Trade in these wings on some wheels

So it's my last day here in Antigua. I am just about out of quetzales and time, so it sounds like it's time to go home. We finished classes on Thursday (which involved a lot of papers and a lot of partying) and I've just been trying to wrap everything up before I head out...I leave for the airport tomorrow at 3am. Somehow I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight.

I will try and update you a little more, and put up more photos once I'm home. I can't wait to see you all! Thank you all so much for reading this blog and keeping in touch while I've been gone. It's been a hard but incredible four months, and I'm looking forward to an exciting summer. It will so good to be home.

Lasts

Hi all! It's hard to believe that a week from not I will be arriving into Dulles Airport. These four months have gone by so fast! (Though I must admit sometimes time seemed to drag by) Now begin the "lasts" of my time Antigua, as I think of what I need to get done before I go.

I sent in my history final essay today - "Maya, Marxists, and the Military: The Role of Indigenous Guatemalans in the Armed Conflict" - and am set to turn in my anthropology essay Tuesday (I have yet to write it...) No worries, it will get done. I have two Spanish exams this coming week as well, but that's not really a reason to stress out, either. I must say it will be nice to be back to the rigor of W&M classes in the fall, though I'm sure I'll complain plenty about it.

This past week we did a couple fun things. Wednesday, Tamara and I attended the Antigua Cooking School and learned how to make tamales (there are three different kinds), guicoyitos rellenos (stuffed round zucchini - in the picture), arroz en leche (rice pudding), corn tortillas, black beans in several ways, and Guatemalan guacamole. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything. It was a lot of fun - I can't wait to make Guatemalan food for some daring taste-testers.


We took a field trip on Friday to Iximche, a post-classic Maya site. We were supposed to have our own Maya ceremony but our sacerdote's car broke down. However, we got to watch amother ceremony...including a chicken sacrifice. It's really not as dramatic as you would think. We learned the meaning of our month and day of birth in the Maya ceremonial calendar. I am a Kawoq, which means (among other things), that I will make a good teacher and spiritual leader and I generally end up guilty of doing things. Hm.

I'll make a post before I head out next weekend. Can't wait to see you all! It has been too long.

Days Go By

My little boyfriend, José, one of the boys I tutor at the Semillero de Mi Angél Guardián. A bunch of us went to the pool a coulple Wednesdays back.

Well, it’s my next-to-last full weekend here in Antigua – hard to believe! I have now been here a full fifteen weeks and only have two more before I head home to Virginia. How the time has flown! I must say I am beginning to feel ready to go home. Things are winding down here: we have done course, program, and homestay evaluations and I am only a few more classes, two papers, and two Spanish exams (and a trip to the Maya site of Iximche) away from heading home. It will be so hard to leave Antigua. I have come to love the city we well as my host family and everyone at CIRMA so much!

I know it’s been a while since I posted. I have had a lot of papers, projects, and exams lately – it seems the semester is finally catching up with me. The transition to new leaders for next year at W&M has taken place as well, so I’ve been busy trying to keep up with events and planning at home. All the same, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to have more adventures here.

Mom and Dad came to visit last weekend. I met them at the airport Thursday – I can’t tell you all how good it was to see familiar faces!! We made our way to Antigua and got lunch (Dad enjoyed Gallo, Guatemala’s beer), then Mom and Dad rested while I went to classes, a colloquium speaker, and a CCM board meeting by skype. We checked out the Meson Panza Verde (Green Belly Inn) for dinner and turned in relatively early. On Friday I showed Mom and Dad around Antigua. They must have brought the Virginia rain with them, because we had our first shower of the rainy season! I finally got to visit the Antigua Vineria (wine shop), which I had been eyeing up for about three months.

We took a bus to Panajachel at Lake Atitlan on Saturday. Mom and Dad learned what an adventure it is to travel by minibus in Guatemala. We took a boat tour and visited a few towns on the lake, where people tried (and succeeded) to sell us things, then got lunch and drinks, followed by walking around the town. We got stranded by a rainstorm and so we were driven do get more drinks. We all enjoyed dinner at a French restaurant called Chez Alex, where the waiter spoke English and I didn’t have to order for Mom and Dad. Or rather, I ordered for Dad, and then the water asked in English how he would like his steak done. (Way to steal my job!!) The next morning was a little clearer so we got a good view of the lake before heading back to Antigua on another exciting journey. I was sad to see Mom and Dad leave on Monday – but it helps to know I’ll be home soon.

