Mama Zoila and Julianita

Apparantly there are people that have more kids than Zoila and her husband Julian, who have 14, but i haven´t ever met those people. Zoila and Julian´s 14 kids have since produced 35 grandchildren, half of which i seem to live with, though the ebb and flow of bodies in the house is like some frenetic tide.

Mediodia

Dios es Amor

Maya Pedal

So this funny little alternative mechanic shop, Maya Pedal, is probably where I´ll be in March for a bit. Here is where I will not be:
A Long Way Home is Right

Saying Goodbye

This is from this morning when I left Xela. Just out of bed, Maria had just braided her hair, and she and Hugo saw me out the door like real parents.



Trip to warmer clime: Mediodia

The Past Five Weeks

I´m about to leave the western highlands for some lower lands and then warmer lands. These are some stray shots left over from soccer at the stadium, to a dog and a banana tree, my own shadow in Salcaja, the taco stand on the walk home from school, Dios Te Ama in San Pedro with a guard as a shadow, and cilantro on the shore of Lago Atitlan

Tommy and Madeline

Zona 5, not far from the school, where Tommy lived with the mother of the local night club owner. At what Madeline christened Boozy Lunch.

Chichicastenango

Saturday night, after a bottle of rum, Madeline, Tommy (spelt and pronounced ¨tomy¨here) and I decided to meet Sunday at a reasonable hour (8:30am) and take a bus three hours to Chichicastenango, the market town to rival all market towns (well, considering the markets at Momostanengo, San Francisco del Alto, and even Xela´s Democracia, you might easily rival it).

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Shots from Around Town

Xela, my sorta home.

Anoche

Teachers, Educacion Para Todos. The director, Oscar, in the blue scarf, tells slightly dirty jokes. There´s one about a parrot that used to live in a brothel, and another about a woman who asks an honest dog whether her husband is cheating on her. (punchline: dog panting.)

Professional Photography en el Campo

Back at Santa Anita, I hung out with these kids a bit who talked so fast I didn´t even understand their names. But the older brother, age six, sure got the hang of my digital camera. These are the photos he took:

Salcajá

The town of Salcajá houses the Iglesia de San Jacinto, allegedly the oldest church in Central America. The town is also known for homemade fruit liquor that tastes like desert wine, rompopo, an egg and cream rum that tastes like the sweetest eggnog your grandma ever made, and also traditional textile weaving.

We roamed around a distillery house, saw an upstairs loom setup, a tethered rooster and a crucified barbie doll. A satisfying afternoon.

Voice of a Mountain, via YouTube

This is the documentary that got me jumpstarted into Guatemalan history and the current social/financial struggle. It´s also about the Coffee Plantation, Santa Anita.

Watch it in parts:

Voice of a Mountain

The Finca Santa Anita

I actually figured out links! Apparantly you can just add a link with the link button at the top of this window. Who knew?
The words that go along with the pictures:

Mediodia