oh me oh my. i feel i am so behind on this whole process...and i will try to keep this short.
a whole lot has been happening. we finally landed, as planned, in ejutla, oaxaca at a farm called the instituto tonantzin tlalli. this is located about an hour and a half south of oaxaca city, and is in an awesome little puebla. the farm is owned by a mexican non-profit called GRUPEDSAC, which i am sure stands for something very informative, and is about 3 miles (?) outside ejutla.
the farm was an absolute dream. as we rolled in, we realized what we were missing at the other farm. it helps that it is a very well-funded desert permaculture paradise nestled in the mountains just far enough away from civilization. the places best features include that it is entirely off the grid - runs on solar power and well water (run by a solar pump), a very advanced composting toilet system and, best of all, an incredible staff. itt specializes in cutting edge sustainable farming, gardening, building and composting techniques. we settled into the dormitory, but shortly moved into a treehouse which was constructed by volunteers a few years ago.
the whole place ran very smoothly and professionally. we were surprised to be treated as honored guests with something to actually share (little did they know we had nothing to bring), and as partners in the venture of building the itt farm for the time we were there. our time was dotted by a series of workshops where we learned, for example, erosion prevention techniques, how to plant pine trees with diapers, and how to triple excavate soil as a biointensive procedure. in between these, we were given opportunities to work with the amazing staff people in the garden or on sustainable building projects. our friend from the last farm, pete stewart, happened to head with us over to this farm, as well, and he and i worked on a project building some cabinents for about a week (we got really tired of this project, actually...but did complete it finally) in addition to the rest of what we were doing.
the staff were a real treat. my favorite among them was felix, a 30 something year old campesino. he had worked on the project at itt for pretty much the duration of it, and had lived near the piece of property all his life. he had only had about a week of formal education, and despite - or perhaps because of - that, he is an absolute genius. he knows just about everything there is to know about arid permaculture gardening, and worldwide environmentalism. perhaps the most amazing thing is his comprehensive knowledge of plants, all of which he knows the names of in at least three languages. he is very capable of reading and writing. in fact, he has pretty much taught himself the whole english language, but is shaky on pronunciation. that said, he can read anything written in english.
other highlights were the fantastic cook, dona soledad, who taught us how to make tortillas, fed us mole, and brought us amazing juice every day around noon (life, obviously, was pretty tough); javier, the jeffe - boss - who was the head of the professionalism, and an incredibly nice guy - he is also the one who thought of the idea to use the diapers with the pine trees; don tino, the watchman, who spent every night with his gun on a couch outside the dormitory, surrounded by watchdogs, awaiting intruders (who i doubt they get much of); jorge, who invited us to his house for mole, and taught us how to build part of the dormitory with mud and paint made with a base of prickley pear cactus; and pedro. oh, pedro. i think of pedro as the archetypal mexican good ol´boy, a fact which i based on his many sexist comments and the fact that he pretty much only talked to pete. that said, he drove a little purple vw bug from which he regularly blasted mexican banda music from the stereo. he doesn`t eat tuna because it is being overfarmed, but he also cannot wrap his mind around why we don`t eat steak.
anyway, that is a brief update on our stay in the state of oaxaca. there is too much to say about the WHOLE experience, especially as we spent most weekends away from the farm touring around the state, making friends (although the main friend turned out to be kind of creepy), walking around, and enjoying tasty snacks on the streets of beautiful oaxaca city - perhaps my favorite place on earth. needless to say, we are happy and healthy and having a wonderful time, still! it is hard to believe it is winding down.
we are currently in the state of mexico working at a place called earthsoundz where they make musical instruments. most of our time here has been spent working on a sweat lodge made out of mud and straw - very hard work - but today, for example, we began to make digeridoos out of bamboo. it has been very calm compared to the last farm. i was sick last week, so i worked part time and slept a lot. pete has left us for a few weeks, so it is cari and i alone, which means we eat a lot of ice cream and make bad jokes which we laugh at a lot. actually, we did that a lot when pete was around, too.
the update on my return travels: i will be bussing up to the states with pete from the farms, which should be good fun. we are not entirely sure of our route yet, so if anyone has suggestions, we are open. we have plans to make it up to tucson by the 8th of may via nogales. i will fly up to spokane on the 11th, then, where i should be for a week or so, probably watching a lot of arrested development and eating indian food and having a good laugh with my favorite mates.
much love.
lunes, 7 de abril de 2008
jueves, 6 de marzo de 2008
a tale of unfortunate events
well,
these have been some of the more interesting, frustrating, beautiful, hopeful and annoying days of my life, and certainly of this trip.
our second farm - itt - did not seem to play out as planned. we needed to apply via three page essay and letter of intention and this was not known to us until we were three days from our appointed time and in the back woods of Pakal Na, Chiapas at Arca de Oca (with the craziest mystic on the planet...). so, frustrated, we meandered into san cristobal where we met a nice bearded fellow named chris from vermont. on the suggestion of crazy alejandro from italy who runs the hostel where we stayed in san cristobal, the three of us ventured up the mountain in search of Ovantik, a community of Zapatistas who frequently take volunteers.
well.
day one began by looking in the wrong place - a few blocks off - for a collectivo, and was also severely hindered by the fact that we were supposed to be looking for a collectivo to Bochil, while we thought the name of the city was Posil (and were not to be convinced otherwise by better knowing collectivo drivers). we went the right direction, but at the first town of chamula, we encountered a very nice family who was available to give us a ride. unfortunately, they did not exactly know where they were going, so instead we went along on their family trip up the mountain to buy a grill and some cupcakes. we ambled along, probably for three hours to, really, the middle of nowhere, and through some of the most beautiful scenery i`ve ever seen (and poorly captured on film), of mountains covered in rich greenery, shooting straight out of the ground; breathtaking.
anyway, we waited as they bought said grill and ate some delicious beans and rice for six pesos at a tiny comedor up there, a deal. came back down the mountain without finding success, leaving chris off with some other truck driver, just in time for it to get dark. so, we ate some lovely icecream, sunburned, but not defeated.
