A Safe Passage February 25, 2015
tiles in the Safe Passage garden
We are safely back in Antigua, having arrived last Saturday from Panajachel, where we had spent the past 5 weeks doing our darndest to learn Spanish. Even though those around me may disagree, it feels to me like I have learned a lot! I still speak only in the present tense or in the easy type of future tense. No past tense. That would have required a whole extra month of intense study. Maybe it's a sign that I should stay in the "here and now" or the future - look ahead instead of back :).
Our reason for returning to Antigua was to volunteer at Safe Passage, where we had worked for 2 months in 2011. Because of our previous experience and on-going support, the organization is humoring us by allowing us to work for only 4 days, rather than the usual minimum of 5 weeks that is required of most volunteers. Being a volunteer is different from coming to the project with a team for just one week. As a volunteer, we travel from Antigua to Guatemala City each day on a special bus that the project owns and engage in something meaningful, albeit brief, at the project.
Since riding on public buses in the capital is dangerous, Safe Passage transports their volunteers on their private bus. Each morning, we leave our AirBnB to walk the 5 blocks to catch the bus at 7:30 am. Antigua is just coming awake at that hour. Birds are singing up a storm in a multitude of tones, the sun is always shining at this time of year, buses and cars are rumbling over the ancient cobblestones, and hordes of kids in a variety of spiffy uniforms are rushing off to classes.
Safe Passage voluntarios waiting for the bus in Antigua
Our ride to school takes an hour. Most of the volunteers are young and most are American, plugged into devices or dozing. The only chatting seems to take place between the one or two older folks. As we approach the city, the highway is noticeably more jammed with traffic than just three years ago. We stop and start. This gives me a great chance to try to read the plethora of billboards and signs painted onto the sides of buildings. I jot down Spanish words that I want to look up later.
In the city, we turn off the clogged Pan-American highway at a side street that is flanked by first-world, glitzy, car showrooms. Although we still have a distance to go to our destination, I am aware of the ironic contrast between this shiny corner and the shabby, dangerous Safe Passage neighborhood.
A basketful of chopped guisquil
Our short term at the project means that our work will be something that doesn't require a long commitment. The kitchen is perfect, and we have worked there for two mornings this week, so far. Since we like cooking and learning about food processes and since fluency in Spanish isn't necessary, it's a good location for us. The kitchen staff seems to appreciate assistance in preparing meals for over 500 students every day - and they are patient with our attempts to communicate in Spanish. Yesterday we peeled and chopped onions and Guatemalan squash, called guisquil ("wees-keel"), squeezed 50 bags of semi-solid cream out of plastic bags for a yummy cream sauce, and pored over black beans before they went into the pot. A couple of neighborhood women sell the school the tortillas that accompany every meal. Turning out 800 freshly made tortillas each day is just too much for the staff. On both days, Bruce and I have consumed a plateful of the results of our labors - and they have been delicious!
Aren't we stunning in our hairnets, armed with big knives?
Marlon stirs a massive pot of stew on the gas stove.
In the afternoons, we have taken turns being in Charly's and Jordie's classes. (They are the two boys whom we are helping to sponsor.) I sat in on a fabulous English lesson yesterday, one of the best that I've ever seen! A young British volunteer, without a background in education, I'm told, deftly wove his way through the concept of "I like to..." . It moved along at a good pace, with careful prior preparation of materials to keep this group of kids engaged. Brilliant! I learned some techniques to take back to my own teaching of English as a Second Language.
Bruce takes a break in the pretty interior garden at the school.
The was also the week when a healthcare team from Texas was in town for one of their twice yearly visits to do health screenings for the Safe Passage kids. I watched as both Charly's and Jordie's groups participated in being weighed, measured, tested for vision, and having their teeth painted with flouride - maybe more. The whole operation moved along like clockwork. These folks had obviously done this before!
Jordie and his teacher, Ingrid
Charly and a friend help to clean the lunchroom
Other enjoyable moments for us have included serendipitous meetings with Todd Amani, the new director, whom we encountered in the lunchroom, as well as Sandra Gonzales, the chair of the board. Todd is friendly, thoughtful, and eminently qualified for this position, having served with US AID in several Central American countries, including in Guatemala for a number of years. Sandra is a Guatamalteca and was a personal friend of Hanley Denning, the founder of Safe Passage. She is gracious, fluent in English, and very committed to her work on the board.
