fotos!!...y motos

I`m sorely tempted by the cute red moto for sale that I walk past every day...I promise I would wear a helmet. Here are some pics from Antigua and Tikal. Enjoy!

Mis padres y yo on top of the Great Pyramid in Tikal National Park. What a climb and what a view.

Antigua at dusk...just look at those volcanoes.

El cocodrillo...on the way to Tikal park. It really does look like a crocodile. Though we never saw any live crocodiles in the park they were rumored to exist. Not quite convinced...

The mask of the god of rain. It was raining when I took this photo.

I did not hurt any animals but I did wrest some plants...I couldn`t help myself.

Temple V. The steepest climb of all but well worth it. Stunning.

Mr. Chocolate and the Luck of the Irish

On Thursday I returned to Xela after time with my parents in Antigua and a trip to the Mayan ruins at Tikal. Tikal National Park is located in the Peten, the hotter and more tropical area of Guatemala. It indeed was hot and humid, much to my mother`s dismay. Our "posh" Hotel Tikal inn had it`s own swimming pool and cold drinks...but no ice.
We flew in at 7 a.m. and went on the 9 a.m. tour of the park. The temples are incredibly huge, looming structures that have withstood the elements (including many earthquakes) for years and years. Some temples date back to hundreds of years BCE. The Mayan cities at Tikal were only recovered/uncovered in 1996 after the signing of the Peace Accords. The tourist industry is mostly directed at Europeans though an increasing number of North Americans are joining the crowds. Our tour guides were interesting...limited English but they had learned enough to please tourists and thereby feed and clothe their families. The great Mayan god Cacao was translated as Mr. Chocolate by both guides that led us through the park. Not quite an exact translation. Felt very Willie Wonka...I kept expecting a chocolate fountain to spring forth from a temple.
The most impressive time in the park was the early (4:30 a.m.!) tour. We left in the semi-dark and entered the woods amidst the cries of the howler monkeys. Very loud creatures and appropriately named. The "sunrise" we were guaranteed at the top of Temple V was more like a gradual brightening of the cloudy sky. Still it was a stunning moment, high above the tree line with a view of ancient temples that have watched over the forest for hundreds of years. The rest of the morning was spent wandering through the old cities. We were the first to arrive and all the sites were more impressive without the throngs of tourists that show up later in the day. As always occurs when traveling with my parents we met several interesting people and learned many personal details of their lives. Highlights: Karen from Colombia who works for a socially conscious oil company. It`s true...they exist. On the shuttle from the airport to our hotel in Guate we met Paul and Dee, two Irishmen who are working on building a church outside of Xela. I was privileged to get a ride back to Xela the next day with Ivan, a seminarian from Belfast. We had four hours to commiserate about the Presbyterians seminaries and their many rules and regulations. I hope to visit their work site later this week and work off my free ride home with some sweat equity.
Off to lunch...avocado!! Pictures are forthcoming. No cable here to connect my camera.

Mi amiga "La Ameba"

A strange strange two weeks since I last wrote. On Sunday the 24th I traveled to Guatemala City to meet a group from Watchung Avenue Presbyterian Church where I will be doing my field ed internship next year and also where I worked last year. The bus ride to Guate was beautiful. I had the front seat on the bus and the best view of the volcanoes, deep green hills, and blue sky along the way. I met the group halfway through service at a Pentecostal church in zone 7. An interesting sermon emphasizing the huge divides between pentecostals and Catholics in Guatemala.
After church the group went to lunch at a nice restaurant with a marimba band. This is where I met my friend ameba, the reason for my weeks of absence from this blog. Not long after lunch my stomach was in revolt and the revolution has not yet ended.
So it is a rite of passage here. The doctor told me everyone has this problem in the winter (the rainy season). Not feeling well has made this last week harder than it should have been but still did not manage to ruin the visit from Watchung Ave. It was an amazing experience to share with friends and family a little of the reality of this country, parasites and amebas being a part of that reality.
I will write more about the visit and our travels as a group as I continue to reflect. To end - the group´s questions from last night as they prepared to leave this morning for New Jersey:
How can material things be better distributed?
Why do I enjoy speaking from the heart in a language that I don´t even speak very well?
Why were we born in the U.S.?
Why amongst all the different feelings was fear most prevalent in me during this trip?
What are the ties that bind my heart and soul to this place?
What will cause me to be more focused on how to use my gifts for good?
What am I willing to give up or let go of?
Some thoughts and reflections from a small and wonderful group of New Jerseyans (yes...I´m biased).

de la lluvia al diluvio

The rain fell so hard yesterday afternoon that I had to use a microphone in theology class in order to be heard over the sound of the water hitting the tin roof. We got into a heated discussion about the humanity/divinity of Christ...a well-amplified discussion thanks to the speaker system. As we were concluding the class, Rolando left to check the front door and confirmed that we had been flooded in to the church complex. The patio was completely filled with water and the front street looked more like a river. Everyone quickly placed all the furniture, the sound system, our bags, etc. onto the raised platform and just in time as muddy water came spilling in the front door and into the sanctuary. Maribel and her family returned home. Refrigerators were lifted on to tables, potted plants placed on benches. The water was cold and dirty but everyone rolled their pants up to their knees and got in. There was no other option.
A crazy first-time adventure for me...but it happens all the time here during the rainy season. All of Zone 2 in Xela floods, people lose furniture and household goods, and the city still does not respond with improved drainage systems. Pastor Moises announced in church this morning that he wrote an editorial to the local paper last night, hoping to provoke some action from the local government.
I still preached this morning. By 11 p.m. last night a group of deacons and families from the church had cleaned the entire church and patio. I think the bacteria in the water cured my pulga bites too. Last night was my first itch-free night. I preached on 2 Timothy 1:1-14, focusing on verse 7 which was quoted to me throughout my childhood. There is a spirit of love and of power in this church.
I am exhausted and looking forward to the Sunday paper and a nap. Between flea bites, floods, and lesson plans I didn´t sleep very well this week.
The photos are of the flooding and one from this morning´s service during refreshment hour. Hermana Loyda (far left) was the liturgist today and is a faithful friend to me and many others. The sun was intensely hot this morning but now it looks like it might rain again. I´m building a boat...no pulgas allowed.