our lack of defeat caused us to change our plans entirely and decide to call off our obligations to farm no. 2 and swear up and down we would find opportunities at the zapatistas tomorrow.
and so, up early, packed off 30 pounds worth of our winter clothes and gifts for the united states to lighten our burdens, sent appropriate emails and headed for the hills. we found the proper collectivo, providentially named "montana" which was headed for bochil (no such thing as posil) and headed up the mountain. we made our way flawlessly to ovantik just as the fog crept over the side of the mountain, and we arrived in a colorful, hopeful, political land of dreams. after waiting several times we learned a. about the movement by two men in masks (typical zapatista uniform) explaining in spanish, their second language, b. that we were welcome for as long as we wished to stay, but, c. there was nothing to be done, work-wise.
well. that was something to ponder. so we went and ate some delicious quesadillas at a comedor which sold coca cola (something else to ponder) in the community and sat in silence, each trying to concoct a new plan, and wallowing a bit in our misfortune.
we gathered our things, then, from where we had left them - in a large, empty barn which was to be our home for the duration of our attempted stay, and decided to head back to san cristobal before it got too late.
out to the road we went, our giant backpacks in tow (but 15 lbs lighter from all the stuff we sent home!!), awaiting a collectivo. we were passed up by two collectivos and several cars when we began to get suspicious about why they weren`t picking us up. supecting our proximity to the zapatistas, we began to walk, and it began to rain.
and suddenly, cari realized we were one bag short, which was my little blue guitar (which i couldn`t believe i hadn`t noticed), left in the back of "montana," the collectivo.
pouting, now, the fog-turned-rain became a larger burder and it must have shown, because the next collectivo who passed us actually stopped and backed up so we could squeeze in.
we caught the last collectivo down from the next city into san cristobal. the clouds parted just as we rolled into the lovely city. we pulled into a garage which contained one other collectivo... miraculous named "montana." as we exited the car, the driver of Montana eyed me and as i walked toward him, he realized yes, i was the gringa who left her blue guitar in the back of the collectivo, and it was just in the office!! (the chances of this are smaller than a needle in a haystack, believe!) so, ol`blue has been renamed Milago Azul (blue miracle), as after a vision quest.
the joy continued as we found warm elote asado (grilled corn, mm!) and we decided then and there that we would take the overnight bus to oaxaca city.
which is where we are now! and there`s too much to say about this city. it`s lovely, and i could stay forever.
but, alas, plan a has rematerialized, and we will be farming in ejutla, oaxaca until the end of the month! phew!
thus ends our tales for now. love you all, and miss you, too.
write comments or something so i know someone is reading this.
these have been some of the more interesting, frustrating, beautiful, hopeful and annoying days of my life, and certainly of this trip.
our second farm - itt - did not seem to play out as planned. we needed to apply via three page essay and letter of intention and this was not known to us until we were three days from our appointed time and in the back woods of Pakal Na, Chiapas at Arca de Oca (with the craziest mystic on the planet...). so, frustrated, we meandered into san cristobal where we met a nice bearded fellow named chris from vermont. on the suggestion of crazy alejandro from italy who runs the hostel where we stayed in san cristobal, the three of us ventured up the mountain in search of Ovantik, a community of Zapatistas who frequently take volunteers.
well.
day one began by looking in the wrong place - a few blocks off - for a collectivo, and was also severely hindered by the fact that we were supposed to be looking for a collectivo to Bochil, while we thought the name of the city was Posil (and were not to be convinced otherwise by better knowing collectivo drivers). we went the right direction, but at the first town of chamula, we encountered a very nice family who was available to give us a ride. unfortunately, they did not exactly know where they were going, so instead we went along on their family trip up the mountain to buy a grill and some cupcakes. we ambled along, probably for three hours to, really, the middle of nowhere, and through some of the most beautiful scenery i`ve ever seen (and poorly captured on film), of mountains covered in rich greenery, shooting straight out of the ground; breathtaking.
anyway, we waited as they bought said grill and ate some delicious beans and rice for six pesos at a tiny comedor up there, a deal. came back down the mountain without finding success, leaving chris off with some other truck driver, just in time for it to get dark. so, we ate some lovely icecream, sunburned, but not defeated.
our lack of defeat caused us to change our plans entirely and decide to call off our obligations to farm no. 2 and swear up and down we would find opportunities at the zapatistas tomorrow.
and so, up early, packed off 30 pounds worth of our winter clothes and gifts for the united states to lighten our burdens, sent appropriate emails and headed for the hills. we found the proper collectivo, providentially named "montana" which was headed for bochil (no such thing as posil) and headed up the mountain. we made our way flawlessly to ovantik just as the fog crept over the side of the mountain, and we arrived in a colorful, hopeful, political land of dreams. after waiting several times we learned a. about the movement by two men in masks (typical zapatista uniform) explaining in spanish, their second language, b. that we were welcome for as long as we wished to stay, but, c. there was nothing to be done, work-wise.
well. that was something to ponder. so we went and ate some delicious quesadillas at a comedor which sold coca cola (something else to ponder) in the community and sat in silence, each trying to concoct a new plan, and wallowing a bit in our misfortune.
we gathered our things, then, from where we had left them - in a large, empty barn which was to be our home for the duration of our attempted stay, and decided to head back to san cristobal before it got too late.
out to the road we went, our giant backpacks in tow (but 15 lbs lighter from all the stuff we sent home!!), awaiting a collectivo. we were passed up by two collectivos and several cars when we began to get suspicious about why they weren`t picking us up. supecting our proximity to the zapatistas, we began to walk, and it began to rain.
and suddenly, cari realized we were one bag short, which was my little blue guitar (which i couldn`t believe i hadn`t noticed), left in the back of "montana," the collectivo.
pouting, now, the fog-turned-rain became a larger burder and it must have shown, because the next collectivo who passed us actually stopped and backed up so we could squeeze in.
