South of the Border!

South of the Border                 April 7, 2019

Mexico City
At the end of our winter adventure, we spent four days in Mexico City, in a lovely, trendy neighborhood called the Condesa Colonia.  Being that we were unsure of ourselves here, what with tales of violence and kidnappings and drug cartels in Mexico City, Bruce sprang for a chic apartment/hotel, Casa Mannach.  We hoped that a nice area would insulate us from bad things.  If you saw the film, Roma, which won several Oscars this year, you'll have an idea of the type of area that we were in - only a little leafier and nicer - and 40 years later!

Having arrived late on Friday evening when it was dark and we were tired and confused, we didn't venture out for food that night, making do with our little bag of peanuts.  When we did go out for breakfast on Saturday morning, we knew we were in an upscale area by the plethora of stores selling pet supplies and detox smoothies, not to mention the large nearby Starbucks, and the bright orange, sweet little library on the edge of a beautiful park.  Further evidence were the slim young folks, dressed in leggings and carrying gym bags, who hurried along the sidewalks. 

The public library where the director welcomed us warmly, saying that this was our library!  

We found a charming cafe with tables lined up along the sidewalk, full of families and couples with their dogs on leashes, relaxing on the weekend.  Scott Joplin tunes wafted our way from the guitar player sitting on a stool on the corner.  The weather was delightful, like a summer morning in Maine.  Lovely lavender jacaranda trees, tall overhead and in full bloom, offered shade and filtered the light.  Hot pink bougainvillea draped themselves from the roof line of nearby art deco houses.   No sign of drug cartels anywhere! 

                    Our breakfast spot in La Condesa Colonia.  

With only 4 days in the city, we had to prioritize what we wanted to see.  For Bruce, the Anthropological Museum was tops on his list.  For me, the famous Diego Rivera murals were must-see items (it doesn't get much better than art and politics together). 

We enjoy walking to our destinations, if possible, and often find that the journey offers unexpected delights and insights.  That day's adventure was no different.  After breakfast, we struck out on foot for the Anthropological Museum, a distance of a couple of miles.  Along the way, we passed a large intersection with towering, modern, glass skyscrapers - built with LEED certification!   So encouraging to see this awareness of sustainable practices!  

      Pretty reflection pool as part of an LEED-certified building.

Further along, we encountered a festival of indigenous people, drumming and dancing and performing the voladores ritual, four men spinning their way to the ground, upside down, from a high tower.  We had seen this when our cruise ship stopped in Puerto Vallarta in January and were intrigued.  It must be a scary activity, but they make it look easy.  

  Voladores, indigenous Mexican ritual from the Veracruz area. 

On the plaza in front of the museum, we were approached by young adults wearing shirts with the insignia, UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees).  We had a good chat with them about our mutual concern for the plight of refugees and asked what was happening in Mexico with migrants coming from the south.  As might be expected, the policies of the presidents of both nations, ours and theirs, have been disappointing in this regard.  During our time in the city, we met two men who had been expelled from the USA.  One was the maintenance man in our building. He is relieved to have landed this job, which has kept him from trying to return to the USA.   Another was an Uber driver who had worked as a busboy in Chicago.  How many others have not found work?

The Anthropological Museum is an impressive complex of buildings, filled with information and artifacts about the various indigenous groups that lived in the area now known as Mexico, before the conquest by the Spaniards, and up to the present day.  There were the Mayans and the Aztecs, of course, plus many others, such as the Olmecs, spread out over the areas as far flung as Oaxaca in the southwest and Veracruz in the east.   The museum complex surrounds an open plaza featuring a suspended fountain, raining down cooling water.  Such a soothing sound and misty sensation!

                    The Anthropology Museum water feature 

We were reminded of the high degree of sophistication of these early civilizations, with their writing and mathematical and cosmology knowledge, not to mention their artistic styles.  What we learned over our brief time in Mexico is that the relationship with the first peoples of this nation are as complicated as those in Guatemala and the US, and probably Canada,too, for that matter.  It seems that, despite public interest in their cultures and appreciation for the ancient wisdom, the indigenous are still treated poorly in all of these nations.  The next day, in the big public plaza at the center of the city, the Zocalo, we saw a demonstration by a Mayan group trying to get the attention of the current government to improve the human rights of their people. 

