I woke up on Saturday morning to no power...oh well, these things happen. It seems this was due to the construction they are doing on the highway.
As I am sitting in Ricca Burger (yes, Ricca Burger) waiting for my usual order of eggs, refried beans and cheese, I begin to contemplate the busy day ahead.
Inside I am whimpering like a child because of the flea bites on my arms and waist. I am hoping the situation was resolved with some deadly spray. I really hope tonight they are not waiting for me. I want to sleep alone!
First thing this morning, it’s off to a hill right on the edge of town to go pick up trash from the street. It seems that the community there has been pushing the municipality for TRASH CANS, but to no avail......
From there, there is only one thing to do- FUTBOL. The Gold Cup match between Guatemala and Canada (Ends up the power still didn't come back in most parts of the city and so, another unforgettable fútbol experience, running around town trying to find somewhere to watch the match. Mind you, we were very close to watching it on the sidewalk)
After that (a terrible, depressing match in which Guatemala lost), a little bit of everything- go to the fruit and vegetable market, paint, and prepare for a benefit party tonight. This will involve me being bartender for part of the night :) Yet again, something new for me......I don't ever know what I may be doing the next day or week and surely I am clueless as to what may come next month. There is no everyday here!
lunes, 18 de junio de 2007
lunes, 11 de junio de 2007
La Florida
This weekend it was definitely time to get out of the city. I decided to venture out with a group of people to a farm a few hours away called La Florida.
Living in Xela you can sometimes forget where you are. It's a pretty large city with all the major amenities. It's no New York, but you can definitely live very comfortably here. Also, there is a rather large population of foreigners that come to Xela to volunteer and study Spanish. You can end up speaking more English than you would want to at times.
I've visited a few small communities already with work and it’s been unbelievable. People living in the communities are so extremely warm and receiving and to be able to bond with the families and children is invaluable.
The farm we visited has quite an interesting history. In 2002, a group of landless campesinos (farmers) made up of 50 families left their homes and occupied the abandoned farm of La Florida. During the more than two years of occupation the members lived in makeshift homes of bamboo and plastic. Finally, in 2005, after years of negotiations, the community received a loan from the government to buy the land and they became the proud owners of their own land for the very first time.
The farm is a cooperative in which the land is owned and farmed collectively and in addition, each family gets their own parcel of land. The spirit of community and gender equality is abounding.
I was very excited to be able to get to know this exemplary community, but I'll be honest, I was a bit SCARED. I was not only going to partake in the community activities, but also in their rustic way of life. After being in New York for eight years I became tough in many ways, but such a wimp in others. From the beginning of the trip, I decided to designate myself as the role model of "what NOT to do."
We arrived at La Florida on Saturday around mid-day. It was a group of six of us. We received such a warm welcome from Rosaura, one of the leaders of the community. Our original plan was to do some sort of volunteer work at the farm, but when we arrived it ended up that there was nothing to do. These things happen. We basically would just hang out, walk around and take some tours of this massive farm.
Our tour up the river was the first test of my bravery. Not much to brag about in this department. I was a wimp and all I could think of was when this tour through the jungle would be over. After a good 45 minutes, it got better and I could appreciate this incredible tour of nature, birds, trees, plants that I had never seen before.
When we got back to the village itself, we had a whole lot of time to kill before dinner. Hmmm, I could either stay at the guest house and observe all the insects, spiders and other creatures that I might be sleeping with that night or I could go out and talk with people from the community. I opted for the latter. Before I knew it we were playing fútbol – the ultimate bonding experience- with a group of young boys from the community. We must have played for at least 2 hours or so and since I had already injured myself within the first 15 minutes of playing, I decided to retreat. I felt absolutely dehydrated and let myself have some water, although not too much. After seeing a huge black, unidentifiable animal in the bathroom, I planned on drinking as little fluids as possible so that I wouldn’t have to use the bathroom.
For dinner, each of us from the group was to eat with a different family not only for dinner that night, but also for breakfast and lunch the next day. I was excited about eating with Carlos' family, we had bonded earlier in the day playing fútbol. I got to meet his mother, Leonarda and his three brothers and one sister. Dinner was more than sufficient, tamales, but really the best part was the company.
It was already pitch dark outside and it was time to head back to the house where I would be sleeping that night. All I can say is that I was so tired from the trip, the game, and the tour that I couldn't care less what was going to bite or attack me that night. I needed a full night's rest for the following day in which we were going to take a full tour of the farm. I put on my long sweats, socks, jacket, hood and hid under the covers.....
7 am the next day it was rise and shine. I headed over to my family’s house for breakfast. I was in awe when I saw Carlos, 12, and his two older brothers already dressed and ready to go somewhere. They were headed to the corn fields to collect husk which they use for the tamales.