we caught the last collectivo down from the next city into san cristobal. the clouds parted just as we rolled into the lovely city. we pulled into a garage which contained one other collectivo... miraculous named "montana." as we exited the car, the driver of Montana eyed me and as i walked toward him, he realized yes, i was the gringa who left her blue guitar in the back of the collectivo, and it was just in the office!! (the chances of this are smaller than a needle in a haystack, believe!) so, ol`blue has been renamed Milago Azul (blue miracle), as after a vision quest.
the joy continued as we found warm elote asado (grilled corn, mm!) and we decided then and there that we would take the overnight bus to oaxaca city.
which is where we are now! and there`s too much to say about this city. it`s lovely, and i could stay forever.
but, alas, plan a has rematerialized, and we will be farming in ejutla, oaxaca until the end of the month! phew!
thus ends our tales for now. love you all, and miss you, too.
write comments or something so i know someone is reading this.
miércoles, 20 de febrero de 2008
the end of guate, the beginning of chiapas.
we have departed xela after two more successful weeks of language school, which i spent in xela by myself. highlights are many, but i will limit it to a few. first, my teachers (ingrid and ingrid) were wonderful. the first took me to a clinic where i had the opportunity to volunteer for a day - very eye opening. i took names, personal information, height and weight for the many women, men and children who use this free clinic every couple months in a public school as their only health care. very sad.
second ingrid´s entire family is indigenous, so she gave me a deeper look into indigenous culture by talking about the conditions in the villages, the number of people in guate who are indigenous (which she estimates much higher than 50%), and many other things. it is fun to get to the point where we can talk about these things.
i took a weaving course at a place called Trauma Textiles, a textile cooperative run by 500-plus women who lost family in the armed conflict in guate. i took about 10 hours worth of class, and made a very handsome scarf. i am quite proud of it.
i also had the opportunity to teach english class in my last week, which was pretty funny, pretty fun. it is designed to be a free english course for children in the community... so, as it is taught by volunteers from the school, it is pretty disjunct, but fun. i think the kids learned something, and i got to practice my spanish.
i also met a very nice boy named dave at the school, and we went on all kinds of gringo xela dates, including yoga, movies, food and beer. he has since moved on to san andres itzapa outside of lago atitlan in guate, and i am in mexico. but, he is a nice human, and we had a good time.
our travels have now taken me to the heart of this jungle - a second growth jungle, actually, but that doesn´t prevent us from having monkeys on our property. they are howler monkeys, and it took us awhile to realize what they were as they sound like angry dogs in a fight. but, yesterday night, we got up the gumption to find them in the midst of their screaming, and discovered them much further away than one might expect, high up in a tree making a fuss. but cute as can be!
and that is just one element of farm life, so far. farm is a loose term. the site is about 6 months old as a wwoofing area. it is a 27 acre piece of property which is owned by a native mexican who grew up in california, and his wife - anita and manuel. manuel traded this piece of farm land for a school bus about 25 years ago. it began as a vast expanse of farm land, desolate and dry, and has evolved into the oasis it currently is. now, you can barely see traces of its old barren self. i have yet to explore much of the property, as it is, and am even afraid to because it is such a forest.
as the site evolved, they decided to take on wwoofers to further develop the things they have in mind. broadly, they aim to make it a permaculture space which can be used as a tool for education on sustainable development in the community. i don´t have a long term vision of their goals, but from my standpoint, projects have been varied. the first day, i worked to dig up about a 6' by 3' garden bed, mulch it and compost it and all of that. it took us the whole morning, as it involved gathering various types of leaves, splitting coconuts, etc... the next two days, we worked on building a green fence, which involved cutting up hibiscis trees and sticking them in the ground (now we pray for them to take root). in those days, i also learned how to use leaves to thatch a roof, which we made over a new composting toilet (which is really pretty...although vaulted. carrie calls it 'a loo with a view'). today, i split bamboo for 4 hours solid, and i have a blister. i get a new ailment every day. it´s pretty rad.
my most notable ailment is that i was stung by an africanized bee the other day. this is because anita and manuel actually raise them...which i am having troubles understanding...and were moving them. 3 of us wound up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and i managed to suffer for the next day, and on less than adequate sleep. i am, however, feeling considerably better than i was, which is fab. we spent the weekend going out to some famous ruins outside of town. it was fun, but i didn´t get much sleep as i was sharing a bed with carrie, and it was not so comfortable, plus my bee sting managed to work its poison from the crown of my head down my neck. then, we walked around all day in the 90 degree heat, which is popular. and i got a sunburn. which i then put mud on. and woke up today feeling better. and not burned, actually.
and so.
the people at the farm are a mixed bag, sort of. it is strange, first of all, to be in the heart of mexico and never really see mexicans. the next place we will go is a mexican non-profit with in the city, so we should get a mix. but, out here, we are a mix of americans, canadians (french and non), french and aussie. the aussies left today, actually... the leadership is comprised of a couple of volunteers who are pretty alright. i like them a bit more every day. we spend a lot of time reading or finding our own crazy projects.
one guy, dan, is from chicago and 27 and is a musician, too. cari and i spend most of our time with him, and he spends most of his time crafting crazy instruments out of bamboo. he is very clever, and it is fun to see what he comes up with. the aussies also were a fab pair - kyah is the one i got to know the best, i guess. she is a mix of shaved and dreded hair, and crazy clothes she has made. it takes her awhile to be out with the things she has done, or places she has been, so we barely scratched the surface on her, but some highlights are that she lives in a 7 ton truck which she has converted to run on leftover veggie oil, and she constructed a whole house - complete with solar power - on the back. she lives in australia occasionally, but mostly jaunts about the world, working at festivals and fruit picking, and doing such things. the only sad thing about meeting cool people is they all depart, and usually it is possible to know someone about a week before they take off. so, like usual, dan will be departing on wednesday, leaving us devoid of his fancy tie dyed shirts and tight shorts, and particularly bereft of his bamboo instruments. aussies left earlier today for guate, and they will be heading out to the place where temp xela boyfriend is working. that is nice, anyway.
