Day of the Chapin

Day of the Chapin                 February 22, 2017

To our surprise, yesterday was the Day of the Chapin, which is a name that Guatemalans call themselves.  At public schools, children dressed in typical dress, put on dances and musical performances, all to celebrate the indigenous culture.  The indigenous Mayans make up 60% of the Guatemalan population and are especially visible in the area surrounding Lake Atitlan.  Around town, marimba music could be heard floating through the air;  bombas (firecrackers) exploded now and then.  A public performance took place on the church plaza.

At Jabel Tinamit, our Spanish School in Panajachel (pana-ha-shel),  the female teachers - which is most of them - had organized an amazing display of the typical Mayan dress.  Each staff member wore a different outfit, because each Mayan town has its own pattern of dress, rather like a uniform.  Most women still wear the outfit of their own town, making their origins easily identifiable.  In fact, I read that the tradition began during colonial times when the Spaniards required each town to have its own distinct outfit so that residents could be identified more easily.  Although the tradition included men, as well, most men have stopped wearing tipica as time has gone on.  But the women still do - and the custom is one that makes Guatemala so colorful and visually charming.

The brief show yesterday involved each teacher naming the town where her outfit is worn and an explanation of the significance of the designs and colors.  These trajes (trah-hays), as they are called in Spanish, include a skirt, a blouse, and a woven belt/shash to hold the wrap-around skirt in place.  There is often a headpiece, too.  The whole outfit is VERY expensive to buy, costing hundreds of dollars, though many women weave their own fabric and make their own trajes.

Since this is a Mayan staff, all of these teachers wear trajes every day.  It doesn't matter what the job is, from menial cleaning jobs to professional office or teaching jobs, the traje is still worn.

This event was especially exciting for me, as it gave me an opportunity to take pictures to my heart's content.  Out on the street, where I see trajes being worn in daily life, it is not polite to take photos.  Here, photos were welcomed.  I have a lot!

            Candelaria, the school's co-director, is on the far left.  Carmelina, my teacher, is second from the right.  

It is amazing and wonderful to me that this tradition is so strongly maintained. While homogenization of the world's cultures often seems inevitable, the Mayan women of Guatemala are proving that it doesn't have to happen.  No Levi jeans for these proud women!

School Days

          School Days                        February 18, 2017

This was our first week back at Spanish lessons.  We are signed up for 2 hours every day, M-F, from 10 am -12 noon.  I'm lucky to have Carmelina as my maestre for the third year in a row.  Along with classes came our move to Ana's house, again our third year in a row.  The folks at our school, Jabel Tinamit, as well as Ana, have become dear people in our lives.  For those of you who are thinking that we must be pretty fluent in Spanish by now, the answer is a resounding NO.  Despite the one-on-one lessons and the immersion in our home stay with Ana, who speaks only Spanish with us, we seem to fumble our way through any conversation, saying "maduro" (mature), for example, when I want to say "madera" (wood), and using the wrong verb tenses.  An 85-year old fellow student, a Canadian originally from Britain, asked me the other day why we were taking Spanish classes.  Good question.  Trying to keep the brain a bit limber, I guess, as well as giving our days some structure here in Guatemala.  And the whole school community is interesting, offering the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, such as the fellow just mentioned.   

Scenes from our route to school, along a narrow alleyway.  We pass a couple of small tiendas (stores) and a tortilleria  (women cooking tortillas to sell) and lots of metal doors leading into living spaces.  The walkway is littered with dog poop and trash, in places - but most everyone who passes has a smile and says  "buen dia" or "hola" to us.  
On Monday morning, I was asked if I would be willing to teach English to adolescents, as I had done last year.  When I agreed, I was asked if I could begin the next day. Yikes. When I agreed, I was asked if I could teach every morning AND in the afternoon.  Whoa.  I said yes, even to that request, figuring that it's only for 2 weeks and if I couldn't handle it, I'd just say so. As it turns out, it hasn't been quite that "full on"  - but busy enough!  

The adolescents are kids that Candelaria and Gregorio, owners of the school, have identified as being kids of promise. They come from poor Mayan families but, like C & G themselves, have a spark and a desire to improve their lives, and they have family support.  Among them are two brothers whose parents have died and who live with an older sister. They are so bright and ambitious and eager to learn. Another sweet, serious 15 year old girl wants to become a doctor and run a clinic in her town.  It's a pleasure to play some small part in their lives. 

my English students working hard

Tuesday was Valentine's Day and Jabel Tinamit takes the opportunity every year to hold "a fiesta", a pot luck luncheon with the whole staff, featuring Guatemalan foods.  It's a great chance to meet some of the other students, such as a German couple (our age) or some of the young staff members.  