Santo Hermano Pedro (Saint Brother Peter) procession on Sunday

Mostly I’ve been catching up on e-mails, phone calls, and homework this week – and my goal for the weekend is to get my history paper done – then I’ll be a third done with classes! Things I have yet to experience: hiking up the Cerro de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross) to get a great view of Antigua, attending a cooking school so I can cook for some more adventurous eaters like Mom, Beth, and Derrick, and learn what my birth date and time really means, according to the Maya.

I forgot to mention this before – thank you to those of you who sent me Easter cards, and mail in general – it brightens my day to hear from you!! I have learned that the Guatemalan postal service is more than a little unreliable. Take care and I can’t wait to see you all soon. I should be posting at least one more time before I head home.

Midweek Update

Hello All! Somehow time passes all too quickly, and I find myself wondering, where did it all go? Life is difficult, but beautiful (as usual). Thank you to everyone who has sent me e-mails, messages, or who I've been able to talk/skype with lately. It really does help me so much.

I think I missed the "two thirds" mark, but now I'm into the last third of the program. It is strange to think of everything wrapping up. Mom and Dad are coming to visit in just over two weeks - I'm so excited!! Perhaps you all know the feeling of being excited to show other people the places you have come to know and love. Coming to Guatemala has completely removed me from life in the States and the familiar people, places, culture, and language. It will be fun for them to see my life here for themselves rather than through my eyes. How strange it will be to go home!

We are in the midst of Holy Week, and all of Antigua is going crazy making alfombras (carpets of colored sawdust or pine needles and flowers) over which the processions cross. Each church has its own processions, so I can hear the solemn music about every night from my house. Tomorrow begins the Easter Triduum, the three days of Holy Thursday (Jueves Santo), Good Friday (Viernes Santo) and Holy Saturday (Sabado Santo). The Mass of the Lord's Supper is on Thursday night and the Easter Vigil on Saturday night. This is a very special time of prayer and I'm excited to see all the celebrations in the city. From what I hear, there will be plenty of drinking going on in the city as people make the alfombras. I think some of the students and I are going to Easter dinner at a place called the Earth Lodge outside of Antigua. There's supposed to be ham, pumpkin pie, and so much more - American style :)


Yesterday we made an expedition to the City to get our tourist visas renewed, and somehow I got everyone to come with me to the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Etnologia (National Archaeology and Ethnology Museum). It was pretty much a dream come true (I'm not even joking!). Got to see so many artifacts, stelae and altars that we studied in Mesoamerican Archaeology last semester. I was told I was acting like a kid on Christmas morning (that's pretty much how I felt). So cool. The above picture is me with Stela 10 from Kaminaljuyu, dating from around 50 BC - AD 50 (though some archaeologists will give it a later date). I wrote a paper about this last semester, and the long hours paid off, just being able to see it. Other cool pieces: the ball court marcador from Tikal (to commemorate Spearthrower Owl!), jade inlaid or otherwise modified teeth, jade masks, incensarios, stelae and altars from Piedras Negras...you name it. Incredible. (End nerd rant).

I'm off for now - hope you all have a beautiful Easter. I miss you all so much! I'll let you know about the Easter celebrations next week.

Peace

Hello all! It's been a nice, lazy Saturday for me here in Antigua. We have the entirety of Holy Week (Semana Santa) off from classes, so after catching up on internship hours yesterday, I decided to relax today. I went out walking before breakfast (about 6:30am) and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Watched a bit of a movie, caught up on e-mails, and started to browse through some of the shops. I think we're going to go out dancing tonight, which should be fun. I don't intend on being this much of a bum all week!


I owe you all a bit more information on last weekend's excurisons. We headed out of Antigua around 4am Friday morning and arrived in Sayaxche in Peten around mid afternoon. Peten is the northernmost department in Guatemala (the big pink one), and Antigua is due west of Guatemala City. It was a long trip. We had an incredibly refreshing lancha (speedboat) ride to Aguateca, a terminal classic Maya site in the jungle, known for its defensive crack - which we got to hike through! We took the boat to our hotel (by this time it was dark and the stars were out, so we tried to pick out constellations since it was so clear), which seemed pretty luxurious to those of us used to paying for $5 beds in hostels when we travel.

