The Back Woods of Toledo

Here's this guy's story. He ate a family's goat a few weeks ago. Apparently he was sleeping within a few dozen meters of where the family lives, and they found his bed area in the grass. They figured he'd come back -- he did the next night and got himself shot.


Brothers and sisters on their way to school. I gave them some boiled breadnuts, which they seemed to love!



Gregorio Ico and family. Gregorio is the head of an agricultural coop of about 50 families. One cash crop he grows is ginger, but it's hard for him to find a market for it. His history is full of potential buyers requesting that he grow a certain crop and then vanishing. Today, a dog biscuit maker who has purchased his ginger before gave him a box of the treats.

Even though we dropped in unannounced, the family insisted on feeding us lunch -- beans, rice, egg and Kool-Aid.

Though Gregorio and family are off the grid, as of the last year or two they use a solar panel to power some necessities. Gregorio has lived in the same place since he was born. Though the noise of the TV and stereo sometimes bother him, he does appreciate them every now and then.

Meeting with SHI, Part II

Thursday we awoke early and headed back as a group to San Pedro Sula. Note that this is the third day in a row where I woke up before six and hurried off somewhere. There, we continued our meeting at SHI's San Pedro office in the morning, and it was decided to keep the afternoon free. I dined with Marvin and Rodrigo (country directors from Nicaragua and Panama) and then sat down to 4 or 5 hours of programming the reporting system to reflect the new changes. Implementing them will take a lot more than that, but I wanted to get started to make sure my ideas were practical.

Friday's meeting didn't concern me, so I spent the day walking around the city. There's not very much touristy stuff to do. I went to the Guamilito market and a few souvenir places, and ate a fantastic crab soup ($2.50) near the central park. I wanted to go the Museo de las Naturaleza, which is supposed to be closed from 12-1. I got there at 1:30 and it looked really dead and depressing, so I opted not to go inside.

SPS looks more like an American city than most places do. Tony Roma's, Dunkin Donuts (and a ripoff named DK'D), etc. Many businesses are in strip malls on the road that circles the interior part of town.

After dinner, Justin, Nana (Belize) and I had a few beers, so we were walking back to the hotel later than I would have dared to alone -- it must have been after 8. We had no choice but to pass through a flock of evening workers (ladies in short skirts), and Justin told me to guard my wallet. "Buenas noches!" the groups said to one another.

I decided to go to Belize with Nana on Saturday. That involved waking up before 5 am, racing to get to La Terminal and leave at 6, headed for Puerto Barrios, Guatemala. I think I had to show my passport to (no exaggeration) 7 or 8 different authorities in crossing from Honduras to Guatemala. Sad, since I was only going to be in Guate for less than 2 hours, and also since both countries are part of the CA-4, which allegedly have looser border crossing restrictions amongst member nations.

The boat ride from Puerto Barrios to Punta Gorda was bouncy, wet and salty. I figured it was half transportation, half amusement park ride. When we weren't screaming, I talked with an American doctor who works for the Cornerstone Foundation.

Here's SHI's office in PG, where I'm staying:

Meeting with Sustainable Harvest

I've been developing a data system for an NGO called Sustainable Harvest for a few years now. As there was a meeting of country directors in Honduras this past week, and data was going to be one of the topics, I was invited to attend. La Habana de Yoro is a few hundred miles from Santiago Atitlán, or 48 hours of rigorous travel. Monday the 20th I rode with friends to Chimaltenango from which I took the chicken bus to Antigua. Antigua is pretty touristy, but fun to walk around. I went inside the market to where the comedores (eateries) are. No tourists at all there. Ate a nice guisado de res. Since I needed to get up early the next morning I decided to go to sleep early. There was ridiculously loud music and drunken screaming until after 1 am, so you can imagine I was not the happiest person in the world.

The bus was waiting for me outside the hotel room at 6 (I was the only passenger from Antigua to Guatemala City). I had to wake someone up to let me out, and the uneventful ride began. What was supposed to be 45 minutes took 2 hours -- the traffic in the capital is that bad. Changed buses and arrived in San Pedro Sula at 5:30 pm. I had hoped to do some planning on my numeracy project, but I mostly slept and looked out the window. There I was met by Lily of the local SHI office, who helped me find a place and get oriented for the last piece of the journey.

At 5:15 am Wednesday I left the hotel (had to wake up the night clerk) and took a cab to La Terminal. I didn't follow Lily's instructions, but rather asked people that seemed to be directing travelers. I boarded a big former schoolbus, and sat for a few minutes before the heat and humidity forced me to wait outside. The bus went north for a while, which I didn't like since Yoro is south. Then we started heading south along a highway but stopping every few hundred meters to let people off or on. I thought I'd made a horrible decision -- that it was going to be like this the whole time -- but after a half hour or so of that, we started moving along pretty well, and gaining elevation, so it was not at all unpleasant. I called Lily and she was sure I was en route to the wrong part of Honduras. She wanted to talk to the bus conductor, who was about 11. He assured her we were indeed going to La Habana de Yoro.