Around 8:30am we began our tour. It was unbelievable to say the least and I can't even begin to tell you how enormous the farm is. We saw coffee plants, banana trees (at least three different kinds), beans, infinite fields of corn, avocadoes, cacao and much more. And to think that this small community worked all of these fields…
I had only one last chance to eat with Carlos and his family. Around noon, he and his brothers were just getting back from the fields, looking pretty tired and famished. We ate the best meal ever I have to say- rice and beans- and took tons of pictures. They love pictures! I have to keep my promise about bringing them the pictures. I could send them with someone, but for some reason I wouldn’t feel right about that. I’ll make another journey out there soon. Maybe next time I’ll be more valiant.
A final note about the trip: It seems that I wasn’t the only one lacking in a certain department. When we were leaving the farm, one of the guys from the group, very tall and thickset, revealed that the night before he was scared to even close his eyes and go to sleep because he didn’t know what creatures might attack that night…..
Living in Xela you can sometimes forget where you are. It's a pretty large city with all the major amenities. It's no New York, but you can definitely live very comfortably here. Also, there is a rather large population of foreigners that come to Xela to volunteer and study Spanish. You can end up speaking more English than you would want to at times.
I've visited a few small communities already with work and it’s been unbelievable. People living in the communities are so extremely warm and receiving and to be able to bond with the families and children is invaluable.
The farm we visited has quite an interesting history. In 2002, a group of landless campesinos (farmers) made up of 50 families left their homes and occupied the abandoned farm of La Florida. During the more than two years of occupation the members lived in makeshift homes of bamboo and plastic. Finally, in 2005, after years of negotiations, the community received a loan from the government to buy the land and they became the proud owners of their own land for the very first time.
The farm is a cooperative in which the land is owned and farmed collectively and in addition, each family gets their own parcel of land. The spirit of community and gender equality is abounding.
I was very excited to be able to get to know this exemplary community, but I'll be honest, I was a bit SCARED. I was not only going to partake in the community activities, but also in their rustic way of life. After being in New York for eight years I became tough in many ways, but such a wimp in others. From the beginning of the trip, I decided to designate myself as the role model of "what NOT to do."
We arrived at La Florida on Saturday around mid-day. It was a group of six of us. We received such a warm welcome from Rosaura, one of the leaders of the community. Our original plan was to do some sort of volunteer work at the farm, but when we arrived it ended up that there was nothing to do. These things happen. We basically would just hang out, walk around and take some tours of this massive farm.
Our tour up the river was the first test of my bravery. Not much to brag about in this department. I was a wimp and all I could think of was when this tour through the jungle would be over. After a good 45 minutes, it got better and I could appreciate this incredible tour of nature, birds, trees, plants that I had never seen before.
When we got back to the village itself, we had a whole lot of time to kill before dinner. Hmmm, I could either stay at the guest house and observe all the insects, spiders and other creatures that I might be sleeping with that night or I could go out and talk with people from the community. I opted for the latter. Before I knew it we were playing fútbol – the ultimate bonding experience- with a group of young boys from the community. We must have played for at least 2 hours or so and since I had already injured myself within the first 15 minutes of playing, I decided to retreat. I felt absolutely dehydrated and let myself have some water, although not too much. After seeing a huge black, unidentifiable animal in the bathroom, I planned on drinking as little fluids as possible so that I wouldn’t have to use the bathroom.
For dinner, each of us from the group was to eat with a different family not only for dinner that night, but also for breakfast and lunch the next day. I was excited about eating with Carlos' family, we had bonded earlier in the day playing fútbol. I got to meet his mother, Leonarda and his three brothers and one sister. Dinner was more than sufficient, tamales, but really the best part was the company.
It was already pitch dark outside and it was time to head back to the house where I would be sleeping that night. All I can say is that I was so tired from the trip, the game, and the tour that I couldn't care less what was going to bite or attack me that night. I needed a full night's rest for the following day in which we were going to take a full tour of the farm. I put on my long sweats, socks, jacket, hood and hid under the covers.....
7 am the next day it was rise and shine. I headed over to my family’s house for breakfast. I was in awe when I saw Carlos, 12, and his two older brothers already dressed and ready to go somewhere. They were headed to the corn fields to collect husk which they use for the tamales.
Around 8:30am we began our tour. It was unbelievable to say the least and I can't even begin to tell you how enormous the farm is. We saw coffee plants, banana trees (at least three different kinds), beans, infinite fields of corn, avocadoes, cacao and much more. And to think that this small community worked all of these fields…
I had only one last chance to eat with Carlos and his family. Around noon, he and his brothers were just getting back from the fields, looking pretty tired and famished. We ate the best meal ever I have to say- rice and beans- and took tons of pictures. They love pictures! I have to keep my promise about bringing them the pictures. I could send them with someone, but for some reason I wouldn’t feel right about that. I’ll make another journey out there soon. Maybe next time I’ll be more valiant.
A final note about the trip: It seems that I wasn’t the only one lacking in a certain department. When we were leaving the farm, one of the guys from the group, very tall and thickset, revealed that the night before he was scared to even close his eyes and go to sleep because he didn’t know what creatures might attack that night…..
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