Silly as it seems now, one of the highlights for us was totally unexpected!  In the museum cafe, we ordered what we thought was a simple green salad, though we weren't able to translate every ingredient listed on the menu.  When the salad arrived, what should be staring up at us but a huge handful of fried crickets!  Bruce pushed aside his texture issues and plowed right into these "chapulines", discovering that they are actually pretty good - crispy, salty and a bit spicy!  

                         Crunchy crickets, called chapulines

The next day we took an Uber to the Zocalo, the massive public plaza in the center of the old part of Mexico City.  This is the site of the Palacio Nacional, housing the President's office, as well as the Diego Rivera murals.  As we discovered, it's also the site of political demonstrations.  The murals in the Palacio Nacional were fascinating, as expected, full of detail illustrating the history of Mexico.   Most of them included English translations of the descriptions, allowing us to more fully understand them.

   Detail from a Diego Rivera mural in the Palacio Nacional

Back on the Zocalo, we passed a makeshift tent, handwritten posters and a few demonstrators.  Being curious and wanting to learn more, I took photos and got into a bit of trouble.  From what I could understand from the man who objected and from what I learned when I googled later, this was a group trying to get the attention of President Lopez Obregon in order to press for more services for poor indigenous people.

The Zocalo, the site of demonstrations seeking indigenous rights. 

After a quiet and delicious lunch in a Lebanese restaurant, we headed out for The Museum of Culture, which offers temporary exhibits on a wide variety of topics.   "Visions of Death Around the World" was very interesting.  Most colorful and vibrant, festive even, was Mexico's own Dia de Muertos with a display of happy looking skeletons and food and drink for deceased loved ones.

Our last two days were spent just exploring the Condesa and Roma neighborhoods and the botanical garden not far away.  The area is filled with lovely parks and fountains.  In Parque Luis Cabrera, the international organization, Doctors Without Borders (Medicos Sin Fronteras), has sponsored a series of large photographs and stories of women struggling in war-torn countries.  One of the posters pictured Mexican female doctors who are members of this team, serving in a variety of nations around the world, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Honduras, and Nigeria.  

Dog walkers were a frequent sight, many handling as many as a dozen dogs.   These two walkers are helping their dogs get a drink - or a bath - in a fountain.

   Lupine-like plants were in bloom, sending white spikes high into the air. 

Just as we were about to leave the park, a small group of smiling young university students, all women as it turned out, asked if they could pose some questions about our coffee consumption.  A couple of the brave ones asked the questions (in Spanish) while the others looked on.  It was a class in statistics, and we sent them off with all they needed to know about the Webbs' coffee drinking habits.

While wandering around our lovely art deco area, we became aware of a number of buildings that had been damaged as a result of the September, 2017, earthquake.  Once we started looking, we noticed cracks along the facades and realized that the buildings were empty.  In fact, the multi-story apartment house across the street from Casa Mannach is undergoing extensive repairs, thus the jack-hammers and pounding and coming and going of huge rebar-containing construction vehicles on the narrow street all day long.  I had read in Tony Cohan's Mexican Days that, having survived the deadly 1985 earthquake in Mexico City, he always leaves his shoes next to the door of his hotel room when visiting the city - just in case! 

                    Earthquake damaged building near our apartment.

       Lovely art deco hotel next to ours with breakfast outdoors.  

             Pretty pre-school in the Condesa neighborhood.

The Museum of Modern Art was our last venture and a relaxing place to spend some time.  I was introduced to the work of Kazuya Sakai, an Argentinian/Japanese artist whose huge, colorful canvases seemed full of joy.  

      The work of Kazuya Sakai in the Museum of Modern Art.

Our experience in Mexico City turned out to be delightful!  Tales of crime, while they may be true, are certainly not the whole story of Mexico or its capital city.  Despite being the 11th largest city in the world, according to Wikipedia, we found it to be full of old world charm that reminded us of Barcelona, as well as modern sophistication with hip, trendy neighborhoods, beautiful parks, nice restaurants, wonderful museums, and good people!    