I had been instructed to get off at the sign for La Habana. The bus stopped there at my request, but it looked like the middle of nowhere and there was nobody waiting to meet me. "Do you want to get off at the regular stop for La Habana, a few hundred meters ahead?" the driver asked. Then we saw an American-looking guy come out of a house right by the sign, and I knew I was in the right place. That was Justin, the Program Director. A mere 3 hours of travel was nothing!



We discussed issues all morning (being interrupted several times by LOUD hammering), breaking for lunch at noon (fried tilapia, locally grown) and then heading off to visit a biodiesel factory in the late afternoon, and going to the district capital Yoro for dinner. We slept dorm-style at the office: 5 of us in a room. That would have been okay except that my pillow was about nine feet high, and I had trouble getting comfortable.

The Nose

We took the boat from Santiago to San Pedro, walked to San Juan, took a pickup to San Pablo, then to Santa Clara, which is considerably higher than the lake. At a certain elevation we felt the temperature go from about 75 to about 65. Not many tourists in Santa Clara. This sight made me think of Diego Rivera...



We didn't have to try too hard to find out how to get to the Nose, so called because the ridgeline looks like the outline of a face. The Nose is its highest point, and is a traditional worship place for the Kiché. It was a good hike -- sweat was streaming from me as we approached the top, some 3000 - 4000 feet above the lake.

Chacayá Part 2

You can't walk through Chacayá with Greg without someone from every house yelling "GREGORIO" as we pass by. His group has done a lot for the village. Wednesday we went back to tie up some loose ends on many projects, two of which you see below: we met with the middle school faculty to receive their wish list for the coming year, and observed as workers (some volunteer, some paid by the Canadians' group) filled in holes on the basketball court. If there's enough money left over, they're going to build a wall so the ball doesn't go into the coffee field.



Rosa Viviana is the principal of the middle school -- the only woman in the first photo above. I'm planning on going back to the school after I get back from Honduras and Belize. I have the beginnings of an idea of a project I want to do.

I've been doing some math tutoring. My students are university-level hospital workers taking Algebra I or II. Both have difficulties with basic numeric concepts -- 18 divided by 3 does not come easily, for example. My project will be aimed at elementary students to improve numeracy. I have a 9 hour bus ride Tuesday; that should be plenty of time to think!

Chacayá

I love the kids here. What keeps happening is, I'm talking to someone and there's a little kid behind them looking at me. I smile and the kid and he or she erupts in a huge smile. Or I'm walking down the street and there's a young person passing the other way. We make eye contact and the same thing happens -- explosive smiling.



Monday the 13th I went with some Canadians to a town called Chacayá. It's at the southern tip of the lake, far from the tourist path. The Canadians come down for a few months each year to work on various projects. Improving the schools, installing better woodstoves, introducing new crops, among other things. We went to three schools where we met with the directors. At the first, a primary school, the director Diego showed us a computer class. They were using a type of Compaq that I was throwing away in 2001. They have 4, but only 2 work, so I told them I'd be happy to see if I could make one out of the two dysfunctional ones. He's going to drop them off Friday.



Chacayá is extremely steep. There's no running water now -- the motor died apparently. Girls walk 1-2 km to the lake with traditional-looking plastic jugs several times daily. Diego showed us the UV filter that has been installed for water when it flows again. It's nice and modern just a few feet from toilets that haven't flushed in over a year, yet still get used. Yes, they smell.



The girls basketball team won a game in the recent olympics at Santiago. They were pretty happy! Next to the court is a drop-off into the cornfields where the ball goes often. It's a real chore to retrieve it. One of the projects the Canadians are doing is building a wall around the court so the ball won't go downhill as often.

At the school farther downhill we spoke with director Pascual. This school was in a different spot last year. The "building" was a dirt floor with cornstalk walls and plastic sheets separating the "rooms". Over 100 kids in about 1000 sq. ft. The noise was awful, I'm told. Now the building is new and pretty nice. The school is in the process of becoming official -- it was more of a private school last year (I forget the phrase...). Pascual is traveling to Sololá today to file some paperwork -- there are thousnds of steps involved in making the school official. Most of the teachers will get paid pretty soon, and have contracts!



Later in the afternoon we went back to the first school and met with the director of the middle school. Chacayá just opened it last year, and next year will be adding ninth grade. These teachers haven't been paid at all. The director, Rosa Viviana, lives in Santiago and spends 7Q daily traveling back and forth. She's probably about 21 years old, and is not shy about asking for things she needs for the school, such as books, musical instruments and cement to finish off an office. Greg (one of the Canadians) and I are meeting her again Wednesday. She's interested in exploiting my technical and educational experience, and I'm looking forward to helping out, but it's going to be hard. In Santiago the schools have computer labs, but they won't share with the hicks from Chacayá. They do let them use typewriters, however.

Here's another family we met on the way back -- Elisa, little kid(?), Rebeca, María, boy(?), David.

