Christine's Getaway to Mexico

I recently had to make a trip to Mexico because my 90 day passport deadline for being in Guatemala was coming up. Though it was a short stay, I had a lovely time.

Mexico is firmly established as an upper middle-income country. It is home to the largest number of US citizens abroad accounting for 25% of all US citizens abroad. It is also considered a newly industralized country and an emergining power. I learned that it has the 13th largest nominal GDP and the 11th largest by purchasing power parity. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, especially the US as well as tourism, being the world's tenth most visited country with over 21.4 million international arrivals. It also ranks fifth in the world and first in the Americas with 29 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

So......where did I go but the beautiful city of San Cristobal de Las Casas....population around 175,000.

I arrived on a Monday and stayed for three days. It had a beautiful central park, cobblestone streets, cute cafes, lots of jewelry stores (with lots of Jade and Amber), and beautiful architecture. Surrounding San Cristóbal and even within the city there are several typical mountain wetlands. They are home to an endemic fish commonly known as "popoyote" which only lives in the valley of San Cristóbal. Unfortunately the rivers are heavily contaminated but the valley of San Cristóbal is surrounded by several mountains that make for beautiful scenery.

In Guatemala, Wal-Mart owns the market. Every banner of Supermarket is owned by Wal-Mart, whether its the Dispensa Familiar, Hiper Paiz, or another banner. Well, I found this bulletin in a munical building in Mexico and it seems like WMT has much of the market there too.

Mayan ancestry is evident in the Mexican population living in and around San Cristobal. Many of the women still wear their traditional Mexican outfits which consisted of a weaved blouse and a skirt with a belt. Their skirts are made of a material that is very much like the hairy monster material that you often find in costume stores. They take a large piece of material, wrap it around themselves to make a skirt, and put a belt around their waste to hold the material in place. I didn't see a lot of men still wearing traditional outfits but the ones that I did see wore a white "dress type" of outfit. It came to slightly past their knees and they wore a white poncho type of top over the "dress."

I didn't find anything on the menus that looked similar to what our Mexican Restaurants serve in the US. Burritos with sides of "Mexican" rice and refried beans......yeah right. And any enchiladas or burritos are served with corn tortillas not flour tortillas. The sauces are different too. Here is my plate of "Enchiladas" served with a spoon full of cream on top. Do we do that in the US? But not bad.

It was charming, charming, charming!

CW

Christine's Easter Week in Antigua, Guatemala

Guatemala is a country full of colorful events and Antigua is at the epicenter of the most impressive festival of the year. Easter week or "Semana Santa" sees Antigua transformed into a colorful mass of street carpets, each one hand made with colored sawdust, masses of colorful flowers, petals and leaves. The street carpets are a tradition dating backto the 16th century; Antigua and Grenada are the only two cities that still continue this amazing tradition.

(Above: This alfombra or "rug" was made with sawdust. Below: Made with flowers and plants.)

The event begins on Palm Sunday, during which images of Jesus and the Holy Virgin of Sorrow are carried from their churches through the city on the shoulders of devoted followers who carry lanterns while dressed in purple robes with white waistbands.

Similar processions occur on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, replicating the final days of Christ on earth. Holy Saturday continues with other funeral processions led by the image of a sorrowful Virgin Mary, followed by numerous women dressed in black who commemorate her moments of sorrow at the side of Christ.

Easter Sunday is a time of rejoicing, with early processions through the streets. Firecrackers are heard throughout the city and masses are held in all the churches. The week-long ceremonies end that day, and residents return to their daily lives.

During our time in Antigua, we also climbed Volcano Pacaya to see molten lava. It's a highly active volcano and is the most frequently climbed one in Guatemala. It is relatively easily accessible and commonly puts on a good show.