Bruce and I are back in Maine now, getting settled into our house for the rest of the year.  We had a great Latino winter adventure, discovering new places and meeting up with people whom we care about.  Now we look forward to connecting with those who are dear to us right here!  A big thanks to Jane Andrews and Don Bouchard for sheltering us again on both ends of our travels!  

After School

After School                March 28, 2019

                 Florinda and Linda, sharing stories and grammar.  

Chasing our ephemeral dream of being fluent in Spanish, Bruce and I attended Jabel Tinamit Spanish School in Panajachel - again!  This is our fourth time taking lessons at this school.  On the one hand, it seems like we should be further along than we seem to be; on the other hand, it's rather preposterous to think that 8 days of lessons can move things very far along such an enormous challenge, especially since we don't speak a word of Spanish in the interim.   "Poco a poco" (little by little) my teacher, Florinda, tells me - and she's right, of course.  Bruce and I can both feel ourselves improving as a result of lessons, homework, and immersion in the language through meal-time conversations with our home-stay host, Ana, three times a day.

For me, soaking up the culture and history and making personal connections are just as important as acquiring the language.  Actually, they support one another.   Thus, while Bruce stays at home, making sense of preterite and imperfect verb tenses, I'm usually pretty ready to sign up for activities at our school.  Jabel Tinamit tries to offer one activity each afternoon.

This year's activities, among others, included a walk to nearby Santa Catarina, 3 miles away; a walking tour of Panajachel; attendance at a movie - When Mountains Tremble; and assistance in a reinforcement program to help poor Mayan children improve their reading, math, and English skills.

The walk to Santa Catarina took place while Deb Smith, a friend from our Safe Passage support team - and my teaching partner at Breakwater years ago, was in Pana studying Spanish with us for a few days.  One afternoon she and I and a young staff woman, Elizabeth, headed off for Santa Catarina, a Mayan pueblo along the lake.  Deb and I looked forward to getting in our 10,000 steps, as well as seeing this town, renowned for the beautiful blue huipiles (handwoven Mayan blouses) that the women all wear.  Before we left, Ana had told us that the town was undergoing a project in which the houses were being painted blue, as a reflection of the huipiles for which the town is known.  Indeed they were, and not just plain blue - but with stripes or indigenous designs, similar to the textiles.  Very charming!

                                 Blue houses in all designs!

It was a hot day and the road had a steep upward incline along the side of a mountain.  When we arrived, we headed for the lake shore for a brief respite on a bench.  The views over the lake were serene and timeless.

                                          Santa Catarina lakeside scene


I was relieved to learn that we would be taking public transportation back to Pana, even if it meant a ride in the back of an open pick-up truck, the local way!  As we returned to the center of the village to catch our ride, we heard a band playing a slow dirge and realized that a funeral was taking place.  All traffic was stopped as the casket was carried through town, followed by a throng of mourners.  Since it was late afternoon, local school kids scampered around, letting off steam after their confinement.  These excursions often offer an unexpected slice of life.

    A pick-up transport, with benches along the sides of the bed and rails to hold onto.  

The next week, after Deb had returned home, I took another outing on foot, this one a tour of Pana with another young staff member and two other students, one from Germany and one from Slovakia.  They became my after-school buds for the week!  The tour of Pana took us to the Catholic Church, then the public market filled with produce, raw meat stands, freshly cut flowers, traditional clothing, shoes, hardware - a Guatemalan version of Wal-Mart!  As we continued walking, we encountered a lakeside smoldering fire pit with large bouquets of flowers nearby.  Our guide explained that this was a Mayan ritual site.   These ritual sites become more busy in the period of Lent, an indication of the synchrony between Mayan beliefs and Christian tradition.

               Mayan ceremonial site along the shore of Lake Atitlan

At the local cemetery, we learned that tombs are either rented or bought.  If a family neglects its rental payment, the body is removed from the tomb, most of which are above ground.  Like cemeteries everywhere, the burial plots vary according to the wealth of the family.

                   Even in death, color prevails.

 On our way back to the center of town, we passed a bunch of kids practicing their "futbol" skills on a field alongside the lake.  As I turned from taking this photo, a girl yelled "hello" in perfect English. 