the hard thing about being here, aside from how much of a weakling i happen to be, is how much it reminds me of last year. it seems to be brimming with all the same successes and failures as tucson. it is especially hard, as i mentioned, to be in chiapas but more removed from chiapans than i was during all of last year. i don´t know how to remedy it. this is the poorest state in mexico, and we are living simply, but well, while people lose fathers, mothers, children every day. the train runs by our property, delivering thousands of central americans who illegally jump on to go up north every week, but we have been advised not to speak with them, not to carry money with us, not, not, not. it makes me burn with anger when our leadership fail to realize our passions, our journeys, as individuals, or the varying reasons a person winds up in a remote place like outside-pakal na-outside-palenque-chiapas. for me, it is not happenstance. i burn more with anger for their failure to recognize where we are, and the realities here. we suggested a spanish-only lunch, and it was shut down.
besides these things, we are great. we are eating very well, sleeping well, working well, etc... i am missing friends and family back home! keep up, write when you can, and i will do the same.
second ingrid´s entire family is indigenous, so she gave me a deeper look into indigenous culture by talking about the conditions in the villages, the number of people in guate who are indigenous (which she estimates much higher than 50%), and many other things. it is fun to get to the point where we can talk about these things.
i took a weaving course at a place called Trauma Textiles, a textile cooperative run by 500-plus women who lost family in the armed conflict in guate. i took about 10 hours worth of class, and made a very handsome scarf. i am quite proud of it.
i also had the opportunity to teach english class in my last week, which was pretty funny, pretty fun. it is designed to be a free english course for children in the community... so, as it is taught by volunteers from the school, it is pretty disjunct, but fun. i think the kids learned something, and i got to practice my spanish.
i also met a very nice boy named dave at the school, and we went on all kinds of gringo xela dates, including yoga, movies, food and beer. he has since moved on to san andres itzapa outside of lago atitlan in guate, and i am in mexico. but, he is a nice human, and we had a good time.
our travels have now taken me to the heart of this jungle - a second growth jungle, actually, but that doesn´t prevent us from having monkeys on our property. they are howler monkeys, and it took us awhile to realize what they were as they sound like angry dogs in a fight. but, yesterday night, we got up the gumption to find them in the midst of their screaming, and discovered them much further away than one might expect, high up in a tree making a fuss. but cute as can be!
and that is just one element of farm life, so far. farm is a loose term. the site is about 6 months old as a wwoofing area. it is a 27 acre piece of property which is owned by a native mexican who grew up in california, and his wife - anita and manuel. manuel traded this piece of farm land for a school bus about 25 years ago. it began as a vast expanse of farm land, desolate and dry, and has evolved into the oasis it currently is. now, you can barely see traces of its old barren self. i have yet to explore much of the property, as it is, and am even afraid to because it is such a forest.
as the site evolved, they decided to take on wwoofers to further develop the things they have in mind. broadly, they aim to make it a permaculture space which can be used as a tool for education on sustainable development in the community. i don´t have a long term vision of their goals, but from my standpoint, projects have been varied. the first day, i worked to dig up about a 6' by 3' garden bed, mulch it and compost it and all of that. it took us the whole morning, as it involved gathering various types of leaves, splitting coconuts, etc... the next two days, we worked on building a green fence, which involved cutting up hibiscis trees and sticking them in the ground (now we pray for them to take root). in those days, i also learned how to use leaves to thatch a roof, which we made over a new composting toilet (which is really pretty...although vaulted. carrie calls it 'a loo with a view'). today, i split bamboo for 4 hours solid, and i have a blister. i get a new ailment every day. it´s pretty rad.
my most notable ailment is that i was stung by an africanized bee the other day. this is because anita and manuel actually raise them...which i am having troubles understanding...and were moving them. 3 of us wound up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and i managed to suffer for the next day, and on less than adequate sleep. i am, however, feeling considerably better than i was, which is fab. we spent the weekend going out to some famous ruins outside of town. it was fun, but i didn´t get much sleep as i was sharing a bed with carrie, and it was not so comfortable, plus my bee sting managed to work its poison from the crown of my head down my neck. then, we walked around all day in the 90 degree heat, which is popular. and i got a sunburn. which i then put mud on. and woke up today feeling better. and not burned, actually.
and so.
the people at the farm are a mixed bag, sort of. it is strange, first of all, to be in the heart of mexico and never really see mexicans. the next place we will go is a mexican non-profit with in the city, so we should get a mix. but, out here, we are a mix of americans, canadians (french and non), french and aussie. the aussies left today, actually... the leadership is comprised of a couple of volunteers who are pretty alright. i like them a bit more every day. we spend a lot of time reading or finding our own crazy projects.
one guy, dan, is from chicago and 27 and is a musician, too. cari and i spend most of our time with him, and he spends most of his time crafting crazy instruments out of bamboo. he is very clever, and it is fun to see what he comes up with. the aussies also were a fab pair - kyah is the one i got to know the best, i guess. she is a mix of shaved and dreded hair, and crazy clothes she has made. it takes her awhile to be out with the things she has done, or places she has been, so we barely scratched the surface on her, but some highlights are that she lives in a 7 ton truck which she has converted to run on leftover veggie oil, and she constructed a whole house - complete with solar power - on the back. she lives in australia occasionally, but mostly jaunts about the world, working at festivals and fruit picking, and doing such things. the only sad thing about meeting cool people is they all depart, and usually it is possible to know someone about a week before they take off. so, like usual, dan will be departing on wednesday, leaving us devoid of his fancy tie dyed shirts and tight shorts, and particularly bereft of his bamboo instruments. aussies left earlier today for guate, and they will be heading out to the place where temp xela boyfriend is working. that is nice, anyway.