The next morning we had another lancha trip back to Sayache, then took the van to Tikal. After lunch we spent about five hours exploring the site, and saw a bunch, though not nearly everything. It was so cool to pick out architectural details and understand a bit of their significance as it was to climb the pyramids and enjoy the view. We were pretty wiped and dehydrated for the trip to our lodging for the night. We stayed at a cooperative set up after the Peace Accords were signed, but I can't tell you much more than that, because I was sick and missed the presentation. I'm still alive, though, and mostly just relaxed during the long van ride home Sunday. I was even feeling well enough to eat Wendy's when we stopped for dinner that evening.

Looks like I'm out of time. Take care all, I miss you very much. I'll keep you updated with my religious revels this week :)

Love from Peten!

Hey all! I'm back from Peten and had a blast. Friday we visited Aguateca, a terminal classic site to the South of Tikal (near Dos Pilas, for my Mayaphile friends). Saturday we explored Tikal. There was a lot of time spent on the road and in the water (by boat), and a lot of time sweating in the humitidy. It was like being back home in Virginia! I'll give you some more details in a later post. Here's some photos.

The boat ride to Aguateca. Left to right: Our program director Claudia, my housmate Tamara, me, our guide Juan Pablo

In front of the palacio at Aguateca after hiking through the defensive crack and through the jungle!

Sending love from Templo I. Anna and Kelsey, this is especially for you. Jasaw Chan Kawil loves you!

Our group from Templo II (Jasaw's wife's pyramid), with Templo I in the background. Left to right: Taylor, Jenny (from CIRMA), Jordan, Sarah, Aaron, Tamara. Second row: Juan Pablo (guide), Claudia (program director), Stephanie, me!

From the top of Templo IV, with Templos I and III in the background. For Star Wars buffs: does this not remind you of a certain scene when they are landing on a special forest moon with those cute/ridiculous furry creatures? It is! They used this view to film the rebel base on Endor!! That made my day.

There and back again...and again...

So begins another week here in Guate. I wrote this post for yesterday but didn’t get to post it. Exciting news: we had a 5.3 earthquake Sunday night (though technically this does not qualify as an earthquake since it didn’t hit 6.0). In reality, earthquakes can be pretty disastrous, but it was neat to experience one all the same.

My favorite park - it is very peaceful in the evening and a good place to think

This week should be good – hopefully I will (finally) get caught up on all my internship hours at CIRMA. So far the books have been interesting – a lot of history, ethnohistory, and archaeology of Mexico – that somehow found its way into French. It looks like this coming weekend a few of us are going to travel to Rio Dulce and Livingston, the former to the northeast, the latter on the Caribbean coast. The whole group is going to Tikal the last week in March as well – I must admit that my archaeology-loving heart is pretty excited.

La Iglesia de San Fancisco - the church I frequent most often (decked out for Lent)

Now that we’re going on two weeks into Lent (wow, time flies!) I figure I’ll tell you a little about religion here in Guatemala. One of the most fascinating things about being in Guatemala has been experiencing God and the Church through a different culture and language. I go to Mass on Sundays at 6:30pm with my host family at the Cathedral, right by the Parque Central. I also attend daily Mass a few times a week at La Iglesia (the church) de San Francisco, which is about a ten minute walk to the southeast. I have started to learn prayers in Spanish and can generally follow the Mass pretty well. I know I have told some of you how different it is to have spirituality in another language. Most of the time I still think in English, since this is the language I use to communicate with the other students and those of you at home. However, Spanish works its way in more often through prayer. As Javier said – we all find a different way to get into the culture. For some, it is through bars or girlfriends/boyfriends or volunteering. I guess it's church for me. Not that I don’t enjoy a couple drinks and dancing every now and again…