       After-school futbol (soccer) drills along Lake Atitlan

The next afternoon a movie was offered at school.  Bruce and I had seen the 1983 film, When Mountains Tremble, early in our travels to Guatemala.  It exposed to the outside world the terrible events of the civil war here.  I was due for a review.  The complicity of the US government in the killing of innocent indigenous people left me shaken once again.  This film has been followed by two more in the trilogy, which I hope to see when we return home.

On Thursday, my dear former maestre (teacher) from years past, Carmelina, held a weaving demonstration for four of us.  Using a form called an urdidor to lay out the vertical threads in a variety of colors, we all had a hand in stringing the threads that would be used as a base for the weaving.  Then we took turns trying out the backstrap loom, which is a bit complicated but reportedly becomes relaxing - once one has the hang of it!  Sadly, weaving is a dying art, since it is so time consuming and low-paying, despite the absolutely stunning artistry of the woven products that emerge from it.

                         Carmelina demonstrates use of the backstrap loom

On Friday, Bruce and I finished up our tutoring sessions - and "graduated"!  Our short ceremony included our thanks - in Spanish, of course - to our incredibly patient teachers who had guided us for two straight hours each day, as we haltingly, painfully tried pulling appropriate verb tenses from our mushy brains.

                                               Bruce thanks his teacher, Patricia


As an added reward - in addition to special snacks - four of the female students were given a chance to play dress-up!  Knowing that every woman harbors a desire to try on a beautiful Mayan traditional dress - huipil (blouse), corte (skirt), and faja (the belt that is pulled TIGHT around the waist),  a couple of the teachers offered us a chance to try on an outfit from Candelaria's wardrobe.  (She and her husband founded Jabel Tinamit.)  What fun!

I have been astonished and pleased over the years to see young Mayan women continuing to proudly wear the styles of their ancestors while other cultures have adopted bland, unidentifiable western clothing.  Alas, this too is changing, I'm told, due at least in part to the high cost of purchasing these labor-intensive outfits.  One handwoven huipil can cost as much as 2000 Quetzales or $260!  Normally families make their own, but with the decline in the weaving tradition, this is not always possible, and the cost of purchasing one is prohibitive for many women.  And they are a bit uncomfortable for today's active lifestyle.  Still, they proclaim the wearer's identity as a proud Mayan woman, so hopefully they will be worn for years to come.

         My after-school buds and I, trying on traditional Mayan clothes 

The last activity that I participated in took place the day after my graduation.  I had agreed to go to one of the Mayan pueblos outside of Panajachel where Jabel Tinamit has organized a project to reinforce the education of village children.  On Saturday mornings, for a couple of hours, the kids come to the library, also founded by Candelaria and husband Gregorio, to play games that will strengthen their math, reading, and English skills.  The brilliant part of this program is that it is led by talented adolescents, thereby advancing their own skills.

At 8 a.m.  I met Magaly, another wonderful staff person from school.  She & I took a very full camioneta (a retrofitted American schoolbus, often referred to by gringos as a "chicken bus") up a steep, curving highway from the lakeside to the high, bustling city of Solola.  There we switched to another very crowded, worn minivan and climbed even higher to a small village with a reputation for growing onions.  I had been to Monte Mercedes two years ago on another school outing.  This time we stopped at the brightly painted library, where a group of children were outside playing an addition and subtraction game under the guidance of two teens.  I joined in and helped as best I could.

              Monte Mercedes fields next to the playing field

When they asked if I'd like to go inside to help with an English activity, I opted for that.  We worked on color words and read a simple, bilingual book.  A couple of the moms brought snack, platanos (bananas) roasted in their skins and atol, a nourishing milky, hot drink made from cornmeal. I enjoyed them both.

                           Handsome dudes brushing teeth after snack!

On the steps outside, young girls wanted to know how to say their names in English.  Before I knew it, our time was over.  After photos together, Magaly and I crossed the road to begin our return trip to Panajachel, down the curvy, steep road with breath-taking views of the lake and volcanoes.

                                                What sweet kids.  

And that was my experience with Jabel Tinamit's after-school programming.  Fun and social and always a source of rich, new understandings and connections!  It's wonderful to see education being embraced as a vehicle for upward mobility!

