One week along...

DATE NOTE: SO this note was made when we had actually been here for a week but the internet signal kept crashing every time I tried to upload the pictures and publish the page, so sorry for the delay. Otherwise, enjoy.


So we have officially completed one week being in the communities of Santa Clara La Laguna and Santa María Visitación. It's been a real up and down week, but hopefully things are off to a good start for everone. We got the students into their host families and they have been getting out and making contacts with various organizations in the communities. I had no idea that the two towns would actually hate each other so much, but apparently the rivalry is so strong that 2 years ago they lynched 2 Santa Maria teachers for going over to Santa Clara to teach, and now they won't let the little taxi drivers cross community boundaries. Santa Maria started it's own very small market and a lot of people refuse to cross the community line even to buy their biweekly food.




This is one of the coolest Maya papas I've ever met, and our key contact in Santa Clara as he gets ready to head to his milpa fields for work.


I spent the last few days trekking around to the houses of all the evangelical ministers and the catholic priest to let them know about our arrival in the communities. I also met with the mayors of both towns and we had formal audiences with them where the students presented themselves as well. I ran around to get things set up so that we would have a place to hold our weekly classes too but it might not work out because the students failed to come back when the directora was there and she was had conditioned giving us the building on meeting the students so that she would know who would be coming and going...I wasn't very happy with that but the students will have to learn to be responsible one way or another...







The rainy season has officially started and is in full swing. I made a quick trip up to Ixtahuacan for a fiesta and decided to visit Xela while I was nearby and we got caught in the middle of a monster rainstorm...thoroughly soaked we finally made it to a bus and headed back down to the communities. But, as the road is far from being completed and workers limiting the lanes down to one way moving at a time, I get really nervous about traveling and there have been 2 deadly bus crashes in the last week up near Nahuala.







I got to hike up with one of the host dads to a beautiful overlook over the lake. With all the twists and turns of the road I didn't realize that we were so close to the supposed "waters of Mormon." Once we started hiking up there it was back to the aldea mentality that I had been in the middle of up in Tambrizap and huge bursts of laughter and shock everytime I said hi to someone in Kiche. While it is still a novelty, I have really appreciated that most of the people in the town center actually start conversations with me when I talk to them in Kiche rather than breaking into uncontrollable fits of laughter that keeps us from moving beyond "what's your name?"







My host family is fantastic too and my host mother sits and talks to me in Kiche most every meal. I brought some bubbles for the kids to play with and they went crazy chasing them around. See picture.







Yesterday morning a lady on our corner passed away and the whole city was kept awake by the evangelical music pouring out of their house all night as they kept a candelight vigil for her. My mom said that rumors were flying about how she had been poisoned or had a spell cast on her. She was only 32 and never married, no children. People had apparently gotten jealous of how successful she was becoming in school and gone to a witch to cast a spell on her and she suddenly started failing her classes and dropped out of the university, then she had a problem with her chest and had surgery only to get infected and after having the swelling gone down she went home and died 20 days later. Pretty interesting stuff...







I got to go to church up in Chirijox and a lot of the members remembered me though they still didn't find enough courage to talk to me. I just got lots of long stares and whispers of "Cristina!" all around me. It's definitely different having to learn to be the odd one out again when I really felt so integrated in Argentina.







I have also run into a fantastic private school called La Salle where I am now taking weaving lessons. It is dedicated to Christian principles and run by a group of brothers that was founded over 300 years ago. The bread teacher is now a dear friend and I am going to spend time learning traditional marimba music as well. They have a great program combining traditional classes in the morning and workshops of trade skills in the afternoon--I really kinda wish I could have gone to high school there!! Apparently they have branches all over the world. I don't remember if I am repeating stuff, but I'm in a kind of hurry to get this up and get back to my house for lunch.







I hope all are doing well, thanks for your support. Happy first birthday to little Maxwell, happy 13 to big Spencer, and happy 25 to big bro David.