Its eruptive acivity ranges from minor gaseous emissions and quiet stream eruptions, to explosions powerful enough to hurl bombs up to 12 kilometers and evacuate numerous villages surrounding the area. The rocky ground was amazingly hot and could easily burn the bottom of your shoes if you stayed put in one place to long. We roasted marshmallows in "hotspots" and came within probably 100 -150ft of the lava. Here's my picture taken at night. It was a very tricky "hike" because if you fell you would be scraped up by sharp hot lava rocks.

And last but not least.......a friend and I discovered a remarkable ice cream place called Marco Polo in Antigua. Everyday we got an ice cream, so of course I had to throw in a picture. :)

Until next time,

Christine

Salsa Video

In a previous blog I wrote about a salsa presentation I helped with for an after school volunteer program called Escuelas Abiertas, here in Guatemala. Here is the video from that day.

Saludos,

Christine

Concert/Concierto de Ignacio Borrel

Buenos dias a todos! Primero, quiero decir..... espero que todos que han afectado por el terremoto en Chile esten bien! ¡Que terible!

Good day to all. First, I want to say.....I hope that all that have been affected by the earthquake are doing okay. How terrible it was to hear!

Este Miercoles, hubo un concierto de Ignacio Borrel y su banda "Buena Vista de Corazon" en La Parranda (discoteca). Ignacio Borrel cantaba/tocaba por el grupo "Buena Vista Social Club" de Cuba por un tiempo y fundó su propia banda, que escuchamos Miercoles.

This past Wednesday, there was a concert by Ignacio Borrel and his band the "Buena Vista de Corazon" at La Parranda (club). Ignacio Borrel sang and played for a very famous salsa group called the "Buena Vista Social Club" for a short while and then formed his own band, which we heard Wednesday.

La Buena Vista Social Club era un club exclusivo de miembros en Havana, Cuba. Había bailes y actividades musicales, y pronto el lugar llegaba a ser un localizacion popular para juntar y tocar musica durante los 1940s.

The "Buena Vista Social Club" was an exclusive members only club in Havana, Cuba. There was dancing and musical activities, and soon this location became a popular destination to gather and place music during the 1940s.

En los años noventa, casi 50 años después el club fue cerrado, inspiró una grabación hecha por músico cubano de Juan de Marcos González y guitarrista norteamericano Ry Cooder con músicos cubanos tradicionales, algunos de quien fueron veteranos que habían realizado en el club durante la altura de su popularidad.

In the 1990s, nearly 50 years after the club was closed, it inspired a recording made by Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder with traditional Cuban musicians, some of whom were veterans who had performed at the club during the height of its popularity.

(Josue y yo, amigo y uno de los profesores de salsa)

(Josue and I, friend and one of the salsa instructors with the school)

Estuvo un buen concierto y lo pasé muy bien!


It was a great concert and I had a fun time!

Hasta Luego!

Christine

Christine went to jail.

Quite literally, I did. I went to jail, but not because I committed a crime. Our school offered a trip to the "Casa de Mujeres" recently where we had an opportunity to visit a place that houses women that are in the middle of their trial awaiting to be found guilty or not guilty. There were about 38 women but the facility can have upwards of 50 women at a time.

The place is not a typical jail that we think of. We showed up to the building which had tall wooden red doors whose paint had been faded by the sun over several years. We entered into a small dark room to get clearance. Then we were patted down by a guard before going through an iron gate into a courtyard with a couple dozen women weaving. The building is old, the concrete is worn, no air conditioning, with clothes lines pinned to the wall back and forth throughout the courtyard to hang washed clothes. The jail wasn't as strict as what one would normally think of. The women have their own clothes and belongings. They all share a kitchen that includes normal utensils like knives, forks, scissors, etc. They live in dorm style rooms and bed sheets line the aisles. One room we went into had 17 beds and housed 20 women. Doing the math, that means a few ladies share beds. I can only imagine what it's like with 50 women having to share beds with only a couple dorm rooms.