We are now safely in Antigua.  We've just learned of the horrible traffic accident last night that took 18 lives on the Pan American Highway, the same road that we took yesterday.   Another sadness for this land that's had so many difficulties.  Our hearts go out to those families. 

Tomorrow we'll begin our northward trek by flying to Mexico City, a new destination for us.  More on that later.  In the meantime, hasta luego!  

Bruce Makes Sense of Guatemala!

Bruce Makes Sense of Guatemala        March 24, 2019

                    Lake Atitlan as seen from a fancy hotel! 

Like most countries in Central America, Guatemala can be overwhelming to the senses.   It takes some adjusting, because we live in such different circumstances.   We are both delighted and annoyed by the contrasts with our own culture - but that is part of the travel experience.

Sights
Dress - We are struck by the profusion of brilliant colors in Guatemala.   Walk down any street in Panajachel and you will see indigenous women in bright native dress - often selling colorful woven fabrics.  We are always impressed by the richness we see around us.

Flowers - The climate and the people here produce many colorful flowers and flowering shrubs.  The most impressive is the hot pink bougainvillea that grows vigorously everywhere.   There are any number of other flowers, shrubs and trees that bloom.   When the rainy season comes in May,  the process accelerates.

            Pink bougainvilla on top of a colorful clothes stall. 

Landscape - The landscape around Lake Atitlan is especially stunning.  Dubbed by an early German explorer as "the most beautiful lake in the world", the area fits the description well.  The towering volcanoes surrounding the lake, the clouds prowling in from the Pacific, and gorgeous sunsets all contribute to this impression.   At least one day a week, we do our best to watch the sun go down behind the mountains, while sipping a beer. 

Colors - In addition to the colorful clothing, we note the Guatemalan fondness for brightly colored buildings,  scarlet red tuk-tuks,  multicolored chicken buses, and attractive large murals on buildings.   One gets the impression of a kaleidoscope when the traffic is moving and pedestrians are walking against the backdrop of brightly painted buildings and murals.

              Tuk-tuks lined up on the main street of Panajachel

Detail of an alfombra, a temporary design made from colored wood shavings and flower petals, assembled on the street in advance of a Lenten parade (procesion).   


Sounds
The noise levels are higher here.  In Panajachel, where we are spending a couple of weeks, the noise is constant.  Because of the warm climate and the crowded conditions, doors and windows are open to generate and receive all manner of sounds, such as ...

Music -  It's turned up to painful levels on big speakers that cause your stomach to vibrate to the bass.   The sound of the evangelical band playing at the retreat center next door is accompanied by singing of hymns for days on end and well into the night. Marimbas being played at the local tourist restaurants along the main street create their own sound.  Radios are heard blaring from private dwellings and stores.

Engines - The streets are packed with motorcycles, scooters, tuk-tuks, chicken buses, cars, vans, pickup trucks, construction vehicles, generators, and taxis.  Even though Pana is a small town, there are only two main roads, and they are packed with traffic all day - thus the loud growl of engines.

Dogs - The dog chorus is constant and especially annoying at night.  There is something about Spanish culture that seems to allow dogs to run free and bark at each other all day and night.   There are many street dogs but they are mostly placid.  House dogs however,  often kept on the roofs of houses or behind gates, are the most aggressive.  It is widely accepted and just seems to be part of life here.  Trying to sleep amidst this constant din is a challenge, and ear plugs come in handy. 

                     A chorus of barking dogs on a nearby roof

Birds - In more tranquil times - at dawn and dusk,  you can hear birds twittering and singing in the trees.  It's a lovely sound and a much appreciated counterpart to the otherwise noisy background.

Bells-  The churches here seem to ring their bells at odd hours that follow no discernible pattern.  Sometimes, they ring on the hour but often they ring randomly and, if there are multiple churches,  they seem to ring all the time.   The plan that guides the bell ringing is a mystery to us. 

                                The Panajachel church at night.


Bombas - One of Guatemala's traditions is the lighting of bombas (small and very loud bombs) and fireworks, often associated with birthdays. The tradition is to light the fireworks off at 6 in the morning to shock the celebrant out of bed.   They are also used to celebrate just about any occasion and can vary widely in duration and noise level.   We have been jolted awake by huge bombas that quiver your stomach and get your heart bounding.    Following an extended episode, the streets will be littered with bomb and firecracker wrappings.

