Mi Casa Es Su Casa January 24, 2015
According to our Lonely Planet guide book on Guatemala, Lake Atitlan was described by 19th century traveler John Stevens as "the most magnificent spectacle that we ever saw". Stephen Benz, writing in his compelling 1996 book, Guatemalan Journal, stated that he hated to repeat what so many others had already said but, despite himself, had to admit that Lake Atitlan was the most beautiful lake in the world! In 2011, we had briefly passed through Panajachel, a town of 20,000 inhabitants, located on the eastern end of the lake and found the vista of the lake and surrounding misty blue volcanoes to be an amazing sight.
Bruce and I are now staying in Pana, as it's called, for several weeks. The town itself is much more "real" than pretty Antigua. It's rather dusty and filled with fading posters attached to cement walls and many empty or half built storefronts, lots of big "chicken" buses disgorging workers and students while the drivers' assistants yell the next destination out to the public amidst clouds of exhaust smoke.
Not something we would have seen in Antigua :)
This street near our school still has its Christmas decorations.
The streets and sidewalks are always busy, and vegetables and meat are grilled, sold, and eaten outside on the street. Little boys roam around trying to convince you that your shoes need shining, even though you're wearing sandals or sneakers. Most of the inhabitants are handsome indigenous Mayans, dressed in their gorgeous handwoven garments, the women usually with an infant hanging from their shoulders, wrapped in a colorful cloth. Poverty is everywhere; and with poverty come ubiquitous hustlers, who are often difficult to dissuade, since their situation pulls on your heartstrings and since they are persistent.
Lots of tuk-tuks ply the streets picking up passengers.
On weekends, especially, the main drag is lined with Mayan vendors selling "tipica" from temporary stalls or just wandering up and down the street trying to convince passers-by that they need their beautiful products. Despite the incredible photo ops all around me, I remain timid about taking pictures of Mayan people, having read - and experienced once or twice - that they are sensitive about this. This doesn't mean that I won't ever, but for now, I will post a photo of a lovely handwoven tablecloth in a resto.
Over the years Pana has attracted a fairly large population of ex-pats, mostly Americanos, many of them looking decidedly like aging hippies. Bruce describes them as having been "washed up here ". I'm sure that the inexpensive cost of living, as well as the pleasant climate, the lovely people, and the chance to volunteer in a meaningful way make it an attractive location for retirees.
We had decided to study Spanish here for 2 weeks at the only Mayan-run school, called Jabel Tinamit. As is often the case with Spanish language schools in Guatemala, an opportunity to live with a local family is available, too. This offers the students inexpensive housing as well as a chance to practice the language. It offers the family a source of income. We love getting to know people this way and looked forward to meeting our new family, albeit with a tiny bit of trepidation, as with any new venture. Boy, did we luck out! Our family is lovely; their home is lovely; the location is quiet and secluded, reached by a serpentine series of twists and turns down narrow passageways that, at first, left us wondering if we'd ever find our way out again!
Just inside the cement wall is Ana's lawn and house.
Ana, our hostess, is a widow who lives with her 22 year old daughter, Eloin, who is a nursing student. They are delightful conversationalists and great cooks, who feed us three times a day! We are the only students there at the moment and so are enjoying their full attention at meal time, as we stumble our way through Spanish explanations of our lives and interests. They are very experienced at having gringos in their home and are patient and willing to share their own lives with us, despite the fact that they must have done this many times over the years.
Ana and Eloin
Ana and Eloin live a quiet (tranquillo) life. Eloin attends university classes only on Saturday, due to financial constraints. She is half way through her training to become a nurse and absolutely loves it. Apparently she is an excellent student, and her classmates look to her for encouragement. Classes run from late January until mid December each year, with a few weeks off early in the year. Today was the first day for her classes to resume at the only public university in the area, and she was up early to catch the bus to Solola, a bigger city about 1/2 hour away.
Ana is a sensitive, fun, intelligent person who makes ends meet by selling items from a catalogue, as well as hosting students. She has 2 older sons who live in Guatemala City and has raised these 3 kids on her own since her husband, a French native, was killed in a car accident many years ago. The family is not Mayan, so probably would be called ladino (a mix of Spanish and indigenous).
The third member of the family is Tabu, a mini-schnauzer, whom Eloin rescued from the streets. Tabu greets us with a wiggly playfulness every time that we enter the property. I'm not sure that his bark would deter intruders, so the big black door in the white cement block fence that surrounds the property is kept locked at all times.