the hard thing about being here, aside from how much of a weakling i happen to be, is how much it reminds me of last year. it seems to be brimming with all the same successes and failures as tucson. it is especially hard, as i mentioned, to be in chiapas but more removed from chiapans than i was during all of last year. i don´t know how to remedy it. this is the poorest state in mexico, and we are living simply, but well, while people lose fathers, mothers, children every day. the train runs by our property, delivering thousands of central americans who illegally jump on to go up north every week, but we have been advised not to speak with them, not to carry money with us, not, not, not. it makes me burn with anger when our leadership fail to realize our passions, our journeys, as individuals, or the varying reasons a person winds up in a remote place like outside-pakal na-outside-palenque-chiapas. for me, it is not happenstance. i burn more with anger for their failure to recognize where we are, and the realities here. we suggested a spanish-only lunch, and it was shut down.
besides these things, we are great. we are eating very well, sleeping well, working well, etc... i am missing friends and family back home! keep up, write when you can, and i will do the same.
martes, 29 de enero de 2008
three weeks in: week three.
tales from the trekking world (of good people and places):
we have returned to xela from our long distance trekking adventure to the highest peak in central america. oy... i am a bit sore, unfortunately, and i am sad to report that i only made it to 100 m. before the top of the tallest peak in central america (although we checked and i still made it to the highest point in central america), but the weather was horrible and my body was a strange temp, and so i felt like i was going to pass out - perhaps altitude, i don´t know. anyway, i don´t feel too terrible about it, as there were no views from the top. only frigid wind.
good, great things about the trekking company. their name is quetzal trekkers. they are the only non profit trekking agency in xela. all of their money - 100% - goes to a school, a group home and a hospital, all cheap or free, for impoverished kids in xela. the guides also spend 3 or 4 hours with the kids twice a week, building relationships. very cool. so, peak reached or no, our money went to a good cause.
but most importantly, we met some interesting folks along the way: first, was an israeli guy named gill. interesting just because he was pretty patriotic, but really nice, and spent a lot of time with us, despite the fact that our views on israel are incredibly different.
the other was a girl named naomi who is probably about 26. she and i have an uncanny number of things in common. first, that her folks adopted an eight year old boy from columbia when she was 9. they went through a lot of the same troubles we´ve had with aidar, culminating in a really tough adolescence. the good news is, as he grew older (he´s now my age), he has matured into a really interesting, interested person who is doing a lot of neat things. second, she is a jewish woman who is dating a palestinian christian guy who is from ramullah. his parents worked with rick and kitty ufford-chase to establish the christian peacemaker team project in hebron, which we visited while we were there. his brother - eric - works in jerusalem for a group called seeds of peace. and, lastly, she works in el paso-juarez for a borderlinks-type organization, leading groups of students into mexico for semesters at a time. really, really cool. she has done the whole tucson circuit, and we know a bunch of the same people. very fun - very crazy - very cool.
anyway, naomi and i have concocted a plan for my return to the states: i guess you can fly into juarez from mexico city for about 100 dollars. we´ll do the juarez tour (of folk art, specifically), and then drive over to tucson and nogales where i can show her around for a few days, and i´ll head home from there-probably fly into spokane again, which is only $100, around may 18th ish..ish. we´ll see how money goes, and whether i get into school, but i guess juarez has a really interesting folk art movement going on around border stuff, and it would be a great place to start developing a research project. anyway, good connection, eh?? kind of unbelievable.
after trekking, we meandered over to lago atitlan for a second time, watched a gorgeous sunset over the lake, then proceeded to san pedro, on the opposite end of the lake from panahachel (the city where we´d stayed before). we shared a hookah and drank a few beers while listening to a BLUES band (who were fabulous)...this lasted until we realized that san pedro is basically disney land for drugged out gringos, and we retired to bed shortly thereafter.
departed in the morn for livingston (no, not montana. har har), a really interesting town on the east coast of the country. we stayed over in rio dulce, a little town on the water...on the rio dulce, in fact... on the way into livingston. we arrived in livingston the next day via boat tour, where we had the chance to swim in a hot spring.
livingston was a really amazing town. we took a tour through a group called "exotic travel" which was very eye opening. we walked from town through the jungle, learning about the plantlife as we went, down river in a canoe, and up to "siete altares," a park with 7 waterfalls. our tour guide was a native livingstonian. so, some cool things about livingston:
-populated by the garifono people; descendents of a shipwrecked slave ship from africa who built their civilization in between these inlets.
-the language there is some mix of french, spanish, english, quiche and swahili. garifono.
-there are no roads leading into livingston. the government wanted to put one in in the 1990s, but the people said "no thansk." thus, it is only accessible by boat. this means the community has a unique cosmology and community environment. really, it is a place unlike anywhere else on earth.
-there are basically no exports from livingston. the community, and its tourist industry, sustain its markets. imports are limited.
and so on.
basically: visit livingston. julie lauterbach wrote a fab poem about our guide, pablo, and julie, if you read this, perhaps post it, if you feel so inclined.
a funny highlight from our livingston trip is that we ran into cari and brian while eating dinner the first night! so, we hung out with them for the weekend. we had some good - great laughs.
en route back to xela, we stopped off again in rio dulce...where i caught some sort of annoying cold, which i´m nearly over now...then, i departed from eric and julie (tear) and made my way to antigua for a night of sneezing, and back to xela...welcome home!
yeah. i don´t joke. it´s good to be back "home," back in class, with my host family, and among friendly and familiar faces at ica.
more when there´s more...
adios.
we have returned to xela from our long distance trekking adventure to the highest peak in central america. oy... i am a bit sore, unfortunately, and i am sad to report that i only made it to 100 m. before the top of the tallest peak in central america (although we checked and i still made it to the highest point in central america), but the weather was horrible and my body was a strange temp, and so i felt like i was going to pass out - perhaps altitude, i don´t know. anyway, i don´t feel too terrible about it, as there were no views from the top. only frigid wind.
good, great things about the trekking company. their name is quetzal trekkers. they are the only non profit trekking agency in xela. all of their money - 100% - goes to a school, a group home and a hospital, all cheap or free, for impoverished kids in xela. the guides also spend 3 or 4 hours with the kids twice a week, building relationships. very cool. so, peak reached or no, our money went to a good cause.