Wind - The wind can be fearsome at times and, because the windows and doors are not tightly sealed, the wind can cause great whistling, roaring, flapping and rattling of windows and doors jarred loose.  This can occur anytime but is especially noticeable at night when trying to sleep.

Pat-Pat - One of the very unique and delightful sounds here is the making of tortillas in the small shops that line the streets.   In the small callejon (alley) that we take to school every morning, we hear the distinctive sound of women forming the corn-based dough into flat tortillas - about 5 inches wide - before they place them onto the hot griddle.  The women rapidly pat the dough with both hands while rotating the round. They make it look easy, but it is very difficult to do for newbies.  Folks here eat a lot of tortillas, and it is a major task for the women to make enough for the whole family, 3 times a day - lots of pat-a-pat-pat.

                   Tortillerias are open for business three times a day. 


Smells 
Bread - We often awake to the smell of bread and rolls baking in the wood oven of the commercial bakery down the street.  This is a wholesale operation so they bake a lot of products, and they seem to be working most of the day.  There are other smaller bakeries that operate in town, and they all contribute wonderful aromas to the air.

The bakery near us transports its loads of aromatic rolls several times a day to its storefront operation, using manpower.   


Wood smoke - The bakery uses wood to fire its ovens, so the smoke is a familiar smell.   The small tortilla shops often use wood to heat their stoves, and many homes use wood for heating or cooking.  The food carts typically cook their wares on charcoal trays.   All this wood burning creates a bit of a haze that covers the town when the wind is calm.

Coffee -  Since coffee is a major product and widely available, we smell lots of coffee being brewed by individuals and small shops and restaurants.   There are also coffee roasters in town that take the huge bags of raw coffee beans and roast them for sale to other vendors or retail customers.

                      Sacks of coffee beans waiting to be roasted 


Exhaust - There seems to be very little in the way of pollution control on local vehicles, so they spew exhaust fumes into the air.   This is especially noticeable with large trucks and chicken buses when they are starting up.  The smell of diesel and gas fumes are noticeable - especially in the center of town where the most traffic passes.

Sewer - The infrastructure here could be improved and in some areas of town, raw sewage runs under the walkways which are not well sealed.   The smell of sewer gas is noticeable, at times.   

Food Vendors - The smell of food being cooked in outdoor stalls or carts can be tempting.  We tend not to eat the street food out of health concerns, but the smells are alluring.   Food cart vendors sell fried chicken,  french fries,  steaks,  roast chicken,  bread, pastries, and any variety of other foods.   The climate is so mild that restaurants and homes are largely open, and the smell of cooking food escapes to perfume the air and tingle the taste buds. 

A street vendor with grilled ears of corn for sale. 

Plants - One evening in Antigua, we returned to our hotel courtyard and were gob-smacked by an intense flowery aroma that we hadn't noticed earlier in the day.  We inquired and were told that a particular flowering bush called, appropriately enough, "huele de noche" (scent of the night) gives forth its fragrance only in the evening.  It was delightful, if powerful, and followed us right into our room.

My reaction to all these sensorial stimuli is mixed.  On the one hand it can be overwhelming, prompting a retreat to a quiet place, if it can be found, to recharge.   On the other hand, it is an intriguing melange that defines a culture very different from our own.   Pleasing at times, it can be downright annoying at other times (think about a chorus of dogs howling at each other during the early hours of the morning).

In the end, we delight in the warmth and authenticity of the people and the richness of the culture here.  We feel fortunate to be able to immerse ourselves in this experience, albeit for a short time, and are intensely aware of the pros and cons of every culture.

Creating a Safe Passage for Kids

Creating a Safe Passage for Kids              March 12, 2019

It had been nearly eight years since Bruce and I had begun our affiliation with Safe Passage as volunteers in the fall of 2011.  Despite having had some exposure to the project in the intervening years, we hadn't spent any amount of time there.  We were eager for this year's week-long visit to see what new developments had taken place and to share the project with friends from home.

