Hammock time with Gallo in hand. Buenisimo.

On the way back, the bus was full of borachos. There was dancing, singing, yelling… a bit of everything. At one point on the way home, the bus driver pulled over next to a large jocote tree next to somebody`s house. About 10 people then filed out of the bus and began picking/stealing jocotes off of the tree.

Two jocote theifs. I have chosen to post a blurry photo to protect their identity

Two jocote marigñon (cashew fruit) thieves. Photo has been blurred to protect their identity.

Everybody then filed back into the bus with bags full of jocotes. We then continued home.

7 comments

03.05.2009

Felix and his cafe

category: Travel
tags: Landscapes

This Saturday Felix from work invited me to his coffee farm(s). Felix is part of a Farmers Co-op that does organic and sustainable farming of coffee and other crops.

Felix and his son Erich

Felix explaining the germination process. He has been farming for many years and is now experimenting with different crops. He is experimenting with germinating a different species of coffee as well as a type of tree that produces wood for furniture.

Felix then explained to me that he owns 4 small plots of land for growing his coffee. It is really hard (and expensive) to get big continuous plots of land, so as a small local farmer, he has had to begin by working with multiple small plots.

We then drove to one of Felix`s plots of land. The road started to get pretty hairy. We left the truck behind and kept going...

We then drove to one of Felix`s plots of land. Even in four wheel drive, the truck wasn`t making it the whole way. We left the truck behind and kept going. Not too bad of a walk by foot. Add loads of 100 lb bags of coffee and it gets a bit tougher...

Coffee (Avacado tree in back - heavily pruned to let light down to the coffee)

There`s such a huge price difference between different grades of coffee. What`s the difference between the good stuff and the bad stuff?

The good stuff and the bad stuff

A part of Felix`s sustainable way of growing is to grow other types of crops. These other crops are usually planted in the spaces between his coffee. This is a macadamia nut tree. He also grows avacados, beans, a plant used to make biodiesel, and peaches.

Walking back to the truck. Time to go to the next plot of land...

Felix grabbing a peach. We eat them before they are totally ripe. This isn`t uncommon. Alot of the fruit is stolen of the trees.

Felix grabbing a peach. We eat them before they are totally ripe. This isn`t uncommon. Alot of the fruit is stolen off of the trees.

Coffee pulps used to fertilize around the plants

Coffee drying patio at Felix`s house. High (export) grade coffee in front, low (market) grade in back. He leaves it out to dry for about a week.

High grade coffee. Still has the skin/husk on it. It will then be sent through a machine to remove the husk and then roasted.

Go to the Photo`s section (Month 4) for more photos.

For more info (or to buy Felix`s coffee): http://www.asgreenasitgets.org/felix.html

3 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

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

09.02.2009

Weekend in Puerto

categories: Fiestas, Travel
tags: Dancing, Food, Gallo, hats, Landscapes

So Rodalfo and his friend Christian invited me to go to Puerto San Jose this past weekend.

Puerto is a small beach town. Everybody seems to know eachother. Christian took me around town on the back of his motorcycle and was waving to pretty much every other person…

There was alot of time spent on the beach (in the shade of course) and hanging around in Rodalfo’s family’s restaurant eating seafood. We also drove around a four wheeler for a bit on the beach which was really fun.

And unfortunately I somehow lost mi sombrero chilero…

Beach

View from the Restaurant

Fishing

We spent Saturday at Christian’s family’s restaraunt drinking, eating, and listening to mariachi. Mariachi is no joke here, people get really into it. Rodalfo enjoys singing (/yelling) along to the music and shouting out to friends that drive by (usually making fun of them).

Saturday night we went to a discoteca in town. There has been a marked improvement in my dance skills due to the constant need to practice on the weekends. I got a shoutout from the DJ as being a “buen honda from las estados unidos”. We stayed up late just talking and hanging out.

Christian and his family at their restaurant (Christian's cousin Erik wanted to be sure that the "Gallo" label on his beer was visible in this photo)

The weekend was great excercise for both my Spanish and my liver. Sunday was spent drinking and hanging out in Christian’s restaurant with his family. Since we all had slight hangovers, I was told that the best way to remedy the situation was to drink more beer (and we’re talking early… like 8:30am …when in Rome…) and to eat “levante el morio” (wake the dead). Levante el morio is a soup with tomatoes, eggs, and other spices… famous for curing hangovers.

Oh and my Spanish is getting better. Christian’s cousin had me *roughly* translate “November Rain” by Guns n’ Roses and various Bob Marely songs…

12 comments

06.02.2009

Field Trip: San Mateo

categories: School, Travel
tags: cramped spaces, Español, Food, Landscapes

So on Wednesday I went on a field trip through the school. It was to a neighboring pueblo named San Mateo. We were visiting a very small elementry school that supported itself by demostrating how to make tortillas and other typical Guatemalan food to tourists.

We met in the park near my house a little before 8:00 to wait for our ride. We were going to take a camionete (bus), but in typical Guatemalan fashion, we ended up taking a peekop (pickup)

Everybody in (all 10 of you... seriously)

The ride was great and ended up taking about a half an hour or so. We ended up doing pretty well. In all we had 10 people. Luckily, the truck was an extended cab, so we were able to fit quite a few people inside. We weren´t so lucky on the way back and had to cram 12 people (including 2 local farmers).