but most importantly, we met some interesting folks along the way: first, was an israeli guy named gill. interesting just because he was pretty patriotic, but really nice, and spent a lot of time with us, despite the fact that our views on israel are incredibly different.
the other was a girl named naomi who is probably about 26. she and i have an uncanny number of things in common. first, that her folks adopted an eight year old boy from columbia when she was 9. they went through a lot of the same troubles we´ve had with aidar, culminating in a really tough adolescence. the good news is, as he grew older (he´s now my age), he has matured into a really interesting, interested person who is doing a lot of neat things. second, she is a jewish woman who is dating a palestinian christian guy who is from ramullah. his parents worked with rick and kitty ufford-chase to establish the christian peacemaker team project in hebron, which we visited while we were there. his brother - eric - works in jerusalem for a group called seeds of peace. and, lastly, she works in el paso-juarez for a borderlinks-type organization, leading groups of students into mexico for semesters at a time. really, really cool. she has done the whole tucson circuit, and we know a bunch of the same people. very fun - very crazy - very cool.
anyway, naomi and i have concocted a plan for my return to the states: i guess you can fly into juarez from mexico city for about 100 dollars. we´ll do the juarez tour (of folk art, specifically), and then drive over to tucson and nogales where i can show her around for a few days, and i´ll head home from there-probably fly into spokane again, which is only $100, around may 18th ish..ish. we´ll see how money goes, and whether i get into school, but i guess juarez has a really interesting folk art movement going on around border stuff, and it would be a great place to start developing a research project. anyway, good connection, eh?? kind of unbelievable.
after trekking, we meandered over to lago atitlan for a second time, watched a gorgeous sunset over the lake, then proceeded to san pedro, on the opposite end of the lake from panahachel (the city where we´d stayed before). we shared a hookah and drank a few beers while listening to a BLUES band (who were fabulous)...this lasted until we realized that san pedro is basically disney land for drugged out gringos, and we retired to bed shortly thereafter.
departed in the morn for livingston (no, not montana. har har), a really interesting town on the east coast of the country. we stayed over in rio dulce, a little town on the water...on the rio dulce, in fact... on the way into livingston. we arrived in livingston the next day via boat tour, where we had the chance to swim in a hot spring.
livingston was a really amazing town. we took a tour through a group called "exotic travel" which was very eye opening. we walked from town through the jungle, learning about the plantlife as we went, down river in a canoe, and up to "siete altares," a park with 7 waterfalls. our tour guide was a native livingstonian. so, some cool things about livingston:
-populated by the garifono people; descendents of a shipwrecked slave ship from africa who built their civilization in between these inlets.
-the language there is some mix of french, spanish, english, quiche and swahili. garifono.
-there are no roads leading into livingston. the government wanted to put one in in the 1990s, but the people said "no thansk." thus, it is only accessible by boat. this means the community has a unique cosmology and community environment. really, it is a place unlike anywhere else on earth.
-there are basically no exports from livingston. the community, and its tourist industry, sustain its markets. imports are limited.
and so on.
basically: visit livingston. julie lauterbach wrote a fab poem about our guide, pablo, and julie, if you read this, perhaps post it, if you feel so inclined.
a funny highlight from our livingston trip is that we ran into cari and brian while eating dinner the first night! so, we hung out with them for the weekend. we had some good - great laughs.
en route back to xela, we stopped off again in rio dulce...where i caught some sort of annoying cold, which i´m nearly over now...then, i departed from eric and julie (tear) and made my way to antigua for a night of sneezing, and back to xela...welcome home!
yeah. i don´t joke. it´s good to be back "home," back in class, with my host family, and among friendly and familiar faces at ica.
more when there´s more...
adios.
lunes, 28 de enero de 2008
three weeks in: week two.
t has been quite QUITE a trip so far. I guess, as of today, I have been in xela for 2 weeks...and i'm not sure if it feels like more or less. the first few days, i was here with cari and brian, and after about 4 days, eric headed down here. cari y brian, then, took off about a week ago, so it's been eric and me this week. julie will join us tomorrow, and we are going to go hiking to the highest point in central america (and i will die a painful death...) and then head over to the eastern side of guatemala and up into belize for about a week before i return to xela for two more weeks.
xela is REALLY beautiful. it took me awhile to warm up to it entirely, but as we've hung around, it's really a town that has all kinds of nooks and cranies - plus a majority (yes) indigenous population - 90% or so in this area. it's surrounded on all sides by mountains and volcanos, so there are all kinds of neat things - hot springs, lakes, etc... - around to do and see of varying levels of touristyness.
the school, too, is awesome. most people stick around for 1-6 weeks, so, at this point, we know some of the folks here pretty well. they´re from all over the place, and we´ve encountered some pretty interesting folks. there´s a group here from a lutheran seminary..one of whom tore a tendon playing soccer and has been on bedrest, oy... and a mormon couple; 2 eighteen year olds from holland who are hells awesome and love to sing, a guy who spends most of his time guiding tours in alaska, and - most interestingly - a russian jewish immigrant who lives in philly, but who would like (for spiritual reasons) to move to israel... we got into it last night, which was NOT pretty (although i kept my cool very well, and we´re still speaking, so...). anyway, it´s a hodge podge of folks - those, among others, who have become our posse these weeks.
days are basically like this: i´m with a host family, who is AMAZING and you would love. so, we eat breakfast together (and i´m staying with another student, too, named sarah), then head to school about 8. from 8-1, we have one-on-one class with a maestro or maestra, where we go over vocab and grammar, but also discuss all kinds of political, cultural and social things. it´s been really interesting, learning about the war here which sparked the mass migration during sanctuary - the stories are horrifying. we talked a lot about some of the methods of torture both parties used on the people around - cutting open pregnant women and strangling the fetus with its umbilical cord while the mom bled to death, etc... Awful, awful
the day before yesterday, a new president was instated, so folks have been very forthcoming about their opinions on the matter. it has been pretty intense. anyway, it has just been such an amazing opportunity. i feel that, in the past two weeks, i´ve encountered about a semester´s worth of spanish. i can´t really use a lot of it yet when talking - i have learned five tenses this week, for example, and they´re still confusing - but my comprehension has sky rocketed. i can read the paper, for example, and only need to look up 10 or so words in a given article. so, i must say that it´s been a fantastic experience, so far, and i look forward to having another two weeks to continue this process.
