Thanks! and the Fair

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who chipped in and got something for Charlie to bring down for me. I appreciated everything from the cards, jerky, and clothing, to the thermometers, books, electrical supplies, and especially the pumpkin pie (although it did get smashed quite a bit and thrown across the bus when it slammed on the brakes, it still tasted great!). I had such a fun time with Charlie. Just seeing and hearing him made it so that it was like I could hear and see all of you all back home.

If you want to hear details or see any of the pictures, you’ll have to get on Charlie’s case since he has all the pictures. There are some priceless ones, like of the one with us getting a little close to the lava roasting German wieners.

I posted a few pictures below of the fair that occurred in San Carlos and some shots I took of the sky.

This was a float in the parade through the city.
Here is another float with little knomes. The costumes just make me smile.
Another picture of the parade. I think I especially enjoy the clown costume in the background.Here another volunteer and I are getting ready for the rodeo which would be held. I had to make sure I sported my Wrangle shirt and leather hat.


Here is one of the games at the fair - fooseball tables.
The ferris wheel which I just did not have enough confidence to go on.
Some more games. In this one, you have to roll up marbles to accumulate a certain number a points to get a prize.
Picture of the full moon before the eclipse
Nearly completely eclipsed moon
Morning sky the day Charlie would arrive.

(HT) (4) Palm Sunday

Holidays here are filled with rich traditions that have been done for hundreds of years. Holy Week and Easter are certainly included.

I went to mass on Palm Sunday, Domingo de Ramos as it is called here, not expecting something much too different than what we do back at home. I walked my hour-and-a-half and arrived at Church to find the place was completely empty. Now I have gotten used to not expecting things to start on time while down here but this just did not make sense since it was a little past 8:00am and this was the 8:00am mass. I asked around what was going on. They said that everyone was meeting at a place a bit away to have a procession which would lead to where mass would be. Since the walk to the town where the Church is all up-hill or better said as all up-mountain, I can’t say I was immediately excited to hear the news since I did not know where the place was exactly and that it was located even farther up the mountain. After looking around and following people’s directions, I found a group going to the meeting point. There were probably 100 people waiting in the shade on the cement street. I sat down to rest and listened to a few church leaders talk about the meaning of Palm Sunday and basically animating the crowd. The crowd grew bigger and bigger and by the time the priest arrived to begin everything, there were probably at least a thousand people. We all got in 2 lines on either side of the street and stretched ourselves out to a ¼ mile long. Helpers came to each person giving the thousands of palms which were already each made into designs similar to what you might see where we live. The priest then came around down the street blessing the palms and the people and carried one of those huge smiles only priests get when they get to drench their congregation. A gospel reading was said and the procession was begun with 3 people carrying crosses decorated with palms leading the 2 lines of people. The people on both sides were waving their palms and singing while processing forward. In the center and much further back was the priest with the rest of the people helping with the mass; and behind him were crowds of people following, which kept growing by capturing people as the procession moved along. As I passed the adobe houses and walked onto dirt paths and felt the wind and the warm sun, I began to think I had been brought to the times of Jesus. It just seemed too close to how I had pictured Palm Sunday in my head. The only thing really missing was the donkey with Jesus.

Every once in a while, I looked back to see the crowd keep going as we moved along – it was almost overwhelming to see the long line of people well behind me, probably now about ½ mile or more away.

So from the starting point, we went toward the river which we walked around carefully avoiding the rocks which the rainy season floods bring. From the river, the mass location became apparent. There was a huge cypress forest ahead with the trunks of the trees decorated with flowers and palms. There were even venders which had come to serve the needs of the people after a long procession. In the center of the forest the land rose steeply to form almost a high ledge. The face of the ledge was filled with cut flowers and on top was the altar. I went up on the ledge to watch as the forest filled with colorful clothing, glowing faces, and palms. At this point and many more, I wish I had brought my camera so that I might be able to explain just how amazing and unique this was.

Once everything was settled in, mass began with all of us sitting or standing or kneeling not on chairs or kneelers but on the ground or rocks or against tree trunks. Seeing people listening to the homily and the readings while sitting on the ground on the beautifully sunny day under the shade of the forest made me think even more that I was in not in the year 2008. It were as though I were listening to Jesus while doing his sermon on the mount.

The mass finished at noon and everyone filed back toward their home all going in different directions.

Traditions such as these are hard to forget. While not high-tech or filled with glitzy attention-grabbers, the simple symbolic actions done with an animated crowd in settings of natural beauty inspire me. For Good Friday, there will be processions all over Guatemala, some famous throughout the world. In my parish, most of what will be done for the rest of Holy Week will be a surprise as it was for Palm Sunday. I do know, though, that for the stations of cross on Good Friday, stations will be placed at various locations spread out throughout the town and the congregation will then process to these stations.