When we got there we went on a hike around the town. The landscape was beautiful.

San Mateo

Local construction

Wind

Carrying water. This is a daily climb of probably .5 miles (each way)

The niña with the Spongebob Squarepants backpack has spanish that is far superior than my own

I quickly came to the conclusion that the niña with the Spongebob Squarepants backpack has spanish that is far superior (in comparison to my own)

After hiking it was time to eat…

Grinding the corn for the tortillas

Rolling the dough

Yes

Pipian, pollo, arroz, y tortilla

6 comments

26.01.2009

A Beard Trimming and Dance shoes

categories: Fiestas, Travel
tags: beard, Dancing, Gallo, Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So I went back to Guatemala city (via comioneta/”chicken bus”) for the weekend. To my dismay, upon arriving, Marti informed me that I would be getting a haircut with her son Giovanni on Saturday. Rather than turning down the offer, I felt that it was maybe necessary to tame the twirlygigs that had begun to form at the base of my future mane. Although this has seriously set me back with my hopes of attaining the super beard of a beatnik vagabond, I feel it is sometimes necessary to take one step backward to go two steps forward…

Saturday came as a very busy day. It began with helping Giovanni and Tono assemble a complicated desk (without directions). This proved to be a good test for newly learned vocabulary (above, on top of, below, etc). After desk assembly, I drove around town with Marti and Carlos running some errands. While driving back, Marti and Carlos asked me if I would like to go to a fiesta. To this I replied, “Si… cuando?”. “Ahora” they said. Giovanni and his wife were basically ready to leave back at the house. They then asked me if I had nice clothes… Of course I did not. I ended up wearing Carlos´s. The shoes were a bigger problem since nobody in the entire country of Guatemala has a size 10 or 11. I ended up using Giovanni´s father in law´s. They were a ·tight· fit, but did the trick. Everything besides the shoes and sportcoat fit well (if I stretched my arms out in front of me, the cuffs of the shirt would pass the sleeve of the sportcoat by about 3 inches).

The fiesta turned out to be a wedding at one of the nicest Hotels in Guatemala. The driveway for the hotel alone snaked up a mountain next to Antigua for (literally) 2 kilometers. The road alone was beautiful and the view was accentuated by a guard with a shotgun.

The hotel was nice and the view of Antigua wasn´t too bad either

There ended up being alot of people at the party

There also ended up being alot of people Dancing and Dancing (click)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb1dYwisA9M[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBoUk2Re3Ps[/youtube]

Needless to say, my dance “skills” are pretty weak, even when aided by the powers of alcohol. The moment the music started, it became very apparent to me that I will need to work on the dance moves. Learning to dance has now become a priority that is 2nd only to learning spanish (and probably getting a job). I was also told that a pair of new (dance) shoes is a must since there are so many fiestas in Guatemala.

5 comments

23.01.2009

Climbing Pacaya

categories: School, Travel
tags: Landscapes

So I climbed a Volcano yesterday.

During class, a man named Robert came up to me with a proposal. He explained how he and his family were planning on climbing Pacaya today and how he had reserved a shuttle bus and a guide. Robert said that his wife was feeling a bit sick and didn´t feel like going anymore. He wanted to know if I was interested in going. Since I wasn´t doing anything, I of course accepted his offer.

We ended up taking a shuttle with Robert and his family, a couple from Australia, and a couple from Madrid.

This is our guide. While walking up, he picked up a few pieces of dry wood. We really began to feel the heat once we got the area that was completely covered with volcanic rock. At one point our guide threw a few sticks down into a crevis, waited a few seconds, and then up came the fuego… and then people started roasting marshmellows… seriously.

The volcano was absolutely beautiful. It had many different landscapes; forest, open grassy areas, and volcanic rock. Every 5 minutes or so the volcano would rumble and spew out another plume of smoke.

11 comments

18.01.2009

Antigua

category: Travel
tags: Landscapes, Marti and Carlos

So its my first day in Antigua. As it stands, the plan is to take 2 to 3 weeks of classes in Antigua and then go to Xela for about 2 to 3 weeks of more classes.

We dropped Otto off at the airport this afternoon. I am now flying solo in Guatemala. I spent the rest of the day with Marti and Carlos visiting the surrounding areas of Antigua (San Fillipe and Ciudad Viejo) and honing my gringo spanish.

I am staying in hotel Don Quijote for the night. I will start class tomorrow and meet the Guatemalan family that I will be staying with.

Here is a view of Antigua. It lies between the “water volcano” (to the left) and the ”fire volcano” (to the right). Needless to say, the volcanoes are huge. Carlos and Marti drove me up a winding backroad passing massive potholes, women carrying fruit on their heads, and stray dogs in order to see this view. The road leads to Antigua, but we had to turn back after somebody informed us that the road ahead had been blocked by a landslide.

I spent a few hours walking around the city at night. Its beautiful. I will add more to this description later…

6 comments

Recent Comments

Archives

Meta

Clustrmaps

Blogroll