           Candelaria introducing the Valentine's day lunch

One of the delights of returning to a place, of course, is reconnecting with friends from previous years.  Lynn and Greg, the couple whose house we shared last week, are from Portland, Oregon, and share many of our interests, including music, politics, and international travel.  Another friend, Lisa, is a retired pediatrician from Colorado who comes here to study Spanish and work in a clinic, as well as to make art and watch current movies that she buys from street vendors!  We saw both Loving and Silence with her this week.  I enjoyed Loving.  Silence was a bit too violent for me. 

On Wednesday afternoon, I went with Lynn to an NGO called Mayan Families, very close to school.  Lynn has been meeting with a few children there once a week to do some enrichment activities, like playing games and doing art projects.  I have gone along to help.  

                   Playing "duck, duck, goose".

One afternoon I went on a walking tour of Panajachel with one of the school staff.  It was part of their activity offerings for the week but I was the only person who wanted to go.  Elisa, a knowledgeable young woman who works in the school office, was my guide.  I had already seen most of the sites that we visited, but it was good to go with a native and to hear her descriptions (as much as I could understand :).  

We began our tour at the nearby San Francisco church, built in 1576.  

New road tiles have been laid on this street that leads to the cemetery.  There was a party to celebrate.  Thus the decorations.  

The cemetery, on the other side of the river and on the edge of town, is very colorful and interesting.  It is the location for festivities on Day of the Dead in November when families bring food to their deceased family members.  The photo shows individual tombs.  

We walked back to town along the shore of Lake Atitlan, passing boats and children swimming. 

Meanwhile, Bruce has been practicing his violin. In years past, he has missed being away from his fiddle for such extended periods.  So, before we left home this year, he bought himself a traveling fiddle which is only about 6" wide and came inside a sturdy tube.  It looked like all was for naught when he unpacked it upon our arrival in Pana and discovered that the bridge had broken.  But being the problem-solver that he is, Bruce got some glue and fixed it - and so far, so good.  

Bruce also has a project with Jabel Tinamit's outreach program, Forma (www.formaguatemala.org), the umbrella organization that is reaching out to kids in the surrounding Mayan villages.  He'll help with their brochure.  BTW, two teens from the program won very competitive international Wal-Mart scholarships to attend college in Arkansas this year!  Wohoo!  (Guess I'd better not bad-mouth Wal-Mart so much.) 

Yesterday was my day of enforced rest after I came down with a bug of some sort.  Vomiting/diarrhea.  Yuck.  I'm on the mend but laying low today.  

So goes our time in Guatemala.  We have only one more week of classes.  It's a shortened adventure this year and is going by quickly.  As always, it's a fascinating experience, all in all.  We hear about massive amounts of snow at home and are glad to be here, though, truth be told, those cozy wood stoves and brisk x-country ski outings sound pretty good, too.  

An Annual Event

              An Annual Event                                    February 9, 2017

                                    Bruce's favorite color rose

Well, it happened again - and we're grateful!  Bruce celebrated another birthday here in Guatemala, the third in a row.  This one was spent with new friends, Lynn and Greg, whose rental home we're sharing for a week in Panajachel.  There were no big plans afoot, no weekend trips down Lake Atitlan to Santa Cruz, as in the past two years.  We had been in town for only 2 days and were just happy to be healthy and upright :), given events of the past year.

Bruce's first big gift was the Patriots' astounding win in the Super Bowl the night before.  Although he had given up on watching them at the local bar when it appeared that there was no hope, he and Greg did turn on the tv back here at the house.  Good thing!  What unfolded, of course, made sports history and was a birthday miracle!

It did seem that an outing of some sort was in order to mark the occasion, however.  Lynn, Greg, and I quickly came up with an idea for a simple excursion:  a trip to the local nature preserve here in Pana, which Bruce and I had never visited, followed by lunch at a lovely resort, Hotel Atitlan, near the nature preserve, with a stroll through their gorgeous gardens afterward.  And, of course, a delicious evening meal cooked by yours truly back at the casa.  Voila, instant birthday plan!

February 6 was a warm, sunny day, as are most days at this time of year in Guatemala, known as the land of eternal spring.   We splurged on tuk-tuk rides to the preserve.  Our innards got shaken up a bit as we rumbled over the cobblestones in town and then the pot-holed road leading to the preserve.   The preserve itself offered impressive amounts of information about the water quality of Lake Atitlan and efforts to clean it, given the deforestation of the surrounding mountains due to the need for cooking fuel, as well as other environmental issues.  Coffee farms cover some of the mountainsides and that is a good crop for sustainability.  Lots to learn.