Three women had small children. The policy with children is that the children can stay with their mother in this facility until the age of 4 when the child has to leave. The child can be placed with a willing family member or is sent to an orphanage.

The women spend their time knitting, weaving, and making little things. We all had the opportunity to sit down with some of the ladies and talk about their experiences. In my group, it was myself and two students from Holland. We spoke with three ladies, two in their twenties and one in her 50's. We talked about family, what it's like living in the facility, what they make, and........"the question" why were they there. One of the twenty year olds (the talkative of the group) was there accused of murder. The other would not say. The older lady only said that it had to do with land.

Simple toiletries like toilet paper, soap, and feminine protection (all of which are things we brought them) are not common to always have. If they have family on the outside that is willing to buy them products, they may have some things, but most of the time, their families don't live close and or can't afford it. Clothes are washed by hand in huge concrete "tubs". It's a small place with simple means but the women did get together and in the recent years were able to finance and raise money to put in a computer lab. It doesn't have internet but there are about 10 computers where basic computer skills are taught. It also serves as a classroom for teaching primary and high school subjects for the women who can't read and write or never finished school.

"It's a sad place" one of the ladies told me, but........ looking on the positive side, this group of women, whose stay can last anywhere from a few days to 3 years, can at least see the sky, sun, and moon. I imagine there are worse places to be. So, did I go to jail......yes, but not like you probably originally thought. :)

Saludos,

CW

CW- La Comida en Guatemala!

(Our dinner table)

Obvio que la comida o alimento es tan importante a cada paiz. Aqui, el maíz es el ingrediente más important en la comida. Yo he probado muchas comidas differentes y aqui estan algunas fotos.

It's pretty obvious that food is such an important part of the culture to every country. Here, corn is the main ingredient or staple to their food. My family provides 3 meals a day, 6 days a week so I have tried many different plates. Here are some photos.

Caldo/Cazuela con papas(potatoes), zanahorias (carrots), y chayote squash.

Chow-Mein Guatemalan Style with....of course, fresh corn tortillas every day.

Pache de papa Quetzalteco.

Jocon con arroz y tortillas.

Jocon which is a Guatemalan chicken in tomatillo-cilantro sauce, served with rice and tortillas.

Enchilada tostada, chuchito con hoja, y otro tipo de chuchito.

Papas puree con yerbas y queso.

Pureed potatoes with herbs and cheese.

Despues de llegar a Guatemala, no estaba loca para las tortillas. Pero, ahora, con tortillas frescas para almuerzo cada dia.....son muy sabrosas. Y a veces, yo ayudo en la cocina!

I wasn't crazy about the tortillas when I arrived, but now, fresh for lunch everyday......they are great! I've even helped a little in the kitchen!

Buen provecho!

Christine

Christine back at school and getting confetti in her hair.

Feliz Dia de Cariños a todas! Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
(In my best spanish with english translation)

Bueno, todas saben que me encanta bailar salsa. Ayer, tuve la oportunidad de participar en un programa se llama Puertas Abiertas con un conocido de salsa.

Well, everyone knows that I love to dance salsa. Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a program called, Open Doors, with a friend from salsa.

Nosotros fuimos a un pueblo cerca de la cuidad. Era un comunidad indigno donde el idioma es Mam, aunque la mayoría hablan español tambien.

We went to a pueblo not far from the city. It was an indigenous community where they speak one of the Mayan languages called Mam, even though the majority speak spanish too.

Llegamos a una escuela primaria, donde había muchos voluntarios. Empezaron a llegar los alumnos, algunos con ropa tipica y algunos con ropa "normal". Nestor y yo practicamos un poco antes de la presentación. Teníamos alumnos que nos miraban por la ventana.

We arrived at a primary school, where there were many Guatemalan volunteers. The students started to arrive and some were dressed in their traditional wear and some where not. We practiced dancing a little before the presentation and we had several of the children watching us from the windows outside.