As many of you know, Safe Passage (Camino Seguro in Spanish) is an organization that offers education - and so much more - to the exceedingly impoverished children and families who live and support themselves in the area of the Guatemala City dump.  Many parents and older teens pick the dump to salvage and sell what millions of others have discarded.  Ever since that initial volunteer experience,  Bruce and I have been sincere supporters.  As a result, we have sponsored a child, Charly, for the past four years.  In addition, our church sponsors a young teen, named Jordie.  We visited Charly and Jordie in 2015, 2016, and 2017.

More recently, we spent almost all of 2018 organizing a small group to come to Guatemala for a first hand experience learning about the project.  A week ago, Bruce and I flew down to Guatemala at the end of our month-long stay in Mexico.   After those many months of organizing and fund-raising in our home town of Gorham, Maine, it was exciting to greet our Support Team at the airport in Guatemala City on Saturday, March 2.   The team includes Bruce and his harem of 8 women.  He has vacillated between being delighted and being on female-overload!

Our fantastic team: Deb, Linda, Karen, Donna, Jane, Carol, Kyren, Heather, & Bruce

As part of their Support Team initiative,  Safe Passage arranges for our accommodations and all of our meals for the week, and they have done an outstanding job!  As in the past, we stayed in the town of Antigua.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage city whose roots extend back to the 1500's when it was the colonial capital of the Spanish empire.  Our hotel, Convento Santa Catalina, is situated in a former convent, next to the iconic yellow arch.  It dates to the 1600's with some of the original colonial architecture, including an inner courtyard with a fountain.   The nuns moved out in the mid-1700's, after the third destructive earthquake.  

   The courtyard at our Hotel El Convento in Antigua, Guatemala.  Can  you see the tip of Volcan Agua in the middle?  

All of us were immediately charmed by our rooms, furnished in simple Guatamalan antique decor and tucked away quietly in a far corner - like the cloistered nuns who lived here originally.  

Each day at Safe Passage was jam-packed with activities.  We began with breakfast at the hotel on an open patio that surrounds the courtyard.  Soft music played while we chatted and enjoyed the crisp morning air and a view of the volcano, Agua, which overlooks the city.  Then we piled into the mini-van for the hour's ride to Guatemala City with our driver, Rodolfo.  We have come to appreciate his quiet reliability, safe driving, and clean van.  

Along the way, Kasidy, our team coordinator, filled out our growing awareness of the Guatemalan culture and the challenges faced by the families in the dump community.  Like Hanley Denning, the beloved founder of Safe Passage, Kasidy is a young Maine woman who is incredibly hard-working and passionate in her commitment to these children.  

We arrived at the project around 9 am, ready to begin our round of carefully planned activities, designed to give us an exposure to the wide sweep of Safe Passage's embrace!  Our experience began, appropriately enough, with a video interview of Hanley Denning, completed not long before she died in a tragic car accident in 2007.  It's impossible not to be moved to tears at the deep sensitivity, vision, joy, and humility of this exceptional young woman.  

    Heather, Bruce Carol, & Jane with a photo of Hanley Denning


The video was followed by a short ride to a place from where we had a view of the massive dump, high above its garbage-filled ravines.  The smell, the dust, the heat, the vultures hovering overhead, made quite an impression.  We gained a sense of the strength required to make a living among the dangers of toxic refuse, huge trucks, and landslides.  

Massive trucks come and go all day into the dump.  It's hot, dirty work.

Over the course of the rest of the week, we sat in on English classes, library sessions, and helped with recess for children of various ages.  We had lunch with the kids and learned that they are offered 5 meals a day.  As a result, they are showing marked gains in height and health.  

            Heather helps the teacher of the 6th grade English class.  

We participated in a zumba class for the mothers - that was a work-out! - learned some of the Mayan language - a mental work-out - helped sort and organize a closet-ful of forgotten stuff (Bruce says that he's inviting the team to our house for a similar activity), learned about the program for mothers to create beads and make jewelry, offering them a chance to get out of the dump-picking business, and then made our own bracelets and shopped "till we dropped" at their small boutique.  Those moms who choose to do so may attend school, play sports, and make up for their own lost childhoods.  