La fogata

I spent two hours in Parque CentroAmerica finishing My Antonia by Willa Cather. I highly recommend the book though it was strange to read here. I would often look up from words describing the grandeur of the Nebraska prairie to respond to Catarina or Juana, Mayan women who ask me to buy their weavings every weekend - a jarring contrast between the two worlds. But maybe not really...it is still the story of pioneering women working to support their families.
After down-time in the park I prepared for the first "real" theology class. Last week was just the introduction. I was nervous, having never taught anything before let alone theology and in a second language. Class started late, five new students arrived clueless as to the reading, and only four students turned in their homework. A seemingly rough start. So I introduced "Clara" (me...but in a clever disguise with sunglasses). Clara is studying Spanish in Xela and her horoscope guided her to the theology class to teach the students her own version of Christian doctrines. There was laughter, some incredible questions from the students that I couldn´t possibly answer (but tried my best), a warm atmosphere, and great potential for participation and learning. Maybe they won´t ever turn in their homework...but maybe they will.
The class was followed up by a bonfire (fogata) and shared meal of tortillas, cheese, and coffee. I am overwhelmed by the commitment of the youth of Iglesia Emanuel - commitment to each other and to their extended community. We easily enter into serious discussions of race, class, religion - issues that they have thought about and wrestled with. They are not perfect but they are headed towards being strong leaders. The difficulty is keeping focus when many others discontinue studies or keeping hope when unemployment rates are ridiculously high.
This morning´s paper reported that 50 percent of Guatemalan children suffer from malnutrition. I haven´t read the full article yet but the subject of infant mortality is a major theme in the upcoming elections in September.
I am settling in to life here and as expected the three months that felt like an eternity that first week now seem like not nearly enough time. Next trip will be longer.

fotos

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OV78s1DUmR8xkv3-alcDmimnC76RJNfOUG-7ejawmikbECVkgJbsALYvruut91ROPzwIgohLU5-UNbUzoYgYntMKw_FGbh5jBdT-Rd8oO5_-bCPM0iq4nj1l5K3oJ_tZMxEP5Shj53zx/s1600-h/SEH+028.jpg">

I have no idea what those random numbers/signs are...sorry. I love Latin America because I am technologically inept and when the electricity goes out in the middle of the day or when no one has the right equipment to download photos it´s okay with me. So here are photos of the theology students, my living quarters and my market purchases. I´ll trust you will know which is which.

Continua la tradicion...

Chinese food for Sunday dinner. It´s not just a New Jersey tradition. After church Pastor Moises and his family treated the two Sarahs (there is, as always, another volunteer here named Sarah) to chinese food and strategic planning for the coming weeks. I´ve committed to preach three times during my stay here. Maybe I´ll post my sermons...in Spanish.
This week went by quickly. On Saturday I taught the first theology class for the youth group. Ten students came and we reviewed the syllabus. I tried to keep panic to a minimum but the reading is heavy and not easy by any means. I closed class with a poetry exercise. Kind of risky with a group of teenagers but I think they really enjoyed it. Each student wrote a line of a poem/prayer. The final product was read aloud by one of the older students. My hope is that the creative activities will make up for the dry spots in the text. We are using the Great Doctrines of the Bible by R.C. Sproul. Probably not the text I would have chosen (I´m very diplomatic in blog entries) but it certainly could be worse. The biggest problem is that it is very much directed at a U.S. context. He used a golfing example in the last chapter. Speaking of which, I´m going golfing tomorrow at the 18 hole course just down the street from the church. Mentirosa.
On Thursday I went with two elders from the church to visit Benjamin, a man who just lost his wife in a bus accident last week. A difficult visit to say the least. I wanted to claim my lack of Spanish skills as an excuse to keep quiet during the visit...but the language difficulties had nothing to do with Spanish. Benjamin described in bittersweet detail every loving thing his wife did in the house - fresh bread for the grandchildren, help in the fields, care for the livestock. Grief is universal. But what is not universal is the economic difficulties he will face without his wife to help with their fields. Though CAFTA was never directly mentioned it is the unspoken cause of the plummeting value of coffee in Guatemala and the increased demand for temporary workers on farms, two of Benjamin´s burdens. We left his house in the late afternoon. His grandchildren were washing banana leaves to make tamales. On our way up the steep incline that led back to the road, we walked past a dirt embankment that had washed away during the last rainfall. The rainy season is rough here.
This week is full. Tomorrow morning I will stock up on fruits and vegetables for the week, wash clothes, etc. I am settling in and falling in love with this town, the people, the mountains.
Happy Birthday Peter and Lucy, mis sobrinos queridos! Que los cumplen feliz.