Top Dog

While walking part way to Ochenta this morning (my confusion, I didn't think the van was making the trip), I looked up over the parish facility at Escuela de Christo Church and saw this. He's actually standing over the edge of the Fifth Stations of the Cross, which will once again go into use this Friday for Cuaresma (Lent).

Since he's up there and I was down here, I guess that makes him Top Dog!

Six Strange Women

Yesterday, following lunch, Linda and I went for a walk through the Candelaria barrio where Ochenta is located. We saw two small parks, that we had basically ignored previously, and decided to give them a closer look. Here's what we found, apart from one or two small fountains, not functioning. By the way, each park had three statues and a plaque noted that they had been placed there by municipalidad.

I have no idea why they are there or what they are trying to say. They remind me of the Minerva Temple in Quetzaltenango. Here's a picture of it. While I have some of my own, I'm too lazy to go looking for one of them. I borrowed this off the web.

It was built by a former Guatemalan President in 1917 as a means of promoting education. It must not have worked, since they still don't know what to do with it. There's another similar temple in Huehuetenango, but all the others, and each municipalidad and city was supposed to have built one, are long gone and forgotten. To further illustrate, I have walked through the Temple of Minerva and didn't feel any smarter afterwards than I had prior to the trip.

Sunday in Antigua

This morning I awoke around 8:00 a.m. after a short night of sleep, took a dose of home-brew cough syrup (poison, more likely) that Linda found on-line and went back to bed and slept until 11:00 a.m. I just didn't have the energy or the desire to harass other folks in church with my persistent coughing. By about 2:30 p.m., I was feeling good enough to walk down to a fairly close tienda for a medicinal ice cream bar, which felt heavenly on my sore throat. From there, we walked over to Belen park to sit outside a while and enjoy the pleasant afternoon. Around 3:30 p.m., we decided to go back to the casita to pick up our Spanish and English missals and head over to El Calvario Church for the 4:00 p.m. Mass. Since we were cutting it close, we couldn't stop to take pictures. The following pictures, although taken after Mass, have been slightly rearranged to better describe the sites.

This is what you see when approaching El Calvario. It's not the church, but a free-standing entryway that connects to the wall around the compound.

This is the actual front of the church. Arriving as we did, five minutes before Mass was to start, we had no trouble finding a place to sit. People continued to arrive, some as late as the homily, and, like every other church we've attended in Guatemala, the place was packed.

After Mass, we went out the side door and saw this sign. This might be an idea that Father Tony might want to consider. The church has its own tienda (store) and cerería (candle shop). The cerería is really quite important, as Guatemalans use a lot of candles in church, although some might be used for Maya spiritual offerings instead of the usual purpose. Oh, they also charge a fee to use the baños (restrooms), which insures a clean facility and the appropriate paperwork.

Hermano Pedro, the first canonized saint in Central America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_of_Saint_Joseph_Betancur), lived and worked in Antigua.

He had a special relationship with most of the churches here and planted lots of Esquisuchil trees. Here's one he planted in the courtyard of El Calvario.

This cross is located immediately at the street in front of the church entryway.

If you look to the right, however, you see all the vendors who have set up to take advantage of the people who attended the Mass.

This is Calle de los Pasos, the street we walked along to get to El Calvario. We live just around the corner from this street on Calle de los Remedios. In a moment, you'll understand why I told you that.

This is where we walked. It's a nice, flat walkway. It's that way for a reason, which I'll get to in a moment.

We passed this ancient fountain along the way.

Now to begin the explanation. Calle de los Pasos (Street of the Steps) actually refers to the steps taken by Christ on his way to Calvary. Beginning at San Francisco El Grande, there are these free standing chapels dedicated to the fourteen Stations of the Cross. This is the nineth station. I've still not found all of them. I'm actually only up to the eleventh station, which is in the courtyard of El Calvario. I'm hoping to take part in the Stations during Lent and, therefore, discover where the missing three are hidden. By the way, inside the chapel is an altar, which is decorated during Lent, and a large painting of what is taking place during that station.

Along the way, we pass this former church, Nuestra Senora de Los Remedios (Our Lady of the Remedies). It's fenced off and for a very good reason.

Also located on this site are many of the barges carried during Cuaresma and Semana Santa processions. Note, even though there are wheels underneath these barges to help in manipulating them, these wheels are not used during processions. These barges are carried on the shoulders of up to 120 men, each of whom pay for the privilege.

 This isn't all of them, as there are others stored at other sites, often in outlying villages, where they are sponsored by confraternities (associations that maintain and present their parish procession each year).

In case you missed it, the street we live on gets its name from this church.