La presentación de salsa comenzó a las 10:00 de la mañana y salió bien pero era dificil bailar en el cemento. The presentation started at 10am and it went well, but it was dificult to dance on the cement. Below are some photos:

Acá estan algunas fotos:

Cuando Nestor estaba haciendo cosas, yo tenía el acompañamiento de tres alumnas. Ellas les gustaba tirar picapica en mi pello, jugar con gafas del sol, y llevar mis cosas. Había otras actividades y yo me compré pan con frijoles, chiclet, y una bebida por 5 Quetzals ($.60). Tan barato! Una señora la tenía una canasta lleno de huevos con picapica y con .50centavos ($.07) uno puede comprar un huevo. Era divertido para los alumnos.

While Nestor was tending to things, I had the accompaniment of three little school girls. They loved to throw confetti in my hair, play with sunglasses, and carry my things. There were other activities going on as well and I bought myself some bread with black beans, gum, and Crush Orange Soda all for about .60 while I enjoyed the other shows. It's so cheap here! There was a lady that had a basket of eggshells filled with pica pica and with .07 you could buy one. It was so fun for the kids.

Acá tengo una foto de la picapica en mi pelo.

Tambien, sacé algunas fotos de las niñas que estaban allá. Mira que bonita.

I also took some photos of some little girls that were there. Look how pretty......

Despues, en la tarde, fui con mi "host family" a un celebración/fiesta de el sobrino de mis "host padres". Estuvo muy bien. Ellos llegaron a ser los padrinos. Nosotros celebramos su 15 años cumpleaños. No es muy común de ver un (homre) joven celebrando su 15 años cumpli pero existe.

Afterwards, in the afternoon, I went with my host family to their nephews 15th birthday party. It was great and my host parents became godparents. It's not common for young boys to celebrate their 15th birthday, like it is for girls, but the practice does exist.

Empezamos a las 3:00 de la tarde y fuimos la iglesia para la misa. El sacerdote le dijo a Marlon algunas palabras y terminamos a las 4:00.

We started at 3pm and went to the church for mass. The priest said some words to Marlon and the family and it was over by 4pm.

Fuimos a un salón donde estaban mesas con manteles blancos y sillas para sentarse.

La mayoría de los invitados eran de la familia. Durante la noche, ellos tocaban musica, nos sirvieron comida (pollo, arroz, verduras, tamalitas) y yo bailaba mucho. Despues la niñas quebraban huevos con picapica a las cabezas de todas. Yo tenía mucho pica pica en mi pelo como todas!

The majority of the people invited were family members. At night they played music, served us dinner, and I danced a lot. Afterwards the little girls broke eggs filled with confetti on everyone's heads. I had so much pica pica in my hair just like everyone else!

La pasé muy bien ayer! I had a great time yesterday!

Saludos!

Christine

Christine's attempt in making........

The school put an activity on this past week to make a traditional Guatemalan Rellenito. It's made from the platano banana and black beans but is served as a dessert or "postre".

The Recipe!

• Rellenitos de Plátano
  

Ingredientes para 12 porciones:

• 6 platanos medianos


• 1/2 libra de frijoles volteados
  
• Azúcar y canela al gusto
  
• 1/2 botella de aceite

Preparación:

• Cocinar el platano por 30 minutos, sacar, y deshacer inmediatamente. (cocinar el platano con cáscara)
  


• Agregar un poco de canela


• Freír el frijol y agregar azúcar
  
  



• Hacer una pequeña tortilla con el platano y poner frijol en el centro.
  

• Cerrar la tortilla, formando un ovalo, freír y dejar dorar un poco.
  
  
• 


• Servir el rellenito con crema y azúcar (opcional)

Yummy!

Buen Provecho!

Christine

Mari and Christine

Every day Mari comes to tend to the house. She arrives in the morning, wearing her traditional Guatamalteca dress, and makes the beds, sweeps and mops the floors, dusts, cooks lunch, washes the dishes, and more. She is reserved, sweet as she can be, and at the tender age of 18 (though she looks 13).