Security! (and privacy)
It was just a week ago that we arrived in Pana. Our days have flown by with intense language instruction and other activities, such as a cooking class, meeting other students, taking a chicken bus to Solola to visit the big market, doing homework, as well as writing this blog! We feel very lucky to be in a warm climate with a professional school and a wonderful family.
More on the school to follow!
Bruce and I are now staying in Pana, as it's called, for several weeks. The town itself is much more "real" than pretty Antigua. It's rather dusty and filled with fading posters attached to cement walls and many empty or half built storefronts, lots of big "chicken" buses disgorging workers and students while the drivers' assistants yell the next destination out to the public amidst clouds of exhaust smoke.
The streets and sidewalks are always busy, and vegetables and meat are grilled, sold, and eaten outside on the street. Little boys roam around trying to convince you that your shoes need shining, even though you're wearing sandals or sneakers. Most of the inhabitants are handsome indigenous Mayans, dressed in their gorgeous handwoven garments, the women usually with an infant hanging from their shoulders, wrapped in a colorful cloth. Poverty is everywhere; and with poverty come ubiquitous hustlers, who are often difficult to dissuade, since their situation pulls on your heartstrings and since they are persistent.
On weekends, especially, the main drag is lined with Mayan vendors selling "tipica" from temporary stalls or just wandering up and down the street trying to convince passers-by that they need their beautiful products. Despite the incredible photo ops all around me, I remain timid about taking pictures of Mayan people, having read - and experienced once or twice - that they are sensitive about this. This doesn't mean that I won't ever, but for now, I will post a photo of a lovely handwoven tablecloth in a resto.
Over the years Pana has attracted a fairly large population of ex-pats, mostly Americanos, many of them looking decidedly like aging hippies. Bruce describes them as having been "washed up here ". I'm sure that the inexpensive cost of living, as well as the pleasant climate, the lovely people, and the chance to volunteer in a meaningful way make it an attractive location for retirees.
We had decided to study Spanish here for 2 weeks at the only Mayan-run school, called Jabel Tinamit. As is often the case with Spanish language schools in Guatemala, an opportunity to live with a local family is available, too. This offers the students inexpensive housing as well as a chance to practice the language. It offers the family a source of income. We love getting to know people this way and looked forward to meeting our new family, albeit with a tiny bit of trepidation, as with any new venture. Boy, did we luck out! Our family is lovely; their home is lovely; the location is quiet and secluded, reached by a serpentine series of twists and turns down narrow passageways that, at first, left us wondering if we'd ever find our way out again!
Ana, our hostess, is a widow who lives with her 22 year old daughter, Eloin, who is a nursing student. They are delightful conversationalists and great cooks, who feed us three times a day! We are the only students there at the moment and so are enjoying their full attention at meal time, as we stumble our way through Spanish explanations of our lives and interests. They are very experienced at having gringos in their home and are patient and willing to share their own lives with us, despite the fact that they must have done this many times over the years.
Ana and Eloin live a quiet (tranquillo) life. Eloin attends university classes only on Saturday, due to financial constraints. She is half way through her training to become a nurse and absolutely loves it. Apparently she is an excellent student, and her classmates look to her for encouragement. Classes run from late January until mid December each year, with a few weeks off early in the year. Today was the first day for her classes to resume at the only public university in the area, and she was up early to catch the bus to Solola, a bigger city about 1/2 hour away.
Ana is a sensitive, fun, intelligent person who makes ends meet by selling items from a catalogue, as well as hosting students. She has 2 older sons who live in Guatemala City and has raised these 3 kids on her own since her husband, a French native, was killed in a car accident many years ago. The family is not Mayan, so probably would be called ladino (a mix of Spanish and indigenous).
The third member of the family is Tabu, a mini-schnauzer, whom Eloin rescued from the streets. Tabu greets us with a wiggly playfulness every time that we enter the property. I'm not sure that his bark would deter intruders, so the big black door in the white cement block fence that surrounds the property is kept locked at all times.
Bruce's new friend
It was just a week ago that we arrived in Pana. Our days have flown by with intense language instruction and other activities, such as a cooking class, meeting other students, taking a chicken bus to Solola to visit the big market, doing homework, as well as writing this blog! We feel very lucky to be in a warm climate with a professional school and a wonderful family.
More on the school to follow!
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