The facade of San Francisco

One of the first things I noticed upon coming here is just how many people you see at daily Mass, which is especially remarkable when you remember that each church has several daily Masses. Antigua is 95% Catholic and is especially well known as a religious center, which is particularly evident during Cuaresma (Lent) and Semana Santa (Holy Week). There are also a lot of statues of saints – called imágenes – that are used during processions on Sundays during Lent and during Semana Santa. They are, I admit, a little creepy. Walking into a church is a bit like bring in a waxworks at first, but I have gotten used to it. There is also a strong emphasis on offerings: little carts sell candles by churches, and they are lit in front of imágenes or the Blessed Sacrament. There are always beautiful arrangements of flowers as well. At San Francisco, since Ash Wednesday, there has been an offering of fruits and vegetables (everything from watermelons to carrots) in front of a statue of Jesus carrying the cross. I have also started to see the alfombras – carpets of pine needles and flower petals – in several places.

They take Lent seriously here. A lot of the shops and houses have purple banners. On Fridays there is a Vía de la Cruz (I’m not sure whether this is Stations of the Cross or something different, it translates literally to “Way of the Cross”). Sundays are days of celebration: processions of some of the most respected imágenes through the streets, popcorn, cotton candy, balloons, toys, little dolls dressed in purple robes, candles, you name it. Last week there were even fireworks – which continued to go off during Mass. One of the biggest differences between American Catholicism and Guatemalan Catholicism is that the latter is interwoven with the culture. Celebrations and rites of passage like the 15th birthday, weddings, birthdays, and funerals are all usually celebrated with a Mass and festivities to follow. I must say I really love this – life, Wedding at Cana style.

My classes continue to go well. They are nothing like W&M, since the real lessons are to be learned though experiencing life here. Yet I am learning a lot of Spanish and we have some really interesting discussions during history and anthropology classes. I am even starting to understand the gist of 20th Century Central America (i.e. not pretty). My volunteer work/internship at El Semillero Mi Ángel Guardián is great as well. While the kids love Tamara best (for good reason, she’s wonderful with them), I help in my own quiet way. Usually I tutor seven- to ten-year-old boys in basic math, and they make me smile and laugh a lot. Last week one of the boys (I think it was José) gave me a big kiss on the cheek as a greeting. I have never spent much time with little boys (more with toddlers), so it’s good learning experience.

Graffiti at the former home of the President in the City. As far as I can translate it says "While the blood of the people flows there will be struggle and revolution"

I went to the City (aka Guatemala City, about 45 minutes away by Chicken Bus or camioneta) twice this past week. On Wednesday, four of us from Spanish class took a trip to Landivar University and different zones in the city to get different perspectives on living conditions. You can find everything ranging from extreme poverty – living in shacks without electricity or plumbing – to incredible luxury in malls that at least as ridiculous as Tysons and other such places in the states. The university was interesting as well. We sat in on a TV/audiovisual class, where they practiced by filming a scene about (no joke) a woman telling her lesbian lover she was leaving her for a man. Yeah. It was strange to be back on a college campus, where people pay attention to fashion trends and all the girls straighten their hair and dress up for class. To be honest, I am not looking forward to going back to that. I much prefer my curly hair, Dockers, Gap or Bean shirts, and grey sketchers or flip-flops from Kohl’s.

KJ! If you look closely, Mesoamerican archaeology aficionados, you can see the talud-tablero architecture behind the main stairway. So cool!

Saturday I ventured to the city again, to visit Kaminaljuyu, a Preclassic and classic period Maya archaeological site. It was really neat to walk around and visualize how magnificent the site must have been – covering zones 7, 11, and 13 in the city (i.e. big). I’ll save you most of the details, but it was interesting to see Maya burning offerings at various areas of the park. The security guard also let me into the excavated area to look around. I got to take a look at some of the stratigraphy and admire the talud-tablero architecture. It makes me all the more excited to visit more sites soon. [End nerdy moment]

Just next to the excavated area of the acropolis - this is the general area of the Jugo de Pelota - ball court!

That’s all for now. Hopefully I’ll be able to write early next week about the trip up to the Caribbean coast. I should probably get back to my homework…

Forty Days

As difficult as it is to believe, I am now a third of the way through my semester in Guatemala. In some ways, it feels like I just arrived; in others, it is as if I have always been here. Life continues to be very difficult, but beautiful and joyful all the same.

