School´s out for summer ...

Alas, after six weeks of diligent study, I'm not sure I can stuff one more Spanish word into my poor little cabeza.  Verbs in various tenses are already spilling out of my ears.  Unfortunately not so easily from my mouth.  I´ve learned a lot, but I need some time to stop the music and let it sink in.  Fortunately, we have just one more day of class and the rest of our lives to sort all of this out and practice, practice, practice.  I was asking my instructor the other day if a certain sentence construction wasn't redundant.  She looked up redundant in the Spanish-English dictionary and said "No! Es muy claro."  I said, "Well it's muy claro twice."  Ja, Ja.  I used to think about teaching English to students in a foreign country, but I'm not sure I could take the looks on their faces.

We are now preparing to leave our lovely familia and maestros to travel on.  Our friends Kimberly and Patrick will join us in an old, historical city called Antigua, from which we will depart for other reaches of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and possibly El Salvador.  When our friends depart in late May, Darrel and I will travel to Costa Rica to top off our trip. 

Aqui are some highlights and pictures from our last few weeks in Xela.

The Saint

Our housemother, Gladis, is a saint.  She not only runs the school and home, but she donates muchos time and money to help the people of Xela.  She has taken under her wings a couple of young boys from extremely poor families to help them learn and grow.  They spend time at the house where she helps them with their homework, gives them general guidance on life, teaches them how to get along well with others, and invites them to the family meals.  The progress they make under her tutelage is amazing.

Gladis knows nearly everyone in Xela and helps those in need whenever she can.  She provides support to a daycare facility for children of extremely poor families.  Every Thursday she and other family members go to the Guardaria, as it's called, to take them food, milk, and other staples.  Darrel and I have gone nearly every Thursday to help with the food and to play with the kids.  Turns out Darrel does a mean imitation of an elefante that has them rolling in the aisles.  His bear and turkey aren't bad either.  Next time you see him, ask him to show you.  He loves that. 

It's heartbreaking to have such poverty staring you in the face, but it's heartwarming to see those children smile because of a bowl of fruit and a silly man doing imitations of an elephant.  When we arrive, they greet us with hugs and smiles and Holas!  And when we leave, every single child hugs every one of us and says Gracias!  Precious.

Semana Santa

Easter is a BIG DAMN DEAL in Guatemala (many catolicos here).  An entire week is devoted to celebration.  This can mean many perks for even the most heathen of travelers.  First is the out-of-this-world pan (bread).  The pasterias go blitz on the baking scene, with sweet breads of all sorts and decor.  It is customary to share bread with your neighbors, family, and friends. 

Of course no feast of pan is complete without homemade berry jams and sweet garbanzo beans.  And every mid-day meal is a gargantuan feast.  Paella of sorts, black beans, guacamole, queso (cheese), tortillas, rice, cucumber salads, pan of course ... Mama Chaito (great grandma) makes the meals around here, and she is the best of the best.  And she cooks for 30 people without so much as the blink of an eye. 

She spent the entire week in the kitchen ... cooking and smiling.  Mid-week I walked into the kitchen where she was peeling potatoes and said, with enthusiasm and surprise, MAS?! (More?!).  She just smiled.  On Easter Sunday, there were 35 people at their home for the mid-day meal.

Then there are the processions each day.  First the children and then the adults carrying large floats with scenes of the crucifixion and resurrection.  In the squares and parks, the people lay out huge colorful carpets for the procession to walk across. 

They're made of colored sawdust and carefully laid out using long pallets with cut-out designs.  Beautiful.  One night it rained all evening, but the procession went on with a plastic-covered Jesus and a field of umbrellas.

Chocolate

Eduardo, brother of Gladis, and his wife Cindy make chocolate to sell at the markets.  One afternoon they held a class in the art of making chocolate from the cocoa bean.  With the most rudimentary of utensils and absolutely nothing electric except the stove, we begin with the sorting and roasting of the beans.  Once only the finest beans are ready, they are ground over and over until smooth, adding sugar slowly.  Finally, the chocolate mass is formed into shape and set out to harden.  Eduardo and Cindy also run a little business from their house.  Chocomangos, pinas, bananos, frisas ... frozen slices of fruit on a stick, dipped in their handmade chocolate.  Fabuloso!  One a day ... 

A Scramble

We have taken several several hikes since we´ve been here.  The last one was a bonified scramble.  The views of the city are great, but often clouded by a combination of smog and ash from nearby volcanoes.  



A few more words ...

Llevar:  to carry


 













Vender: to sell



Tocar: to play (as in an instrument)

Estudiar: to study