Whee HA Shopping with a grump!!! Lots of fun.

Linda

Don has been under the weather all week and is recovering but is not suffering fools gladly.

We called Tuk Tuk Daniel and he picked us up at the door of our one room castle. We asked to be taken to the Dispensa (Small Wal-Mart). Weekends are a really terrible time to be out trying to shop because all of the weekend people and tourist who come to town. At any rate we went to the pharmacy in the Bodegona and got cough meds, and a thermometer and some baking soda to clear the shower drain. Then we did some shopping for basics like TP, spices, noodles, etc. The check out system sucks worse than anything you can find or imagine in the States. The store is organized like a crazed monkey did it so things are really hard to find. Don was not having a good time but until I understand the money system and learn what is a good price for the things we buy I want both of us to be there to shop. One day soon I will go in and map the stupid store and take some pictures to share with you because we buy our cooking oil in a foil bag with a screw on lid, mayo comes the same way, salsa can be bought in a clear plastic bag, etc. It is very interesting to say the least. Once we had all of the groceries we thought we had the money for we went hunting for a pizza place down the street for personal pans to take to the Spanish Embassy to eat. We went back to Dispensa to pick up a couple of items we didn't get the first time. Don went into the store and I stayed outside with the first purchases. If you go into the store with a bag you must leave it in a locker before entering the store (back packs have to be left in lockers also).  After that we called Daniel to pick us up at Pollo Comparo and were rushed home - shaken not stirred. The rest of the day will be spent reading and perhaps there could be a nap in there someplace. Don's coughing is keeping us both awake a good part of the night. He is better and I hope he does not cough for the next 6 weeks!

Linda

I live!

Last Monday afternoon, while walking home from Ochenta, I noticed that my right hand ached. By Tuesday, I had a full-fledged bronchial issues, major coughing,  massive sinus discharge plus I ached all over. Wednesday, I moved on to high fever (a rarity for me, usually my temperature falls when I get sick) accompanied by continued coughing, but reduced sinus discharge. Thursday, I still had a fever, but seemed to be improving slightly. I was feeling so good, for a change, Thursday night, that I even watched a movie in English, with Spanish subtitles. The movie was "300" and tells the story of the valiant Spartan stand by 300 men at Thermopylae Pass in 480 B.C. against the entire Persian army. Today, I'm going into Ochenta for the morning, as the guys play wheelchair basketball in the afternoon. We had planned to attend the basketball game, but I really think a nap would do me more good. I think I'm finally over my crud, but feel like I've been kicked by a mule. Hopefully, by Monday, I'll be able to really get back to work.

Shopping with an Expert at the Mercado---Linda

Greetings All,

Linda here - I know this is my first time to write for the blog this trip. Don had a lot to say and also has the inside track so to speak. We have been busy getting to know the operation of Transitions, its people and its mission. I promised myself to take two weeks to get used to living at the same altitude as Denver so I have been laying low and not letting Don push me to hard to 'see this or hear that'. I don't know if I have a problem with the altitude or if the altitude triggers a migrane and all that goes with that but I did not enjoy the event the last time we were here. Of course we do not have a car here so my day always includes a great deal of walking. So far my feet and legs are coping with the walking.

Just as a side bit of info - it is a 30 minute walk from our living space (it is sadly lacking and cannot be called an apartment <grin>) to the house where Transitions has its office. It is also 30 or 40 minutes to the market and much longer on the return trip if we buy anything to haul back.

Okay it is time to explain the subject line -- Shopping with an Expert ---

As part of Don's mission and volunteering he gets a living stipend and lunch 5 days a week which includes me. We share our living space with Chris, the Communications Director from Cincinnatti, who is also fed lunch here with the young men who work in the wheelchair shop adjacent to our living quarters so it made sense to include me in that meal.

Yesterday I went shopping with Santos who does all of the shopping for food for the 20 to 25 people they feed everyday. There is a large group of the young people in wheelchairs who live upstairs at the Transitions office and they are also fed breakfast. I asked to be allowed to follow Santos through the market to see where and how they buy the food we eat. We spent a little over 2 hours in the Mercado. Santos speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish so it was an interesting afternoon. To begin my shopping spree/education I first had to walk 30 minutes to Transitions, have lunch and wait till the kitchen staff were all done serving and cleaning.

As with any trip to a market/mercado one must start with a grocery list. Santos and Dona Vicky put their heads together to check the pantry and write up a list.

Santos and I were driven to the mercado by Edwin in the pickup. He dropped us off on what Don and I refer to as the backside of the market where there are more vendors of all things grown. Santos went to a location with a young Guatemalan woman who stood behind a large area surrounded by vegetables of all kinds. Santos ordered what looked like 10 or 15 pounds of roma tomatoes which the young lady gathered up into the 'bowl' of a scale which she then weighed and gave him the cost.