I enjoyed a pretty lazy weekend: relaxed, bought some bootleg DVDs, did a little homework, and caught up with a few of you at home. (Skype truly is wonderful.) I’d like to share a few stories from the past few days…

Sunday afternoon I went searching for some lunch and ended up at a Middle Eastern restaurant that had caught my eye a few days before – thanks to Nate and Stacey and Matt, I’m hooked on this stuff. It was pretty tiny inside – just two small tables. I ordered my food (don’t remember what it was called – sort of like hush puppies with veggies and hummus in a pita, with a nice side of heartburn) and sat down in an empty seat across from another customer. He turned out to be a retired commercial airline pilot from Florida who is in Antigua learning Spanish so he can travel more around South America. We had some interesting conversation about Spanish, traveling, Obama, and the financial crisis. While I am still shy of strangers, it’s cool to meet and talk to different people – just like the Irish guy we met at the partido de fútbol and then ran into again in Monterrico last weekend. Chris, you were right about meeting interesting people when traveling!

I’ve found that if I’m going to attend daily Mass, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning, since I’m generally otherwise occupied with classes, internships, meals, and hours of internet access at CIRMA (the security man usually comes to close up the building between 6:30 and 6:45pm and I have to drag myself away from skype conversations). Regardless, I try to go once or twice a week to 6:30am Mass at la Iglesia de San Francisco, about ten minutes walk away from my house. The sky is always so beautiful in the early morning, and I love following the nuns-across-the-street (though they are technically ‘sisters’, right?) to and from Mass. There are plenty of nuns, monks, and joyful old people there, and by the time I arrive back at the house for 7:30am breakfast I am awake and ready for the day. Today is Miércoles de Ceniza (take a guess) so half the people in the city are walking around with ashes. I ended up with a pretty gigantic one. It’s interesting already to see the difference in Lent here: there was an offering of apples in front of a statue of Jesus in church this morning.

Yesterday we decided to skip Spanish class (don’t worry, this was organized by our program director) in favor of a trip to Guatemala City to attend the Informe de la Comisión para el esclarecimiento histórico contra el olvido. Basically, this was a conference celebrating the tenth anniversary of the formation of an organization promoting the historical memory of Guatemala. Even though the peace accords after the civil war were signed thirteen years ago, the government has still not accepted responsibility for the military’s actions (see my last post). There were hopes that President Colom would ceremonially accept the truth reports, but this didn’t end up happening. After discussing this with U of A’s study abroad faculty advisor/professor Liz Oglesby, who is here to visit for a few days, we figure it probably had to do with the speakers’ adamant assertions that genocide occurred during the armed conflict. This is a controversial claim because of the intentions that are implied in the term ‘genocide’.

So life continues here in Antigua. A few of us are planning on a trip to tour the Cuevas de Candelaria this weekend. There’s supposed to be some pretty cool Maya art that you access through boat tours. So the adventures continue…maybe I’ll even get to fight some Nazis.

NUNCA MAS

It’s been another good week here in Antigua. I’ve been here five weeks so far and each day passes more quickly than the last. I opted to stay here this weekend to rest and get caught up on some work so that I will be ready to travel the next few weekends. Hopefully this will include trips to Copán, a Classic period Maya archaeological site just over the eastern border into Honduras, Livingston, a town known for garífuna (Caribbean black) culture, and maybe some hiking around Coban and tour of the Cuevas de Candelabria in the eastern part of the country. Our program is taking a trip to Tikal in the Petén region farther north in about a month.

Yesterday we went out to a German restaurant to celebrate our program director Javier’s 25^th birthday. I decided to fully embrace my German heritage and order sausages with sauerkraut (don’t worry Mom and Grandma, your sauerkraut is much better). Come the New Year 2010, I think I will eat more than a pittance of this wonderful food. I also got a break from Gallo (I’ve been told it’s similar to Coors light) and had some Moza “cerveza oscura” – dark beer. I enjoyed it, but (surprisingly) miss the beer at home. I never thought I’d say this, but perhaps I will make the men in my life proud and appreciate good beer someday.

As we drove through Guatemala city a month ago, there were a lot of messages painted on the city's walls. Here, "Libertad" and spray-painted on another wall, "¿DONDE ESTAN 45,000 DESAPARECIDOS?" - Where are the 45,000 disappeared?