Good Friday

Good Friday is crazy in Atitlán. The streets get covered with alfombras which are made from sawdust, colored sand, coffee beans, pine needles, flowers, etc. From 3 pm until 6 am there's a procession. There's loud music until 2 am, which picks up again at 6am. The drunks are pretty drunk. Much of the town, being evangelical, doesn't drink.

Geneen worked last night. Lots of injuries. Drunks with head wounds, a machete laceration, some new births,... Below is a picture of the Hospitalito:

The Interview

Yesterday afternoon Geneen and I are walking along the path from our residence to the hospital. Three teenage boys are ahead all but blocking the path, excited about something. Geneen squeezes by -- “Con permiso”. To me, they push a cell phone in my face. It’s a video interview. “We’re talking with a tourist here. What do you llike about the area?” “The nature, the people, the weather -- everything,” I reply. This quickly moves to soccer somehow. How do I feel about Liverpool losing to Chelsea? Who do I like in the Spanish League? I’m in my element now so I ramble on for a while...

Tsununa

We left the house today at 7 and got a private lancha to Tsununá, which is an unknown place on the lake. Almost no tourists. Pretty desolate -- gang writing on vacant buildings. Women and girls working everywhere, boys walking around idle and hostile-looking. But say “Buenos dias” to anyone and they respond, usually in a very friendly manner.




We had a couple hours before Dita arrived. There wasn’t that much to see, but it was relaxing to sit and do nothing. Dita has built a kitchen for the school in San Marcos, and helps get vegetables for the kids, and coordinate the local women in preparing a nutritious lunch for them. Apparently the government gives them a sugary drink called Atol. Now she, with the help of the local women and kids, has added a kitchen to the school at Tsununá. They've also cleared a garbage dump right next to it and worked compost into the soil to make a garden.



The kitchen was painted by the children. Today was the first day it was used -- we had beans, tortillas and carne asada. The handmade tortillas were the best I've ever tried, and I eat a LOT of tortillas!



This used to be a garbage dump. Soon it will be a vegetable garden:


And here's the gang dining in the same spot:

Day 3

This day was characterized by the amount of time everything took to do. We had previously volunteered to cook for the group, about 8 people, so we had a few missions today: get to the bank to replenish the money we’d raced through; get a chip for my cell phone, and some minutes; go to the market to get enough food so we could cook for 8. We ran into Lisa and Brook this morning, who were going to take the lancha to Panajachel, and didn’t mind when I asked if we could tag along. Pana is more touristy, and maybe a little bigger on the other side of the lake.



We waited in the lancha 30 minutes before it left and it was a 30 minutes ride across. We went straight to a bank, where it took 45 minutes to cash a travelers’ check. We didn’t accomplish much, but did shop at the market and find out that the phone we brought from the US will hav e to be liberado in order to function here, for about $10. Then I’ll need a chip and minutes.

That will come in handy, as I’ve found out that Sustainable Harvest has a representative here in Santiago who is starting a program. I always wondered why they don’t have a presence in Guatemala -- probably because the war hasn’t been over for long.

Speaking of the war, Geneen and I were talking to the gardener this morning while we looked at a squirrel. I jokingly asked if he had a shotgun so we could get us some lunch. He became serious and talkled about why shotguns aren’t allowed here. During the war, this was a very violent place -- you go out in the morning and see bodies in the street. Finally the locals ran the military out of town, and now, if anyone hears a gunshot, they become very concerned. I guess they don’t want to go back to the way things were.

Day 2

Our first full day! Kathy Roach is a nurse volunteer here that Geneen has had some contact with before we came, and she’s been a fantastic resource for anything we might need. We went into the town of Santiago (the Hospitalito and our communtiy are just outside the town) with her and her friend Jean, who’s here visiting from Venezuela. As it’s Holy Week, there are all sorts of celebrations and more tourists than usual. It’s an intersting walk of less than a kilometer along a footpath near the shore of the lake. Upon getting into the town, we saw many armed guards, and upon inquiring learned that the president of the republic was in town. There was music, and people doing a dear dance, and a man on a microsphone speaking alternately in Tsutujil and Spanish, and there, maybe 50 feet in front of us, was Presidente Colom.

April 6 -- Day One in Guate

After two days of travel, we got our first glimpse of Lake Atitlan. On the way, we saw a crowd of people looing into a deep canyon where a car had gone over the cliff a few hours before. The firemen were still on their way down -- several hundred meters.







This is Cabana #1, which we are not renting. We're in Cabana #2, which is very similar. It's at a place called Las Milpas, which is owned by the Pabst family. They never come here. The best thing is that you don't hear any motors at night. Just domestic animal sounds, things falling on the roof, and the occasional crinkling of the plastic under the sheets.







Right after we arrived there was a party at the Spanish people's house. Also called Casa de Piedra. We're thinking maybe we'll rent it when they leave in a week. It has wi-fi, whereas Las Milpas doesn't. Great food, Espanoles!