                         Looking down on roofs in the barrio

One of our major activities was teaching a 40 minute English lesson to each group of 4 year olds, 5 year olds, and 6 year olds.   The lessons began with Kasidy showing these young tykes the books created by Gorham fifth graders.  They loved seeing the images of winter in Maine!  Deb Smith, team member and kindergarten teacher extraordinaire, had planned a lesson using one of the beautiful books created and donated by Gorham artist/author Cathy Falwell.  All of the children worked hard completing a follow-up activity.  It was so satisfying to see the older groups refer to the books for details.

       Kasidy, our team coordinator, and Deb & Karen prepare for our English lesson

  Deb, Kasidy, & Linda sharing a story with the youngest students

Another highlight of the week was our family fiesta with the families of the three children sponsored by members of the team.  We had decided to invite the children and their families to join the team for pizza - and birthday cake, since it was nearly Charly's birthday.  Kids love having their sponsors meet their parents and siblings - and we enjoyed meeting them, too.  It gives us a more complete sense of "our" kids - and a closer bond with the families.

Around 4 pm, parents would arrive to walk their children home.  We would sink gratefully into the seats in Rodolfo's van for our ride back to Antigua, our heads and hearts overflowing with information and stories.  Each day brought a deeper appreciation for the life-changing work that is being done at Safe Passage.

Our evenings were spent having dinner in a selection of great little restaurants in Antigua (included in our extremely reasonable fee for the week).  One of the staff would join us to laugh and converse and imbibe a bit along with us!  This was a chance to ask questions and have fun.  The contrast between the two worlds was not lost on us.

A Guatemalan cooking class was on the agenda one evening.  We were all dragging as we found our way to the resto after an exceedingly full day.  By the time that we had giggled and chatted our way through patting tortillas and mashing avocados and combining an exotic mix for traditional pepian, we were all feeling light and restored.

                 Donna mashing avocados for our meal together.

     

Kyren and Heather look on as Kerry prepares dough for tortillas.


By the time Friday came, we were ready for a free day.  Most of the team explored a coffee farm and had quite an adventure getting there in the back of an open pick-up truck.  Our youngest members climbed a volcano and roasted marshmallows on the hot lava at the top.  Bruce and I mostly rested!

Our last day with the project was a Saturday outing to a water park with a group of teens.  They have a chance to do this a couple of times a year and really look forward to it.  It was an 80+ degree day - perfect for splashing in an impressive selection of pools for every ability level.  We loved playing together and seeing the teens have a moment away from the harshness of their daily lives.

One small part of an impressive water park near Guatemala City

It should be noted that, before we left home, the Gorham community had generously worked for months, in various ways, to support our trip.  Six of us are members of First Parish Church,  whose members attended our fund-raising events and sent us off with donations of money and love; the Sunday School class created small art cards and sent blank cards so that the Safe Passage kids could reciprocate;  church member and Maine Art Teacher of the Year (yay, Allie Rimkunas) came up with this lovely exchange idea and donated high quality colored pencils and markers.

Cathy Falwell, Gorham author of books for young children, gave us a box of her bi-lingual books.  

Under the guidance of church member and fifth grade teacher, Kim Meggison, the entire fifth grade class at Village Elementary School (80 students) engaged in an amazing project of writing books for the Safe Passage students, which were then translated by the high school Spanish class.  They were also encouraged to do chores at home to earn money to buy school supplies for Safe Passage.  Some students held bake sales to earn money or engaged in other fund-raising projects.   As a result, a big load of markers and play dough and scissors, etc. will brighten up the classrooms.  

                                        Gifts from Gorham, Maine

All in all, it was an incredibly inspiring week.  In a nation where 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, income inequality is severe, and 50% of the children are malnourished, hope for a better future is a valuable commodity.  Witnessing the idealism and love among the Safe Passage staff, the quality of the educational experience - and the determination of the students to create better lives for themselves - was a gift for all of us.  Hanley Denning was known for her pep talk to her staff, saying "We have work to do, people!"  I feel sure that Hanley would be proud of the work being done there today.  As a group, we are eager to continue and expand our own support.  

ps.  Safe Passage is protective of their students' privacy.  Thus, I have not included photos of the children.