We had our first colloquium lecturer yesterday. Daniel Hernandez is a photojournalist and artist who works to raise awareness about the genocide that happened here in Guatemala during the civil war from the 1960s-1990s. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I was pretty ignorant about Latin American history and politics until I came here. In my four semesters of Spanish, we talked a little about the Madres de Plaza Mayo protesting the desaparecidos – disappeared people – in Argentina. Now my eyes are opening so many similar situations that have happened throughout Latin America. It’s hard to take it in, especially recognizing the impact of United States intervention in Central America beginning in the fifties (’54 here in Guatemala). I am not saying we should hate our country because we’ve messed up – only that we, and our children, should never forget this, especially as we face tough issues like illegal immigration and everything in the Middle East.

Names of victims, civilians as well, from the civil war on the walls surrounding the national cathedral in Guatemala City, placed there by the Church in the late 1990s. To learn more, look up "Monsignor Juan Gerardi". The Church has done a lot of crappy things, but we should never forget people who died serving God's people.

Throughout their education, students complain constantly about learning history. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked “why?” Until now, I didn’t have an answer. Now, as I learn about the history of conflict in Guatemala, I begin to understand. The military and the government still do not recognize and commemorate the 200,000 deaths that occurred during the civil war, the vast majority of whom were indigenous civilians at the hands of the army. The truth reports are kept from public schools, despite groups’ efforts to make them available. If Guatemalans cannot teach their children about what happened, then historical memory will die. The war, the genocide, will be forgotten. As a generation passes away, who will remember? Who will solve this country’s problems? Who will make sure the same violence does not repeat itself?

Why do we learn history? We are not so different. Our children, too, deserve to know the truth about our country, the victory and bravery along with the mistakes and the stories of those who have been silenced. Because they can. I finally realized yesterday that I’m not going to leave this job to someone else so that I can pursue a PhD and a career in academia. At least, not for now.

"Nunca Mas" - Never again

Daniel Hernandez © 1997

Our history is our memory. Our history is our identity. If we forget it, we forget ourselves.

As the sun sets behind the volcanoes...

It's early evening here in Antigua and I am sitting by an open window, enjoying the breeze and the fading sunlight. There are probably a lot of things I should be doing. Oh well.

I have been here nearly four weeks, though in a way it feels as if I have always been here. My Spanish is improving to the point that I am finally getting a little better at eavesdropping on conversations, speaking spontaneously, and skimming ridiculous anthropology readings (in Spanish...and French). Thanks to my Spanish teacher, I now realize that those men on the street haven't been saying "good afternoon" but rather calling me attractive. That's the difference between ¡buenas! and ¡buena! I think I'll pretend I'm still ignorant.

The past week and a half since I last wrote has been pretty calm. Mostly I get up, eat food (amazing, amazing food), go to classes, e-mail and skype, write, go to Mass, and do a little studying and reading. Classes are going well, and continue to be very relaxed. Spanish is probably my favorite. We do a little reading and a little writing, but mostly just talk, learn new vocab, and review grammar. Since there are only five students, there's plenty of opportunity to ask questions. Out Latin American Studies class, well, I'll let you know. We have mostly discussed theory behind theory in philosophy and anthropology (think: worse than Levi-Strauss). As a result, I think I'm more confused than I was when the class began. Hopefully that will change. History class is an intense three hours every Monday afternoon. As I wrote before, the professor is an ex-guerrilla from El Salvador. As such, we're learning about the various stages of human social and economic development, from Primitive Communism to Capitalism to Socialism in addition to things like the Social Relations of Production, Productive Forces, ideology, and social explosion. Yes, we're learning Marxist theory, like it's fact. Don't worry. I've been told I'm not allowed to come back wearing a beret. In that case I'd just stay here...

My internships are also going well. I am working through my second book catalog entry for the CIRMA Social Sciences library. Switching between French, Spanish, and English is not nearly as difficult as I thought. Sometimes I find myself halfway through a paragraph before I register which language I'm reading. It's a pretty cool feeling. I am also volunteering at an after school program for younger kids called El Semillero de Mi Angel Guardian. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I help a group of second grade boys with their sumas, restas, multiplicaciones, y divisiones. It can be a little hard when each one wants your attention and help, but I'm learning a lot (and brushing up on my math skills).