(I had to wait until today to take the picture so she could bring her pretty green apron for the picture)

I have had a chance to speak with Mari almost every day before lunch, while she prepares handmade tortillas (of which she lets me help!) and whatever the entree is for the day. Matter of fact, yesterday the host mom and her planned to prepare Malanga for me because it was my last day in the house (for atleast a couple weeks because I plan to go back). Her and I have become friends. I've learned a lot about her simple life and we talk about relationships, work, life, and the such. Talking with her, we all have the same problems, just intertwined in a different culture.


Her father works at the Municipalidad de Quetzaltenango and her mother sells vegetables and fruits at a local market. They have a small farm where they grow various products too. She commutes about 30 minutes each way to the house to work because her family lives in a pueblo outside of town where everyone wears the typical Guatemalan indigenous dress. She said she feels more comfortable in the typical dress, though on the weekends if they go out grocery shopping she will sometimes wear her jeans. However, because jeans are tighter and the shirts are a little more revealing, she feels more comfortable in her typical dress.

I was curious about what wage someone in her service makes. Since we've opened up a lot to each other, I was comfortable asking general questions about money. I learned that someone offering home services, like she, can make on average between 700-1000 Quetzals/month, or about $90-$125 dollars/month. Do the math, she probably makes about $1200/year, working 8am-4pm 6 days/week. She didn't attend school after the age of 13. At 14 she started working in other peoples homes, doing the cooking and cleaning. She's worked in about half a dozen homes and has been at our current home for about 4 months. She says she really likes it.

She's told me that when I go she will miss me a lot because of the bond we've created. What she doesn't know is how much I will miss her company too. She makes me smile and laugh on a so-so day and I make her laugh on her so-so days, because I think we both look forward to our chats. Because she is considered "indigenous" there sometimes can be racism within the culture towards the Mayans, dating back many decades. I have found the Mayan people that I know to be very reflective, spiritual people. She talks often about listening to the heart. There you find the answers to your questions, she says. Simple advice.....and advice we here all the time, but hearing it from someone who lives it and seems spiritually connected, it's an interesting moment to have and be reminded of.

Saludos,

Christine

Christine´s School and House

My walks to and from the school are always most interesting. Women in traditional dress crowd the streets, often carrying a basket of goods on their head. It reminds me of pictures that I have seen of the women in Africa. How they balance those goods, I just don´t know.

Yesterday, not far from my house, on a street corner was a donkey with a huge load of firewood on its back, and a cute little old man, with leather worn skin, standing behind him. A business man, trying to make a few Quetzals that day.

Just a few Quetzals here (8Quetzals= $1) makes a big difference to someone. The minimum wage here is only about $200/month and unfortunately over half the country lives in poverty. Guatemala is one of the 10 poorest latin american countries and I can definately see the differences in quality of life between Chile and Guatemala.

There is also a business that cooks some type of food in a metal oil barrel. They cut the barrel in half horizontally, stuck a torch underneath, and that´s their makeshift stove.

MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME

This is the street that my house is on. It´s the two story on the right.

This is my house on the outside. The outside looks are deceiving.

I´ve noticed that there are not near the amount of homeless dogs roaming the streets as I saw in Chile.

MY SCHOOL

I arrive to the school around 10am or so every morning and spend some time studying before I head back to home for lunch.

This is my school.

I really enjoy the fact that the school offers an activity every day. Sometimes they are in-school activities, like a cooking class, and sometimes outside, like hiking or a tour. Yesterday there was a salsa class and of course I HAD to check it out. As you can see below, I definately signed up for it.