Santos wrote the cost next to tomatoes on his list and continued on with other items. When he had all of the items he needed that she had to sell he pulled out his cell phone and added up the cost of everything and paid her (we later picked up huge produce bag full).

We left in search of other items on the list from another vendor on the outskirts of the mercado. The Guatemalan woman at the second stand has a great head for numbers. Santos bought another huge sack of items from her and she just calculated everything in her head and it corresponded with his calculator.

 Next we picked up a big box of fruit. Santos is holding two large bags of oranges. The next picture shows the wide selection of fruit at this vendor.

When he had all of the food items purchased on his list there were a few items he needed for the kitchen. They wanted a knife, another plastic pitcher for juice, and a couple of spatulas which were available elsewhere inside the mercado. We exchanged a few words here and there as we went, for instance, Santos wanted to know what 'mercado' was in English. He gave me a few hints on pronunciation of the few words I spoke.

As we were headed back out to collect the sacks purchased he actually started teasing me about being 'perdido'or Lost in the mercado. I came back with 'we had better not be perdido' or lost because we did not have a map. He was laughing and I lead him to the first location for pick up. Don and I have been in and out of the mercado many times. We still can't find the same place twice in a row but we can get out. My rule is that if I find something I need we buy it because I will never find it again!! The only things I bought were a pound of rice and a vegetable steamer basket.

Time to head back to the truck so Santos picked up the first bag and put it on his shoulders and started walking. While we shopped he walked slowly as is the nature of the Guatemalans but with this hugh sack on his back he was moving at a good clip. I wanted to take his picture and some of the ladies there at the cross section wanted me to pay him Q10 ($1.29 US)for the privilege. We met up with Edwin at the first vendors location and they called for a gentleman to help take the produce to the truck.

They proceeded to load EVERYTHING purchased onto this mans back and he toted it all to the truck. He put a rope around the first sack (juicing the tomatoes) and settled a headband on his forehead and then they stacked the rest on top of that and he took off for the truck! They hurried with him and took the box off quickly and set it down then unloaded the rest.

We returned to Transitions and they left the produce in the kitchen. We did not buy any meat. I am not sure I want to see that happen. So far the food we have eaten has not been a bother tummy-wise. I have seen the meats in the mercado and to tell you the truth they scare me. We have bought some beef from the Dispensa (which is a small store that sells Wal-Mart products). We are still standing.

 I grabbed 3 glasses of water after our return then went to find Don.  Shortly we were packing up to walk home as they had lost their Internet connection and Don was dead in the water. We had soup for dinner and I was glad it was there waiting for us because I was very tired.

Laying Low

Yesterday evening I came down with the mother of all colds. My sinuses have been running full tilt, I've had a fever and have shifted from being too cold to too hot too many times. I don't know how I made it through the night. Linda doesn't know how she made it either.

Today, I decided to stay home and try to recover...so far, no luck. I have a grant application I need to send in, but it's done and I'm only waiting to see if I get any input from Alex on it. I plan on transmitting it around 2:00 p.m.

Lunch today was the national dish of Guatemala: chau mein. No, I didn't mispell chow mein, that's how they spell it here. It's the first time we've had this meal in three trips to Guatemala and, if we never have it again, I won't miss it. It's not carb-friendly for diabetics, as Linda points out to me. Here's a link to a story on Guatemalan chou mein, so you don't think I'm pulling your leg: http://revuemag.com/2009/08/guatemala-national-dish/

I can't wait until Linda makes some authentic Guatemalan gumbo. After all, she makes good gumbo and we are in Guatemala. Ergo, it will be Guatemalan gumbo. Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez (Let the good times roll).


Only one picture today. However, it's one I've been meaning to show you.

This is the famous Guatemalan shower that most Guatemalans have in their home if they have a hot shower. Yes, those are electrical wires that go from the wall to the white shower head. I've heard that you could get a big shock by touching the wires. I don't intend to find out. This type of shower head is used because most Guatemalans don't have hot water heaters and this is much more economical. This one actually works good. When you turn on the water, the lights dim and it starts heating your shower. More modern homes and apartments are now installing those flash heaters that heat water on demand. This type has been around much longer and probably will continue to be used, since many, if not most, Guatemalans couldn't afford the expense of a standard hot water heater. Solar water heaters are also popular with more affluent homeowners. The casa we stayed in in Antigua at the end of our trip last year had one. Nevertheless, they are much more expensive to install than one of these electrocutioner models.