It has also been a treat to meet and chat with Susanna Place, an American woman who has not only given many years of work to the board and to a data collection project for the school, but has also written a gorgeous guide book to the little-visited western highlands of Guatemala. It's called Guatemalan Journey Among the Ixil Maya. Susanna's book is available through Amazon.
Once our school day has wound down, we have been helping Sam, the young voluntario librarian, to inventory the books. He is passionate about his job and is eager to make the books available for lending, once they have been logged onto a master list on his computer. Being in the quiet library and accomplishing tangible results is a soothing way to end our day. And, since I love kids' books, it's great fun for me to pore over the collection. Bruce doesn't mind the relative calm, either! We finish up our day around 4:45 pm and sit our tired bodies down on the bus for the ride back to Antigua, arriving around 6 pm. Although we haven't worked really hard, it is a pretty long day for two "ancianos". That's why we chose to take Wednesday off, to give ourselves a break in the middle of the week.
Without Ana and Eloin to cook our meals, as they have done for the past 5 weeks in Panajachel, we are forced to eat our evening meals in some of Antigua's many restaurants :). Last evening, we returned to Cafe Porque No? (Cafe Why Not?), a little corner spot begun by Carlos and Carolina three years ago, just at the time that we were in Guatemala for the first time. They had welcomed us with an open spirit then, and it was no different now. These two people are the warmest, most grounded folks, and their cafe is sooo atmospheric! Most of the tables (seating for only about 14) are located in a loft, accessed by a steep ladder-like affair with a rope railing. Customers are invited to write on the walls, which makes good reading. We were so pleased to find that their tiny, tiny haven has climbed to 4th best resto in Antigua - and certainly the coolest!
In the cozy loft area of Cafe Porque No? Writing all over the walls and, in a glass box behind me, is Maximon, a smokin', drinkin' deity revered in the Guate highlands.
The young hosts of our AirBnB also run a resto, Origami, where they serve Japanese fare. Their food is delicious, too, especially the light soups and the tasty, homemade ginger beer. The atmosphere is blissfully peaceful. We may eat there tomorrow.
Delicate & delicious soup in beautiful setting at Origami
So, if you are ever in Antigua, there are two recommendations for really great eateries. Like Portland, Antigua is very much a foodie town.
Tomorrow we return to Safe Passage for two more days. It is inspirational for us to rub elbows with the enthusiastic volunteers and staff who are so committed to carrying on Hanley Denning's work, offering kids like Charly and Jordie a "safe passage" out of the dump. For more info and a great video, go to the Safe Passage/Camino Seguro website: www.safepassage.org.
We are safely back in Antigua, having arrived last Saturday from Panajachel, where we had spent the past 5 weeks doing our darndest to learn Spanish. Even though those around me may disagree, it feels to me like I have learned a lot! I still speak only in the present tense or in the easy type of future tense. No past tense. That would have required a whole extra month of intense study. Maybe it's a sign that I should stay in the "here and now" or the future - look ahead instead of back :).
Our reason for returning to Antigua was to volunteer at Safe Passage, where we had worked for 2 months in 2011. Because of our previous experience and on-going support, the organization is humoring us by allowing us to work for only 4 days, rather than the usual minimum of 5 weeks that is required of most volunteers. Being a volunteer is different from coming to the project with a team for just one week. As a volunteer, we travel from Antigua to Guatemala City each day on a special bus that the project owns and engage in something meaningful, albeit brief, at the project.
Since riding on public buses in the capital is dangerous, Safe Passage transports their volunteers on their private bus. Each morning, we leave our AirBnB to walk the 5 blocks to catch the bus at 7:30 am. Antigua is just coming awake at that hour. Birds are singing up a storm in a multitude of tones, the sun is always shining at this time of year, buses and cars are rumbling over the ancient cobblestones, and hordes of kids in a variety of spiffy uniforms are rushing off to classes.
Our ride to school takes an hour. Most of the volunteers are young and most are American, plugged into devices or dozing. The only chatting seems to take place between the one or two older folks. As we approach the city, the highway is noticeably more jammed with traffic than just three years ago. We stop and start. This gives me a great chance to try to read the plethora of billboards and signs painted onto the sides of buildings. I jot down Spanish words that I want to look up later.
In the city, we turn off the clogged Pan-American highway at a side street that is flanked by first-world, glitzy, car showrooms. Although we still have a distance to go to our destination, I am aware of the ironic contrast between this shiny corner and the shabby, dangerous Safe Passage neighborhood.