I’ll try to remember to bring the camera this time to take a shot so that you guys might be able to see what I am talking about.

Have a blessed Easter everyone!

(HT) (3) How do They do that? - FOOD

So I kind of wanted to start a series of writings that I might write every other post on the How do’s and dont’s of the people down here. Let me know if it interesting and useful so that I know to keep it up. Furthermore, let me know if you are wondering how they do a specific something down here.
Food. Everybody needs it and there’s a lot of different types and ways to get it; you can probably figure that out just by walking through the mall food court. But what kind of food do people eat down here? Is it like having a nationwide Taco Bell or Trini’s Restaurant or Little Mexico where the specials include bean burritos, quesadillas, or tacos?


Well, I can certainly say NO!

I would say the food eaten depends on where you are and how much money you have.
In the very urban areas, there are fancy restaurants and some not so nice restaurants; there are mom and pop shops and there are fast food chains like Burger King and McDonalds; and there are even malls and stores like Wal-Mart with many selections of food. People who have money can certainly utilize any of these options to get food.
These people along with more normal class people living in urban areas also go to the market to get what they want to eat. When you think of a market, think of having all the variety of food, used and new clothing, household gadgets, hygiene products, and other daily living accessories of a supermarket like Meijers, but put all that in a setting outside under tents or in an open-air building in the heart of the bustling town. Everything is exposed to the outside and the creatures that live in the environment from the meat to the veggies to the fruit. Pictures tables with tarps overhead for protection from the rain or sun and aisle crammed with people trying to squeeze by those buying or just gawking at possible purchases. Listed prices do not exist which contributes to a constant exchange or offers between the buyer and the seller until the right price is met or the buyer leaves. The environment is not neat like a Meijers either. Food scraps and trash litter the aisles and dogs wander about looking for their fill. There is no shopping music to play overhead. Radios can be blaring and almost certainly someone is yelling about the newest latest and greatest medicine or the truck load of juicy muskmelon that just came in from the fields of the avocados that are the 4 for 5 quetzales (the local currency down here). The market is messy, confusing, and unorganized for the first-time shopper and can be even for the experienced shopper. And as many times as I have gotten lost, paid too much for something, and not found where the thing that I wanted was, I sure do enjoy the market and the unique exchange it represents. It certainly serves its purpose of getting the people their necessities.
OK so if you don’t live in an urban area like most Guatemalans, what do you do?
Well certainly you can still travel to a market. I would guess that people generally live at most 1-2 hours away from a market which comes once a week (some market move and some are permanent). This would be an easy solution, but many people cannot buy everything they need – so they grow it.
As I mentioned earlier the main staples that are grown are corn and black beans. The beans are generally cooked in a pot with garlic, onions, and salt sometimes and served almost like a hearty soup. The bean can also be liquefied to form a paste to eat as well. The kernels of the corn are almost always dried and hardened while on the stalk. They kernels are then cooked, ground up with calcium to make a dough, and made into tortillas. These tortillas here are hand-made, thick, CD -size disks which don’t compare to the skimpy, packaged tortillas made of wheat which we can buy in the stores. Sometimes, but not very often, corn is harvested before it dries and the corn is roast on a fire and eat off the cob. The corn is not sweet like our sweet corn. To me, it really does not have much flavor and is quite chewy.
Other things that these rural families might have depend on where they live and their corresponding climate. Coffee, bananas, oranges, papayas, mangos, limes, and plantains all can be grown (but not necessarily all of them in the same region). Garden fruits, vegetables and herbs like radishes, basil, oregano, potatoes, peppers, squashes, onions, cabbage, broccoli, are also possible things which can be grown.
Unfortunately may poorer families many only live on corn and coffee or corn, coffee, and beans without eating much or any fruits or vegetables. This can sometimes be because they do not how to grow something other than corn or beans or that they are not used to doing so, because they can not afford to do so using their current knowledge, because the land is poor in nutrients and steep, or because they occupy all their land for the corn and beans.
So this is where I attempt to help a bit. I help them start planting more of a variety of fruits and vegetables allocating land for these things ahead of time. I help them learn how to improve their soils cheaply utilizing techniques they once used in the past like composting and making terraces for steep terrains. I teach them the importance of nutrition giving them tips such as not to drink coffee with beans at all your meals and not to give coffee to kids since coffee reduces the absorption of nutrients like iron (beans are a big source of iron).
Well, that’s all I got right now. Let me know if you want any more explanations on the world of food here and I will be happy to try to answer them.