                                             tuk-tuk

Past the informative posters, the trail led us on a fairly short, steep loop through the forest.  Due to the altitude, Bruce and I were soon huffing and puffing.  High in the trees, we could see black monkeys gracefully swaying among the branches.  Amazingly long vines hung from some of the trees.  We were told that these vines can grow several inches in one day!  A gorge bisected the area, creating the need for several swinging bridges, which were great fun to traverse.

                       our gang walking the swinging bridge

We ended our adventure at the preserve with a visit to the butterfly enclosure, a singularly peaceful, pretty place.  By then, it was time to walk down the road to the upscale hotel looking out on the lake.  Along the way, we passed a small group of workers harvesting onions,  little children scampering on the grass around their parents, the adults wearing hats with neck coverings to protect themselves from sunburn.

Hotel Atitlan is a world unto itself.  Furnished with beautiful wooden antiques and big bouquets of calla lilies, part of the Maya tradition, it sits on the edge of the lake with a view of a volcano rising from the water.  We chose a table on the veranda where the stunning view and the ambiance, including the colorful tableware, set a happy birthday scene.  And, despite the elegance, the prices were not bad :).

    Gardens at Hotel Atitlan, looking out on the lake and a volcano

                                     Bruce and Lynn at lunch

Our dessert was a walk through the gardens, passing one huge, un-caged parrot who sat calmly while we talked about him and clicked lots of photos.  When he'd had enough, he made no bones about it and shrieked a loud "get lost" bird call.  We obeyed!  The toucan had no such power over us, since he was enclosed in a cage.  We gabbed and clicked our cameras to our heart's content, poor fellow.

                                Mr. Parrot, king of his domain

By now it was mid-afternoon and time for a rest back at the casa and preparations for the evening meal.   Sunday is market day, and we had all gone to the outdoor market the day before to stock up on fresh produce.  In our yard, limes had fallen off the lime tree and would lend the perfect tartness to our fresh tomato and garlic pasta dish.  The large, airy rosemary bush next to the patio offered a boldly fragrant touch.

But I still needed a few items, so I went shopping at the Wal-Mart grocery store.  I also stopped at one of two smaller shops that keep the ex-pat community stocked with essentials like good local yogurt and wine and kombucha and pink Himalayan salt (I kid you not!).  The meal came out very well, and we launched Bruce into another year of adventures with a full tummy and warm friendship.

                   Looking to see what the next year will hold??

New York City, 2017

New York City, 2017              February 3, 2017

Here we go again.  We are off for our 2017 winter adventure. We had originally hoped that we might share discoveries of Asia, but, alas, life intervened.  With Bruce sporting a new pace-maker, it made sense to stay on this side of the world for now.  

So, New York City, then Guatemala, Cuba, Florida, and Alabama are on the itinerary - if we can squeeze it all into two months.  We plan to arrive back in Maine by the first week of April.  

The Concord Trailways express bus ride from Portland to NYC was SO easy & comfortable!  We made it in a little less than the expected 6 hours, arriving around noon.  Along the way, we had a lovely chat with a former Breakwater parent sitting in front of us, Patti Daunis, who was traveling to NYC to visit her son, Sam Dunning, who is now an aspiring actor.  We hope to find him on You-Tube, playing Thomas Jefferson in the Patriot series on the Fox channel.  

Sitting across from us on the bus was Peggy Grodinsky, a food writer for the Portland Press Herald.  I have enjoyed her pieces, especially one featuring the relationship between the chef/owner of Back Bay Grill and his dishwasher.  We had lots to discuss!  

Before long, we arrived at our NYC bus stop near the United Nations building.  From there, it was an arduous slog on foot to our hotel, loaded down with heavy backpacks and suitcases filled with books, gifts, technical accoutrements, and clothes for a variety of weather.  We did take a break for me to unload and wander delightedly through a fantastic art gallery where clouds of colorful metal butterflies and huge whimsical ostrich-like creatures offered me the lift I needed to finish the trek.    

Along the way, and throughout the weekend, we passed iconic New York landmarks, including St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, St. John the Divine Church, Times Square, Delmonico's Gourmet Deli, Carnegie Hall, Central Park, and, yes, Trump Towers.  

                                                   Central Park skaters                    

                 Look who was sitting in Central Park!

We were disappointed that Bruce's sister, Sue, and husband, Dave, had been felled by the flu at the last moment and weren't able to join us, as planned.  It had been 10 years since our last trip to NYC, which had been with them.  We carried on, however, doing lots of good eating at a variety of ethnic restaurants, most of them close to our hotel, Park Central on 7th Avenue.  