afternoons and weekends, we have opportunities to volunteer and go to culturally significant places, etc... last week, we visited and painted a women´s prison, for example, so we learned how the penal system is different from ours (guilty until proven innocent, here. the prison we were at is basically just a holding cell for people awaiting trial...). over the weekend, we did some touristy stuff - traveled over to a lake which is surrounded by volcanos, did some swimming and such, which was really fun and helped us get to know folks around here. we then headed to chichicastenango which is a VERY obnoxiously touristy market town...oy. but, this week has been fantastic. monday, we went to a finca, or coffee plantation, where we saw basically the whole pre-roasting process. it wasn´t a cooperative, and it was pretty destitute. the owner of our school, enrique (who eric likes to call eric...), does all the narration on all our tours, and he called the coffee business "an open vein of guatemala." pretty poignant. but, he said the situation on the cooperatives is much MUCH better, so keep up the fair tradeing!
yesterday, we planted trees at a reforestation project, which was also very, very fun; today, we heard from an ex-military combatant. his story was horrifying - he joined the resistance movement when he was 12, after the military killed nearly his entire family. He lived on top of Tajumulco (the highest mountain in Central America) for four years, or so, working as the popular voice of the resistance on the radio show. he saw, did, experienced some pretty horrible things over the years, and has some interesting insights on the civil war, the current economic and political situation in guate, etc... one of the best insights he brought up was that these horrors and this warring is not a Guatemalan issue - it´s a human issue. and we need to learn to quit these things. needless to say, it´s been very informative, and a great experience.
We also celebrated Eric´s birthday with a bunch of folks from here, along with some Whitworthians who are studying in town with the Central American Study Tour. We had a nice evening of Indian food and beer. Anyway, we´re having a fantastic, informative time around these parts. Wish you all were here to enjoy it with us.
xela is REALLY beautiful. it took me awhile to warm up to it entirely, but as we've hung around, it's really a town that has all kinds of nooks and cranies - plus a majority (yes) indigenous population - 90% or so in this area. it's surrounded on all sides by mountains and volcanos, so there are all kinds of neat things - hot springs, lakes, etc... - around to do and see of varying levels of touristyness.
the school, too, is awesome. most people stick around for 1-6 weeks, so, at this point, we know some of the folks here pretty well. they´re from all over the place, and we´ve encountered some pretty interesting folks. there´s a group here from a lutheran seminary..one of whom tore a tendon playing soccer and has been on bedrest, oy... and a mormon couple; 2 eighteen year olds from holland who are hells awesome and love to sing, a guy who spends most of his time guiding tours in alaska, and - most interestingly - a russian jewish immigrant who lives in philly, but who would like (for spiritual reasons) to move to israel... we got into it last night, which was NOT pretty (although i kept my cool very well, and we´re still speaking, so...). anyway, it´s a hodge podge of folks - those, among others, who have become our posse these weeks.
days are basically like this: i´m with a host family, who is AMAZING and you would love. so, we eat breakfast together (and i´m staying with another student, too, named sarah), then head to school about 8. from 8-1, we have one-on-one class with a maestro or maestra, where we go over vocab and grammar, but also discuss all kinds of political, cultural and social things. it´s been really interesting, learning about the war here which sparked the mass migration during sanctuary - the stories are horrifying. we talked a lot about some of the methods of torture both parties used on the people around - cutting open pregnant women and strangling the fetus with its umbilical cord while the mom bled to death, etc... Awful, awful
the day before yesterday, a new president was instated, so folks have been very forthcoming about their opinions on the matter. it has been pretty intense. anyway, it has just been such an amazing opportunity. i feel that, in the past two weeks, i´ve encountered about a semester´s worth of spanish. i can´t really use a lot of it yet when talking - i have learned five tenses this week, for example, and they´re still confusing - but my comprehension has sky rocketed. i can read the paper, for example, and only need to look up 10 or so words in a given article. so, i must say that it´s been a fantastic experience, so far, and i look forward to having another two weeks to continue this process.
afternoons and weekends, we have opportunities to volunteer and go to culturally significant places, etc... last week, we visited and painted a women´s prison, for example, so we learned how the penal system is different from ours (guilty until proven innocent, here. the prison we were at is basically just a holding cell for people awaiting trial...). over the weekend, we did some touristy stuff - traveled over to a lake which is surrounded by volcanos, did some swimming and such, which was really fun and helped us get to know folks around here. we then headed to chichicastenango which is a VERY obnoxiously touristy market town...oy. but, this week has been fantastic. monday, we went to a finca, or coffee plantation, where we saw basically the whole pre-roasting process. it wasn´t a cooperative, and it was pretty destitute. the owner of our school, enrique (who eric likes to call eric...), does all the narration on all our tours, and he called the coffee business "an open vein of guatemala." pretty poignant. but, he said the situation on the cooperatives is much MUCH better, so keep up the fair tradeing!
yesterday, we planted trees at a reforestation project, which was also very, very fun; today, we heard from an ex-military combatant. his story was horrifying - he joined the resistance movement when he was 12, after the military killed nearly his entire family. He lived on top of Tajumulco (the highest mountain in Central America) for four years, or so, working as the popular voice of the resistance on the radio show. he saw, did, experienced some pretty horrible things over the years, and has some interesting insights on the civil war, the current economic and political situation in guate, etc... one of the best insights he brought up was that these horrors and this warring is not a Guatemalan issue - it´s a human issue. and we need to learn to quit these things. needless to say, it´s been very informative, and a great experience.