Our short term at the project means that our work will be something that doesn't require a long commitment. The kitchen is perfect, and we have worked there for two mornings this week, so far. Since we like cooking and learning about food processes and since fluency in Spanish isn't necessary, it's a good location for us. The kitchen staff seems to appreciate assistance in preparing meals for over 500 students every day - and they are patient with our attempts to communicate in Spanish. Yesterday we peeled and chopped onions and Guatemalan squash, called guisquil ("wees-keel"), squeezed 50 bags of semi-solid cream out of plastic bags for a yummy cream sauce, and pored over black beans before they went into the pot. A couple of neighborhood women sell the school the tortillas that accompany every meal. Turning out 800 freshly made tortillas each day is just too much for the staff. On both days, Bruce and I have consumed a plateful of the results of our labors - and they have been delicious!
In the afternoons, we have taken turns being in Charly's and Jordie's classes. (They are the two boys whom we are helping to sponsor.) I sat in on a fabulous English lesson yesterday, one of the best that I've ever seen! A young British volunteer, without a background in education, I'm told, deftly wove his way through the concept of "I like to..." . It moved along at a good pace, with careful prior preparation of materials to keep this group of kids engaged. Brilliant! I learned some techniques to take back to my own teaching of English as a Second Language.
The was also the week when a healthcare team from Texas was in town for one of their twice yearly visits to do health screenings for the Safe Passage kids. I watched as both Charly's and Jordie's groups participated in being weighed, measured, tested for vision, and having their teeth painted with flouride - maybe more. The whole operation moved along like clockwork. These folks had obviously done this before!
Other enjoyable moments for us have included serendipitous meetings with Todd Amani, the new director, whom we encountered in the lunchroom, as well as Sandra Gonzales, the chair of the board. Todd is friendly, thoughtful, and eminently qualified for this position, having served with US AID in several Central American countries, including in Guatemala for a number of years. Sandra is a Guatamalteca and was a personal friend of Hanley Denning, the founder of Safe Passage. She is gracious, fluent in English, and very committed to her work on the board.
It has also been a treat to meet and chat with Susanna Place, an American woman who has not only given many years of work to the board and to a data collection project for the school, but has also written a gorgeous guide book to the little-visited western highlands of Guatemala. It's called Guatemalan Journey Among the Ixil Maya. Susanna's book is available through Amazon.
Once our school day has wound down, we have been helping Sam, the young voluntario librarian, to inventory the books. He is passionate about his job and is eager to make the books available for lending, once they have been logged onto a master list on his computer. Being in the quiet library and accomplishing tangible results is a soothing way to end our day. And, since I love kids' books, it's great fun for me to pore over the collection. Bruce doesn't mind the relative calm, either! We finish up our day around 4:45 pm and sit our tired bodies down on the bus for the ride back to Antigua, arriving around 6 pm. Although we haven't worked really hard, it is a pretty long day for two "ancianos". That's why we chose to take Wednesday off, to give ourselves a break in the middle of the week.
Without Ana and Eloin to cook our meals, as they have done for the past 5 weeks in Panajachel, we are forced to eat our evening meals in some of Antigua's many restaurants :). Last evening, we returned to Cafe Porque No? (Cafe Why Not?), a little corner spot begun by Carlos and Carolina three years ago, just at the time that we were in Guatemala for the first time. They had welcomed us with an open spirit then, and it was no different now. These two people are the warmest, most grounded folks, and their cafe is sooo atmospheric! Most of the tables (seating for only about 14) are located in a loft, accessed by a steep ladder-like affair with a rope railing. Customers are invited to write on the walls, which makes good reading. We were so pleased to find that their tiny, tiny haven has climbed to 4th best resto in Antigua - and certainly the coolest!
The young hosts of our AirBnB also run a resto, Origami, where they serve Japanese fare. Their food is delicious, too, especially the light soups and the tasty, homemade ginger beer. The atmosphere is blissfully peaceful. We may eat there tomorrow.
So, if you are ever in Antigua, there are two recommendations for really great eateries. Like Portland, Antigua is very much a foodie town.
Tomorrow we return to Safe Passage for two more days. It is inspirational for us to rub elbows with the enthusiastic volunteers and staff who are so committed to carrying on Hanley Denning's work, offering kids like Charly and Jordie a "safe passage" out of the dump. For more info and a great video, go to the Safe Passage/Camino Seguro website: www.safepassage.org.
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