This weekend a few of us are going to Monterrico, a beach town on the Pacific coast. I'm looking forward to chilling out (not that I don't do plenty of that here), eating seafood, and reading on the beach. Miss you all a lot. I'll make another update after returning from Monterrico. Have a happy valentine's day!

De todo un poco

As we learned this Monday, there are two seasons in Guatemala. The rainy season goes from May to November, the dry season from November to April. Since it is the end of January, it is naturally pouring outside. I am using this as an excuse to write a little bit about some of the fun things we’ve done over the past week.

Classes have been going on for a week and a half now. Already I’ve done about as much work as I do in a single day at William and Mary. I am only taking three classes, and a lot of my extra time will be spent doing internships. Spanish class meets four days a week for about an hour in the morning, and I need to start spending more time studying grammar and vocabulary. The class is focused on conversation, so we have been listening to and discussing music. In addition, we are reading the Popol Vuh, the Q’iche Maya origin story. It is an interesting selection, since oral tradition is written in such a different style (think Homer). We’ll also be reading it in English for our Latin American Studies class.

Friday, our whole group took a field trip to Guatemala City. Our program director, Javier, showed us the national palace and cathedral along the Plaza Central. The cathedral was beautiful. The statues of saints and Jesus (they care called imágenes) don’t make me feel like I’m in a waxworks as do many here in Antigua. I much prefer the realism of Renaissance art, it’s not so creepy. Javier showed us the mercado (market) , which is pretty gigantic. My favorite part was the raw meat section and the fruit piled high everywhere. We went to a nice restaurant for a traditional Maya lunch. Ka’kik is a turkey and rice soup flavored with chiles, served with tamales (a sort of bread made of cornmeal, cooked inside corn husks or leaves). Instead of salt and pepper in packets on the table, there was chile pepper and salt. Since being down here I have discovered the wonders of fresh-made limeade, with plenty of sugar, and sometimes some soda water. My host mom flavors a lot of food with lime – especially soup and broccoli. I think I will follow suit when I head home.

For the afternoon, we went to the Popol Vuh museum on the campus of Francisco Marroquín University. We worked our way through Preclassic to Postclassic artifacts, recovered from construction sites and private collections. There was some pretty cool stuff, and I especially enjoyed being able to pick out stylistic differences in the pottery. Javier is a student at the university so he took us on a mini-tour and we all got coffee (though I don’t think anyone actually got coffee) before heading back to Antigua. The drive there and back was fun as well – our driver Josué had a varied of dated music that got us singing everything from Spice Girls to Queen.

After our excursion to the macadamia nut finca, we went with Josué to the nearby town of Dueñas for a local fútbol (soccer) match. We all wore green and white, Antigua’s colors, and had a great time cheering and expanding our vocabularies with the kind of good, wholesome words that you can only learn at sports games. Antigua won, 3-0. There are plans in the works to go again, and this time get jerseys for Antigua, drink some Gallo, and continue to benefit from the language immersion.

Monday was our first history class of the semester. Our professor is one of a kind: an ex-guerrilla from El Salvador with a PhD in international relations. He’s a blunt man with a great sense of humor. One of the students in our group is a military analyst studying international narcotics. When he explained this to our professor, the prof asked, “Do you smoke weed?” Jordan responded no, to which José Antonio asked, “How can you study drugs if you don’t do them?”

The class took a tour of Antigua, to get an idea of the city’s past. Starting at the Parque Central, we visited and discussed the municipal building, the Catedral de Santiago (Saint James is the patron of Antigua, and his feast on July 25 is a huge celebration), the Palacio, and the fountain. A few cool notes: most of the old churches in Antigua face west, which relates to sunlight entering the church. Cardinal directions are really important to the native worldview as well. The fountain in the Plaza Central has associations with fertility tied to a myth of Spanish women who would not breast feed their children (you'll understand after seeing the fountain).