We also celebrated Eric´s birthday with a bunch of folks from here, along with some Whitworthians who are studying in town with the Central American Study Tour. We had a nice evening of Indian food and beer. Anyway, we´re having a fantastic, informative time around these parts. Wish you all were here to enjoy it with us.
three weeks in: week one.
Blogging...evidentally not my strong point. So, here we are. I offer you three installations to attempt to recount my experiences so far! They´re cut and pasted from emails sent during these weeks. Enjoy!
Week One-
We are doing very well here in Guatemala. Our host family is absolutely awesome. They spend a lot of time talking with us every day, and they´ve got a lot of good insights about culture, what to do in town, etc..., which is awesome. The school pays for pretty much all our time. In the morning, we have one on one instruction from 8 til 1. They provide unlimited tea and coffee and a snack break around ten. On friday, I learned 45 new vocab words, so I think it´s going to be a great experience. Then, we can take advantage of daily trips, cultural events, dance lessons and movies which take place in the afternoon. Our family provides three meals a day, which have been excellent. They´re not totally vegetarian, but mostly they´ve been great. Their daughter (17 years old and in medical school - smart one!!) is also vegetarian, so they have an easy time cooking for us. Their son is 14 and is already studying toward his profession, as well. He wants to be an electrical engineer. Our family hosts around 15 students per year. They come from all around the world, and we´ve met people here from all over - Germany, Japan, Israel, Canada, among others. Some stay for months, so they basically have someone here all the time...they have some pretty crazy stories. I guess a lot of families in these language school cities build extra space onto their homes so they can take visitors all the time. I imagine it´s pretty lucrative. Anyway, I think they like us a lot because we´re pretty boring. We spend most of our free time, when not exploring the city, reading our books, at this point.
Brian - my cousin Cari´s boyfriend - is staying at a hostel for backpackers called Casa Argentina, and it has a trekking agency on the first floor. He´s met all kinds of interesting people, including some crazy botanists from U Texas. He´s a great person to travel with - his spanish is awesome, plus he´s just fun.
Saturday, on Brian´s suggestion, we headed into the mountains to a hot spring called Fuentes Georginas. It was basically just a big natural hot spring, all outdoors, with a bunch of pools. We swam, sat on the rocks, ate lunch... had a very relaxing afternoon. We left here around 10 and returned around 4. Very fun. It was absolutely beautiful. This is a pretty incredible country. There are indigenous people everywhere, and the aesthetic is just beautiful. I guess the indigenous groups have a lot of problems with health, infant mortality and lack of education, but the culture here appears to be very rich and affirming of the livlihood of the indigenous. Many of them, though they spend most of their week in Xela, barely speak spanish. Very interesting. Also, the scenery is amazing. Xela is surrounded on all sides by volcanos and mountains which just seem to shoot out of the ground. It looks like rainforest, with greenery blanketing everything. Since it´s so fertile, people farm right on these STEEP hills. I can´t imagine - not terraced, or anything. But, very beautiful. We saw a lot of that on the way to the Fuentes.
Well, I guess that´s all! It´s been pretty exciting already!! Also, I think the most important item I have with me is my down coat!!!! It´s really, really cold here, especially at night. It got down to around 30 degrees the other night, and we don´t have heat in our part of the house. Oy.
Week One-
We are doing very well here in Guatemala. Our host family is absolutely awesome. They spend a lot of time talking with us every day, and they´ve got a lot of good insights about culture, what to do in town, etc..., which is awesome. The school pays for pretty much all our time. In the morning, we have one on one instruction from 8 til 1. They provide unlimited tea and coffee and a snack break around ten. On friday, I learned 45 new vocab words, so I think it´s going to be a great experience. Then, we can take advantage of daily trips, cultural events, dance lessons and movies which take place in the afternoon. Our family provides three meals a day, which have been excellent. They´re not totally vegetarian, but mostly they´ve been great. Their daughter (17 years old and in medical school - smart one!!) is also vegetarian, so they have an easy time cooking for us. Their son is 14 and is already studying toward his profession, as well. He wants to be an electrical engineer. Our family hosts around 15 students per year. They come from all around the world, and we´ve met people here from all over - Germany, Japan, Israel, Canada, among others. Some stay for months, so they basically have someone here all the time...they have some pretty crazy stories. I guess a lot of families in these language school cities build extra space onto their homes so they can take visitors all the time. I imagine it´s pretty lucrative. Anyway, I think they like us a lot because we´re pretty boring. We spend most of our free time, when not exploring the city, reading our books, at this point.
Brian - my cousin Cari´s boyfriend - is staying at a hostel for backpackers called Casa Argentina, and it has a trekking agency on the first floor. He´s met all kinds of interesting people, including some crazy botanists from U Texas. He´s a great person to travel with - his spanish is awesome, plus he´s just fun.
Saturday, on Brian´s suggestion, we headed into the mountains to a hot spring called Fuentes Georginas. It was basically just a big natural hot spring, all outdoors, with a bunch of pools. We swam, sat on the rocks, ate lunch... had a very relaxing afternoon. We left here around 10 and returned around 4. Very fun. It was absolutely beautiful. This is a pretty incredible country. There are indigenous people everywhere, and the aesthetic is just beautiful. I guess the indigenous groups have a lot of problems with health, infant mortality and lack of education, but the culture here appears to be very rich and affirming of the livlihood of the indigenous. Many of them, though they spend most of their week in Xela, barely speak spanish. Very interesting. Also, the scenery is amazing. Xela is surrounded on all sides by volcanos and mountains which just seem to shoot out of the ground. It looks like rainforest, with greenery blanketing everything. Since it´s so fertile, people farm right on these STEEP hills. I can´t imagine - not terraced, or anything. But, very beautiful. We saw a lot of that on the way to the Fuentes.
Well, I guess that´s all! It´s been pretty exciting already!! Also, I think the most important item I have with me is my down coat!!!! It´s really, really cold here, especially at night. It got down to around 30 degrees the other night, and we don´t have heat in our part of the house. Oy.
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