                     Park Central Hotel on 7th Avenue

These included a meal at a sweet little Japanese noodle house, a yummy New York pizza and a glass of red wine at an old Italian restaurant, Guinness at two Irish pubs, a bagel with cream cheese lox spread that will make my mouth water for a long time, a steaming bowl of won-ton soup at Big Wong's in Chinatown, and coffee at an Australian cafe.  What a foodie dream :).  

                                   Chinatown

Since it was the weekend for Chinese New Year, we tried to see a parade.  Alas, we missed it.  The main parade had taken place in Chinatown, far from our hotel, just after our arrival on Saturday.  However, there were lots of stores in our mid-town area, offering their best wishes for this Year of the Rooster.  

                              Year of the Rooster

The "must-see" of our trip was a visit to the 9/11 Museum on Monday morning.  It is a beautiful, stately, somber memorial, so respectful of those who lost their lives on that unforgettable day.   On our arrival by subway, we entered a grand, soaring, pure white station that seemed to take one's soul heavenward.  

                        Train Station at 9/11 Memorial

That was balanced by the peaceful outdoor water construction, a deep square stone hole in the ground with water flowing smoothly down the sides.  Names were engraved in the surrounding wall. Such elemental features, rock and water - and the blue sky above - and the names for all eternity.  

                                  9/11 Memorial

Because those horrible events were perpetrated by Muslim extremists, our visit to the memorial seemed to connect to the current news of the day, President Trump's unfortunate ban on travel from seven Muslim nations.  I can't help but think that his declaration makes us more vulnerable rather than safer.  

In fact, this news hung like a cloud over the weekend.  It was ironic to me that we were in Trump's neighborhood, seeing Trump this and Trump that, as we read many different editorials and opinions and FB posts, with him in center stage.  At the same time we were surrounded by immigrants cleaning our hotel room, serving us restaurant meals, driving our shuttle to the airport. We never travel without our laptops these days.  It's a dubious benefit and yet one that we can't seem to let go of.  So, we do stay in the know.  I feel a shroud of guilt that we're leaving our nation in the lurch by vacationing abroad.  And I wonder what social and civic conditions we'll find when we return.  

On a cheerier note, we walked a LOT, averaging 6 miles per day.  Good to get back to walking, which we seem to do, in large part, only when we travel.  

A Cut and a Communist

A Cut and a Communist           February 2, 2017 This first blog post of 2017 just flew off my laptop.  It's a bit out of  sequence, since I haven't yet written about the start of our adventure  in NYC.  Hold on, that one will appear.  But, yesterday I had an  interesting experience at Barcelo, the fancy hotel where Bruce & I  stayed for our first night in Guatemala City.  It's the kind of place  where we never stay - unless we're arriving in a third world country  at 9pm, and the hotel offers shuttle service from the airport.   With "resort" services at our disposal, however, we decided to take  a swim in the beautiful outdoor pool yesterday morning before we  checked out.  When I reached down to remove what I had thought  might be a small pebble on the floor of the hot tub,I cut my finger on  the grout around a water hole. It was not a deep cut but it bled quite a  lot and I immediately warned the life guard about the danger.  Of  course, he leapt to my rescue.  In a flash Sergio, a paramedic, was at  my service, nattily dressed in a formal suit and tie, with a big bag of  medical supplies in tow.  Attending him was a tall, handsome young  man named, oddly enough, Lenin (first name).  Both men were  wearing name tags.   Sergio carefully dabbed a solution that was reddish brown and stingy  on my finger.  He followed up with a spray solution and an abundance  of band-aids. While all of this was going on, Bruce & I couldn't help but tell them  about our paramedic son.  I knew that Matt would be very interested  in this process.  I also wondered if Sergio was employed full time by  the hotel, waiting for just such an occasion, however humble, to jump  into action.   Of course, I had to sign a waiver, complete with my passport number and room number, attesting to the fact that I had been given medical  care.  In retrospect, I wished that they had given ME a document of  some kind, telling me what medications they had used on me. Finally, being curious about Lenin's name, I had to find out the story,  which he freely told me. His dad had been a university student who  was studying economics.  He admired communism and had wanted  to give his son the names of two famous communists, Lenin and  Stalin. His mother put her foot down at the middle name and he  became Lenin Stuart.  With America's long-standing aversion to communism, I don't think I've ever met anyone in the USA who  would want to name their child these particular names, despite  our openness to some pretty unusual names.  It made me wonder  about political conditions in Guatemala thirty years ago, which was the middle of the civil war here.  Hard to escape the reach of  politics.   A day later, the band-aids have been removed.  The finger is fine.   Sergio and Lenin did an excellent job.                   Bruce enjoying the hot tub where I had my mishap.