We visited the Posada de Don Rodrigo, a snazzy hotel in the design of a traditional Spanish house with a beautiful view from the roof. We walked through the Merced, the yellow church pictured in an earlier entry, with a lot of the most celebrated imágenes used in the Semana Santa (Holy Week) processions. I learned a new thing about St. Anthony of Padua: he is not only the patron saint of lost things, but also of single women. It is a tradition for girls at age 13 and over to gather 13 coins from their friends and light a candle in front of St. Anthony's image as an offering so that they might find a man. One of the students from our group, Taylor, then responded, “So this is where I come to find single girls!”

Our tour guide took us into a nice restaurant, where there is a room (almost like a cave) with a table for two and lots of candles, ¡que romántico! It is used for engagements – we mused that if a guy wanted to play a good joke oh his girlfriend, he could take her there and not propose. I can imagine several of you guys doing this as a practical joke on a girl with a good sense of humor (you could always propose at the very end). Our final stop was El Convento de las Capuchinas, a neat, beautiful old convent. There was an “eighteenth century recording studio” (as one of my compañeras put it) in the basement – the resonance was awesome.

That’s all for now. I started my internship with CIRMA today – reading social science books in French (yes, you read that right) and writing catalog entries in Spanish. My first book is on the Yaqui du Mexique. I’ll keep you updated on how this goes. Tomorrow we’re set to climb an active volcano – I’ll eat a s’more for you all.

“Las grandes decisiones te siguen a donde vayas”

As the plane landed in La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City last Friday, I was incredibly excited to be somewhere new and have the opportunity to stretch my legs (metaphorically and physically). It became immediately apparent as I saw the city from the air and from the streets that this is a different world. By Fairfax County (or Williamsburg) standards, everything seems dirty – and it was a shock to see men with very large guns on the street (and by this I do not mean they have enormous muscles). They stand at the entrance to many shops and restaurants – one must remember that it is good that security measures are taken so that we might be safe. All the same, I was enchanted by everything so new, and beautiful in its own way.

Five of the seven students studying in our group met up at the airport and we bonded on the drive to Antigua. We were all pretty beat down from lack of sleep but it was a fun drive all the same. Antigua is gorgeous, with cobblestone streets, adobe buildings painted in bright blues, reds, yellows, and whites, among the ruins of the old colonial city and a few dozen churches. The city is nestled between three volcanoes – Agua (Water) or Hunapú (the Maya maize god), Fuego (Fire), and Acatenango (I’ll get back to you on this one). The latter two are active, and I hear you can often see smoke coming from Fuego.

Another student (Tamara) and I are staying with the Rodríguez family, who live in the southern part of the city, the whole of which is only about a square kilometer. Our host family is wonderful and nuestra (our) mamá is an amazing cook – we have had everything from sopa de asparragos (asparagus soup) to Chinese noodle dishes to frijoles (beans) and guacamole on tacos (fried tortillas) to plátanos fritos (fried plantains) as well as fresh fruit with just about every meal. The house is very small, with an open courtyard (el jardín) inside – you can feel the fresh, cool air throughout the house. It’s the dry season and we’re in the middle of the coldest months here, meaning it has only been in the 70s. Horrible, I know.

Saturday morning, Tamara and I wandered around the city. I am very glad she has a good sense of

direction to counterbalance my dismal ability. We visited various sites – I think my favorite was the mercado (market), especially crowded and bustling since it was Saturday. You can buy just about anything there – fresh fruit, raw meat, clothing, toys, towels, school supplies, power drills, you name it. Many of you will be proud to hear that I bargained down the price of a bath towel. Over the past few days I have visited some of the bigger churches – they are very different from the American/European variety, and I look forward to devoting more time to discussing them in a further entry.

Saturday night our whole study abroad group met up for the first time. We are quite a bunch! The director of CIRMA (the Center for Mesoamerican Research), Ricardo, and the program director, Javier, are a blast. Ricardo treated us to pizza and beer and then Javier showed us the good bars in Antigua. I think it’s going to be a good semester.

That’s all for now. I’ll try and update you this weekend again with stories of our upcoming adventure to Guatemala City, and then tell you about classes, my internships, churches, and all the other fun things we do. I know you will, but please don’t worry too much about me. Ricardo, Javier, and our host families make sure that we are all very safe. I miss you and am keeping everyone at home in my prayers. ¡Hasta luego!