We ended up going to a discoteca called La Parranda, a local "club" that offeres salsa on Wednesdays. The class started at 8:30pm and afterwards there was dancing. The clubs/bars close at 1am in Guatemala and I was out of their around 11:30. It was full of gringos trying to learn to salsa but the funnest thing I saw was.......to make that "club smoke" the bouncer would have to walk to the floor to hold down a button hanging from the ceiling to make the smoke come out.


Until next time,
Christine

Christine´s in Guatemala

Hola a todos desde Quetzaltenango, Guatemala! I´ve made it safely and finished up my first day of Spanish class already.

My attempt to translating parts of my blog (sorry not the whole thing yet- don´t have the time on this computer): Llegué a Guatemala seguramente y ya acabé mi primero dia de la clase de Español.


I´m studying at the Celas Maya school where there are about 40-50 students studying at one time, all coming and going at different weeks. The staff is friendly and very helpful and I´ve already made several friends.


Estoy estudiando en la escuela Celas Maya donde hay 40-50 estudiantes, todos viniendo y saliendo cada semana. El personal de la escuela es muy amable y ya tengo amigos.


My host family is great. I live with Monica and Mario and their three children, Javier(18), Daniel(14), Alejandra(9), and the two dogs Scott and Happy. The house is a 10 minute walk from the school through dirt and cobblestone roads. It´s a large size house, 6 bedrooms, 3 baths, large dining and living room, office, garage, etc. There is also a Russian/Canadian student from my school that lives in the house as well.

La familia acá es genial. Vivo con Monica y Mario y sus hijos Javier, Daniel, y Alejandra, ademas los dos perros Scott y Happy. La casa es una caminata de 10 minutos de la escuela por caminos de tierra y adoquín. Es una casa grande con 6 dormitorios, 3 baños, comedor y living grandes, oficina, garage, etc. Tambien hay un estudiante ruso/canadiense que vive en la casa.

I have my own room which has two queen beds, so I very well could have a roommate while I´m here. Below is my room which you can see is a nice size. I don´t have hangers on my closet rod so I´ve hung my clothes over the rod or on the other bed(orange). I have a desk/chair and my trash bin in my grocery sack hung on the door until I buy one.


I wake up at 6 in the morning to the beautiful melodic sounds of the neighbor rooster, who likes to let us know about the gorgeous day ahead of us. Happy, the 4 month puppy, loves to break into my room if I accidentally leave the door slightly open, to steal one of my socks. It gets very cold at night so I might start stealing some of the blankets from the other bed to keep myself warm at night. I´m adjusting to the "warm" water available to shower. I thought keeping my showers to 10 minutes was hard in Chile, but I think I´ve got it down to 5 minutes or less now.


This is little Happy.




I went to the supermarket for the first time, which is owned by Wal-Mart, though you wouldn´t know it from inside or outside the store except for their Equate store brand products on the shelves. There weren´t any fruits or vegetables available due to the street vendors and local markets that are abundantly available. There were about six aisles, limited selections, and very few "snack" type items. Plastic bags to put your grocies in costed .15 Quetzals or about 2 cents, though I didn´t see anyone buy a bag except for us Americans.

The school offers activities almost every day of the week and yesterday morning a friend and I hiked up to La Muela, "The Molar" with the school guide Cesar. We took a bus for a short distance where we were stared at by at least half the bus. Unfortunately also, the bus drivers take advantage of ignorant foreigners and either don´t give change back if you aren´t insistent or up the price for you because you don´t know the true cost. When we got off the bus we hoped on the back of this man´s truck with his wife and two daughters in the back and they drove us about a mile or two up the hill. We passed flower and vegetable plantations, as well as a ritzy new development that was being constructed. We hiked and bouldered for about 3 hours. I fell towards the bottom on some slippery dirt, and besides breaking my watch and a scrap or two on my arm, I survived. It was a beautiful view of the city and neighboring pueblos from the viewpoint La Muela, which used to be an active volcano.



So far, it´s been a good experience. I´ll write more on the food soon, as that´s been a fun part of the experience too.


Saludos,
Christine